Day 10: Drive and drive again

Well, since last night ended so late, I didn’t have the heart to set an alarm. So, we all slept in and enjoyed the extra rest. What ended up waking us up was a screaming child nearby (isn’t that always the way with campgrounds?) and no yurt walls could stop that sound from penetrating.

So, we packed up and headed out. A quick stop at McDonalds for breakfast (ugh), and we were on our way. While Oregon is quite nice on the west side, the east side is very barren. I believe they call it the high desert. It took us quite awhile to cross Oregon. There are no interstates on the southern half of the state, so our roads were two lane highways. It definitely was not 75mph like North Dakota had been!

And yes, we kept opening up the sunroof to make sure the rooftop carrier was closed. I have a feeling we’ll be doing that for the rest of the trip!

We got on the interstate near Boise, and then made a bit more time across Idaho. Andy thought we’d get through Idaho quickly as we had on the way out, but that was the north end of Idaho which is skinny. We ended up getting off the interstate half way across Idaho so that we could make it to the Craters of the Moon. It was late in the afternoon, but I just didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see this barren, volcanic land.




We drove through the park, but did end up stopping at the lava caves (caves that were made when lava flowed…the top cooled, but the interior continued to flow until it flowed out leaving openings). We took our flashlights, thinking we’d spelunk a bit, but we really weren’t prepared. We didn’t have the proper shoes, or water, and we really didn’t have the time! We got part way into a few of the caves which were really rocky (flip flops not recommended!) and we walked down in the big cave, but that was about it. We were watching the sun set knowing we still had 4 hours to go in the car!

We made it!!

After Craters of the Moon, we stopped in Arco at a little drive up food place. Steve said it would probably either be fantastic or horrible food. Andy and Steve got burgers, I got a chicken teriyaki wrap with onions, mushrooms and rice and Emily got a philly beef. She also ordered a huckleberry spritzer. It was really really good! We ordered on the one side of the building, and then drove around to the other to pick it up. They made everything to order so it was fresh. What a fun place to find in the middle of nowhere!

After that, we drove through more flat land, seeing mountains and hills in the distance. We passed odd looking buildings in the middle of the desert and Steve said it looked like government buildings. We discovered it was the Idaho Research Laboratory. We were definitely in the midst of top secret government work!

Once the sun set, we couldn’t see the landscape anymore. We made one last stop in Idaho Falls, where I got Pete into PJs and then it was the last two hour push to get to Jackson, Wy. We kept a lookout for elk or deer which might cross in the road,, but fortunately came across no wildlife. Em and I marveled at all the stars we could see out the window. I love being away from the cities!

While it was supposed to be a fabulous view approaching Jackson, it was lost on us as we finally made it in at midnight. We checked in and got to bed as quickly as possible. Too bad we won’t be heading out early again tomorrow. There is so much to see in Yellowstone. I know we won’t get to do as much as we’d like. Oh yeah, and there is all this laundry to do!! Ugh.