Wendy: Rain, rain and more rain! It was storming and cold again when we woke up, so we took the day to travel to Craters of the Moon National Monument in south central Idaho. The pictures below give a sense of what it was like....volcanic tufts and craters in the middle of the desert. The monument has the largest basalt cinder cone in the world, as well as cool caves and fosselized trees (formed when lava flowed over them and the trees disintegrated). The volcanic hotspot last erupted about 2000 years ago.
We saw some other interesting sites today as well. After spending 30 minutes trying to find a Starbucks or Pete's Coffee for breakfast, we gave up and settled on cereal and milk in the van (we're still adjusting to our rural lifestyle!). There seemed to be no bagels or coffee shops in this part of Idaho. However, after driving 20 minutes into farm country we came upon a drive through espresso shack for semi-trucks. No joke, this little cafe was jacked way up off the ground so that truckers could pull in and order their morning latte. We decided we were too small to stop, but got a good laugh as we drove by.
Andy: It hasn't rained in these parts for two months, aren't we the lucky ones. Our options were to hang out in Burley looking for bagels (everyone could point the way to donuts, but not bagels) or drive four hours roundtrip to Craters of the Moon National Monument. We opted for the drive. Pretty wild place - NASA tests their robots here as the terrain is so "moonlike". I decided to whip out my trusty ski cap that I had diligently washed prior to our departure. Apparently the dryer was a bad idea. My favorite ski cap is now the size of a vanilla wafer. Cold ears for the next few days. Looks like the storm is clearing so we spent the afternoon returning to the City of Rocks for more climbing.
Andy, in the lava fields of Craters of the Moon National Monument |
Wendy in Dew Drop Cave, Craters of the Moon National Monument |
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Atop the largest basalt cinder cone in the world, Craters of the Moon National Monument |
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