- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:U.S. 93,Twin Falls,United States
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Our trip to the moon
After making one last drive through Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, we crossed the Teton Pass and entered Idaho (state 43 for me). We enjoyed the drive through Targhee National Forest and the eventual transition into beautiful farmland. We stopped in Idaho Falls for a few supplies and then decided to find a local place to have lunch. Dixie's Diner fit the bill . . . It is a 50's themed diner with great atmosphere and incredible food. We can personally attest to the quality of the burgers, fries, and chili.
After waddling back to the car, we once again headed west. We soon crossed into the Idaho National Laboratory Site. I immediately flashed back to memories of my hometown. INL is the sister Department of Energy site to the Savannah River Site in Aiken. I can remember as a kid hearing about competing with Idaho Falls for various projects. It was interesting to see the site and it was a very obvious location for such a plant . . . remote and desolate.
Our real destination was a little known, but fascinating part of the National Parks system called Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is an expanse of other worldly looking lava flows that covers about 1100 sq miles of southern Idaho. The entire Snake River Valley from southeastern Oregon, through Idaho and to Wyoming are former locations of the volcanic hotspot that currently sits under Yellowstone. Most of these locations are now dormant, but Craters of the Moon has remained active erupting lava flows about every 1000 years. The most recent flow was about 2000 years ago and still looks very fresh with very little vegetation growing. We hiked several trails, including hiking to the top of one of the cinder cones (Infernal Cone) and through the lava field to Indian Tunnel, a massive lava tube. We thought this would be just a drive by attraction, but in the end we spent almost 4 hours exploring this place and probably would have hiked a few more trails if we had more time.
Our extended stay at Craters (among other things) meant we didn't have time to check out the nearby Hagerman Fossil Beds (so we'll have to save that one for next time). We are now checked into our incredibly posh $70 hotel room in Twin Falls, ID. Tomorrow we will cross Nevada and pick up our friend Emily at the Reno airport!!!
- Posted by Shawn from my iPad
After waddling back to the car, we once again headed west. We soon crossed into the Idaho National Laboratory Site. I immediately flashed back to memories of my hometown. INL is the sister Department of Energy site to the Savannah River Site in Aiken. I can remember as a kid hearing about competing with Idaho Falls for various projects. It was interesting to see the site and it was a very obvious location for such a plant . . . remote and desolate.
Our real destination was a little known, but fascinating part of the National Parks system called Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is an expanse of other worldly looking lava flows that covers about 1100 sq miles of southern Idaho. The entire Snake River Valley from southeastern Oregon, through Idaho and to Wyoming are former locations of the volcanic hotspot that currently sits under Yellowstone. Most of these locations are now dormant, but Craters of the Moon has remained active erupting lava flows about every 1000 years. The most recent flow was about 2000 years ago and still looks very fresh with very little vegetation growing. We hiked several trails, including hiking to the top of one of the cinder cones (Infernal Cone) and through the lava field to Indian Tunnel, a massive lava tube. We thought this would be just a drive by attraction, but in the end we spent almost 4 hours exploring this place and probably would have hiked a few more trails if we had more time.
Our extended stay at Craters (among other things) meant we didn't have time to check out the nearby Hagerman Fossil Beds (so we'll have to save that one for next time). We are now checked into our incredibly posh $70 hotel room in Twin Falls, ID. Tomorrow we will cross Nevada and pick up our friend Emily at the Reno airport!!!
- Posted by Shawn from my iPad
Friday, July 23, 2010
Westward-ho
After a long day in Yellowstone yesterday we all slept in today. We had good intentions to spend a little more time in Cody, but we ended up hanging out with family. I haven't had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my brother and his family in the last few years and we had a wonderful time catching up. We are leaving today to go back towards Jackson Hole so we can begin the second leg of our journey towards San Diego. We will miss Don, Alisha and the kids, but we have vowed to make these family vacations a more common event.
- Posted by Sara from my iPad
Location:Towgotee Lodge
Guest Blogger Cassidy Husted
Our trip with aunt Sara and uncle Shawn was great. It started off with them arriving here tuesday night around 11pm. Then Wednesday we took the tour of Cody Wyoming, saw museums, went shopping, went to the candy store, and ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Thursday we toured Yellowstone National Park. While we were in the car traveling we made up a game called "yellowstone adventure". We got to see many different animals but no moose!!! My favorite animal was the mommy grizzly bear and her two cubs. However, we did almost see a bison attack 2 cars and a motorcyclist. This trip has been really fun and I can not wait for many trips to come (:
Cassidy Husted
Ps thanks for everything(: keep In touch with me too
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Cassidy Husted
Ps thanks for everything(: keep In touch with me too
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Yellowstone/Cody, WY
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Chief Joseph Highway
After some late evening wildlife viewing in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, we headed back toward Cody via the Beartooth and Chief Joseph Highways. The Beartooth begins in Montana's Gallatin National Forest at Yellowstone's northeast gate, immediately passing through the tiny town of Silver Gate and then the slightly more developed town of Cooke City. We didn't stop, but they seem a cute towns driven almost entirely by the tourist economy trickling through this most remote gateway to Yellowstone. The drive then enters Wyoming and the wilderness of the Shoshone National Forest, passing no more towns until Cody (about 80 miles).
The route is a renowned scenic drive, but I'm sad to say that I can't confirm this because the sun set a few minutes before we left Yellowstone, so beyond some scenic mountain silhouettes early in the drive we didn't see much. What I can confirm is that the Chief Joseph Highway has a section that is insanely curvy. The attached map doesn't even do it justice as it has smoothed out a lot of the curves. At several points I glanced at the Garmin to see a route that resembled very closely a small intestine.
The pitch dark along with my level of exhaustion from a busy day exploring the park made the drive a challenge, but I can only imagine what the views must have looked like. I'm putting this drive on my list of things to do again, but the next time during the day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The route is a renowned scenic drive, but I'm sad to say that I can't confirm this because the sun set a few minutes before we left Yellowstone, so beyond some scenic mountain silhouettes early in the drive we didn't see much. What I can confirm is that the Chief Joseph Highway has a section that is insanely curvy. The attached map doesn't even do it justice as it has smoothed out a lot of the curves. At several points I glanced at the Garmin to see a route that resembled very closely a small intestine.
The pitch dark along with my level of exhaustion from a busy day exploring the park made the drive a challenge, but I can only imagine what the views must have looked like. I'm putting this drive on my list of things to do again, but the next time during the day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Cody, WY
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