We made a little detour in our route in order to visit Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Boy, are we glad we did! It was amazing. It was a whole landscape of lava beds as far as the eye could see. There were lava tunnels, lava cones, lava caves, lava splatters, lava mountains. Justin particularly enjoyed the caves. The only problem was they got so dark so fast we couldn't explore much. There were a couple which had more natural daylight, so we were able to enjoy those more.
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| Justin and Dave in the middle of a lava field |
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| That little speck is Justin, climbing up a huge hill consisting entirely of cooled and hardened lava splatters. |
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| View of the lava landscape with mountains in the distance |
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| The lava splatters were shiny...almost metallic looking. We'd never seen anything like it |
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| We finally made it to the top of the lava mountain! |
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| Lots of wildflowers were blooming right out of the lava |
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| Exploring a partially collapsed lava tunnel. The lava on top cooled faster, leaving behind an empty tunnel once the rest of the lava flowed through. |
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| Going down to explore Dew Drop Cave |
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| Mommy and Justin inside Dew Drop Cave, one of the few caves with some natural daylight |
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| Justin LOVED climbing over all the rocks/lava. |
After Craters of the Moon, we drove to Arco, Idaho in the hopes of finding lunch. There was exactly one option:
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| Apparently the first functioning nuclear reactor was built in Arco, Idaho in the 50s. |
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| Complete with a giant green rocking chair outside the restaurant. Also the origination of a delicious salt/spice seasoning. |
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| Justin insisted on one last pose |
Many hours later, we finally arrived at our little cabin-for-the-night in West Yellowstone, Montana.
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| This sign is in Gardiner, MT and we took this picture leaving Yellowstone, but I was driving and completely passed the Montana sign entering from Idaho. Oops! |
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| Our cabin in West Yellowstone |
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| We had time for a nice walk and geocache hunt in West Yellowstone |
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| Success! Justin found a rubber chicken |
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| During dinner, Justin enjoyed hanging outside with Koty, where they both got lots of attention from passersby. |
Next up: entering Yellowstone and setting up camp!
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