Idaho: Taters and Craters!

We stayed in Idaho Falls last night, after an exciting search for the campground. Our GPS lady has become either a little confused or a little malicious; lately, she has been trying to send us down one-way streets and off overpasses. “Turn left,” she says as we pass high above the road she wants us to take. Then, “Recalculating…,” she says resentfully. We may have to change to the British male voice, who sounds just like Cary Grant. He, at least, seems quite chipper when he says, “Recalculating!”

Anyway, we didn’t get to Idaho Falls until 11:30 pm, much later than our usual arrival time, and we were very ready to park and go to sleep. We took the highway exit ramp, and then, “Turn left,” said the GPS lady. “Arriving at destination, on right.” We looked with dismay at a huge agricultural processing plant on our right. Hmmmm….not quite what we were hoping for. We drove up and down the road, checked the address I had entered, called information to verify the address, and finally continued on to the RIGHT of the exit ramp and found the campground.

Our destination this morning was the MOON! We drove to the Craters of the Moon National Monument, in central Idaho. Every two thousand years or so, lava flows from large fissures and spreads across the plain. Now, the ground is covered with black volcanic rock, hardened in ripples and globs and in cones like small volcanoes. Very little vegetation grows in the area, with some areas completely devoid of plants and just littered with black rocks. We tried not to think about the fact that the last lava flow was just about two thousand years ago, as we leaned over to look down into the now-dormant volcanic cones.

I did finally see my elusive yellow-bellied marmot. He was very kindly standing next to a card telling me that he was a yellow-bellied marmot, and he was looking proud of his yellow belly, despite the fact that he was stuffed (and on display in the Craters of the Moon visitor’s center).
We left the park and drove through Idaho for most of the afternoon and early evening. We passed the beautiful Pioneer Mountains, brown and wrinkly like a muddy elephant’s legs and overlooking a valley filled with volcanic rock. We also saw many, many fields of potatoes, with huge watering contraptions keeping the plants green, as well as potatoes in trucks and potato storage buildings. Idaho license plates say “Famous Potatoes.”

We thought you might like to see how Molly has travelled across most of America. Sometimes, she sits in my lap with her little head out the window, smelling everything she can. The rest of the time, she sleeps.

We arrived in Boise this evening, and are camped here for the night. Boise seems like a lovely city, but we’re off to Oregon tomorrow!