Idaho

After a very long day of driving we decided to skip Boise and get as close to the Craters as possible. Around 10:30, we passed the last large (population of about 1,500) town on the way and decided to turn around to stop for the night. It was getting tool late to camp and we weren’t sure the two tiny towns up ahead had hotels.

We spent the night at the only lodging in town and got back on the road at 8, right after eating the pancakes cooked by the owner. We chatted with a Seattle couple who were also going to the Craters.

The lava at the Craters was very different than the one in the Valley of Fires, NM. You were not allowed to walk on this one because there was a high chance of its caving in. The chunks looked like wood but sounded like metal. The entire place was one big bed of black.

We had read the one of the caves, the Boy Scout Cave, had ice on its ground all year round so we decided to check it out. We took our flashlight and walked down the path. The entrance to the cave looked like nothing more than a tiny hole. Jake was skeptical that it was the entrance but sure enough it was. We walked in to the cave which had low ceilings, sharp rocks and ice. There was a family of three in front of us so it felt less lonely and dark than it would have. We walked/crawled all the way to the end and back. The inside of the cave had been cold and drippy so going back out to the steaming weather was a bit of a shock.

Since our next stop was the Salt Flats in Utah, we decided it would be faster to cut through Nevada. As we entered the state, we saw a sign on the map for a Ghost Town and decided to drive out of the way a bit to find it. We spent the next half hour searching for it. Unsuccessfully. Do any of you know a ghost town in Utah or Arizona?

Lodging: Governer’s Mansion B&B@$55, Shoshone
Car’s Mileage: 15,559
Gas: $13.62@1.76 & $15.55@1.79
Roads: 84 east to 26 to the Craters, 93 to Nevada, 80 to Utah
Sites: Craters of the Moon National Monument