Driving, Craters of the Moon, Steamboat Springs, and NO Dinosaur fossils - August 24th – 26th

From Boise, we traveled to Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. This is the site of a hot spot in the earth which has expelled lava many times over the last 15,000 years, the most recent being only 2,000 years ago. It truly does look like a different planet. Among many other geologic sites, there were five lava tubes you could explore with headlamps. Our favorite of which was Boy Scout Cave which has ice in the cave year round.

A view of the lava tubes

One of the large splatter cones in the park

The lava texture and patterns were incredible!

Rather than backtrack 45 minutes to camp on BLM land we ended up risking it and continuing on in the correct direction, not knowing exactly where we were going to camp. We ended up finding a place called Honey’s Park in Arco. It is private property that the owner allows travelers to camp at for free! Being unemployed and all, the price was just right. The only downside was the lake of a bathroom and/or any privacy to use natures bathroom. Consequently, we rushed out in the morning to find the nearest gas station before I wet myself.

That day, we drove towards Steamboat, CO and made it within two hours before camping on BLM land (doubling as ranch land for cattle grazing). On the way, we stopped at Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado. We were so excited to see dinosaur fossils, but instead we saw a closed visitors center with a sign that said, “There are no dinosaur fossils here,” Why would you have a visitors center called Dinosaur National Monument next to literally nothing but a scenic drive?!??? In truth, the fossils are located 30 miles west (the direction we had just come) in Utah. WTF!?!!! Rather than turn around, we continue on and played catch among the cow pies on the BLM land before it got too dark.

The next day, we went to Steamboat and did some shopping, wandering, and caramel apple eating before continuing onto Loveland, CO (where my mom lives). Between Steamboat and Loveland we missed the turn toward Walden and ended up going through Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park instead. Which is all fine and good except for the extra 1.5 hours and 12,000 foot climb in Bernie. He took it like a champ though and we were going downhill before we knew it. In the park we saw our 4^th moose of the trip and a bunch of elk so that was a bonus!