Idaho

Day 41 (September 3, 2021)

Today was mostly spent driving from Yellowstone to Eastern Idaho. Around midday we stopped in Idaho Falls for lunch. This ended up being a very nice place to stop. We ate by the river just down from the falls.

After lunch, and a quick workout at a nearby playground, we took a walk around downtown and found a little Japanese Garden!

Our walk continued along the river, over a bridge and to a view of the falls themselves.

After a quick, but important stop at the local Great Harvest Bread Co. we hopped back in Blue and continued on. That evening we camped at one of our first paid sites about 30 minutes away from our next destination.

Day 42 (September 4, 2021)

Today, we traveled to the moon! i.e. We went to Craters of the Moon National Monument, which really makes you feel like you’re on the moon or on some other planet.

Our first stop was a short half mile hike that goes up the "Inferno Cone". We looked up, saw the “top,” and decided to race up it. The “top” we saw from the bottom turned out to be far from the actual top, and we quickly exhausted ourselves sprinting up the steep incline. We then walked the rest of the way up, our throats hurting and our breathing heavy. 

Next up, the spatter cones, where we could walk to the top, look down into the middle of, and stick our arms deep inside little lava tubes along the sides.

Not last, but least, we went to the “tree molds.” These were created when lava flowed through trees, the trees burst into the flames, and steam puffed out, creating tree shaped holes when the molten lava solidified. Sounds pretty cool. But…turned out to be quite underwhelming, as the “tree shaped molds” were pretty indecipherable. 

Last but definitely not least — in fact, by far our favorite part of the Craters of the Moon — the caves! All the caves here are lava tubes, created by the outer molten lava solidifying first, then more molten lava flowing through the middle. 

First we went through the Indian Tunnel, which has a network of huge, easily walkable tunnels. 

Then, the most exciting tunnel: Boyscout Cave. This was some serious spelunking! It started with quite a squeeze at the entrance, so we were prepared to do some maneuvering. At one point, the tunnel opened into a larger gallery, and we and two other spelunkers spent 10 minutes searching for where the tunnel continued. They had a map so they knew the next part was a 1-2 foot high section that lead to an exit. We finally found it, and were amazed and delighted at the challenge. It got narrower and narrower until we couldn’t even be up on our hands and knees — we had to get all the way down on our bellies and scooch through. Fun!!

With that, we said goodbye to Craters of the Moon, and headed on to our next stop: Boise. There we were met with a warm and wonderful welcome from our friends Ken and Molly. They had prepared a whole happy hour spread for us, and we spent the evening chatting about adventures, the architecture of their house (Ken designed and built it), the food truck that Torin (their son) and Ken are building, and more. Dinner was brisket tacos with brisket that Torin had smoked himself — a little preview of what Torin's food truck will serve!

And at night, we got to stretch out in their airstream, which they’ve seriously cozied up and outfitted with a queen size bed. 

Day 43 (September 5, 2021)

Today was a day spent exploring Boise. But first some delicious breakfast tacos!

Ken and Molly kindly let us borrow their bikes to take a ride down the Green Belt, a local bike path that runs along the river and through the city. This was a great way to explore and enjoy the sunny day.

That evening, we wanted to cook dinner for Ken and Molly. Staying with friends in the midst of our mostly just the two of us travels is quite special. The two of them have been so welcoming and generous. We decided to make #TheStew, a coconut milk, chickpea, and turmeric stew that we paired with olive bread and a fresh salad. 

Day 44, (September 6, 2021)

Another travel day. Before heading on, we stopped at a couple of grocery stores in Boise. No, one was not enough ;) And believe it or not, Nolan was pro going to two grocery stores, he was not just appeasing Monisha’s love for going to as many grocery stores as possible. So, first, to our beloved Trader Joe’s, where we were excited to get some frozen potstickers (realizing we can indeed get some frozen food if we cook it tonight) as well as our favorite Mediterranean spread items: eggplant spread, hummus, and med flatbreads. Then, to WinCo, where we were delighted to discover they have an incredible bulk food section — we got quite a few exciting car snacks today! 

We drove all the way from Boise to Salt Lake City and camped on Antelope Island. 

It was cool to see the Great Salt Lake, and fun to see the many bison there. Unfortunately, it was very hot and very buggy. We cooked and ate sautéed broccoli and potstickers with dipping sauce — yum. Then, the mosquitos got so bad we had to escape into Blue and put off dinner cleanup until after dark when the mosquitos had calmed down a bit. In the morning we quickly packed up, and moved on towards Colorado.