"TO THE MOON, ALICE!"

When John and I discussed going to the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, we had no idea what to expect.  It just sounded interesting. Off we went to the area in the Snake River plane between Barry and Arco, Idaho. 

Interesting, it was.  I imagined that it would be similar to Amboy Crater in southern California that we visited in 2011.  It was not the same.  Amboy is a postage stamp compared to the five counties containing 750,000 acres of Craters of the Moon.  

Someone described it as "weird and scenic."  Had I not been there, I would have called it unbelievable. There is no way to grasp the concept of the power that would erupt from the core of the earth and cover over so many acres inside and out of the Monument area.

The diverse multitude of volcanic features displayed include rifts, cinder cones, splatter cones, lava tube caves that can be explored with a permit and shield volcanoes. 

The Visitor's Center is one of the best educational centers that we have visited.   If you have the opportunity, take a few hours and visit the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.

 

Pahoehoe

Lava Tubes

Lava Tube Interior

 

 Cinder Crags

 Cinder crag with lichen growing on it - close up

Tree Molds

As the lava struck and knocked a tree and to the ground, the lava made a mold of the bark.  

How deep this crack was before the wind filled it with debris?

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Black soil on  Inferno Cone

Splatter Cone

Our hike up a Splatter Cone

Looking inside the Splatter Cone filling with debris after 2000 years.

 A Lava field as far as we could see

Natures Art 

Holes in the lava

Can anyone identify this white mountain on the road to Arco Betty Graffis is the first to identify these as the Twin Butes. These are also sleeping volcanoes. Thanks so much Betty.

Was there rain or a pot of gold waiting in Idaho Falls?

Thanks for stopping by.  Next ? Grand Teton National Park.

God bless 

WHY DO I LOVE FULL TIME TRAVEL?

Each morning, I wake up before John.  I take the fur kids out for their morning walk and return to our coach for my cuppa tea.

Looking out our front window, I marvel at whatever sight might be there that day and I say to myself, "I absolutely L O V E  this life.

The freedom to see new sights and make new friends is remarkable.  These friends might not be with us for a long time, but we will see them down the road...maybe.  But whatever, they will always be friends.  

Being able to go to bed and have a view of the sky from the bedroom window is magnificent. Bright, brilliant stars and the moon in it's various stages.  Then to awake to either quiet, the sounds of the surf or bird's singing it's greetings to the new day.

Peace, peace.  Wonderful peace.  Sweet peace.  God has blessed us with this time of our life and we are both so thankful.

Where but fulltiming can we  experience geography and history lessons 365 days a year?  

We experience first hand fault lines where earthquakes have occurred and will happen again.  We even experience our first earthquake.     

Wild fires followed by mud and rock slides scour the sides of the mountains. 


In the southwest, rivers carve deep canyons.  





There are mines to explore.  The list goes on and on.  





Two years ago we parked next to a forgotten, sleeping volcano in Amboy, California on Route 66.  It was quite an experience to approach the volcano and walk over the hardened lava with the ripples and ridges showing it's path across the desert floor.  People view the crater and think it is a curious site.  Curious?  I don't think so...It is history.  OUR history.
When will the Amboy volcano awake, rumble and spew its molten ash around? When will Mount St. Helen's, Yosemite awake?



Petroglyphs  are a history lesson in pictures drawn on rocks hundreds of years ago.  But, what story are they telling?  Do we rely on what other's translations?  Do we use our own imagination?  


What would the giant redwoods tell us about the history of their lifetime?  The flat lands of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska?  How about the New England States?  

What about the Gulf States?  What would they tell us?  Would they describe the heartbreak of the thousands of lives extinguished during the Civil War battles?  The lives lost in the hurricanes?  What would these states say?  

The difference in the mountains is striking.  In the east, they are covered with trees, shrubs, etc. 





In the southwest the 
mountains are exposed 
sharing the beauty of the 
formations, fault lines and 
changing colors.  





The sounds of full time travel are amazing.  We hear the rumble of vehicles that share the highways and byways with us.  

The roar of the Pacific as it pounds the shore.  

As the water returns to the ocean.  we hear the tick, tick,tick of the pebbles being rolled over and over back to the ocean.

At the next location, it is quiet...we hear nothing!  Silence...total silence. 

These are only a few of the reasons we enjoy our new life of full time motorhome travel.  You just might want to give it a try if you have not yet had the experience.