Yes We Can

Our first stop of the day, Promontory, Utah, holds the distinction of where the golden spike was driven to connect the transcontinental railroad. Joe Calhoun asked us to get a spike and he didn't even insist it be a gold one! This place sits in a remote spot in upper Utah but it is rich in history. What once took 6 months to travel by covered wagon now took only 6 days and it settled the frontier. We learned that there were actually 4 precious medal spikes driven but only the final one was engraved and gets recognition. It is housed at Stanford. We got to see a replica and they had other iron spikes there but if we took one we could be taken to jail thus ending our adventure.



With our Utah missions complete it was time to head to Idaho. Corey Felten chose 2 locations for us to explore. We headed first to the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Now I mentioned how remote Promontory was and it didn't hold a candle to this place. We traveled hours through nothingness and suddenly a rest stop appeared so we stopped for a quick lunch. As we were preparing lunch we noticed the big sign explaining the 50 nuclear reactors developed here, the signs to the Atomic Museum, and a few access denied roads where testing must still take place. Evidently we ate in the middle of a radioactive wasteland. Oh well, now people can now really take note of our glowing personalities.



Craters of the Moon was mesmerizing. 25 miles of a lava flow, lava chunks called aa, cinder cones, splatter cones that are like mini volcanoes, and landscape you wouldn't see anywhere else. It is evidently comparable to what the surface of the moon is like.






Our second destination from Corey was Mesa Falls. With a very short hike, we were able to stand on platforms right over the edge of the falls. The sounds of the rushing water was so powerful and yet soothing.



We covered some ground today and have settled into our camping cabin that we lucked into at the Yellowstone KOA just 6 miles from the West entrance to Yellowstone. It is supposed to be in the 20s tonight and hotel rooms are hard to come by up here plus expensive. This place has heat (plus an indoor pool and hot tub) but officially it is still considered camping because we furnish everything else (and half the cost of a hotel).



Tomorrow we are tackling our Wyoming mission after we browse 6 Yellowstone and Grand Teton. It has been 15 years since we've been here and we are excited to get another look.

Stats:

400 miles
Gas $78.75
Cabin $80


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