Craters of the Moon and EBR-1

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Today we got up and left Jackson, heading for the Craters of the Moon National Park. We decided to stop and get some supplies at the Wal-mart in Idaho Falls. After that, we were hungry for lunch, and as we were exiting the store i noticed a Famous Dave's just across the parking lot, so we ate there. (need i say more?) Not much else to say about today, drove to Arco, Idaho and are staying in a KOA with probably the best WiFi we've had this whole trip.

Entering Idaho from Jackson, WY along the Snake River on US Rt. 26

Sunday, June 12, 2011

This morning we visited the Craters of the Moon National Park. I think dad said it best when he described the terrain "this makes the badlands look like central park in comparison." No joke, the terrain looks like something from the moon...if the moon could support plant life. There were about 7 different trails to walk on, all showing some major attractions of the park, and a few caves which we planned to explore. There was one problem, most of the ones we wanted to walk were closed off by construction on the parking areas, and with no signs showing why or where we could pull off to look at the attractions. (they really ought to post a sign at the entrance telling you things like this -_-) We also planned to visit some of the caves, but decided not to after we saw what a long walk it would be to even get to an entrance. Ok, so the national park was a bust today, but of the trails that we did walk, we enjoyed, tomorrow we're going to EBR-1, the worlds first nuclear power plant.

Kyle liked this tree -- North Crater Trail

Crater rim fragment carried by lava, North Crater Trail

Desert Parsley, one of many small flowers

Kyle near more rim fragments, North Crater Trail

Kyle on Broken Top Trail

Looking north over Lava Cascades from Big Sink Overlook 

Looking east over Blue Dragon Flow from Big Sink Overlook 

Looking northwest from Broken Top Trail over Cones toward Pioneer Mountains

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Today we visited the first Nuclear Power Plant in the world, the EBR-1 plant in Arco Idaho. It's quite the interesting museum now. It shows off some of the actual equipment the scientists used to create nuclear energy, along with a chalk drawn message on the wall, with those who were present at the time of the first time they used it to light up 4 light blubs.

Experimental Breeder Reactor One Museum at Idaho National Laboratory  

After we were done with our tour, we got on the road to Utah. Originally i think dad wanted to stay in some place called Ogden, which is a little north of Salt Lake City, but ultimately we ended up 'boon-docking' in a Wal-mart/Sam's club parking lot, which was surprisingly near the GMC dealer he wanted to go to in the morning to get the RV's oil changed. After getting a few things from Wal-mart, and setting up the RV for the night, we went out to eat at a greek restaurant that dad apparently had been to before called Greek Souvlakis. It was kind of like a fast food place for Greek food, very small too, but exceptionally good. I had Greek Spaghetti with Gyro meat strips on it, and dad had a Gyro which came with rice and fries. oh! and we surprisingly had internet too, supplied by Sam's club.

Snake River Plain on US Rt. 26 between Arco and Blackfoot, ID



Kyle captured this rainbow while driving in Salt Lake City



1951(?) Buick at Greek Souvlakis restaurant a few blocks from Mormon Temple