Touring Idaho and Wyoming

This summer we became experts in packing lunches and taking day trips to the beauty surrounding us in Idaho and Wyoming.

Mesa Falls is our most visited hangout because it is close and perfect for a short hike. We love the spray of the water, the lack of cell service, the beautiful trees and calm breeze.

We also hiked over to the abandoned train tunnel where we found an eagles nest (with eagles!) sticking high up into the sky, marriage proposal, and more gorgeous scenery.

The beauty of Yellowstone never gets old! 

Old Faithful was faithful, the paint pots were stinky and mesmerizing, the scenery breathtaking and the company a joy to be with. We even got to witness a bear roaming his mountain home.

The day ended with a light rain which cooled us off enough to need hoodies and blankets but in no way did it water down the adventure.

Jackson Hole took us back in time to a wild west adventure with guns blazing and fists flying at the main square.

The top of Teton Pass and the tram and gondola rides to the top of Rendezvous Mountain gave us a gorgeous view of the Grand Teton Mountain Range and forced us to pop our ears several times.

The winds at the top of Rendezvous Mountain cooled down a ninety degree day to a nippy sixty degree day and lack of oxygen at 10,450 feet evidently left Nathan and Hyrum a little loopy. The view and the company were spectacular! Nathan and Hyrum decided that they were each going to take their own gondola down the mountain. My little adventurers are becoming so independent!

On the way home from Jackson, we stopped at our favorite ice cream stop, the Victor Emporium. 

While Nathan, Hyrum, Daymia and I enjoyed our ice cream, Justin & Kayla and Gabor & Vivien gobbled away at over sized and overpriced grill style hamburgers and home style fries from the Brakeman American Grill next door. Gabor ended up accidentally stealing his Coca-Cola restaurant cup as a souvenir, which we all unforgivingly teased him about.

We left one morning to do a loop from Rexburg to Twin Falls to Craters of the Moon and through empty no-mans land back to Rexburg. An unscheduled stop came after only 30 minutes at the Honda dealership because the van was shaking so bad at any speed above 40 mph. It was an easy fix (rocks and asphalt in the rim due to all the road construction around us) and we were on our way again.

The first scenic stop was just north of Twin Falls at the Shoshone Falls.  The falls and surrounding canyon were spectacular!

We next went into the city of Twin Falls to see the long bridge spanning the canyon. It looked impressive from the road but walking underneath it to see the structure, hear the traffic above, and witness the massiveness up close was, well, Wow! To add to all of that, there were bridge jumpers dropping from the top and we were able to witness parachutes opening, graceful landings and what had to be exhausting hikes back up the canyon wall.

After a picnic lunch in the shade, we headed to Craters of the Moon. My kids had each been there on school field trips, but I had never been there. What a vast, black, hot, landscape!

We hiked up the black sand to look out over the mountains, then wandered our way over to the caves.  Though spelunking was fun, after awhile it started to feel suffocating for me. The day was a hot one so the caves were nice and cool but the feeling of being covered in darkness (both in and above the caves), void of any color, greenery, or as it appeared, even animals, gave me a feeling of imprisonment that I have never felt while being out in nature.  However, I took the time to appreciate the opposition of beautifully landscaped mountains and imagined the volcanoes, weather and science that went into the making of Idaho's volcanic wonderland

The drive from Craters of the Moon back to Rexburg didn't really improve the empty feeling as we meandered through three hours of wide open fields with a scattering of a few small towns. With the late start to our day (van check-up), spending more time at each place, and hiking in the heat of the day, we were quite famished. Each time we came up on a town (village? community?) of lights we hoped for somewhere to stop for a meal (and potty break) but it wasn't until the road suddenly dropped into west Idaho Falls that relief seemed near. Fast food never looked so good.