Double hit today, stopping by Craters of the Moon National Monument on the way to Yellowstone. Fairly short drive from Twin Falls, which was good because we (I say we but mean Marilyn) slept in a bit. But that was fine, allowed the camera store to be open so I could pick up a 77mm Circular Polarizer (mmm geek photo speak). Got to Craters about midday and yes, it was hot. It’s a big place, with a 7 mile or so driveable route around it. We took that option and stopped at various places, including the Devil’s Orchard, Inferno Cone, Spatter Cones and the North Crater. Drove past the Big Sink, which had a lot of lava flows to look at (long since stopped, don’t worry). Devil’s Orchard had many lava rocks and dead trees, along with new growth:

Again too many pics to post with this blog. I’m going to be very busy when we get back figuring out which 5 out of 100 I keep ;).

Anyhow, made it to Yellowstone at about 5:30 local time (Mountain Time) and proceeded to drive through the park as our Motel was in Gardiner, MT which is north of Yellowstone. We came in through the west side via Idaho…

I’m thinking of writing the park to suggest a name change to Jellyhead. I’m pretty sure tourists have to check their brains at the door because oh man they lose all ability to think. Mini rant coming up. The driving speed in the park is a maximum of 45mph. OK, no problem, that’s pretty darn fast. But not fast enough to stop people from stepping out in front of your car because they thought they saw a furry photo op across the road. And not fast enough to stop people from screeching to a halt for the same type of furry photo op. Stopping right on the road and clicking away. It was a zoo, to say the least, just to keep from hitting people or cars, nevermind small creatures (one marmot tried hari-kari with our car, but missed by 6 inches). Anyhow, hoping tomorrow won’t be as bad but won’t be surprised to hear about someone from Malibu seeing his first bear and his first Dodge bumper at the same time.

I’ll post on Yellowstone and have some pics for you all tomorrow – for now it’s R&R in the Motel overlooking the river and bustling Gardiner. Oh, and for the record, the local bartender called Gardiner “Godawful Gardiner” and wondered what a couple of Canadians were doing here….

Made the trip from Enterprise, OR today. Original plan was to go through Hell’s Canyon (in the daytime this time) and go to the Overlook point to take some pics. It was closed, however, due to the fact that it was basically on fire. Not sure if the area was actually still on fire or not, but they weren’t letting mere tourists anywhere near it. Even still, we had to take the drive through the canyon to at least take the chance, plus it was kind of on the way to Twin Falls. That drive was, well, let’s see if I can give you a mental picture. You know that Zoom Zoom commercial from Mazada where the road spells Zoom Zoom? This was kind of like that, only it was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – about 20 times. Fun to drive in the mini tho, and practically no one around ;).

So we get through that drive and cross over into Idaho at this funky old earth/concrete dam (Mare has pics, don’t worry). After that, we’re driving down what looked like a road covered in dirtballs. Then Mare sees a crow fly down, pick up a dirtball and fly off. Hmm. Then we take a closer look and the dirtballs are moving. Great. Time to pull over and check this out. Turns out crickets like to use the road to hang out in Idaho. Not just normal crickets… black mondo crickets the size of my thumb:

Imagine him thousands of times over a couple of kilometers. Fun.

Anyhow, finally cross into Twin Falls (after Mare driving while I did a major powernap for 2 hours). We came across this great bridge, way up high over Snake River and a canyon. I look down and what do I see? A GOLF COURSE! Way cool – Canyon Springs Golf Course, to be exact:

Tons of pics to post on Flickr when we get back, but that gives you an idea. Wild, would have loved to have given it a shot.

Wouldn’t be Twin Falls if we didn’t go see some kind of waterfall, so we headed to Shoshone Falls – the “Niagra Falls of the West” (well, that’s what the brochure in the hotel said):

Again, many pics including a nice sunset right at the falls. No clouds tho, so not super-colourful. But hey it was a beautiful day and a great way to end it.

Off to Craters of the Moon National Monument tomorrow, then to Yellowstone Park. Should be a good photo day…

Yup, that’s what it’s called. It’s 10:30pm and we just got here. Those of you that know me are probably expecting some kind of rant at this point, but I’ll keep it short and just say FIVE hours at the border. Radio said TWO, reality said FIVE. ‘Nuff said.

Anyhow, drive was pleasant, didn’t stop much through Washington and the small part of Oregon that we saw before the sun went down. Went through the Scenic Byway of Hell’s Canyon in the dark, but I’m sure it was spectacular (like Hell, only darker). Good news is we’ll see the other side of it tomorrow in the daylight on our way to Twin Falls, ID.

Pictures? OK here’s a couple for now (it’s late). Waiting for the border (did I mention it was FIVE hours?) we saw this guy in the field, pretty far away but got him:

…and here’s a sunset pic from Yakima – haven’t had much time to play with it, so hopefully it looks alright:

I’ll post again from Twin Falls, hopefully earlier ;).