Traveling the USA Part II

We leave Crater of the Moon Nat’l Monument for our 225 mile drive to Grand Teton National Park. On the way we pass by Atomic City and see a sign for "The World's First Breeder Reactor" EBR-1.

They have a free visitor center and Jere decides that he wants to see this. So we stop in near Atomic City, Idaho and tour the facility.

Apparently the world's first breeder nuclear reactor to produce usable electrical energy was here in Idaho. When our 'tour guide' asks us where we were from, Jere tells him Three Mile Island. He gets excited by that comment (although we explained that we were not from the nuclear plant just the geographic area around 3MI). He shows us the 'case' that was used to transport the damaged portion of 3MI to this nuclear facility in the middle of Idaho where it is being stored for 'safe keeping'.

We then drive to Jackson

(I erroneously thought the city's name is Jackson Hole, but it's simply Jackson) and stop at the visitor center, where they recommend we stop at the Gros Ventre campground in Grand Teton National Park. The campground is nice and has several sites that will fit our large RV. We pick out a campsite and then see two buffalo hanging out about 25 feet away!

We set up and then take a drive around antelope valley and see lots of buffalo.

Then we stop at the new visitor center near Moose for their movie. It's too cold to do much outside so we head back to Jackson for propane. As we're filling up with propane we see a group of people watching something in the field and find out there's a family of red foxes entertaining the spectators, so we head over and are entertained also. There are 4 little foxes and a mom. Very cute.

Then a stop at Dairy Queen for ice cream before our drive back to the campground. On the way back we see moose and pronghorn.

We finish up the day at a very very cold evening ranger program, "Man vs Wild".

It's less windy today so we hike over to the large sand dune beside the lake so Joe can sled down the dune.

The sand is a little damp and sledding down some of the dunes does not go well, but the large dune has a reall nice ride for Joe!

Jere and I enjoy running down the dune:

We hike back to the RV, have lunch and pack up the trailer for our drive to Crater of the Moon National Monument.

After setting up our 5ver in the Crater of the Moon campground, we take the scenic drive through the park. Our first stop is at a tall mountain of black lava rock. We walk up to the top and are nearly blown away by the wind, but a fabulous view of the park.

This park also has lava tube caves. I swore I would not go into another dark lava tube cave, but I decide to be brave and we go through one cave here also. Luckily it is much larger so I don't feel so closed in, plus there are several openings to leave light into it.

The only creepy part is the exit which is very narrow and cramped.

Then we have to hike back over the rocks to get back to the path; not as easy as it looks.

Jere takes my bike to the bike shop first thing in the morning for a new tire and then we pack up for our trip to Bruneau Dunes State Park. It's about 70 miles east of Boise.

We drive through downtown Boise on our way out of town. Their capitol building is being completed renovated.

It is really, really, really windy today with gusts over 40 mph. As we get close to the park we see sand/dirt blowing in the distance, but we keep going. We hope to sled on the sand dunes. We set up in the campground, which is very nice with lots of trees (in the middle of a scrub desert).

We have our lunch of huge Idaho baked potatoes with chili and cheese, and then head down to the dune. It is so incredibly windy that there is no way we can walk on the dunes unless we are willing to be sandblasted.

So we decide to drive out to the Bruneau Canyon Overlook and hope that the wind dies down later today (does not happen) or tomorrow morning so we can try sledding on North America's largest sand dune.

The drive to the overlook seems long and is through scrub desert. But we don't go far enough and turn off too soon, so we miss the overlook. There are not enough signs and Jere forgot to check the odometer. The the only sign is to beware of falling objects from aircraft since it is part of an Air Force testing ground.

We turnoff for what we think is a 3 mile stretch of dirt road to the overlook. But we really were on the Idaho Centennial Trail. We drive about 4 minles on this road that should be labeled "4 Wheel Drive Only" but it's not. Instead The "scenic" drive that the AAA book describes is a disappointment, but Jere does get to use his 4 wheel drive on part of the road with large ruts and puddles.

We return to the campground for dinner and a walk around the campground area. The wind drives us back inside the trailer for most of the evening. It's ashame because the sun comes out later in the evening.

We wake up to a cold rainy day. We had planned to bike the Boise Beltway, which is a 25 mile long bike/walking trail along the Boise River. Unfortunately it is much too wet to ride and the rain continues most of the day.

I decide that I need some time to myself and go shopping for several hours. I mainly window shop, but I do find a dress to wear to my daughter's wedding in August. Yea! The guys hang out at the trailer.

We all go out for an early dinner and then decide to try to take a bike ride since it's stopped raining. We ride for about an hour before the rain comes back again. We enjoy the dry part of the bike ride, but we're all soaked and cold for our return trip.

We start the day by visiting the museum at the World Center of Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. We take the tour that we were told would last approximately 90 minutes, but ends up being 2 1/2 hours. Interesting place but tour is about 30 minutes too long for me. They tell us about their organization, including their work with returning the California Condor from the brink of extinction and their work with the historical preservation of falconry. They have a new exhibit that was entirely funded by the late Sheik Sayad of the United Arab republic. Apparently falconry is still a very popular sport in that country, especially among the upper class.

They also show us a peregrine falcon and explain some falconry techniques.

After the tour, we eat our picnic lunch in the truck (too cold outside) and then head out to the Snake River Bird of Prey Sanctuary. It's a large area in the Snake River area where the raptors are protected. We see some hawks and falcons, but we see many more prairie dogs!

Nice sunny day. Very nice change.