“To the Moon, Alice!”
(The Honeymooners)

Days 3-4. From my blog title today, you can probably guess that we are going to cover a lot of territory. In fact, we’ll travel all the way to the moon—Craters of the Moon National Monument, that is. But first, we have to get there from our overnight stop in Elko, Nevada.

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah  (Wikimedia Commons)

Much of Nevada is pretty dry, but it has lots of sage brush and even some farms in the region we drove through. However, driving across the salt flats of Utah toward Salt Lake City is bleak. Greg wasn’t yet sold on the idea of this trip, and here we were in dismal country that lacked signs of life. He kept checking his cell phone to see if we had coverage.

I had originally planned to go north into Idaho on U.S. Route 93, but he though staying on I-80 would be better. Hah!

Greg  (looking at map):  “There’s nothing for over a hundred miles on Highway 93!

Me  (poking at same):     What do you mean? There are three towns in Nevada alone.

Okay, a ghost town, a “populated place," and a casino spot--but surely one of them would have a gas station and auto repair. Truth is, there are vast regions out here in the west that are great for outdoor recreation, for peace and quiet, or for isolating your characters in a murder mystery, but not so good for finding auto repair shops. This is one.

We stayed on I-80, passing the salt flats and the Great Salt Lake. On a 2003 trailer trip with my sister and two grandkids, we had donned bathing suits and taken to the lake, bobbing like corks in the salty water. Good thing I’d already done it. Greg would never have gotten out there with all those tiny, red brine shrimp that coat you when you get out of the water.

 Salt Lake City from the car, which is how many of my pictures were taken.

Greg was astounded that I took over 4000 photos on the trip, but when you’re covering nearly 10,000 miles and 80% of the pictures are blurs, you need a lot! We couldn’t stop at every interesting place and still average 300-400 miles a day. But, for some major cities, I insisted we pop in for at least one major attraction. In Salt Lake City, it was Temple Square.

Salt Lake Temple in Mormon Square, SLC, Utah

Greg and Fountain, Mormon Square

Wonderful Gothic architecture. And the grounds were beautiful--varied water features and luxurious plantings made it a true oasis!

The Mormons walked across the country to reach this region, carrying their worldly goods on handcarts such as this.  In the second picture, you can see that everyone was expected to help.

 

A parting shot of Utah's Capitol building, and we finally turned north toward Idaho.

That night, we decided to camp at a KOA outside Brigham City, Utah. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of our tent (which we later threw in a dumpster). Greg shook out the dust and I flew into a horrible coughing attack. We figured the dust must have been from the Grand Canyon, where we'd camped when our kids were teenagers. They are now 41 and 42.

We had taken high-density foam mats for insulation from rocks and cold ground. Didn’t work. We tossed and turned all night. When I finally dozed off around dawn, I was awakened by a bird peeping tentatively. He was soon joined by another, and another, until the clamor was deafening. By this time, Greg was awake too, and we got to laughing. It sounded as though they all had megaphones. Ah, nature. The louder the birds got, the more we laughed, until I was afraid we’d wake the neighbors, if the birds hadn’t already.

The night before, when we had bent our creaky knees to crawl into the tent, I’d been concerned about getting out in the morning. Surprisingly, we were more agile than usual in the morning. We hadn't been able to sleep in one position long enough to get stiff!

An early morning shot of the beautiful farmland across from our campground--taken from the car. We headed for Pocatello, Idaho . And then to the moon!

On the road to Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, via State Route 26 off of I-15. The car ahead of us (that speck on the road) was one of three or four that we saw during the 85-mile trek (one way) off the main highway. Not a lot of cell phone towers out here either. But the mountains were inspiring!

Craters of the Moon is indeed an other-worldly landscape. Located along the Great Rift of Idaho, the extensive volcanic park contains three lava fields that have been built up by many flows and eruptions over thousands of years.

  

Two ancient volcanic cones: the highest is younger, only a few thousand years old. Although plants are slowly colonizing, there is still scant growth and the black volcanic rock still shows.

The older cone is in the background.

Another view of the older cone, which is about 7500 years old. It is smaller and sports more advanced plant growth, including grass, sage and stands of fir. The rounder shape results from soil that has built up over the years.

I was interested in caves all through our trip, because a cave plays an important role in my mystery, "The Body at Battle Mountain." I didn't do too much exploring while here due to an injured knee, but I did peek just inside a couple of the natural caves. I've never been inside a "wild cave" before.

It was really hot walking over the lava fields! But Greg and I both thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this natural site. The visitor center is a wealth of information about geology, the sights and the activities available. You could spend days here, rather than the few hours we spent. Definitely recommended if you are in the area.