Craters of the Moon National Monument - August 28

Craters of the Moon is located in Idaho's Snake River Plain.  The area is also known as the Great Rift volcanic zone, a line of weakness in the Earth's crust caused by the shifting of tectonic plates.  It is considered to be one of the best presevered volcanic and flood basalt areas in the continental US.  The unique landscape was formed by eruptions that occurred from 15,000 to only 2,000 years ago, making geologists sure that it is likely to spew lava again soon.  The plain is actually 5,900 feet above sea level, which I noticed made it much harder for me to breath during the hikes (or maybe I'm just out of shape).  When you venture into the park you are surrounded with lava rocks, giving you a surreal senseation that you are on another planet (hence the name).

Now I understand why they call it Craters of the Moon.  This sure doesn't look like the surface of our planet.



That's one small step for a man...

one giant leap for mankind!

Entering a lava tube.  These caves were formed when the outer layer of a stream of flowing lava cooled to rock while the lava inside continued to flow, much like the freezing of the surface of a river.

Tamara making her way out of a tube through which millions of gallons of molten lava once flowed

A spatter cone, formed by lava spraying out of a vent and building upon itself to create a mound.

The nicest restaurant in Arco. I'm sure the fact that it is also the ONLY restaurant in Arco had nothing to do with Pickle's Place receiving this distinction.

After eating a burger and some famous Idaho potatoes you'll need a chair this big to sit in!

Tomorrow we start the most exciting leg of the entire trip.  In the morning we drive for 4 hours to Grand Teton National Park.  From there we'll go to Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, and Badlands National Park.  We'll be roughing it for a week, and only once we get to Minneapolis, which is an almost 1,500 mile drive from here, will we be able to put up more photos.  Bye for now!

Portland, Oregon to Arco, Idaho - August 27

Today we made the longest leg of our trip: 620 miles from Portland to Arco, Idaho.  Arco is a small town of just over 1,000 people located in the eastern side of soutern Idaho. At 18 miles away from Craters of Moon National Monument it was a perfect place to stop (in Idaho terms 18 miles is like being a block away).  When we arrived at Arco I had driven a total of 1,940 miles from Los Angeles.  Even though we are only one week into our three week trip, this is just over half the distance of our 3,800 drive to Cincinnati. 

Much of the drive was accompianed by fantastic scenery.  Interstate 84 straddles the Columbia River, which is the border between Oregon and Washington, for over 150 miles.  During this part of the drive we saw waterfalls and pretty views of the river.  The 84 then turns south into Central Oregon.  Idaho also has beautiful scenery, which explains the "Scenic Idaho" slogan on its license plates.  During the last leg of our drive we traveled down the 120 mile stretch of Route 20, a twisty two lane road that travels through the open country of farms and praries and is lined with signs saying "Elk Crossing" and "Game Crossing".  I wouldn't have really minded this leg of the drive except for the fact that it was pitch black! 

Wahkeena Falls.  This section of Interstate 84 is lined with several large waterfalls.

The waterfalls made this section of the drive an absolute pleasure

Multnomah Falls



With an upper falls of 542 feet, a lower falls of 69 feet, and a gradual drop between the two of 9 feet feet, Multnomah Falls is the largest waterfall in the State of Oregon at a whooping 620 feet.



View from the bridge of Multnomah Falls. The other side of the river is the State of Washington.

We just drove through that entire valley!

"Deadman Pass" - For obvious reasons we avoided this area

Trying to keep the blood flowing and stay sane during this never-ending drive by doing jumping-jacks.

After 400 miles we made it to the border. We will come back soon!  Oregon is a beautiful state with friendly people.



I never thought we'd make it!  Idaho is the third state on our 10-state trip.



With its biggest city boasting a population of just over 200,000 you might think Idaho is boring. But we can drive 75 mph!





Portland, Oregon - August 25 to August 27 II

Tamara and I stayed in Portland for 2 nights and one full day. The first night we drove into the downtown area to experience a bit of the Portland nightlife.  Downtown Portland is hopping with bars and restaurants and there were people all over the place.  We also visited the famous Powell's Books, a massive book store that claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world.  The next day we rode around the Willamette River, which splits the city into two.  Then we had a wonderful dinner with Allison's parents, sister, and uncle.  After that Tamara and I ventured into another hip area and had dessert at Pix Patisserie, a cute French pastry place where you sit shoulder-to-shoulder with other patrons and can enjoy "one of our craft beers, a tasty dessert wine or Batdorf & Bronson coffee."  The next morning we set out on our long and arduous 620 miles long journey to Arco, Idaho.

Like Diddy Reise in Westwood, Portland also has a cheap dessert place that people will gladly wait 30 minutes in line for.

Called Voodoo Doughnut, this place serves some of the craziest doughtnuts you've ever imagined.  The one on the left is covered in chocolate, caramel, and oreo bits while the one on the right is custard filled with a chocolate shell.  They were so big we could barely eat half, but they made for a tasty breakfast the next morning.

We rode around the riverfront in this "deuce coupe".

Over the Willamette River

The beautiful waterfront

The famous Food Carts of Portland

Pix Patisserie was packed to the brim. The waiter is blurry because he was moving so fast!

We had chocolate beer with mocha flavored ice cream and The Concord, which is "chocolate meringue, chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache hidden by sticks of meringue and a single red ribbon." Delicious!

Thanks again Allison and Oren! We had a great time!

Portland, Oregon - August 25 to August 27

In Portland we stayed with Tamara's aunt and uncle Allison and Oren and her cousins Evan (3) and Edie (2 months!).  It is an interesting city known for its riverfront, food carts, and eclectic residents.  Since it is way too late and I need to get some rest before our 613 mile drive to Arco, Idaho tomorrow you'll have to wait until we have internet again to see the pictures.  Thank you Oren and Allison for your hospitality!

Terwilliger Hot Spring - August 25

While we were eating lunch at crater lake a car with Ohio plates pulled up. A couple stepped out of the car and I immediately chatted them up.  Turns out they made the exact same roadtrip as us but in reverse, starting in Ohio, going through Badlands National Park, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Idaho, and finally making it to Crater Lake.  They recommended that on our way to Portland we make a slight detour (turns out it was 60 miles down a twisty two-lane road!) to a little known hot spring.  We took their advice, and damn was it worth it!

Terwilliger Hot Spring is a natural hot spring that flows into 5 different pools.  The highest pool is the hottest, while each pool below it is slightly cooler.  The hot spring is also a spiritual site for Oregon's thriving hippie community.  While enjoying the springs we heard about how the ocean is going to freeze over, raising the sea level by a mile, how one guy who lives out of his car summoned a fairy, all about the annual rainbow gathering (read mushroom fest), and many more interesting stories, and all the while a familiar funky stench was floating in the air.  Not to mention the site was "clothing optional," meaning all of these stoned hippies were butt naked!

The remote Terwilliger Hot Spring

At least one of us looks good in a swimsuit

Tamara enjoying the hot water

Huge waterfall right next to the hot spring

Cougar Reservoir - right across the highway from the hot spring

As we travelled up through Oregon we encountered some of its natural beauty:

Lake Odell - Typical scenery along Highway 58

More of beautiful Oregon

We drove through 160 miles of road that looked exactly like this (except often the road was much more narrow!)

I didn't really mind except for the CONSTANT ROADWORK which narrowed the road to one lane.  At least it forced us to get out of the car and stretch.

Crater Lake - Aug 23 to Aug 25

When I found out that Crater Lake's average temperature is 38°F and that we would just be looking at it, I was a bit bummed out.  But when we drove over the ridge and saw the bright blue water in front of us I realized that I was looking at some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, if not the world.

Crater Lake fills a crater that was created at the top of Mount Mazama after a HUGE eruption 7,700 years ago.  The lake is considered to be one of the purest in the world, meaning almost no pollutants!  With a maximum depth of 1,949 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US and one of the deepest in the world.  Since the surface of the lake is 6,178 ft above sea level, the surrounding areas experience about 550 inches of snow each year, which translates to about 1.5 inches of snow per day!  This winter saw depths of up to 12 feet!

The deep blue waters of Crater Lake

The volcano within a volcano Wizard Island

 

What a view!

Water doesn't get much cleaner than this

Almost fell in!

There is still some snow around the rim of the lake

Snow in August!

Best lunch spot on the planet!

Plaikni Falls - The biggest waterfall in Crater Lake National Park

So cool it deserves another picture

The bottom of Plaikni Falls

What Tamara would look like if she was a tree

The Pinnacles - Hollow structures formed by hot gases escaping through tens of feet of sediment.  The sediment has since dispersed, leaving a view of the pinnacles jutting out of the valley walls

The park rangers told us that despite the forcast of 50% chance of thunderstorms they had no doubt that we would get drenched tonight 

WRONG! Except for some lightning that we could see miles off in the distance, we had perfectly clear skies over our dry campsite