Will add photos soon...We are heading to MAW MAW's (Cecil's Grandmother).
The Sand Dunes were pretty cool! Cecil and I climbed up to the top of a tall dune and took pics and video of ourselves jumping and rolling down. I didn't really realize until we got back to the car how much sand we had on us and in our clothes. Very uncomfortable! Felt like I had just crashed into the beachhead from boogey boarding, except there was no water to wash it off.
Anne sliding down the Bruneau Sand Dunes.
Even though it is early in the morning the sand facing the sun was extremely hot, and for the side away from the sun... extremely cold.
Luckily there were showers at the campground a little ways down the road. Probably the best shower I've ever had! Not only did I get the sand off, but the sulfur stink from the Givens Hot Springs the night before.
Found a McD's at Mountain Home, Idaho. The usual McChickens, but Cecil tried their sweet tea this time. Great tea! This was the first of many sweet teas we bought.
Anne and Cecil at Craters of the Moon, Idaho.
Too Hwy. 26 to Carey and then on to Craters of the Moon Nat'l Park. A lot of lava rock in cool formations was about it. Reminded me of the lava fields in Maui but these seemed blacker. They had a campground there, looked like a fun place to stay at. We would like to put more miles behind us, still too early in the day. Made our way from there along a lot of straight roads through dead looking towns that were all watering their corn fields. Almost all were finished off by a huge Latter Day Saints Church. Somewhat ostentatious looking compound to the other buildings around.
Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho. Huge and awesome!
It was about 6:00 PM when we made it to Mesa Falls. We went to an overview and could see the Lower Mesa Falls. There was what appeared to be a 3 mile trail leading to the falls. When intended to go to after we came back from the Upper Mesa Falls. The Upper Mesa Falls were a lot more accessible. Very large and wide falls. Picturesque! There was a boardwalk leading to different views of the falls. It was getting late and there was only one other couple there.
We found the trail another trail to the Lower Mesa Falls. The trail was one mile each way. We ran most of the way there cause we wanted enough time to take some photos and not have to be in the thick bear infested woods after dark.
On the way to the falls I was scared out of my skin by a couple of bikers coming up quietly behind us. Later after I gave it some thought, I was glad they went in front of us. They spook all the bears and the snakes that may cross the narrow trail we were on.
The Lower Mesa Falls were a little scary. Where the trail ended you could hardly see the falls, so we climbed down over lava, through tall grass, and then on loose gravel covering rock that sloped down towards the falls. Cecil didn't even stick around long enough to take a photo of the falls from our location because of the dangerous terrain. These falls, much like the upper falls, were amazing. Darkness was winning this time. We scampered back up the sloping, rocky, snaking cliffs to a boulder field, and climbed the vertical cliffs back to our snake infested grassy plain, back towards the thin trail that weaved one mile back to our Jeep. The sky was colorful. Tall pines took on a beautiful silhouette in the beautiful sky. Quiet a pleasant walk back through the woods once we over the snake factor. Then all the sudden a loud rush of flapping against the cool evening air in the dense pine woods just a few feet away brought us to spine chilling stop. Just a cute, fat pheasant. Sounded like train in the quiet evening we were enjoying.
Called a bunch of hotels on the way out the dark woods drive we were on. Very expensive prices for normally inexpensive hotels. We were on the outskirts of Yellowstone. Thankfully found a KOA for measly $33 a night.
-Cecil and Anne
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