Wright Brothers National Memorial

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Wright Brothers National Memorial

Posted on October 14, 2011October 14, 2011 by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Who would have thought we’d be able to take advantage of our annual National Park pass while at the beach but thanks to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, we were able to do so on a particularly beautiful day! The Husband and I had both visited the memorial before (him – multiple times; me – when we came out for our wedding back in 2008) but two of our friends had never been. We took advantage of the free time, our free entry for out pass, and the beautiful weather to get in a visit before our friends’ wedding.

The markers note where each of their flights landed. The fourth one is way off in the distance.

Busts of the brothers.

Craters of the Moon

Posted on October 4, 2011October 2, 2011 by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

On Sunday morning, we packed up the car and headed west to Craters of the Moon National Monument. We first heard about the Craters of the Moon from a CNN article about the “top 15 places to go before you’re 15” back in March. In case you’re wondering what a “National Monument” is versus a “National Park” (as I was), the National Park Service advises that a National Monument is an “area reserved by the National Government because they contain objects of historic, prehistoric, or scientific interest” whereas a national park is an area set aside for the general public due to an “outstanding scenic feature or natural phenomena” (source). As such, the Craters of the Moon was pretty small compared to the national parks we’ve been to so far.

When we first arrived at the park, we stopped in the Visitors Center and watched a movie about the establishment of the national monument. We learned about how the white settlers avoided the desolate area, why the Native Americans find it to be sacred, and the work of Robert Limbert which caused it to become a national monument. Craters of the Moon got its name from residents comparing its look to what they believed they saw the moon’s surface to look like through a telescope. (During the moon visits in the 1960s, though, we learned that the terrain is not the same). The terrain here was formed from the volcanoes that were last active about 2,000 years ago in the area.

Look! Craters!

(Not really… the Husband took a photo of a poster in the Visitors Center)

After we had our fun in there, we hopped in the car to tour the Loop Drive off of which were numerous look out points and trails. The first one we stopped at was the first “point of interest” – North Crater Flow. There was a quarter-mile paved trail which took us out into the hardened lava.

If you look really close at the next one, you can see me in the top third of the right third of the photo (the Husband tried to show the rocks and size to scale)

Across the road from all of the above rockiness was the super smooth lava rocks.

And lots more vegetation.

After the first stop, most of the rest were closed for repaving of the roads Sad smile We were able to stop at 2 more stops though and snap a few more photos.

The desolation just goes on for miles and miles and miles…

Before we headed out of the park, we noticed that the North Crater had a trail that took us on top of one of the hills so we jumped out to see what we could see. It was a steep climb but as we made it we saw a chipmunk (the only wildlife we saw other than pretty neat crickets/grasshopper looking bugs)

The view from up there…

And then we headed out. A few miles from the visitors center, we came upon a “scenic overlook” and took our obligatory couple photo with the terrain in the background.

After our trip to Craters of the Moon, we headed back east toward Idaho Falls and through to Wilson, Wyoming where we’re spending the next few days! We’re headed to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons and who knows where else this week and we’re so excited. Before we left Idaho, though, we saw some more great scenery.

See you from Yellowstone!

Great Basin National Park

Posted on October 2, 2011October 1, 2011 by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

The Husband and I are on vacation and we’re hoping to blog about it in relative real time! (We’ll get back to our July/August/September travels and eats in the coming weeks) We’re on a roadtrip exploring Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah before we head to the beach for a wedding. First stop on our road trip was Great Basin National Park. We had decided in advance that we would camp and we would try to take advantage of the cave tours they offered. We were running late leaving Las Vegas so when we pulled up at 3 minutes till 3:00pm (the last running of the tours for the day), we were nervous we’d miss them. Thankfully, though, now that they’re moving into the off season, they were willing to add us at the last minute!

Tickets for the 60 minute Lodge Room Tour were only $8 per person and well worth it!

Before the tour started, our group of 7 sat while our park ranger explained stelagtites, stelagmites, and the other natural, living structures we’d see inside. We even got to handle a stelagtite (the ones that come down from the ceiling) partly so we could learn more about what we were going to see but also to give us an opportunity to touch one without touching the living ones inside the cave.

Once the tour started, we moved into a manmade tunnel which was created in the 1930s. (The caves were discovered in the late 1800s)

We walked through a number of rooms that had been modified slightly for tourists. However, once the caves became a national park, no more modifications were made in order to preserve the living stelagtites, stelagmites, and other formations. You could see many drops of water on them as they were forming and some of us (me included!) got “cave kissed” when a drop fell on us Smile

Our park ranger Shannon was very informative, friendly, and fun. We had a great time in the tour and were glad that we made it in time!

After we were done, shortly before 4, the Husband and I headed into town for some dinner supplies and then headed back to choose a camp site and set up our tent. We found a site next to a creek and we looked forward to the sound of running water later while we slept.

After the tent was up, we jumped back in the car to tour and photograph the Wheeler Park Scenic Drive which is a 12 mile drive that rises in elevation approximately 3000 feet. The views were breathtaking!

We saw wildlife during the drive… Turkeys (including baby turkeys!)

Deer…

Jack Rabbits…

And signs suggesting Marmots (but no actual marmots)

Here’s a goofy photo of me trying to get the camera remote to work Smile

Back to nature…

And back to camp…

As it got closer to sunset, we built a fire, ate dinner, and started to prep the camera for what we hoped would be some good astral photography. After a bout of rain and clouds and some tweaking of the camera settings, the Husband got some pretty good astral photos if we do say so ourselves.