Idaho Falls, Idaho, United StatesSuper 8 by Wyndham, Idaho Falls ID
Super 8 by Wyndham Idaho Falls
| 705 Lindsay Blvd, I-15 Ex 118/119, Idaho Falls, ID, US |
| 1-208-522-8880 |
Since the window was open in the bedroom of my suite, I decided to keep it open, but it ended up that I was cold in the night.
Toward morning, I discovered that I could get warmer by putting pillows on the blanket in back and in front of me. I ended up getting up later than I expected - it was almost 7 am. I ate my muesli and made coffee in their coffee maker with only powdered creamer, but then mixed it with my leftover coffee and nuked it. It was better then. I packed up and left around 9 am. The GPS said I would be at the Craters of the Moon National Monument visitor center by 9:30 a.m. GPS hasn't accounted for my photo stops.
I stopped at a number of overlooks along the way because I could see the lava fields around me. It was pretty amazing and reminded me of Hawaii. Volcanos and all. The Visitor Center was just down the access road but it did not seem open even though it was supposed to be. Finally one woman of the people massing around the entrance opened the gift shop door and we got attention. The person in the git shop was also handing out the brochues and stamping them for people to have access to the caves after attesting that they were not wearing or carrying anything that had been in anyother cave - EVER.
We were supposed to take photos of what we were wearing and never wear those clothes to a cave....all to save the bats from White Nose Syndrome. I support the effort! My photos of what I was wearing did not come out - I only got the top of my head in two of them, but I did get my Itlegs and feet. As it was I ran out of time and had to leave the park at 4 pm to go find a hotel/motel before dark.
The park has a 7 mile road loop. The campground is right after the visitor center and the entrance. The first stop was on the left side and had a half mile trail (one way). This North Crater Flow Trail was nice and gave me a feel for what the park is like. It is basically the center crater of a volcano filled with cinders and ash. It makes for pretty nice walking. There are also lava flows, the lava cascades. There is quite a bi of vegetation - timber pine trees with mistletoe growing in them. Then an assortment of shrubby plants - like sagebruch and the one with the yellow flowers which are now turned to puffs like dandelion puffs.
I really liked the landscapes, the dark rocks and the muted pastels of the shrubs.
I think that the Inferno Cone was next, but I might have missed something. (How could I have forgotten the Devil's Garden Nature Trail!?) I hadn't intended to walk up the Inferno Cone but an enthusiastic woman from Seattle, a former Southern Californian, kind of talked me into it. I am glad I did because the walk up the slope wasn't really that bad and it was a great view. I took out my sticks and hiking boots for the effort. Next I think were the holes in a few cones - I should remember their names - one was the Snow Cone. (There were the Spatter Cones.)
Finally I took the road that went to the Tree Mold trail and chose that trail which was about 2 miles over the three plus one. When I got near the end, I asked a couple where the end was, and they said right there. They also told me about their discovery: past the sign that said the trail was not maintained past that point, they had placed a marker - sort of like a cross made from a tree branch - where there was an impression that looked a lot like a tire tread impression.
It was then that I realized that the molds in the lava were of trees, rather than some sort of fungus - tree mold. Duh! I looked and looked and finally found wht looked like a cross and there I found the tire tread. As I had been searching around, I had seen another very similar to it. A bunch of people were coming down the trail about thie time I was heading back, so I told them about the discovery.
An elderly couple let me pass them. Then the couple I had tipped off came by and said they had found the tire tread mold. They were rushing back so they could see the caves before they had to leave. They walked very fast. I walked pretty fast and was ahead of the couple who let me by. As I neared the beginning, I walked up a hill of ash to the top where I remembered having made my way down. I kept going - looking for the path but ended up not finding it and going back to another trail I had seen and disregarded. The elderly couple was now at the juncture so I told them to take that path.
They were still hesitant and let me go ahead and let them know if it was the right path. It was and I yelled to them that I could see the parking lot.
I was starved by this time. I had eaten 2 granola bars, drank most of my coffee and at least half of a bottle of gatorade, but I decided to try to squeeze in a visit to the cave trailhead before having to leave since by now it was 4 pm. My seat belt alarm kept going off even though I had it fastened. It would stop and then start up again. Very annoying. I tried a bunch of things to try to stop it but nothing worked and it kept on going off the whole trip to Idalho Falls. Very annoying.
I drove the mostly flat route 20/26/93 from the park, through Arco. I saw the Arco Inn and a few other motels but none looked appealing. I had tried to find and book a motel for the night but the gps kept coming up with nothing. I looked at the map and headed toward Idaho Falls. First the road went through more lava and ash fields, then it turned to more sagebruch and then more farms.
At first there were ranges of mountains - some pretty rocky - and then there were a couple of pointy ones sticking up in the middle of the horizon and no other hills or mountains around. I am not sure what they were growing but there were bright green, yellow and even sort of white fields, lots of beautiful stacks of hay bales, sprinklers and lots of trucks on the road. There were several semis loaded with hay bales. The two-lane road was pretty busy. When I got behind a slower car, everyone else passed us. Eventually I could go at my own pace and get passed or followed -some of both.
At one point, Rt. 26 split off from 20 and I was afraid I had taken the wrong road. It took ages to find a place to pull over and check. It turned out I was OK. Eventually, I drove into Idaho Falls and booked a room at the Super 8 by Wyndham. When I went to go there, I saw it was only a mile away but I ended up going a very roundabout way. I am on the 3rd floor. I made two trips with my stuff. I parked near the back door. Again, the door was open, but I tried to open it with my room key. Then I had to find the elevator by going through the room with washing machines, ice and soda machines. When I got to the 3rd floor, I had to go through some hallway to get to the hallway with rooms on them. It was so bad. My room is good - typical super 8/motel 6 sink outside the bathroom, but. that is OK. I have a desk, a mini refrigerator with separate freezer door on top. I put the heat on and am pretty comfy.
It is 9:20 pm. It must be Rocky Mountain time. Now I have only to upload the Nikon pics and I can go to sleep. I don't know that I am that tired, but I think I will be by then - cause I have lots of pics to upload.
2025-05-22