Today was just supposed to be a setup day, where we travel to Boise to be ready for tomorrow's whitewater rafting. We had planned at stopping at the Shoshone Ice Cave, but frankly it wasn't supposed to be that great. Luckily, some biker we met at Glacier recommended that we make sure we didn't miss the Craters of the Moon National Monument.   I checked the map and we were only about 50 miles away. Then Jody's Mom, Joan, chimed in with her endorsement, so it was settled. No Shoshone Ice cave, Craters of the Moon instead. Boy are we glad we did!
     We left Hailey at about 8:00 continuing on ID-75S, turning east on US-20E . Nothing special about the ride until we got about 15 miles outside of the Craters of the Moon National Monument. All of a sudden the ground on either side of the road got black and rocky and the entire terrain looked spooky. As we continued along the ground just kept getting darker and spookier until we reached the entrance to Craters of the Moon. We stopped at the Visitors Center, stamped our passports and got a map. Craters of the Moon is actually an old lava bed, left over from a 62 mile fissure in the earth that used to spew lava out until it stopped some tens of thousands of years ago. The ground is made up of lava stone, hardened lava flow and cinder cones. The park is laid out with a 2-lane entrance for a few miles, then a 1 way loop with a few 2-lane side passages. There were several hikes, mostly short, and since we had time we decided to do most of them.
     From the Visitors Center you could see the campground, and it looked awesome. The campers and tents were just set up among the lava rock and it looked eerie . We followed along the first path, taking lots of pictures, and ran into a little chipmunk colony among the stones. They scattered quickly, but I was able to get at least one good picture. When we got back to the parking lot, we met another couple on a Harley, towing a trailer from Grafton, Massachusetts. They had been on the road since May 22, and had a few more weeks left before they had to return home. They were very nice.
     The next hike was actually a climb up a huge pile of volcanic ash. It must have been several hundred feet high, and we climbed basically straight up. It was steep, but at least we knew the climb down would be easier. You could see the entire park from up there, and according to the park ranger you could see the Grand Tetons in the distance. We rested up at the top for a while, before making the easy descent back to the bike..
     Next stop was at some cinder cones. You could hike to the top of the cone, asnd peer down into the opening where the lava had originally flowed . It was still early morning, and there weren't many people at the park, which made for a pleasant experience. We followed along the loop road for a while, and came to a section marked "Cave Area".   They called them caves, but they were really lava tubes, long underground cylinders left over after the lava flow. The longest was Indian Tunnel, probably a few hundred feet long, that we could climb down into and explore. There were several openings in the ceiling of Indian Tube that kept it reasonably well lit. '
     By the time we left Indian Tube, we began to be grateful that we had visited early in the day. The weather around here seems unusual to a Floridian, but they see it as normal. It starts out in the morning in the 50's, and begins to warm up to the 70's buy noon, and this week, well into the 90's or 100's by 5:00, the hottest time of the day. Then it begins to cool back down. Since the lava is mostly black, it can easily get over 150 degrees in the summer. We could begin to feel the heat, and it was only noon by the time we had finished .
     We went back to the Visitors Center and met a group of Goldwing riders from British Columbia in the parking lot. They were very friendly had had lots of tips of where to go if we made it over to Vancouver Island. Once we went back inside the Visitors Center, we realized that we had missed the movie. As it was just starting, we watched the obligatory 20 minute video that explained all about the park. It was time to get back on the road, Boise was only a few hours away.
      I have nothing to say about the ride back over US-20W, other than it was straight, flat, and boring. As the day progressed, it just kept getting hotter and hotter, and the wind speed just kept getting faster. By the time we reached the end of US-20W in Mountain Home, we were hot, tired, and bored so we stopped at the McDonald's which was strategically located for a couple of large iced coffees before we tackled the final 40 miles to Boise on I-84W. I-84W was just the Interstate version of US-20, even flatter, straighter, and more boring .   By now it was even hotter (over 95 degrees) and windier. We just buckled down and plodded on to Biose where our air conditioned hotel room felt great!
     Along the way to Boise, I got a message from the rafting company to call them back.   When I called, they said there had been a cancellation, and that Jody and I were the only two passengers left on our particular trip. They said that only 2 paddlers and a guide were not enough to safely navigate the Class III and IV rapids, so our trip was cancelled. Looking for an alternative, I asked if the half day trip was still available, and we were able to book the half day version of the same rapids. It also leaves at 9:30 instead of 8:30, so we can sleep in an extra hour.
     We"re really looking forward to tomorrows rafting trip, half-day is better than none. Hopefully we can get some good pictures. For dinner tonight, it turns out there is a Joe's Crab Shack right next door to the hotel. Time for some Orlando food tonight in Boise, tastes like home!

243.8 miles today
7553.6 miles total

3.860 gallons today
179.341 gallons total