Driving Home from Yellowstone

We were in Southern Idaho when we headed for home and it was such a beautiful drive. We were in the middle of nowhere most of the time. We kept seeing signs that said “Watch for Game” and saw zilch. We saw “Watch for Stock” signs and saw not a single cow. The rest areas in Idaho may be few & far between, but they are awesome! I wish I had taken a picture! Beautiful, clean, air-conditioned buildings with informational posters and covered picnic areas. I wish all rest areas could be like that. We arrived at Craters of the Moon National Monument in the late morning and stopped for a quick tour. It was a pretty cool place – pretty much it’s what’s leftover from a gazillion years ago when what is now Yellowstone was actually there in Idaho…has to do with shifting plates, etc.

We took a driving tour and walked to a couple lookouts and points of interest.

The mounds of dark lava rock are just really cool.

We continued driving northwest and drove through some of eastern Oregon up into south central WA. It was an incredibly beautiful drive and most of those highways we had never been on before. The only downside was that coming that way  you go over approximately 184 mountain passes. Well, maybe more like 6, but it seems like A LOT in a 12 hour driving day! We made it home safely and happy and pretty much out of food, which is just the way I like to get home from a great vacation.