Tag Archives: idaho

Lava Hot Springs

Mexico Here We Come, ,
Xena eats ice cream
Xena gets her own cone because she eats more ice cream than Geneveve

We’re almost back on a more direct southern route, this time at more hot springs.  I saw Lava Hot Springs when looking for touristy stuff to do near our route, and I’m glad I did.  The hot springs water with a gigantic swimming pool and water slides are kinda cheesy, but it makes for a pretty fun day.

Again, having warm water to swim in has done wonders for Geneveve’s swimming abilities.  She’s going on small water slides by herself, something she wouldn’t even do after years of swimming at Mt Scott.  And she’s getting her head wet and attempting to swim in water deeper than she can touch.  Either the warm water has a magical effect on her progress, or something just clicked for her. Continue reading Lava Hot Springs →

Craters of the Moon

Mexico Here We Come, , ,
Ubu holds down the camp while Kim and the kids hike
Ubu holds down the camp while Kim and the kids hike

We weren’t sure if we’d last two nights here because it’s so desolate, we were worried it might be cold and windy, and our dog Ubuntu can’t go on most of the trails. It was well worth the trip though.

The campground definitely is desolate compared to the trees and lakes we’ve been camping near, but it’s also not crowded which is a very nice thing not having to fight for a spot on a Friday night. It wasn’t even close to half full either night. We got one of the few spots in the place that had a tree large enough to provide some shade. During the day it got pretty hot in direct sun, which is almost everywhere, but it was pretty nice in the little shade we could find. At night it was actually a lot warmer than it had been in the mountains, although the elevation here is still close to 6000 ft.  The weather at night was interesting with really high winds the first night and a thunder and lightning rain storm the second. But our tent handled it all very well, and the warm sun during the day dried everything out very quickly. Continue reading Craters of the Moon →

Sawtooth Wilderness

Mexico Here We Come, , ,
Ubu enjoys the scenery
Ubu enjoys the scenery

The landscape scenery is as impressive as we read it was. Jagged peaks surrounded by mountain rivers and lakes are one of my favorite environments in the world – at least during the summer. During the winter, they’re beautiful to look at, but living in that much isolation, darkness and snow for months on end isn’t something I’m entirely sure I would want to do again as a normal way of life.

We camped at Stanley Lake Inlet campground. The campground was nearly full on a Tuesday night, so I can only imagine how full it would be on a weekend. Continue reading Sawtooth Wilderness →

Missoula to Challis Hot Springs

Mexico Here We Come, , , ,
A Carousel for Missoula
A Carousel for Missoula

We had planned to just ride the carousel in Missoula and move on, but I discovered there was a convenient Holiday Inn downtown that had a pool for the kids, accepted dogs and I had points for a free night.  I signed up for an IHG credit card before we left on this trip and got enough points for 4 – 5 free hotel nights.  The challenge is to find places that both accept points for free nights and allow dogs.  Taking a shower and sleeping in a bed after camping and hiking always feels luxurious.  I’ll be curious to see what our ratio of tent nights to hotel nights will be for this trip. So far 3 nights camping to 1 night in a hotel. Continue reading Missoula to Challis Hot Springs →

Out of Our House, Into the Next

Before the Trip, , ,
From our rental house the view of the fireworks over the lake
From our rental house the view of the fireworks over the lake

Our adventure is beginning gradually,  which is a very good thing.  Even though we packed up all our stuff and rented our house out, the time off,  road trip portion of the adventure hasn’t begun yet.  Instead we’re getting our home base established at my parents’ house in Eastern Washington:  storing stuff,  changing addresses,  updating insurance and all those other mundane things necessary to make sure life functions smoothly while we’re on the road and away from civilization. Continue reading Out of Our House, Into the Next →