Craters of the Moon

A short drive from Hailey, Idaho we encountered this very unusual sight.  The name sure told the story, Craters of the Moon.

There was as loop drive but having the 5’er attached we were not too sure of taking it in.  "the Devil's Vomit" is how one Oregon- bound pioneer described his encounter with Craters of the Moon. Hundreds of pioneers travelled through the area on the Goodale's Cutoff section of the Oregon trail in the 1850's and 1860's.  Web site  http://www.nps.gov/crmo

We were planning on spending the night in Gardiner, Montana at the north exit to Yellowstone, as we had not seen the Mammoth Hot Springs, but when I called from West Yellowstone, that was not an option as all the campgrounds were full.  That also became a problem in West Yellowstone, so we decided to make a run for Bozeman, Montana.  We had the great luck to see a grizzly in the wild long the road.

 

Once again the same problem, but the campground host called another up the road and found us a site.  Now it was not bad as we were all set up by six, but for us it was a long day.  The next day was almost as iffy, although we did start trying to stop early, right after lunch actually.  The trouble today was other than full campgrounds, they had so much rain the night before that there was no parking other than on concrete, which most did not have.  We drove until we reached Medora ND, and it is a charming little destination town.  At night, during the summer,there is a great musical production in the pavilion up on the hill.  The view behind this stage is awesome as you can see for miles.  There are escalators that take you up and down…thank goodness. 

 

There were two large bull elk on a bluff behind the stage and the silhouettes were amazing, my pictures do not due them justice.

Which we decided that being as we were here was meant to be, so we took it in last night.  Great show, and the comedians bit about Rv’ers was roll in the isles funny.

  This morning we woke up to rain, and decided it was a kick back, relax day. We did go out for lunch, but that  was about it, the sun played peek-a-boo most of the afternoon,  but we  just snuggled in.  Life is Good.