Road Tripping with Ozzie - 3

   

We were glad to give a goodbye wag of the tail to Nevada, the most arid of the United States. We are beyond that desolation now and on the edge of the real mountains: The Rockies.

    We headed east from Winnemucca towards Salt Lake City then before we reached the Utah border took a sharp left onto U.S. 93 and headed north to Idaho.

    The day’s highlight was watching the desert become high desert, then foothills. Then we hit the Craters of the Moon. What a weird sight.

    Craters of the Moon is a lava field covering more than 600 square miles. It is a fascinating jumble of broken black lava rock strewn along the eastern edge of the mountains. It got there through eight major eruption periods between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago.

    The dark lava field was almost devoid of vegetation. It was so strange looking it stirred local legends and growing public interest. In 1923, geologist Harold T. Sterns described the area as “The surface of the moon as seen through a telescope.”

   President Calvin Coolidge, noting the wide public interest, had it declared a national monument in 1924.

   You can find out more about this strange place at: http://www.nps.gov/crmo/naturescience/geologicactivity.htm

   After the lava field we headed into a campground where many folks were starting to gather for the weekend. I had to make myself available for pictures of course. Sometimes I get a bit tired of all the attention, but I guess I really have a duty to my public.

   That’s why I keep a lot of stuff about myself secret. Can you imagine the crowds if people discovered I am an educated dog who can write?

   Tomorrow we head for Yellowstone in Wyoming.

Oz

Strolling at Salmon Creek, ID

Marcus, Me and John