Road Trip

At the beginning of August, we took the boys and Kimi and headed for Jerome. What started as a simple school shopping trip became a day full of sightseeing and driving in the car for over 15 hours. We usually go shopping in Idaho Falls, but we decided to change up the plan and go somewhere new and include some additional fun stops along the way.

Our first stop (other than the 2 times we pulled over for puking kids along the river road) was the Craters of the Moon Visitor's Center, which we used as a pit-stop. The boys were completely enthralled with the displays, and we resolved to take them camping there next year to explore the site more.

We continued on the road to our next stop, the Shoshone Ice Caves. We took a tour of the freezing caves, which are really lava tubes with air currents that create the year-round thick ice floor. The tour guide tour talked about the geological, volcanic, and historical background of the area.

After we warmed back up, we left for Jerome to go school shopping. We didn't need much--shoes, backpacks, jeans, socks. I'd been preparing throughout the summer for all 3 boys starting school, so the actual shopping part of the trip was very easy and fast. We also stopped at another store in Jerome to say hello to our cousin Brittany, before driving on to Twin Falls.

We took the boys to the edge of the famous Perrine Bridge overlooking the Snake River Canyon. Josh showed them the golf course he played at the base of the canyon, 485 feet below.

Next stop: the Shoshone Falls, which is just a few miles down the Snake River. The Shoshone waterfalls are SOOO beautiful! By the time we got there, the wind had started blowing pretty hard, so the boys didn't appreciate the beauty as much as I did, but it was well worth seeing!!!

After that, we visited Josh's brother Caleb's grave in the Hazelton cemetary.

Then we continued the drive across southern Idaho...in Burley we ate dinner at McDonald's, at American Falls we drove by the Reservoir, in Pocatello we went shopping some more, and in Idaho Falls we gassed up for the final stretch home. After Lone Pine, we encountered some serious lightning storms, witnessed hundreds of strikes, got shook by thunder, and endured severe hail and wind.

It was an absolutely wonderful day that had a bad beginning with puking kids in the car, and a crazy ending with driving in the dark through terrible storms, but I am so grateful that we made the long road trip and saw some of the sites in southern Idaho!!!