Crater's of the Moon

SORRY!!! I'm so sorry for not posting in a while. There's been some drama recently with my blog and I just got it all sorted out. I deleted an email account that I didn't know was linked to my blog and by doing that I deleted the entire blog... Well Paul saved my life after I cried for about an hour and got my blog back up and running but in the process I had reestablish that email address and reset my password. Paul being the super sneaky person that he is, reset my password to something I couldn't figure out and something he couldn't remember so I haven't been able to get on... But now we've gotten everything figured out and know I know what my password is and I'll try to do my best at getting back to this on a regular basis!!!

The sad thing is not to much has happened since I last posted. I figured instead of trying to recap everything that's happened over the last 2 months I'd just start with our AMAZING adventure from today. I'll try not to post too many pictures but I had so much fun!!! Riann is really turning into a sweet girl. We've recently dealt with a lot of temper tantrums and "life ending" fits that I've been really afraid for what was coming over the next year. However for the most part she seems to be getting past most of it and is really a LOT of fun to hang out with. I hope it stay this way and that it doesn't get any worse when she gets closer to 2. This better not be the calm before the storm!!!

Well today we decided to go on adventure. I was having a really rough day and just wanted to disappear. Paul was trying to get Riann down for a nap and I barged into the room and told him we needed to go for a car ride. This is something we used to do quite a bit and so it seemed like a great idea for the weekend I had been having. Paul not being one to say no to anything involving cars picked up Riann and walked straight to the door. In about 10 minutes we had a little bit of food, a few jackets, and we were off. We weren't sure where we were going at first but Paul checked out the map and decided that Crater's of the Moon looked like fun. We hadn't been there before and we both REALLY wanted to do a trip out there so we decided that today was the day.

It took us about 2 hours to get out there... not the amount of time we thought it would take, we thought we were only about an hour away but I guess were about 2... we pulled in and we were pretty surprised right off. I was always told that it was just a bunch of Craters that were made from old volcano's that had erupted and fell apart hundreds of years ago so I didn't expect to be blown away by anything too amazing. As you come into the park everything goes from sagebrush to black lava. The whole ground is the beautiful black rock that just winds in every direction you can see. As we got further into the park we started to realize this wasn't anything like what we had been told. Now if your not really a nature person you may not appreciate how beautiful it really was. To most it's probably just a ton of lava, but if you really get to look at it and see what it's like and take the time to image how it all got there, everything that was created was pretty amazing.

At our first stop we started on a short hike through a small lava field but moved on quickly because there were some pretty nasty clouds coming in. On our way to our next stop we decided we weren't going to rush through the park because of rain and so we got out and really started to look around. Our next stop was a cone that we were allowed to hike up. I think the sign said it was about a 68% incline and it was about .5 miles long. We had forgotten to grab Riann's stroller so we were a little worried about how much she would want to really get out and hike but we started up and she followed. We had to carry her a few times because the paths were too narrow or the hills were too steep or rocky but she was amazing!!! She trucked along everywhere we went and we didn't have to decide to not do anything because she was with us. She was so happy to be there and she seemed to love every minute of it just as much as we did.

Fast-forwarding a lot... We hiked around a few more places and came up to some caves that were in the park towards the end. We were all getting tired and there was only one cave out of the 5 were were equipped to go through so we hiked straight over to it. We hadn't seen any rain until just the very end so we figured it was fine to keep going. We came up on the tunnel and climbed right in. It was pretty rocky but Riann was really patient with all of the carrying and passing off we had to do and we had a blast exploring. While we were in the tunnel there were lots of pigeons that kept flying out of their holes and it kept spooking us. We weren't sure where we were going and at times they sounded like bats so we were a little on edge. Once we finally got to the end of the tunnel and had to hike over the lava fields and back to the car. About this time it really started to rain and we even had some thunder clouds come in over us. We decided because we were pretty much the tallest things out in the middle of the lava fields we had better book it back. We got back to the car just in time and got out of the rain. On the way home we got to see some of the most amazing lightening we've seen out here so far. Our battery was dead on the camera or else I'd have pictures of that too.

I have a TON of pictures but most of them need to be compiled into panoramic shots. As soon as Paul has those together I'll put them up but for now here are a few shots of our adventure. It was soooo much fun!!! I'm so glad we got to spend today together. I have one of the most amazing families and every moment I get with them is absolutely wonderful!!! I love them both sooo much and I'm so grateful for the memories I get to create with them every single day!!!

This is one of the first things you see as you come into the park. It's just a black mass of lava and whatever vegetation can survive out there. There were a few chipmunks but they were too fast and too small to catch with the camera.

Just one of the lava mounds around the first places we stopped.

Paul and Riann walking up the steep cone. At the top it was amazing!! There isn't anything growing anywhere on this thing until you get to the top. There are a few trees and a lot of brush. Up there you also get a great view of the valley and the rest of the main stops in the park. I got some great pictures from up here and can't wait for Paul to get them set up.

It was super windy at the top so we had Riann "fly" down the hill side. We're going to cut Paul out of the picture and see what it looks like...

Paul and Riann at our second stop. This was at the top of another lava cone. The center of this was all hallowed out and there was still snow at the very bottom from last winter.

One of the small caves on the way to the main tunnel/cave we got to hike through.

The road into the caves. You can tell we were getting bad weather on the way in...

The road out of the caves. It cleared up a little at the end giving us just enough time to get out dry.

Inside the cave. I think this might be this year's Christmas card picture!!!

One last shot before we had to get moving through the cave.

Riann our little hiker. She did a great job!!!