It was hard to leave Redfish Lake. But we want to get to the East Coast by early July and have lots more to see. We needed to get an oil change for the truck and decided to have it done in Idaho Falls and spend the night there.
On the way to Idaho Falls, we stopped at Craters of the Moon, an enormous lava field in the middle of the desert that stretches as far as you can see (over 600 acres).
Black layer of lava with little or no vegetation after thousands of years
Surprisingly, it doesn’t look all that different from the recent Kalapana lava flow on the Big Island, even though it’s more than 2000 years old.
The campground in Idaho Falls was quite a contrast from the jaw-dropping beauty and solitude of Redfish Lake. It initially seemed nice enough for a small city campground–it had trees, decent sized lots, and the owners seemed pleasant. But it grew increasingly ugly. The site was strewn with popsicle sticks and other questionable litter–not unusual for busy campgrounds, but still kind of gross. The wifi was “limited,” meaning unusable, and my wifi shut down completely (I was sure they were punishing me for using too much band width). While George was diagnosing the problem, I went out to sit on the trailer steps and read. I brushed away something from my bare foot, which turned out to be a squirrel–on my foot. Shades of marmots.
The next morning, early, a man was sitting on a picnic table by the bathrooms, wearing sunglasses and chain-smoking cigarettes while he watched the kids at the next campsite play while the family was taking down their tent. Very creepy. We packed up and left as soon as we could and headed back to the mountains.
It was another flawless day weather-wise, with enough wind to make the driving lively. We drove into Wyoming and through Jackson, a moneyed, high-end tourist enclave set in the amazing Tetons.
Tetons
George and the Tetons reflected off the front of the trailer
Jackson was crowded with people spending money and we kept going, over Togwatee Pass, to a destination more suited to us—Dubois.
Heading up to Togwatee Pass
Dubois originally was called “Never Sweat” because of the dry winds, but the post office rejected the name and it was renamed Dubois for a then-Senator. In protest of the name change, the residents pronounced the name “Dewboyz” rather than the French pronunciation. How can you not like this town?
There are amazing views in every direction, and they are all different. Snow covered peaks to the west,
sculpted red cliffs to the north,
Across the river from our campground
rolling grassy hills hiding a string of lakes to the south, and the Wind River running throughout.
Our campground, the Longhorn Ranch and RV Resort, was set in a horseshoe bend of the river and filled with towering cottonwoods. It was beautiful.
Campground cottonwoods
The town was at least as dog-friendly as Bend and Zoe frequented several more restaurants.
Zoe petroglyph hunting
We went petroglyph hunting in the hills one afternoon and found these beauties on the boulders.
Our kind of town, Never Sweat.
Downtown Dubois
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