Moon Walk To Mountain Top!

Boy, oh boy, have we had excitement since leaving The Tetons.

Mama and Papa wanted to see something new so they chose a place in southern Idaho near Arco which was the first American city to be totally powered by atomic power. This was the location of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The drive took us through some beautiful countryside in Wyoming, and then onto the high desert of Idaho where we lost the air conditioner in the truck. Zoe and I loved it with the windows open and the wind “a blowin”. Dad complained about the 93 degree temperature, but we loved it.

Bluebird in the Craters

By the the time we got to the campground, everybody was tired because wehad to drive through 40 mph winds. That didn't stop us from heading

out to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.  Whew!  That's a mouthful!  The last eruption of this volcanic area was 2000 years ago.  The Pahoehoe flow traveled 18 miles before it stopped.  We could even see lava rocks in our campground in Arco.  We all drove over to the park which was very stark and empty except for the lava beds. The wind was blowing so hard we would have
been blown into a lava tube if we got out, so we all just rode around and looked from the car. 

This is so cool!  It looks like Hawaii - or at least that's what the parents said.  But, it's sharp and black and hard on puppy paws.  I know this because the first people who crossed the volcanic field who weren't Native Americans were two guys and a dog.  Big mistake!  This guy, Robert Limbert decided that someone needed to preserve this area so he got a friend, Walter Cole, and his Airedale dog went with him.  You know, the tragedy of this is that nowhere is his dog's name given!  The good news is that Limbert loved his pooch so much that he carried him many miles over the lava when his paws became so cut and sore from walking on the lava that he could only hobble.  Bad people would just have left this big guy there.  He's good people!


The next day Mom and Dad went back and hiked into lava tubes which would have been fun for us. We knew by then, though, that this type of ground is really hard on poor little puppy paws, so it was good that we stayed at the camper.  Still, we had to stay alone.  It is amazing how many flowers and trees find a way to live on the lava fields.

Mt. Hood

We were there only 2 nights and then drove on towards The Columbia Gorge. The air still was not working but an Papa got an appointment to have the truck looked at in "The Dalles", Oregon which was near Hood River where we were going to stay for a week.  Mom offered to drive on the way there, again, and noticed something loose on the camper so she stopped along the interstate. They got out to discover the the back camper tire had shredded with only a 1/2 inch of tread left on either side.  The center was completely bare like a reverse Mohawk haircut -  or the opposite from Zoe's Mohawk when she gets riled up!  We were so lucky that the tire did not blow.  We made it to town and were able to get all 4 tires replaced but discovered that the tire pieces had damaged the underside of the camper. But, we could drive it and found out we could get the camper fixed in Portland which is where our good friend Nancy - from old times in Germany - lives. 

We camped in a state park for 6 nights right along the Columbia River Gorge. There was a great field in back of the camper where I could run, run and run.  Every time the folks would leave us alone to watch the kite boarders and wind surfers in Hood River or explore the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway, they would return, feel guilty about leaving us alone,  and take me out to play in the field. FUN ! FUN ! FUN !



They took us up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and we got to play in he snow!  It was  51 degrees. Our little tender paws got really cold but I really loved it.  Zoe didn't quite know what to do - first thing she thought of was to turn the snow white! Yuck!  Who wants to roll around in yellow snow?


We got to visit wineries and fruit orchards on the way to Mt. Hood.  You know, there is only one food I don't like - celery.  They don't grow celery near Hood River.  We saw cherry trees that I could have feasted under and apples starting on the trees.  I'd spend more time running through the lavender fields, too!  Zoe really liked it every time we left the park because the rangers gave us doggie treats when we came back.  I even ate them just so Zoe wouldn't get it all! There were tons of squirrels for us to chase, too, if we had been able to.  There were so many that they looked like lemmings going over the edge of the gorge cliffs! 

Remember the fires in Estes Park?  Well, they followed us to Hood River, too. They were close by but we couldn’t smell them.  The firefighters were worried as much about falling off the cliffs and the rattlesnakes as they were about being able to contain the fires.  When we heard about the snakes, Zoe and I didn’t like walking in the tall grass much anymore!

On the 4th of July, we drove over to Mt. Adams in southern Washington and spent the day getting lost and seeing beautiful scenery. We heard lot of fireworks that night, but never saw any.  There was part of the road that had blockades up and the road had dropped four or five inches down.  We either had to go back 25 miles or go across it.  I think that we went across it but I crawled under my pillow and didn't watch.  It's bad, you know, when the folks stop talking and the knuckles of their hands get really white while holding on!  Anyway, when I came out from under the pillow, we were on a really small road and I hoped there would not be any cars that came toward us - there wasn't anywhere to go.  Whew!  We made it back though.

We drove to Portland and left the camper to get fixed and stayed in our first hotel. We liked the camper much better. There was a big bowl of treats near the hotel door, though, so Dad got us one every time he took us for a walk. I had to go out alottttttt!. We got to see Nancy, a friend from their Germany days which made Mom and Dad happy.  We love Nancy!  She is the best!  We met her two years ago and she brought us the best treats.   It only took one overnight before we could pick up the camper and we headed out for Newport on the Oregon Coast where we are going to stay.


Hope that Zoe has ONLY good news on the next part of our voyage!

Here's wishes for “Fair Winds and Following Seas”!

Phaedra (and Zoe)