21.-27.05.2007: Mesa Scenic BW - Craters of the Moon National Monument - Sun Valley The temperature dropped on Monday and we had hail. On Tuesday, we were woken up by a loud whoosh followed by a thump that shook the motorhome! "What on earth was that?!" Helen looked out the window and said "Oh my God!!" There was 4 inches of snow outside! The "whoosh, thump" was the 4 inches of snow sliding down the alcove window and landing onto the bonnet! We couldn't believe our eyes because we hadn't heard the snow falling. We thought we would have to stay where we were parked but then we thought if it snows any more we would really get stuck! Fortunately we managed to drive back to the road without getting stuck! It was really cold (10°C) so we tried to find a campground. The one we looked at seemed to be full of old, rotting static trailers and very run down. We couldn't find anyone to ask about price etc so we just drove off and went to a Wal-Mart car park instead. No campground meant no electricity and no heat but we have lots of fleece things and hot water bottles so we weren't going to freeze. The next day we went to Flying J's but the dump station was blocked and overflowing - yeuch! So we went for a shower there. Next stop was the first atomic power plant in the world, called EBR 1. An atomic plane had been developed which was designed to work off atomic power, but Kennedy pulled the plug on the project so it never flew! At a little town called Arco there was a free dump station and we also found a little cafe where we had a late lunch. They were selling their own home made spice (paprika, garlic etc) which smelled really good and is designed for steaks or chicken, casseroles, salads, anything you want. (We have now used it several times and its really good!) So if you go to Arco, Idaho, stop at "Pickles Place" and pick up a jar of spice! - or two and send one to us!!! It was already late afternoon but we still decided to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument. We watched a couple of videos and looked at various exhibits at the visitor centre which was very interesting. Beginning about 15,000 years ago, lava started erupting here. It is a hot spot that gradually moved and is currently under Yellowstone National Park. But there could still be an eruption here at Craters of the Moon. There is an eruption every 2,000 years and the last one was just over 2,000 years ago! In other words, the next eruption is due! We decided to quickly take a look around before anything erupts! We drove along the 7 mile loop road and did a couple of the short trails through lava formations. It started raining as were looking at some of the lava caves. We had seen virtually everything we wanted to see anyway. We took a day off seeing as we had a place to park in the wild and got visited by a herd of sheep with men on horseback and sheep dogs herding them to pasture. On Friday we drove to Sun Valley which is a very touristy part of Idaho. We'd had an email from Barry saying where he was parked. We met Barry 3 years ago in Baja, Mexico - he took us out in his little boat in Baja and we discovered a dead body!! - and also went to see him in Florida when we were there in 2005. We managed to find his RV parked about 7 miles out of Sun Valley at a free campground next to the river. He was obviously not in when we arrived but he turned up a few hours later. We ended up chatting and catching up for quite a while - we had obviously been crossing paths for the last 4 weeks but had never managed to meet up because by the time one of us got to the internet, the other had already left. So we finally managed to meet up. We got up early the next morning and went for a drive from hell!! Barry is really fond of going on four wheel drive roads and testing his car out to its absolute limits!! It's been so long since we've seen him, that we'd forgotten just how bad it can get!! He has a new truck that he obviously wanted to try out. But the problem was, that he couldn't see over the bonnet on sharp uphills or sharp downhills - which is basically when you really need to see where you're driving! We are too used to the opposite with Winnie - ie, avoiding every teeny bump, or hole. So our hearts were in our throats as we were thrown around, whilst Barry was blindly negotiating badly rutted roads and impossible tracks that looked like they had been earthquake damaged!! Somehow, we managed to survive and then drove to a trailhead and did an 8 mile loop walk along Fox Creek and Chocolate Gulch. The walk was quite exhausting and Kirsten screamed when a snake slithered across the path in front of her!! (She was probably still in shock after the ride from hell!!) We went back to Winnie where we had lunch - homemade chilli and quesadillas. We only had time to do the washing up and have bowl washes, when we were off again. We drove into Sun Valley and did the "Art walk" - visiting lots of art galleries, most of which had snacks and drinks for free. It was very interesting walking around all of them and trying out all the food! There were fresh strawberries and chantilly cream, salmon and dill dip, raw veggie platters with dips, exquisite brownies, camembert and fresh raspberries and various drinks. (As you can see, we were more interested in the food than the art!!!) But at least Helen paid attention because she found that the most expensive painting we saw was valued at $65,000 and was a really ugly, sci-fi type thing from 1951! (Please note the expert description!) On Sunday, we went to see the start of the Sun Valley marathon at 9am. We nearly missed the start because we got waylaid by two vehicles worth a total of 2 million dollars, parked in front of a hotel. A Porsche Carrera ($600,000) and a Ferrari Enzo ($1.4 million). The parking valet/ car security guard was called M. Schumacher!!!! No joke! We managed to see the start of the marathon and wondered where all the people were - about 40 participants. We had expected large crowds! So Helen had to join in!! Then we went to the "Springfest" which was also very small - 30 stalls selling various arts and crafts. At one stall we were invited to buy a raffle ticket for the roulette which gives you a square in a field. On the 4th July, lots of horses are put in the field and if one of them shits in your square, you win!!! The local firebrigade were there and Helen had to sit in the cab and put the helmet on for a photo op. Kirsten could hardly stop laughing long enough to take the photo! In the afternoon we drove along another 4 wheel drive track and then went on a 4 mile hike, past waterfalls, over a river (balancing on tree trunks), and through snow. The last part of the hike was supposed to be switchbacks up to a pass, but there weren't any switchbacks - the path was just a vertical scree slope! We may have made it up in 45 minutes but coming down would have only taken 5 seconds!!! So common sense prevailed and we turned around and headed home.