We woke up this morning in West Yellowstone, Montana.  We went shopping to go look for a key chain.   I am collecting a key chain from every state!  As we were walking down the street we bumped into the “Yellowstone Pawparazzi”.

After I found my key chain we left Montana and entered Idaho.  I learned this boarder is also the Continental Divide where the water flows on either side to the Pacific (west) or to the Atlantic (east).

Then we went to Craters of the Moon in Idaho.  Craters of the Moon is a area in Idaho that molten magma or lava built up pressure and pushed through the ground.  It was not one big volcano, but many acres of land that the lava had covered.

First, we hiked up the Inferno Cone.  It was very hot outside and it was very steep so it was hard to hike up.  But, once we were at the top it was a beautiful view.  On Inferno Cone, the rocks were very small and had little indents in them and they were very light.  I learned that Inferno Cone is a cinder cone that splashed up lava and exploded rather than large masses of lava rolling across the land.  Below is a picture of us walking up the Inferno Cone.

Then, we went to the caves that we formed by the lava rolling across the land.  They were made by the lava on the top layer hardening and lava still moved underneath the top layer.  This is a sign that was in front of the caves that we went into!

The first cave we went in is called “The Beauty Cave”.  This cave, which is actually lava tube was nice and cold.  It was like really big!  It was pitch black inside.  We had to use our phone flashlights to see.  On the ground it was really rough and kind-of hard to walk on.  As we walking we came to a dead end.  The sign said that we could not go any farther for our own safety.  It was a little creepy at first in the cave but then I got used to it.

Next we attempted “The Boy Scout” cave.  We went in a little bit and realized quickly that it was too small and narrow that it was too hard for us to go into without helmets, kneepads and super bright flashlights.  You would need to have really bright flashlights to see.  Grace bumped her head twice so we decided to go to the next cave.

The last and my favorite cave we went into was the “Indian” Cave.  It was the longest cave we went into and there were big holes in the top so we could actually see.  It was very rocky so this one was also kind-of hard to walk through.  Since I could see, we noticed the ceiling showed drips of lava that had hardened.  I also noticed that the ceiling was missing a chunk and right underneath it was a big pile of rocks that had fallen.  It made me a little bit worried because I wondered if rocks would fall on us!

We left Craters of the Moon and got back onto the road to go to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho.  We arrived at Shoshone Falls, which is claimed to be the “Niagara Falls” of the west.  We were surprised when the water falls at Shoshone Falls were not going!  There was two small spots that had a little water going down them, but nothing like the pictures.  In the picture we took below the water is supposed to be flowing over all those rocks.   Now I am excited that we get to see Niagara Falls in a few weeks.  Hopefully they are not “out of order”.

The sun started setting and even though we didn’t see a huge water fall the river canyon was beautiful.  Then my mom and dad took me out for pizza!

My favorite part of the day was going in the Indian Cave and exploring it.  It was just fun!

Now we are on the road to Boise.  Goodnight.

Greta