Summer Sojourn: day 5

We left Pinedale and drove a smidge north to Jackson, Wyoming for lunch (it's too expensive of a town for anything else).  We ate at the Merry Piglets Mexican Grill.  From there we drove over Teton Pass which was the real draw.  Unfortunately, it took us over an hour to get out of town.  We were shopping for touristy stuff and just about the time we were headed back to our cars, a fire broke out on the edge of town.  It was hot and dry and the terrain was steep.  The fire quick spread up the hillside.  Evacuations were ordered and roads were blocked.  And traffic stalled.  We finally got out of town, but all the traffic spoiled my mood.  Here's an article about the fire.

We didn't stop on Teton Pass because the traffic was so bad and there really weren't any good places to pull over and take pictures.  Whatever.  We dropped down into Idaho and headed west towards Idaho Falls.  While gassing up there, we actually witnessed someone drive away from the pumps with a gas hose still in the car.  That was interesting.

From there we headed west across Idaho on US20 past Craters of the Moon National Monument which we'd never seen before.  But since the light was fading, we just drove past it all.  Acres and acres of lava flows.  Pretty neat in a desolate sort of way.  We got to Boise and checked in to our hotel for the night.  Fortunately, the pool was open for another hour for the kids.