Day 8
Heading Home
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| In the land of the first nuclear reactor! |
As we drove through Idaho, we were going to spend some time at the Craters of the Moon National Volcanic Monument.
There are cool rock formations, volcanic fissures, and old lava flows. It was also the turning point in our journey.
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| The Volcanic Cone that killed me |
They let you climb to the top of this volcanic cone. There are lots of little glittering aerated volcanic rocks that you step on along the way. We got to what we thought was almost the top and then saw another peak and looked at eachother and said. Nah. We’ll just say we climbed it and not actually kill ourselves.
Funny story: So, we did not realize how high in elevation we actually were. And then we went and climbed a thing. My chest burned as I was catching my breath but then my chest wouldn’t stop hurting. I think the combination of the high elevation, and eating vacation food gave me digestion issues but I was also short of breath and a panic was beginning to set in. My entire body felt wrong.
We backtracked half an hour to the closest town of Arco and Dean made an executive decision to take me to get checked out at the local emergency room.
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| Arco. Mysterious numbers above the town. |
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| Consolation prize of backtracking… pronghorn antelope! |
We found the local emergency room of the tiny town of Arco, population 850 people. The staff was nice and friendly. I had never been called a Flatlander before, but here we are. I got an EKG, just in case, and then they sent us on the way and told me to breathe.
Side note: I got my bill for the emergency room visit a few weeks later and I have to say… I was ready for a bill that would shock me and send me into despair. I made Dean open it. It was pleasantly surprising and either I have really good insurance or small town emergency rooms operate differently. It was not a lot.
Side note: I got my bill for the emergency room visit a few weeks later and I have to say… I was ready for a bill that would shock me and send me into despair. I made Dean open it. It was pleasantly surprising and either I have really good insurance or small town emergency rooms operate differently. It was not a lot.
At this point I was also suffering from low blood sugar. We went to a place that had piqued my interest long before we even began this road trip…
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| A weird restaurant called “Pickle’s Place” |
I wasn’t feeling awesome so we don’t have pictures and I didn’t feel up to eating an Atomic Burger (this is one of my biggest regrets of the trip), but there is nothing impressive about the place from the outside. The inside was packed with locals, chatting happily and eating happily. As Dean ate his Atomic Burger and fries, which he says were great, I slowly ate my fried chicken salad, because I had no appetite but HAD to eat or else I would only feel worse…. He would make me laugh and then I would have shortness of breath and have to breathe slowly. It was not the most fun lunch ever.
Our original plan was to drive to Baker City, Oregon and spend the night. But at this point, I was just ready to be home. It would take nine hours and we wouldn’t get home until between 11 and midnight, but that is what we decided to do.
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| Farewell Bend, OREGON! |
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| The only time we pumped our own gas in Oregon |
Final thoughts: Montana is amazing and beautiful. There are so many times we would turn a corner and the sky would open up and just be amazing. When we were beginning to journey back I found myself sad at the prospect of leaving. We barely scratched the surface of the Western quarter of the state, there is so much left to explore! So much so that I am seriously toying with the idea of living there, for at least a year. I say that because I have a feeling after one of their long ass winters I would be ready to leave. We will definitely be back. Montana: A WIN!
Melandean 