This morning we ate breakfast at the campsite and then rode our bikes to the Visitor Center and got postcards and books for the Junior Ranger program.

Then we drove to Spatter Cone trail and looked inside the volcanoes. Then walked over to the North Crater trail and looked into the craters which were amazingly enormous. It made us feel very tiny. Walking on the ridge of the craters made Matt and I have a weird feeling in our peripheral vision. It was similar to walking on an escalator.

We then drove around the loop and walked the Devil's Orchard trail. This trail showed and told how the scientists are watching the preserve for pollution and how it is affecting it. The scientists have noted that the lichens have changed because of air pollution.

It was lunch time now so we came back to the campsite and ate lunch. Then we rode our bikes back to the Visitor Center and the boys revived their Junior Ranger badges. We wanted to watch the movie mentioned in their books about Craters of the Moon but they are not showing it this year. However, we were told that we could find it online.

After lunch we drove the loop again and stopped at Broken Top trail and hiked it. It was a nice hike and showed the variations on the park from caves to lava tubes to mountains to cinder cones, etc.

Now Matt was needing a Coke so we drove to the Visitor Center and he bought a Pepsi. That is how desperate he was for soda/caffeine. Then we went back to the campsite so the boys could play around and we could get dinner ready.

Right before we started fixing dinner, our neighbor walked over with a watermelon and asked if we wanted some. He told us he lives in his camper and has lived all over. The boys started asking him questions and he told them his wife was from Slovenia and passed away two years ago from cancer. They were living in Slovenia at the time and they traveled all over Europe. He has been in 40 of the states and plans to go to South Dakota for Election Day so he can vote.

After dinner, we rode our bikes back the loop road to Devil's Garden and then circled back to the campsite. When we got back our other neighbor had a bug-assault and let the boys play with it for awhile. The boys LOVED it. I'm sure it will be a highlight of their trip.