Day 3: Fly Me to the Moon

Miles traveled in day: 225

Miles total: 828

Today we slept in and then got on the road. With some advice of some friendly campers we stopped into Craters of the Moon. The boys all became Lunar Rangers and got some free patches to prove it. The landscape here is so amazing. Pioneers came through and I have no idea how they would have - it is treacherous but beautiful!




The jewel of the day was the EBR-1 (World’s First Nuclear Reactor).Jimmy’s mind totally exploded from the moment that we saw the Experimental Reactors outside. They were made to test nuclear-powered turbojet propulsion for nuclear-powered aircraft.





Then we went inside the reactor itself. Inside we opted for the Self-Guided Tour. It was pretty fantastic. Our new saying “like Jimmy in a nuclear reactor” is going to used hopefully regularly.

Jude didn’t want Jimmy to turn it on!

We headed for dinner soon after, on our way we noticed a tiny little museum on the side of the road along with the USS Hawkbill’s sail. It was an impressive stop. The retired tailgunner that was giving us the tour was a great highlight.  He not only had atomic bombs on his shoulder on some of his missions but he also worked on the nuclear sub program out here in Arco. Jude said it was his favorite stop so far.

For dinner we went to Pickle’s Place, “Home of the Atomic Burger”. The food was delicious!


We then went back to Mountain View RV Park. Here we met a nice old submarine electrician who tested some of the subs. It was a really neat evening with some great stories and insights.