What a trip!  Over 3700 miles driven, 8 states crossed, 5 National Parks visited, 325 beers tasted at GABF, 7 straight days with no shower, 3000 pictures taken, and one very muddy truck, we managed to have a great time despite the (government imposed) hiccups along the way.

I did post from the first week on the road over at http://calipidder.postach.io/, but it was difficult with limited signal and unreliable wifi, so I’ll just be reproducing some things and sharing new posts here over the next few weeks.
We did a lot of driving the first couple of days, so there isn’t too much excitement to recap. When we left San Jose on the afternoon of Friday, October 4th it was 81 degrees. 6 hours later we arrived in Winnemucca Nevada to a 25 degree night. Brr!
There  was a lot of smoke heading north on 680 to 80, some kind of fire to the east near the Suisun ship graveyard.

And lots of traffic from Fairfield through Sacramento. Boo. Super windy, too. Don’t throw those cigarette butts out the window, people. That’s what leads to the picture above in these conditions.
We got to Truckee right around dinner time, and so began the great brewery tour of the road trip. The beer and food at Fifty Fifty is fantastic.

Bright reno lights! We got to drive right through without stopping, probably the best way to enjoy Reno.

Saw weird flashy lights along 80 outside of town. Spent a while googling only to find out it was the Mustang Ranch brothel. So now my google search history is oddly contaminated…
Creepy nasty pit toilet rest stop eastbound 80 at Nevada exit 83. Avoid.
We holed up in the old school Town House Motel, #1 hotel in Winnemucca according to Trip Advisor. They have quaint old keys. It was clean and comfortable.

The next morning we continued towards West Yellowstone.
The long drive across Nevada is probably the most boring part of the trip. I love the desert but it’s hard to pick up on the subtleties of its beauty when speeding through the landscape at 75 mph. While David drove, I passed the time picking out fun-looking desert peaks to climb. Lots of appealing scrambly ridges out there.
We passed an exit for “Deeth Starr Valley”. Turns out it’s an exit for the town of Deeth near Starr Valley. Instead, I like to think of it as the non-infringing Death Star Valley.
Spotted some fall colors in the East Humboldt Range just before turning north off of 80 on 93.

Stopped at Twin Falls Sandwich shop for lunch and an Epic Hopulent IPA (one of my favorite unobtainable in California breweries), followed by a peek at the nearly dry Shoshone Falls.

Shoshone Falls:

What’s the biggest difference between ID and CA highways? Trucks full of potatoes vs trucks full of tomatoes.
Unfortunately we participated in the great bug massacre of 2013. It sounded like it was raining outside with the number of bugs meeting their demise on the front of our Tundra.
Apparently, according to the AAA map I had, we crossed the Oregon Trail. I am happy to report that I did not contract dysentery.
And despite John Boehner’s best efforts, I still saw the Grand Tetons (from a distance).

We arrived in a very quiet and deserted West Yellowstone a little after 6 pm. The park’s shutdown is definitely hurting this town and the park employees. The friendly hotel clerk put us in a nice suite and recommended a pizza place down the street. Wild West Pizza (and bar). Go there. It was 90% locals passing the time until tourists came back.
Today’s wildlife count: a few speed goats (antelope) just south of West Yellowstone, and one bow-legged llama at a farm outside of Pocatello.