Day 1 (Jun 4) Sacramento, CA to Winnemucca, NV - 288 miles

 

Where We Stayed: Best Western Sawtooth Inn & Suites

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We packed the up the roadster and headed out on the road around 10 am. It was a pretty uneventful trip but we had quite a bit of traffic as we headed up the hill.  It took a little over 2 hours to arrive at our first stop.  A eclectic place called the Sasquatch Tavern. We met Gary and Vicki Lovotti there.  Vicki and I went to high school together and hadn't seen each other for 51 years!

 

Gary is somewhat of a car guy and like me he has a love of everything McLaren.  In fact he owns two of them!!! His first is my favorite a 2018 cobalt blue 720S, and his second, which he just picked up a few weeks ago is the 2021 coral orange 765!

 

He brought the 720S to the tavern and after lunch we made it a point to just enjoy the view from the front, the back, from the driver's seat . . . Well let's just say I was crushing on that car.  We will definitely visit again, soon I hope, as Gary said he would take me for a ride at this place he knows where we can experience the McLaren without a leash!

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We spent the rest of the day driving to Winnemucca. The speed limit for most of the ride was 80 mph so other than the road work being done where we had to slow to 55, today was a pretty flawless trip.

Tomorrow is 2nd drive day 3 that will take us to our first major stop!

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Day 2 (Jun 5) - Winnemucca, NV to Jerome, ID - 284 miles

 

Where We Stayed: Best Western Sawtooth Inn & Suites

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Today was a pretty uneventful day.  We left Winnemucca around 10 am and with a stop for gas along the way, we arrived in Jerome, Idaho around 4 pm.

 

I say uneventful but then you've probably never driven with me on a long trip.  I actually had a lot of fun passing all the trucks and RV's we encountered.  Lost track of how many but suffice it to say I crossed that 100 mph threshold too many times to count! Of course Dot doesn't enjoy this as much as I do . . . which makes it even more fun!

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When we checked into our hotel, they couldn't find our reservation . . . (que the sound of my heart stopping briefly) . . . Yep, no reservation. Luckily I had a copy on my phone (and a paper copy for Dot). Fortunately, they had several rooms available and were able to accommodate us.  In fact we even got a better room than we had reserved and for the same price we were quoted! God is good! 

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We had dinner at a place called Idaho Joe's.  It was a family restaurant and the food was like something you would eat at home.  We boxed a couple slices of homemade pie and headed back to our room.

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Day 3 (Jun 6) Jerome, ID to Jackson, WY - 265 miles

 

Where We Stayed: Alpenhof Lodge

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We had the in-house breakfast at the Hotel, watched church on youtube, packed up the car and headed for Jackson Hole, WY. The weather was absolutely perfect!

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Our first stop was the Perrine Memorial Bridge, in Twin Falls. Then we drove a few more miles up the Snake River and stopped at Shoshone Falls.  The canyon was formed in the Magic Valley region of southern Idaho, forming part of the boundary between Twin Falls County to the south and Jerome County to the north. The canyon ranges up to 500 feet deep and 0.25 miles wide, and runs for just over 50 miles. Perrine Bridge crosses the canyon immediately north of the city of Twin Falls. Shoshone Falls is located approximately 5 miles east of Perrine Bridge along the canyon.

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There was a lot less traffic on this stretch of highway and we never really hit any until we got to the two-lane highway from Idaho Falls all the way to Jackson Hole. And yes, the speed limit for most of this part of the trip was between 70 and 80.

 

They do have an interesting passing lane of sorts in both Nevada, Idaho (and few other states along our route). There are 3 lanes with two of them in one direction and the third in the opposite direction. Lanes one & two are striped with a dotted white line and between lanes 2 & 3 a solid yellow with a dotted yellow on the lane 3 side.  So, traffic is allowed in both of the lanes with the dotted white but because there is a dotted yellow on the third single lane, traffic traveling in the opposite direction can cross the dotted yellow into the next lane for passing but only if there is no traffic in that lane in the opposite direction. The middle lane helps to relieve traffic during the commute hours but can be used as a passing lane when needed.

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It was a beautiful drive with the road winding and turning through thick forests, lush green valleys and an occasional pond or stream. There was still snow on the upper elevations above 10,000 ft.  There were plenty of turn outs where you could stop and take pictures. The most stunning view was the one where you finally saw the valley below with the towering craggy peaks all around you.  Anyway, we got unpacked and had dinner at a restaurant nearby called the Mangy Moose Steakhouse.

 

Day 4 (Jun 7) We Go Horseback riding in Grand Teton National Park!

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We had to get up by 7am and be on the road by 8am as we had a horseback riding session which started at 9:30 and according to Google it was an hours drive to get there.  We made one wrong turn and so we lost about 10 minutes getting it corrected but still got to Heart 6 Ranch in plenty of time.  It was also good that they were running about 30 minutes late.

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It took a while to get a horse assigned to us but we were on the trail by 10:30am. The trail was probably no more than a 24 inches wide, with some narrower and some wider. It took us more than 2 hours to traverse the side of the hill and get to the top but were rewarded with some spectacular views. Our leader told us that we were at nearly 8000 ft. In front of us were those spectacular peaks covered with the remaining snowpack, most of it the glaciers that never melt instead slowly carving a path down the mountain at just a few inches a year. We had about an hour here, so we dismounted and had lunch which was provided by the ranch.

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We then headed back down the hill along a different trail which really challenged the horses and even a few of the riders! It took about 90 minutes for the return trip, said our goodbyes to all the other riders we had met and headed back to our hotel via Jackson, WY to stop and get some water for the next few days and some coin for the laundry Dot said she was planning to do later today.  Tomorrow we ride the Gondola to the top of the hill, do some hiking and finish the day with a sunset ride through the National Park where we hope to see all kinds of wildlife.

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Day 5 (Jun 8) A Gondola, A Hike, & Sunset in the Tetons

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We slept in, had breakfast at the Hotel and then walked over to a tiny market to pick up a razor since I seemed to leave that at home!  Then just after noon we took a ride on the gondola to near the top of the mountain behind our hotel.  It takes about 10 minutes to reach the top and once there you step out into a much cooler temp than at the bottom and good stiff breeze.  The elevation here is 9100 ft. Once there you have a pretty spectacular view of the Grand Teton Valley.

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Hiked up the mountain probably another 500 ft. where we ran into a large patch of snow.  Dot immediately made a snowball and attempted to toss it at me. Once down the mountain, we had a snack at the restaurant there and then rode the gondola down to the village.

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We then caught our next tour, the Sunset Tour of Grand Tetons where our guide gave us a history of the park, how it became a national park and the reason why we see homesteads in the middle of a national park. (more on that later). Along the way we saw were Elk, then too long after we saw a small group of pronghorns, the second fastest animal. Later we hit a spot along the road where the Rangers had stopped traffic. Our guide said it was most likely because a bear was nearby. Sure enough we caught sight of it lumbering toward a thicket about 100 feet from the roadway.  Then we saw two deer alongside the road and finally on our final stretch we were able to see quite a few bison munching on grass fairly close to the road. In all we had a really good day!

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Tired and still sore from our trail ride the day before it wasn't long before we drifted off to sleep with dreams of Tetons filling our heads! Tomorrow we check out Snow King Adventures to see what they have planned for us.  Click the button below to find out what it was we did!

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