Road Trippin’

with Steve McCarthy

OK, I’ve regaled you for several years about the delights of Road Trippin’ in the Auld Crate. Always fun, and the Blue Meanie is still the preferred steed for these jaunts. But what if the requirements change? What if you need more space for an extra passenger? What if that passenger is in her 80s and your mother (or mother-in-law)? Ah, there’s a big rub as the Bard might say. 

For our annual Trek, we’re doing just that. Since my Dad passed away last December, we’ve decided to take my Mom out for some exercise. She’s thankfully reasonably healthy and sound of mind (as sound of mine as anyone’s mom is) and doesn’t have any particular special needs. We’re lucky. But still, the dynamic will be quite different. We will not be flogging too many twisty mountain roads, and (gasp!) probably do a lot of the Dreaded Interstate for what should be obvious reasons. Given those parameters, how does one go about picking a route? Selecting motels? Handling the probability of more frequent rest stops? 

Marianne and I thought of two possibilities, a return to the Southwest and the land of Turquoise, an area we’ve of course visited a few times but my Mom has not, or take on something perhaps a bit less ambitious, but a place I’ve never been to and one that Marianne was so young she has limited memories. We decided on Yellowstone as the focal point. My Mom agreed. She’s been there once (I think it was with Teddy and his Roughriders, but I’ll have to check with her to be sure) but it’s been a looooong time. Obviously, big time mountain scenery would be the main attraction and even the Dreaded Interstates through Wyoming and Montana qualify as pretty neat roads as a result. It also made a lot of sense since Mom lives in Olympia, WA, we could make a big loop of it and get her straight to her place, then a nice easy jaunt home down 101. The other quirk for this drive is where we’re starting. Sacramento. She and I were both born there, and that’s where we’ll be doing some family things with her, my sister Sue, her husband Roger, and our kids. 

Now Sacramento has it’s own charms. The capital, Sutter’s Fort, the California Railroad Museum, Old Town and for us, my grandparents’, great-grandparents’ and even great-GREAT-grandparents’ houses! Yeah, Ol’ Grandpa used to do business with and socialize with some guys named Crocker and Stanford and Hopkins and Huntington. Yeah THOSE guys! So, yeah, there’s plenty to see. 

From Sacramento, the obvious route to take is I-80 out of town and past Auburn, it gets pretty spectacular. I’ve included a side road trip that allows some “IFR” driving. As in “I Follow Railroads.” This is the route of the original Transcontinental Railway AND as a bonus, the original alignment of the Lincoln Highway, AND as a further bonus, the route of the Pony Express! There’s places along the way that you can see the famous Snow Sheds built by the Southern Pacific to help keep the tracks open in the winter. Speaking of winter, you probably don’t want to do this then. The storms can be fierce. Take plenty of food to snack on, this route is called Donner Pass. Yeah, THOSE Donners. The ones who timed it wrong in 1846, got stranded in the snow and ate each other. No kidding! I don’t want to hear that you only ate one lousy foot! The snow has trapped whole passenger trains and fairly recently too! Make sure you stop at the memorial at Donner Lake. It’s a chilling story, to say the least. I suggest you do a bit of research on the Transcontinental RR, Lincoln Hwy, the Gold Rush and the Donners to get a better appreciation of what you’re seeing. There’s a lot in the museums in Sacramento to help you with. 

There’s lots of railroad history there and as you make the decent to Reno (Biggest Little City in the World) remember that Reno is also the home of what’s left of maybe the greatest car collection in history. Bill Harrah’s! It’s now the National Automobile Museum and has kept the most spectacular cars from the old collection. In particular, as fellow Road Trippers, you have to go just to genuflect before the Greatest Road Trip Car Ever. The 1907 Thomas Flyer that won the first (and actually only) New York to Paris Race. The massive trophy is there as well. The whole story is at: http://www.thegreatautorace.com/race.htm. 

  From Reno, we’re planning on staying on I-80 to Elko, where the classic Thunderbird Motel awaits, as well as a much anticipated return to the Star Hotel Basque Restaurant. A place we discovered the last time through. From there, it’s up to Ashton, ID. Now, this took some thought. The hotels in West Yellowstone are REALLY pricey. Doing some poking around, I found that Ashton (the nearest town of any size) is ideally located. There I’ve found a classic, The Log Cabin Motel. This place looks to be a real gem, clearly dating from the heyday of funky regional motels. Since we’re doing this in the peak tourist season, we actually made reservations here. The rest we’ll leave to St. Serendipity.

From there, it’s a short jaunt to Yellowstone, Old Faithful, and all the other delights of America’s first National Park. Thank you Teddy Roosevelt! Out the east end to Cody, WY is not a long drive (under 200 miles) so we’ll have the whole day to poke around Yellowstone. 

I have to say, I’m in (for me) virgin territory here. Cody looks to have some neat Wild West attractions, so we’ll look into some of those and report back next month. From there, we’ll head to Butte (where I hear the faucets run with beer on St. Patrick’s Day!), Coeur d’Alene, then Olympia, again, allowing the interstate to guide us along. 

So this will be an adventure in a number of ways. New places to explore and a third passenger who also loves to travel. It should be fun! 

From where ever you are in Sacramento: 

Take I-80 E toward Reno 58.3 mi

Take the exit toward Dutch Flat 0.2 mi

Turn left onto Ridge Rd 0.4 mi

Take the 3rd left onto Sacramento St 1.0 mi

 Turn right onto Bear River Rd/Main St

Continue to follow Main St 1.6 mi

Turn left onto Ridge Rd 0.2 mi

Continue onto Alta Bonnynook Rd 0.3 mi

Turn left to merge onto I-80 E toward Reno 18.5 mi

 Take the exit toward Cisco Grove 0.2 mi

 Turn left onto Cisco Rd 0.2 mi

Turn right onto Hampshire Rocks Rd 2.8 mi

Slight left onto Lincoln Hwy 16.7 mi

Turn left to merge onto I-80 E toward Reno 1.7 mi

 Take the exit toward Central Truckee 0.3 mi

 Turn right onto Donner Pass Rd 177 ft

At the traffic circle, continue straight to stay on Donner Pass Rd 0.9 mi

Turn right onto Glenshire Dr 7.7 mi

 Continue onto Hirschdale Rd 0.3 mi

Turn left to merge onto I-80 E

Entering Nevada 13.7 mi

Take exit 2 toward Verdi 0.2 mi

Continue straight 0.4 mi

 Continue straight onto I-80BUS E/3rd St

Continue to follow I-80BUS E 3.3 mi

 At the traffic circle, continue straight to stay on I-80BUS E 0.1 mi

 Take the ramp onto I-80 E 1.9 mi

Take exit 8 for 4th St W 0.2 mi

 Merge onto NV-647 E/W 4th St 6.0 mi

 Turn right onto Lake St

Destination will be on the left 0.4 mi

141 mi – about 3 hours 0 mins

National Automobile Museum

10 Lake St

Reno, NV 89501

 Head south on Lake St toward Mill St 164 ft

Take the 1st left onto Mill St 0.4 mi

Turn left onto S Wells Ave 0.7 mi

 Turn right to merge onto I-80 E 284 mi

 Take exit 298 toward Elko W 0.3 mi

 Turn right onto NV-535 E

Destination will be on the left 3.5 mi

289 mi – about 4 hours 2 mins

Thunderbird Motel

345 Idaho St

Elko, NV 89801

Head northeast on Idaho St toward 4th St 1.7 mi

Turn left onto E Jennings Way 0.1 mi

Turn right to merge onto I-80 E 47.9 mi

Take exit 352 for U.S 93 toward E Wells 0.2 mi

Turn left onto US-93 N

Entering Idaho 106 mi

Slight right onto ID-74 N 5.1 mi

 Continue onto E 3600 N 1.0 mi

 Turn left onto N 3000 E/Blue Lakes Blvd S 2.0 mi

 Turn right onto U.S. 30 E/Kimberly Rd 4.9 mi

 Continue onto ID-50 N/E 3800 N

Continue to follow ID-50 N 4.6 mi

 Slight right to merge onto I-84 E toward Burley/Pocatello 39.6 mi

Continue onto I-86 E 62.4 mi

 Take exit 63B on the left to merge onto I-15 N toward Blackfoot/Idaho Falls 47.0 mi

Take exit 119 for US-20 E toward Rigby/W Yellowstone 0.2 mi

 Turn right onto US-20 E 52.0 mi

Turn right onto Main St

Destination will be on the left 0.8 mi

375 mi – about 5 hours 37 mins

Log Cabin Motel

1001 Main St

Ashton, ID 83420

Head west on Main St toward 10th St 0.7 mi

Turn right onto US-20 E

Entering Montana 55.0 mi

 Turn right onto N Canyon St 0.2 mi

 Turn left onto US-191 S/US-20 E/U.S. 287 S/Yellowstone Ave

Continue to follow US-191 S/US-20 E/U.S. 287 S

Partial toll road

This road may be seasonally closed

Entering Wyoming 14.0 mi

Turn left onto U.S. 89 N/Grand Loop Rd

This road may be seasonally closed 13.3 mi

Turn right onto Norris Canyon Rd

This road may be seasonally closed 11.6 mi

Turn right onto Grand Loop Rd

This road may be seasonally closed 15.4 mi

Turn left onto US-14 E/US-16 E/US-20 E/E Entrance Rd

Continue to follow US-14 E/US-16 E/US-20 E

This road may be seasonally closed 77.1 mi

Continue straight onto Sheridan Ave 0.7 mi

 Turn left onto 16th St 98 ft

188 mi – about 3 hours 56 mins

Cody, WY

Head north on 16th St toward Rumsey Ave 0.4 mi

Turn left onto WY-120 W/Depot Dr

Continue to follow WY-120 W

Entering Montana 37.3 mi

Continue onto MT-72 N 21.0 mi

Turn left onto US-310 W 18.1 mi

Turn right onto US-212 E/US-310 W

Continue to follow US-310 W 11.6 mi

 Turn right to merge onto I-90 W toward Butte 209 mi

 Take exit 126 for Montana Street 0.2 mi

Turn right onto S Montana St 0.8 mi

 Turn right onto W Iron St 0.2 mi

299 mi – about 4 hours 29 mins

Butte, Mt

 Head west on Iron St toward S Colorado St 0.2 mi

Turn left onto S Montana St 30 ft

Take the 1st right onto I-90 BUS W/W Iron St

Continue to follow I-90 BUS W 0.8 mi

 Merge onto I-15 S/I-90 W via the ramp to I-115

Continue to follow I-90 W Entering Idaho 279 mi

 Take exit 15 for Sherman Ave toward City Center 0.2 mi

 Turn left onto E Sherman Ave 1.4 mi

Turn right onto N 4th St 0.3 mi

Turn right onto E Garden Ave 141 ft

282 mi – about 4 hours 13 mins

Coeur d'Alene, ID

 Head west on E Garden Ave toward N 4th St 141 ft

Take the 1st right onto N 4th St 1.4 mi

Turn left to merge onto I-90 W toward Post Falls/Spokane

Entering Washington 90.6 mi

Keep left to stay on I-90 W 195 mi

Take exit 25 for WA-18 W toward Auburn/Tacoma 0.3 mi

Turn left onto WA-18 W 27.1 mi

 Take the Interstate 5 S exit 1.3 mi

Merge onto I-5 S

From here, you can head south to SoCal however you choose. Cut over to the coast and 101 or straight down I-5.