Day 11: San Francisco, 2470 Total Miles

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So it's actually been more than a week since we've been back at home and the demands of work-life had taken over and delayed us in posting this the obligatory "conclusion" post. I can tell you that after more than a week of driving with the family, it was very, very hard to get the head back into the work mode :( But all is good now and we are back in the daily rhythm of our life in SF (although Keira's sleep cycle sometimes seems to still be on vacation mode).

The Grand Autumn Ramble came to an end, and we have many miles and many memories o remember, not to mention Keira's first experience with the freedom of the open road.

Here are some things to remember, especially for those of you with little ones on the way:
* Multiply your trip time by a factor of 1.5 or 2, the extra time is needed buffer for "stuff". We could probably have done all of this in 7 days, but we planned for 15 and actually got done in about 12.
* Baby will fall out of any routine very quickly, especially when driving a lot during the day and being in new places each night - Expect the party to go past midnight
* Don't expect to get the routine back quickly when you return. We are now learning this lesson
* Plan for down time - days where you do nothing, and times during the day where nothing is planned. This is good with a baby and even without.
* Expect meltdowns, especially at dinner and especially at the nice restaurant; you can't expect to tour all day and have a 9pm dinner w/o something giving...well you can, but the baby will keep you honest
* Traveling during the fall is awesome. You get great deals no matter where you go and no crowds
* Yellowstone is awesome
* Tetons are awesome
* Jackson Hole is awesome
* Avoid staying in casinos - We found a great deal on expedia for our night in Reno, but it was at Harras. We thought nothing of it until we went to check in, and we realized that we were staying in a Casino. There's something just not right about staying in a Casino (especially in Reno) w/ your baby. You'll know this when you go down to eat at the Casino restaurant and see who else is there on a Sunday night at 8pm.
* Truckee is awesome
* Unless you're eating at the Ahwahnee, the 'nice' food at National Parks is typically not so nice. You pay 4-star prices for 2-star food and 1-star service, not worth it. Check out the lower end places or even the bar/pub for more reasonable price to quality parity.
* 2 weeks off with the family is all sorts of awesome





Some notable places to remember (and forget) for next time:
* Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone - Great experience staying in this historic lodge (the first to be built in the US) in such a geyser basin in Yellowstone. Old Faithful and a bunch of other geothermal points of interest right out the door, and not to mention, tons of wildlife. Most of the buffalo pics we took were right outside the door here.

* Salt Lake City - Surprisingly great food, this coming from two SF'ers. Great Himalayan/Nepalese food at Himalayan Kitchen (order all the Nepalese dishes). Even more surprising was the sushi at Takashi's. Many of the reviews were from Californian's being surprised by the quality, and we were having a sushi craving so we decided to try it and were not disapointed. The Strawberry Fields Maki was out of this world, never tasted anything like this before. We went to Blue Iguana to sample some Mole after reading about it in the New York Times. It was just an OK experience, I wouldn't go back. Verde Mole was great, my traditional mole was so-so, and service and ambiance were meh. If you want good mole, go to Oaxaca, or the Red Iguana (which I had tried years earlier).

* Jackson Hole - Just simply an awesome town. Being a resort town, you will have to deal with some kitsch factor, but there is a thriving local community which gives it much of it's charm and character, especially during the fall shoulder season. It also has an impressive lineup of restaurants which we were pleasantly surprised by. Thai Me Up is ridiculously great thai food for a mountain town. Plus they had a great beer selection and we learned that they're actually planning on opening a brewery on-premise. We also had great asian fusion/sushi at Nikai Sushi which I also highly recommend. I was disappointed not to find a good (non-tourist-trap) stakehouse around the town square (I was told that you'd have to drive just a bit to get to a couple of good options, but we didn't want to drive). What is funny is how so many tourists praise the Teton Stakehouse, which is actually just a resurfaced Sizzler in disguise.

All in all, it was a great trip. I recoomend it to anyone who wants to see this part of the country by road, especially up by Jackson, the Tetons, and Yellowstone. No final pics to post, but we do have this one of Nip greeting Keira when we got back home: