35-Year Anniversary in Grand Tetons

Jackson is not set in stone, but it has become somewhat of a tradition for Chieko and my anniversary.

The end of September is an excellent time to come up here and enjoy the beautiful fall weather without the summer crowds.

Being kind of cheap on the sleeping end, this year (and last year) we stayed in The Hostel in Teton Village. It's a rustic, no-frills place with plywood-thin walls. Next time I think we'll stay in a place where we can't hear the guy snoring next door (really) or the family on the other side singing Happy Birthday over the phone to some faraway relative at 7:30 in the morning. Or we'll bring earplugs.

This tree has a lot of berries that seem like they'd appeal to a bear trying to fatten up for winter.

Oh, look! There's a bear fattening up on berries. A guy nearby said bears feed 20 hours a day this time of year.

This big bear climbed way up into this scrawny tree to reach the highest berries.

This is Mt Moran and the Snake River.

Also a three-year tradition, we hiked to Phelps Lake, which is on the property the Rockefellers recently donated to the National Park. This is where the Rockefellers had a lodge and cabins and where Chieko worked during a couple of her Utah State University summers.

A rock in the lake.

Rocks really in the lake.

This weird mushroom got black slimy stuff all over my hand. Now I feel weird.

This weird mushroom was growing out of a crack in a fallen tree.

This is a granite bolder near Phelps Lake.

Mr. Squirrel was walking down the boardwalk rail right at my camera, but then he suddenly turned and high-tailed it out of there.

A small waterfall on the trail to Phelps Lake, just above the Rockefeller visitor center.

We like to see the Bar J Wranglers on the last night of the season, because the show is a bit looser--the summer help gets to play pranks, like putting a mouse trap in Bryan's glove--and Babe sometimes shows up.

I guess you can tell that this is the entrance. But if you guessed that you'd be wrong. The entrance is to the left. You would know that if you had paid attention to the picture just above this one.

The crowd is waiting for dinner.

One guest is waiting for dinner.

My steak is cooking in the foreground on the right.

Cups of lemonade waiting for the horde of guests.

Babe didn't disappoint us. He showed up to do the introduction that he's so good at. This part of the show has never been the same since he retired about eight years ago.

Babe is telling his famous "Rooster's Revenge" cowboy poetry while Bryan annoys him with rooster imitations and calls.

This is the $25-per-person gondola that goes from Teton Village to the top of the ski mountain.

The gondola fits 100 people (luckily there weren't that many when we rode up. I counted 45.).

At the top of the mountain.

This is looking north toward Grand Teton, the tippy top of which is behind Chieko.

This is looking into Jackson Hole (the valley) with the Snake River running through the middle. Jackson the town is nestled behind, between, and to the left of those two mounds on the left. If you blow the picture up you might be able to see the Jackson Hole ski runs on the mountain behind the town.

A fire was burning on the Idaho side of the Tetons and leaving a haze over Jackson Hole.

Here's your free ride on the gondola. Click it. It's quick.

Chieko at Jackson Lake Lodge, on the Lunch Tree Hill walk.

Also on the Lunch Tree Hill walk. Rockefeller used to come here with a picnic. That's where the hill got its name.

I did not break the dead limb off this tree just to take a picture. Well, maybe I leaned on it a little too hard.

The Suburbans in the Jenny Lake parking lot had to belong to some kind of government agency. I thought Secret Service, but the trucks all had Montana license plates. Your guess is as good as mine. We didn't see guys in suits and earphones walking around anywhere.

Astle Beach at Jenny Lake. I will always have memories of Mother and Dad sitting here in their camp chairs while we splashed around in the water (some people whose names I won't mention did synchronized swimming in Jenny Lake once--Sara, Jennifer, Heather, and Tiffany could tell you who they were).

Canoes are for rent on the lake.

Looking across the lake.

These rocks on the bottom of the lake are really hard and really slippery. I recommend flip flops or Tevas if you want to go wading.

This is the boat that shuttles the people who are too lazy to walk the two-and-a-half miles around the lake to the Hidden Falls trail.

Riding across Jenny Lake to the Hidden Falls trail.

This is the creek below the falls.

And this is Hidden Falls.

I highly recommend coming to the Tetons in the fall.

The weather is gorgeous, the people are few, and it's just one of my favorite places on earth.

Chieko's Trip to Boston

Chieko doesn't have a blog, and she doesn't want one, but she did ask me to put up pictures from her trip to Boston September 14 through 20, 2010.

This is the house John and Misa's family is living in until December, while John studies and works at the Broad Institute on the MIT campus.

Elliot and Mei on their front porch.

The porch.

The living room.

The dining room.

The guest bedroom (Caroline and Mei's room).

The view from the front yard.

Here's a quick tour of the house.

A short video tour of the surroundings.

Going to the beach. The coast next to their house is rocky. This sandy beach is up the road a short, walking distance.

The view from the point.

Mei on the beach.

Caroline and Elliot on their way to school.

John and Wells.

Wells and Mei in Wells's cage.

Wells.
On Saturday, Chieko, John and all went on the Freedom Walk in downtown Boston. This is the spot where the Boston Massacre took place on March 5, 1770. In short, some townspeople taunted Redcoat soldiers in protest of the Townshend Acts, which gave the government additional controls over the colonists. The townspeople threw snowballs and rocks until the Redcoats fired into the crowd and killed five residents. John Adams later defended the soldiers when they were charged with murder and obtained acquittals for all but one.

This statue is of Samuel Adams, one of the main rable-rousers of the Revolution and cousin to John Adams, the great lawyer (and second president). John Adams was the voice of the Declaration of Independence in the Continental Congress, and Thomas Jefferson was the pen.

This is in front of Faneuil Hall, an important marketplace and meeting hall during the Revolution. The hall burned down in 1761 and was rebuilt in 1762. It is still a very busy marketplace today and a must stop for lunch.

Redcoats in front of Faneuil Hall.

This Yo-Yo guy is just another street entertainer.

This is the steeple to the Old North Church, where lanterns were used to notify the militia in Charlestown when the British soldiers were coming by land or across the Charles River. With the message out from the church, Paul Revere then took off on his horse to warn others along the way to Lexington and Concord. Since everyone at this time was British, he didn't say, "The British are coming," but he did say something like "The Regulars are coming out!"

A Regular.

Caroline on The USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned vessel in the United Sates Navy. Because its oak hull was never penetrated during the War of 1812, it was nicknamed Old Ironsides.

Caroline and Elliot in the USS Constitution's sleeping quarters.

Gravestone for patriot John Hancock, a merchant who used his wealth to help the colonists. He also served as the president of the Second Continental Congress.

Monument on Bunker Hill, which is the celebrated spot where General George Washington with his untrained army held off the superior British soldiers and then escaped into the night. Although Washington made a lot of tactical mistakes early in the Revolutionary War, he learned that to win he didn't need to conquer the British Regulars and hold territory. He needed only to preserve the Continental Army until the British grew tired of the war. Thus, successful retreat was an effective tactic.

Cheers. I don't know whether this bar is based on the TV show or the TV show was based on this bar.

Many patriots are buried in Granary Cemetery, including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.

Trinity Church was founded in 1733.

Geese on the Old Sturbridge Village river.

Old Sturbridge Village, about 60 miles west of Boston, is a recreation of a Pilgrim township.

Old Sturbridge Village is a living history museum with people in costume to show life in the United States from 1790 to 1840.

Animals are plentiful.

Elliot tries to entice a rabbit.

Mei tries her hand with the rabbit.

A boat ride at Old Sturbridge Village. Do you think that if Wells fell in the river, the life jacket would hold him up or slide over his head?

The Village has a lot of things for kids to do, including this stick and hoop game.

And a tug-of-war.

A couple of Pilgrims named Mei and Elliot.

This is back near John and Misa's house. Chieko thought it was interesting that this island (or pair of islands?) has two lighthouses.