Sunny Santa Barbara

For the Labor Day weekend, we decided to go back to Santa Barbara. Since hotels in Santa Barbara were costly, we decided to stay in a modest Best Western Plus Pepper Tree Inn from August 31 to September 3, 2012.

On the way to Santa Barbara from San Jose, we stopped by for lunch at Pismo Beach. An eatery there called the Splash claimed to have the best Clam Chowder. The Clam Chowder was outstanding, but the whole place looked like a low-end fast-food restaurant.

September 1, 2012

In the morning, we had breakfast at the Fresco Cafe and Bakery near our Best Western hotel in Santa Barbara. Fresco Cafe has very nice, healthy salads. All the food was very fresh and expertly prepared. 

We came back again to Fresco Cafe later in the trip. We really enjoyed our delicious breakfast!

After breakfast, we decided to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo. We saw many animals, including Asian Small-Clawed Otters, snakes, parrots, penguins, pink flamingos, gibbons, monkeys, anteaters, elephants, and giraffes.

We explored downtown Santa Barbara and stopped by the old Santa Barbara Courthouse the next day.

There are stunning views of Santa Barbara from the top of the Courthouse.

After spending some time in downtown Santa Barbara, we drove to see the old Santa Barbara Mission. According to Wikipedia:

Mission Santa Barbara, also known as Santa Barbara Mission, is a Spanish mission founded by the Franciscan order near present-daySanta Barbara, California. It was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, as the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the indigenous local Chumash—Barbareño tribe of Native American people. The mission is the namesake of the city of Santa Barbara as well as Santa Barbara County.

Many lovely chalk murals were drawn in the parking lot in front of the Mission. These chalk murals are from the annual Madonnari Festival.

After exploring the Mission, we drove to the Alice Keck Memorial Gardens. These gardens are beautiful and peaceful and provide shade from the hot sun.

Afterward, we drove to the Santa Barbara Pier (Stearns Wharf). We saw a nice, friendly Pelican eager for snacks (especially fish caught by nearby fishermen).

Nearby, teenage skateboarders skated in the skateboarding park. Here is a short video of the action:

One day, we ate lunch at Jeannine's American Bakery Restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. We liked the food and desserts so much that we returned there the next day.

We stopped by for lunch at The Tea Cozy in Cambria on the drive back to San Jose. The Tea Cozy is modeled after an English tea house and has numerous teas and little bites to eat. While the tea was good, the little bites were of average quality (not as good as in London) and expensive.

A little bit further down the road on Highway 1, we saw wild Zebras.

We also saw a lot of elephant seals lounging on the sandy beach.

Overall, we had a great trip to Santa Barbara. The drive was a bit long - about 5 hours from San Jose.

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Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

We checked in to Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park on the drive from Yellowstone. As we were hungry, we had a great breakfast/lunch and reserved a boat tour. The boat tour was canceled due to rain, but we could reschedule for Friday morning (August 10, 2012).

Grand Teton is also quite a more extensive park surrounded by mountains. Here is the map below.

We decided to explore Signal Mountain, as it was a favorite place for an overlook of Grand Teton. On the way there, we ran into bears! We were very excited, but the bear moved quickly and was out of sight for a few minutes.

We saw the same bear coming down when we reached the top of Signal Mountain.

We saw many other insects, butterflies, and caterpillars on the top of Signal Mountain.

After exploring the peak of Signal Mountain, we drove to Jenny Lake.

Jenny Lake is a beautiful lake in the south portion of Grand Teton. It has lovely, clear, cold water (probably from snow and glacier melt from the nearby mountains).

We decided to take the boat across Jenny Lake and hike from the Cascade Canyon trailhead.
According to Jenny Lake Boating:

Jenny Lake Boating offers shuttle service across Jenny Lake at the base of Mount Teewinot. On the West side of the lake you will find the Cascade Canyon trailhead.  Shuttle service operates from mid-May through the end of September. 

The whole area around Jenny Lake is breathtaking, with beautiful trees, streams, and mountains surrounding it.

We decided to hike to Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point and some of Cascade Canyon.
The Hidden Falls Trail is steep in places and very rocky. Alex really enjoyed climbing some of the rocks.

Alex just loves to rock climb!
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There are many streams along the way to Hidden Falls.

After a few more steps, we run into Hidden Falls.

After Hidden Falls, we decided to continue hiking on the trail to Inspiration Point. The trail becomes steeper as we head up to a beautiful overlook of Jenny Lake.

After reaching Inspiration Point, we decided to return and head to the boat shuttle, as we wanted more time swimming and kayaking on Jenny Lake.

We got on the Boat Shuttle, returned to the parking lot, and decided to swim in Jenny Lake.

Everyone enjoyed swimming in the calm Jenny Lake (after all the exertion on the trail).

August 10, 2013

After a beautiful breakfast at the Jackson Lake Lodge, we headed to Moose to hike the "Death Canyon Trail."

Getting to Death Canyon is a bit difficult, as the road there is primarily unpaved, so driving is a bit challenging. On the way there, we ran into a Moose just wandering around. We had to stop by to take photos (as did everyone else!)

The Moose was not scared of people and just ate the grasses in the pond. I got close to taking photos. He was unafraid of the many people taking pictures and stayed there for hours.

After enjoying our unexpected encounter with the Moose, we finally drove along the unpaved Moose-Wilson road to Death Canyon Trailhead, where we parked our cars and got out our gear.

The hike was a bit hot, and we were worried about being caught in a rain shower.

The trail was flat at times and not too difficult to hike.

Eventually, it started to get steeper as we approached Phelps Lake.

There are lots of wildflowers and berries on the trail.

We also saw many insects, including crickets.

We finally reached Phelps Lake Overlook, where Inna and Irina decided to rest while Alex, Sasha, and I decided to go further.

Further down the trail, we ran into a bear! At first, I could not spot him, but then I saw him moving very quickly. Bears are surprisingly fast and move very quickly. I looked for Bear Spray (just in case) but realized that I had left it in the car!

We were a bit scared, but the bear meant no harm. He was just looking for berries to eat (probably).
We returned to the Phelps Lake Overlook and the Death Canyon Trailhead.

On the way back, we stopped by again to look at the Moose.

We drove back to Moose Junction and had lunch (sandwiches) in a nearby local deli. Then, we returned to our Jackson Lake Lodge.

The view from outside the Lodge was fantastic.

We decided to have dinner at the Jackson Lake Lodge's restaurant - the Mural Room. It was perfect!

August 11, 2013

I got up early in the morning to take some early morning (pre-sunrise) photos of the surrounding Grand Teton Mountains. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog and clouds, so my effort was not as fantastic as I would have liked.

After a quick breakfast at the Jackson Lake Lodge, we prepared for our early morning Boat Trip on the Snake River.

This part of the Snake River is relatively shallow and slow-moving.

On the way down the river, we saw many birds and a few American Eagles. It was a bit chilly in the morning.

Many dead trees, branches, and other wood fragments floated on the river.

Some trees are growing sideways.

More than a few American Eagles were perched on trees along the river.

The boat trip was an excellent, relaxing way to see Grand Teton's early morning birds and other wildlife.

After the trip, we returned to the Jackson Lake Lodge for brunch. We sat on bar stools and ate at the "diner."

Afterward, we relaxed for a few minutes in the Lodge.

As this was our last day at Jackson Lake Lodge (and Grand Teton), we tried to relax for a few more minutes. We packed and drove back to Jenny Lake for a bit more kayaking.

Alex and I rented one kayak and kayaked around Jenny Lake. Inna and Irina decided to go for a hike around Jenny Lake.

Inna and Irina got lost on their trail but eventually ran into a hiker who offered to take them back to the Jenny Lake parking lot. They were fortunate!

On their hike around Jenny Lake, they saw a lot of wildflowers, giant mushrooms, and another Moose!

After we finished kayaking and Inna and Irina returned from their hike, we ate ice cream at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center.

After resting, we drove to Jackson, stopping by for half an hour at the National Museum of Wildlife Art at Jackson Hole. We did not have enough time, as it was close to the museum's closing time.

We did get a good 30 minutes to see the main exhibits.

The museum has some excellent activities for kids:

We saw some beautiful artwork on display.

There were some small sculptures on display.

And some all-Indian artifacts.

As it was closing time, we departed, having seen most of the museum.

We liked the museum and hope to come back again.

As the museum is on a hill, a nice overlook exists of the surrounding Jackson and Grand Teton area.

As we were a bit hungry and still had a long drive to Salt Lake City, we stopped by Jackson and had a few slices of pie at the Bunnery Restaurant. The pie was truly delicious!

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