My Footprints on Earth

A weekend in San Diego

2012-01-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

The Coronado Bridge

San Diego is a wonderful south Californian city with history, museums, white sand beaches, natural landscapes and lots of things to enjoy for a comfortable and enjoyable weekend gateaway.

We had 3 full days on our itinerary.Since, it is only 2.5 hours away from Seattle, we flew into San Diego International Airport on a Saturday early morning. as we were landing, I noticed the yellow buildings with the red slanted roofs and the palm trees, memories of Florida just came rushing back, and with the thought of Florida, came my craving for Cuban food, only my taste buds knows for real how much I miss the cuban pollo and frittas and their secret sauces... but then we were now on the other coast!

We had booked ahead @ Holiday Inn on the Bay for the 3 nights. The hotel shuttle picked us up from the airport shuttle pick up area. Since the check in time was @ 3pm, we were apprehensive of having to leave our luggage with the concierge and come back later; but the check-in desk had our room ready @ 10:30 am when we arrived, and our day already had a nice start. The room was clean, bed was comfy, and it had wall to wall doors opening onto a balcony overlooking the bay. We freshened up, and went out. Just outside the hotel was the Maritime Museums and ferry dock. 

We had to get on the boat named Star of India, but the boats were right outside our hotel,we decided to visit them later.

We bought one way tickets on the ferry to the Coronado Island. Being late December, the ferry ride was a little chilly in-spite of the very bright midday sun above us. The Coronado islands are part of the Baja California, I had always wondered where that was.Well, the main attraction on the island was the the famous Coronado hotel.The hotel was grand, and to our amusement, the original from which the Disney World's Coronado resort had been copied from, the exact yellow buildings with red roofs and beautifully lined palm trees to the details of the boardwalks over the water which beckoned one to the laps of a luxurious feeling. This hotel was the where the Marilyn movie "Some like it Hot" was shot.The long sandy and clean Coronado beach on the Pacific, behind the hotel was the juxtaposition-ed compliment for the complete unforgettable scenery.

@Coronado beach with the SandCastleMan's castle

After a whole one year, it felt so so good to be back under the bright sun on the white sand with the ocean sound.There was an ice skating on the boardwalk of the beach! imagine skating under the hot sun! 

Inside Coronado hotel


first electrically lighted christmas tree

We took the bus back which took us over the Coronado bridge.

I should also mention the awesome cupcake shop we found among the shops in the Ferry Landing market and the nice full views of the city of San Diego, with whatever majestic skyline this small city can boast of.

We were back on the mainland around sunset time, and our next stop was the Gaslamp Quarters of the city. This part was one of the oldest part of the city filled with pubs and restaurants and very very old and restored office buildings and now hotels. The crisp warm air was filled with laughter and music and we enjoyed our dinner at one of the steakhouses on the D Street. We walked back to our hotel. It was a lovely 15 minutes walk, the roads were straight, there were still lots of people on the streets at 11pm, and the weather was so comfortable, and we were full of energy.

On the second day, we were going to see los Angeles. I had always known California is the only state in US which boasts of wonderful public transport connectivity and I had full proof plans of exploiting this opportunity of a drive free short vacation. But of course, if we had a rental car, we would have toured the Torrey Pines State park that day on our way north to the City of Angels. We took the Amtrak from San Diego station. We had a shuttle from our hotel to the stop! our next stop was Los Angeles.The train ride was a complete hassle free and comfortable experience. Towards the end, the rail tracks were almost touching the sealine. From Los Angeles Amtrak station, we took  the metro to Hollywood. Hollywood was not as impressive as I had always imagined, well probably because we went as tourists.Anyways, we looked for our stars on the Walk of fame, saw the famous Hollywood sign, ate @ California Pizza Kitchen, went inside the Chinese theater, walked up the "red carpeted" Kodak theater, toured the Santa Monica beach, went on a double decker bus to see houses of celebrities. I dont know why but I never really enjoyed looking at million dollar houses from outside (didnt enjoy the tour in Miami either).. as we realized later on.. "well if we had expected Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts walking by.. and the photographers chasing them... we were bound for the big boring surprise !" 

Twilight prints

found my favorite star!!

after his favorite song : Sunset Boulevard

By the time we reached back our hotel, we were dead tired anyways.

San Diego skyline

Next morning, we had breakfast at the Little Italy, another "touristy" neighourhood in the San Diego city. This place was also within a walking distance from our hotel. Oh, I had to mention the awesome sight of the big, very big cruise ship which had magically sprung up infront of our window that morning.It was very foggy and the sight was even more magical. At arounf 11am, the hotel shuttle dropped us off at the San Diego zoo. Well, there were many other options, but we had already been to the Sea World, the Universal Studios and our favorite Disney World like 50 times already.. on the other coast... so we decided to tour the Zoo instead. It is supposed to be one of the biggest zoos in the USA.I wanted to see the Pandas.The zoo had quite a few attractions with African elephants, tall giraffes, rhinos , Koalas, Cheetas, so many colourful birds, and of course the Pandas. The highlight of the tour was the Kakatua who laughed like a high pitched lady at us,the baby Panda eating bamboos, and the adorable lazy chimpanzees who was sadly knocking on the glass wall at the 

visitors. The zoo has skyway rails and topless buses for ease of access for the visitors. These were all included in our ticket cost.

koala

panda

But the animals seemed very caged in the zoo. Disney had spoiled us with their magical experiences. Sure there were no pandas in Disney's Animal Kingdom, but once one had been there, I felt every other zoo would ever fail to live up to that standard.

Outside the zoo were the famous Balboa gardens. This landscape was developed for public amusement by the old Spanish government, who was ruling there many years ago. There were botanical gardens, ornate Spanish castles, lily ponds, fountains, and numerous museums. Most of the

museums needed a ticket to enter, but we wanted to see what was inside the one named Museum of Man.Then as we sat down on the benches near the fountain, with lemonade and fries, and talked about fun times, I was taking in the wonderful ambiance around us. There were artists playing flutes, on another corner some people were gathered around a man showing card tricks, there was the long line in front of the lemonade stall, children were splashing in the fountain waters, and everyone around was so happy like us.I realized happiness comes easy when people can be out with friends and loved ones and there is bright sunshine and flowers blooming and birds hopping about.Amongst all the things bright and colorful, thoughts of going back to Seattle seemed so cloudy and dreary.

old Spanish castle

lily pond in the Botanical Garden

@the Rose Garden

Our last stop was the Maritime Museums. We had 7 ships including submarines to explore for the price of one ticket ! My husband loves ships and history, and these ships were old antique ships which have outrunned their days in the sea, and were now docked on the coast of San Diego for good, and converted to museums for the interest of enthusiasts like my husband. If we had more time, we would have seen the USS naval ship which was used to carry fighter planes out into the sea during wartime.

a Port Hole View

inside a submarine

Visiting Florida

2011-12-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

Florida in One Week

Florida is a long state - north of Florida to the keys is a 10 hours drive. World class theme parks, stretches of white sand beaches,hep metropolitan city-experience, exotic bird watching and quaint pirate towns are some of the highlights of a Floridian vacation. The list is enough for a week's indulgence.

Lets assume you fly into the Orlando International Airport. Now, Orlando itself has enough things-to-do and places-to-see to fill up a week's time. But lets spend only 3 days here. The visitor has to choose between the 4 Disney parks, 2 Universal Studio parks, 2 Sea World parks, the Gatorland, a trip to the Kennedy space museum and Cocoa Beach, when he has limited time.

Dolphin feeding @ Sea World,Orlando

Some of the must places to hit are:

DAY 1: 

Disney World's Magic kingdom - caters to the interests of both travellers with or with-out children.The Cinderella's castle, the Philharmonic 3D show, 'its a small world' ride are some of my recommendations. Children will definitely have plenty of more things to do like meeting the Mickey Mouse, but if you are adult traveler and waiting in line for a photo with the Mouse doesn't tickle your fantasy, I should recommend you getting a Park Hopper ticket. It allows you to see more than 1 Disney parks in a day.The second park recommended for an adult traveler is the E.P.C.O.T with the very slow but wonderful ride through the human progress in the big round dome, the GM-test-drive-ride, and the miniatures of different countries sprawling around the lake. One can get the taste of the different cultures and cuisines as he travels from Mexico to the UK around the globe.

E.P.C.O.T

The must must ride you should get on is the Soaring. It is an exhilarating and awesome experience of flying over the state of California. I recommend getting a fast pass for the ride as soon as you get into E.P.C.O.T, and then explore the rest of the park, to avoid long lines for the ride. The normal wait is often 2-3 hours, and if you don't collect the fast pass before 12pm, you are most likely to get a slot after 4 hours- so plan accordingly.Whichever park you are in the day time, you should come back to the Magic Kingdom at around 7pm to grab a spot in front of the Castle for the daily Spectromagic parade followed by the truly magical 'Wishes' fireworks around the castle.

Wishes Fireworks

DAY 2: 

On the second day, lets venture to the Universal Studios to explore the world of Harry Potter.I had found it as a very magical adventurous theme park. You can find the Three Broomsticks Restaurant, Hogshead pub with a real hog's head, the butterbear stalls, the newspapers cuttings with moving characters and the very fascinating ride of Harry Potter and the Forbidden journey.

Simpson's 4D ride @ Universal Studio's Adventureland

The Hogwarts Park

Though, I think this is more worth a visit, you can instead want to visit the Sea World. This is also an wonderful experience with shows with killer sharks and pet animals, and opportunities to feed baby dolphins.

DAY 3: 

On the second evening, drive east from Orlando to the Cocoa Beach, and stay the night there. Wake up to the sounds of the strong waves and a brilliant sunrise sight. In the daytime, get over to the NASA's Kennedy space center (http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/). Now, who does not find space exploration fascinating? Now, if you are lucky, you can get a chance to witness a live shuttle launch while in the area. If you are not driving, there are daily package tours from Orlando to the Space centre.

Clearwater Beach

DAY 4: 

On the fourth day, start west from Orlando or Cocoa towards Tampa. You may opt to make a small stop at the Seminole Hard Rock casino (http://www.seminolehardrocktampa.com/). It is only about 15 minutes drive from the city. If you did not see the Disney World's Animal Kingdom, you can visit the Busch Gardens in Tampa today. Have a fun day with wild life safaris and dangerously fun roller coaster rides. 

Tiger Hole @ Disney's Animal Kingdom

In the evening, drive further west to the Clearwater Beach.

(Clearwater Beach blog entry)

Sunset @ Clearwater

You can alternatively stay in the St Petersburg city. These are cities with award winning white sand gulf beaches. Stay the night on one of the gulf beaches.

DAY 5: 

On the fifth day in the morning, venture south after crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the Pinnealas County. It is a magnificent sight of architectural achievements made by mankind.

Sunshine Skyway bridge

From there the Everglades National Park is a 3 hours drive. You can make a stop at Sarasota if it seems a very long stretch to drive. Sarasota's Siesta Key Beach is one Florida's best. Or Ft Meyers is also a good stop. Details of Everglades NP can be found here: Everlades NP blog entry
  

DAY 6:

Key West from Everglades is a 4 hours long drive. The two way narrow US 1 is not a safe road to drive in the night. Besides you will also miss out on the wonderful feeling of driving over the ocean.

US 1

So, spend the fifth night in any of the modest accommodations in the Everglades City, and start early next morning.

DAY 7:  

Key West is a pirate city. Besides sea activities, other suggested activities are the Ghost Tours (Tripadvisor review), sunset celebrations at Mallory Square and seafood and key-lime pie eat outs. Key West was actually our favorite weekend gateway when we were Orlando residents. Key West is the southernmost point of the Continental US. If you have an extra day, you can make a day trip to Tortugas National Park - http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

Sunset @ Mallory Square

Leave Key West for Miami on the 7th day. One of our favorite stop on the way from Key West to Miami is Bahaia Honda State Park. 

Bahaia Honda SP

Miami, like Orlando can again be a vacation spot on its own, depending on your tastes.

DAY 8: 

There is the magnificent South Beach, the millionaire houses and plethora of sea activities to explore here. Miami has the Hollywood touch to its style and glitz. It is a perfect city for a luxurious gateaway. You can catch your flight home on the eighth evening from Miami International airport.

Also note that you can also use the Key West internal airport EWY, if you want to make it a keys-vacation. Or Ft Lauderdale airport is also an alternative. It is only 45 minutes from Miami.

4 days in Rome

2011-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00


Colosseum

Rome, the eternal city was very welcoming with a cosmopolitan city feeling. The lady of our hotel/apt. did not speak English at all. After a rather difficult first encounter with her, the later meetings went quite smooth in English and Italian with an hand-gesture-interface. The hotel/apt was very nice considering the high walls, old windows, 2 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum, the punctual and meticulous room keeping services , delightful fresh Camay soap bars every day and the daily breakfast at a roadside cafe on the Cavour street, included in our hotel cost.

Stayed @ Cheap & Chic Hotel Roma,                  Rome, IT


Nero's racing grounds near Ludus Magnus

We spent the whole of our first day in Colosseum area. We had the Roma pass, and so we were allowed to skip the line, both at Colosseum, and the Palatine garden and Roman Forum opposite the Colosseum. For a classic Hollywood movie lover like me, traveling with a strong history buff as my husband, 4 days in Rome fell short to satisfy us, more so when one of those 4 days we had to visit the Vatican city. We wanted to explore every bit of the ancient(Colosseum,Forum,museums), medieval (the obelisks and cathedrals) and new world Rome. The ROMA pass was a great help, as we took the bus and underground trains everywhere, round and round over the city. We even stopped at the Ludus Magnus where now stands only two stones bearing evidence of an once very popular gladiator training school, we stood on the side of the road where once Reno drove his carriage like a madman, the Via Appia Antica -  the first road ever built, and put our hands in the Mouth of Truth which cuts your hand if you tell a lie.


Temple of Saturn

 And then, all the churches in Europe are famous, specially the ones in Rome. One had St Peter's chains, one had the saint's head, one had the stairs which Jesus Himself had strided on His way to crucification (we saw pilgrims crying there. Rudy is an atheist, but he joined the pilgrims who were climbing the steps on their knees, and he had found it too overbearing and did not finish his climb. I felt he was on the verge of conversion amongst believers that day.). We also went to the church which was the old home to the Pope before the St Paul's cathedral.

Abandoned/ancient St Paul's Cathedral

DAY 6 : COLOSSEUM, PALATINE GARDEN, ROMAN FORUM, ROMAN PANTHEON

Roman Pantheon

DAY 7 : VATICAN CITY, TREVI FOUNTAIN

DAY 8 : ALL CHURCHES & BERNINI's FOUNTAINS

DAY 9 : STREETS of ROME, MUSEUM


Pope's old home


boy taking out thorn(Roman replica from the original Greek one)

Venus lost her clothes somewhere

..caught telling a lie

One of the Pontificus Maximus

Gift of Govt. of India to the Govt. of Rome

With all the history, relics, stories, architecture, and of course good food, Rome was surely a very overwhelming experience for us. So I remembered to throw a penny over my left shoulder in the Trevi Fountain so that some day we can go back to Rome. 

Next time, I will not miss the trip to Pompei - the city frozen in time.

3 days in Florence

2011-12-21T00:35:00.000-08:00

 Florence and Pisa

Santa Maria Del Fiore

DAY 3 : PALAZZO VECHCHIO, UFFIZI GALLERY

We had taken a night train from Venice to Florence.Our hotel in Florence was at a walking distance from the station - thanks to Rick Steves for the very-well-thought advice. We were in the city where Renaissance as the world knows of, started. 

We did all the typical things-to-do and hit almost all the places-to-see as mentioned in the numerous blogs and articles and videos I had studied for my preparation for the Italy trip. On our first day, we went to the Palace Vechchio, Uffizi gallery ( I remember the very long line to enter the gallery, the 10 euro guide book we bought near the entrance which helped us to appreciate all the magnificient masterpieces inside), lazed around at the Ufizzi square, attended an evening choir in Italian inside the Santa Maria Del Fiore cathedral.

Gold carvings by Michaelangelo

DAY 4 : PISA, SAN LORENZO, PONTE VECHCHIO

The second day, we took a train from Florence to Piza, and then a bus from outside the station to the grounds of the Leaning tower of Pisa.It was suggested to spend the 15 euro to climb the leaning tower but we didnt. I remember how we wanted to take a photo together with the tower, and had sought out a very fat man for help. He had such a big belly, he could not sit low enough to take the picture, and the tip was cut off :) 

Leaning Tower of Pisa

In the evening, once back in Florence, we went over to the Ponte Vecchio bridge we had seen before from the Uffizi gallery. It was the only surviving old bridges which housed the very old dingy merchant shops. They were primarily gold shops. No we did not buy gold in Italy, but we did buy a (real) leather bag from the San Lorenzo market.


Ponte Vecchio

DAY 5: IL DUOMO, PITTI PALACE

On the third day, we went inside the Santa Maria Del Fiore cathedral in the morning, and in the evening explored Pitti gardens. 


Pitti Palace gardens

The third night, we had left for Rome. Rome was 4 hours away.

One Week in Italy

2011-12-20T23:51:00.000-08:00

As I have been planning for our trip to France, I remembered that I had not completed penning down our experience in Italy. So.. taking up after 2 days in Switzerland , early morning on our 3rd day in the European continent, we took the EuroStar to Venice. It was a 9 hours journey. I remember watching the landscapes changing from the white mountains to brown smaller mountains to flatlands.

And this was our next 9 days itinerary for Italy....

Leaving our hotel in Venice

2 days in Venice: 

Venice is a city of 120 small islands with over 400 bridges linking them. One of them is the famous Rialto Bridge, iconic to the city. We took the vapporatti from the train station to our hotel stop. The directions to the hotel (@Citta di Milano Hotel Venice,                  Venice, IT    ) which we had from the website, was only with "lefts" and "rights". It seemed pretty strange to us that there were no street names, till we actually got on to the island. It was a labyrinth of small lanes and smaller alleys. It had a village-like atmosphere, with very close quarters with clothes hanging from the windows, shadowing the cobbled streets.There were children playing on the streets.We found people chatting, laughing and being merry around each corner. We could hear a violin playing somewhere far. We had seemingly travelled back to the medieval age. After freshening up a little, we started out to explore the San Marco square.

DAY 1 : SAN MARCO SQUARE VICINITY

the streets of Venice

The St Mark’s basilica at the square was closing at around 6pm, so we were already late. For us the only sought after artifact inside the museum was the table used in the Last Supper.

The square was very crowded with thousands of people and thousands of pigeons. A big cruise ship had docked at the Venice port. We also saw the Bridge of Sighs. We stayed out late, on one of the benches, and saw the sun set over the Mediterranean. The pigeons slowly  outnumbered the people around us, and then as the birds also gradually disappeared, we decided to call it a day.

Rialto Bridge

DAY 2 : RIALTO BRIDGE AREA

Next morning, we were out to explore the Grand Canal. After a gondola ride, lunch at a cafe beside the water, two gelatos at a gelataria under the Rialto Bridge, a quick trip to the Murano island, and shooting hundreds of photos attempting to bring back home exact memories of how beautiful the place was, our stop in Venice had come to an end.

Worth mentioning, we did strike a deal for a half hour 30 euro gondola ride at the Rialto Bridge stop (as suggested in one of the many blogs I had referred to before.)

The Grand Cana

The River of Grass

2011-11-10T06:10:00.001-08:00

The king of the swamps
It has been almost an year since we moved from Orlando; and besides all the Floridian-activities i miss sometimes, i miss our occasional visits to the Everglades National Park. It was a 3.5 hours drive for us if we drove straight south till we hit US41. US41 approximately marked the north boundary of the Everglades NP. A big attraction for the said route were the numerous plantations, and their extended thatched roofed stores selling perfectly tender avocados, ripe bananas, pineapples,grapes, berries and all other sorts of palatable fruits, all so very cheap! The alternative route was via the turnpike through Miami.
It is not really easy to capture the true vastness of the Everglades in the way I remember the place in my head, through my writing. When I think of it, I want to say it is barren, but then if you ask me, are there no trees? no animals? Oh, there are very tall trees on the border and the whole park is covered with very tall grasses, there is hardly any proper paved road to walk on, and there are crocodiles and snakes and insects and birds and turtles and..

Gators dozing  on Tamiami trail

Everglades is the third largest National Park in the Continental US. The park is a 1.5 million acres stretch of swamp lands, home to the American crocodiles or alligators and numerous species of birds. All the pullouts on US41 or more popularly known as the Tamiami trail teems with hundreds of alligators,particularly if you are there after a tropical shower, in Fall or Winter. The park got its name from the "glades" variety of grass which carpets the whole of the swamp.They sure don't go out much in the South ! The murky mysteriousness of the park have also been made famous over the years through numerous Hollywood movies like "Gone Fishing", "Shark River" and "Distant Drums" to name only very few.

the baby gator
When we were there, one time we had attended an alligator-show with alligators of course and tarantulas and snakes. The man had pulled the gator’s  jaws open and put his head inside the jaws. 

The trick was to feed the gator very very well before the show, for as quoted by the showman,gators are not very intelligent animals, they have only two things on mind-food and sleep. So, when the gator was not hungry, it was being lazy and made no effort in closing its mouth! 

the gator show
On another trip to the park, we had boarded the tram from the Shark Valley visitor center. The tram took us till the Observation point, through 15 miles of the "River of Grass" as some locals refer to the swamps as. From the top of the observation point, we got a birds eye view of the flat swampland. We could see only grass till the end of the horizon around us. 

the Everglades from the observation point

the tall crane.. doesn't the landscape look somewhat barren?

awesome airboat ride through the Glades
If we had owned a paddle boat or a kayak, that’s another terrific way to explore the swamps. But the best way to experience the serenity of the Everglades, the somehow desolate yet lush, tropical and foreboding awesomeness- is by getting on the air-boats jetting through the network of waterways that skirt the northwest portion of the park.We were lucky to be on one of the low-raised air-boat, in which we were at a perfect height from where we could touch the gators if we leaned down a little(we didn't actually do it, just saying that we could have.. if we wanted), but the gators could not raise their heads high enough to touch us. When the air-boats picked up speed, the sound was just deafening. The maximum speed an air-boat achieved was 35mph, however swooping on it through the sawgrass towering above our 

heads with hundreds of alligators peeping out from the water around, was a heart pounding and exhilarating experience. The guide was very well informed, and seemed very familiar in the surroundings, comprehending from the fact that the birds flew on to his shoulder and sat on his wrist,and waited there for their pictures taken, even when he had no food for the birds. The 

Everglades abounds in hundreds of colorful birds of all sizes.

Anhinga drying its wings- that is how they breathe!

mother gator sighing away from camera

There are no lodging in or near the park. Years of past (and 100% possible future) hurricane damages have apparently put a stopper on the government's effort in restoring the business units in the area.Only the 3 NPS visitor centers offer information and restroom facilities. There are campgrounds though, but we did not have an opportunity to camp in the Everglades.

No wonder, I have been remembering the Everglades today. We had visited the park 3 consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010) during the Thanksgiving holidays. This year we have no such plan.. Alas 

Between Seattle and Crater Lake

2011-09-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Crater Lake is just shocking deep blue and so serenly still, the first time I saw it and every time after. This National Park is a good 8 hours drive from Seattle. We reached there at about 3 in the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, and the sight of the deepest blue lake was surely worth all the drive so far to just see a lake. We drove eastwards from the North entrance along the Rim to reach the Mazama store. We camped in the Mazama campground. We had booked a trailer camp spot, and it was enough space for our 2 cars and two tents. There were tents nearby everywhere , but the trees in our campsite helped to set up a secluded feeling (not all campsites were same). we were in the D loop. Even when we had booked earlier online, we were given a color on our arrival. We had to drive through all the loops to choose a campsite of our color and choice. It was a little waste of time. But otherwise, the experience was very nice, there were clean toilets, and no bugs and there were plenty of dry wood to use for the fire.

Wizard Island in Crater Lake

It was a starry night, but something I had eaten at a truck stop earlier that day was bothering my stomach too much too enjoy it. The only thing I felt like doing was lying flat on my stomach. So I retired early into the tent. The next morning, after a hearty campy-breakfast, we packed up. We had to drive through the rest of the rim drive and leave for Canby,OR. There were some ten view-pullovers along the way, and we stopped at 4 of them. Everywhere we looked from, the water was equally calm blue.Spotting the Phantom ship in the crater was an added bonus.

Phantom Ship in Crater Lake

It was September, and the weather was really comfortable.The Cleetwood trail leading to the lake was open and we decided to DO IT! it was fun going down, touching the blue waters and dip our feet in the clean cold water, but climbing back was too painful and dusty; well for an out-of-shape and not so fit person like me on a partly sandy trail.It had a 25 feet elevation and straight upwards, only relief was that most of it was shaded by the trees naturally.But after the hike back, I felt a sense of achievement.

The phlock on the Rim Drive in the park

The Crater Lake at the bottom of the Cleetwood trail

From there we left for our drive back northwards.If we had a little more time on our hands,may be a day longer, I would have loved to drive up northwards from the Crater lake NP via Bend,OR through the Mt Hood area.We followed the route shown in the map.All the same, our next destination in the plan was the Columbia Gorge area in the border of the Washington and Oregon.But it was a little long drive of 5 hours, and we decided to slice it up, with an overnight stop in Eugene,OR.There are many budget hotels in the Eugene area with clean and satisfying accommodation.

The OR countryside near Eugene

From there, on our way to the gorge, we took a little detour in Canby,OR for the Swan Valley annual Dahlia festival. They are the largest dahlia growers in the States.There was free admission , free parking and vast stretches of so many colorful flowers in different shapes.

I had not known dahlia came in so many forms before that day. There were snack stalls, and indoor displays too. It was all so informative and pleasing to the eyes.

Swan Island dahlias

Multnomah Falls

From there the Multnomah falls in the Columbia Gorge area was about 1.5 hours drive.The falls is a tall and thin one.

There is heavy commercialization growing around the area; that helps in attracting tourists and the state makes money, but it also eats into the natural beauty of the area, to a certain extent.Albeit, it was a nice respite in the cool of the waterfall lapping the shade of the gorge.From there it was 3 hours drive back to Seattle.

Map of the Route

Rattlesnake Mountain hike

2011-08-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Rattlesnake trail- my first hike after moving to Seattle, and I was waaaay tired. At the end of the 2 mile upwards trail, I was panting hard like the dogs. Yes, the trail is pet friendly, and dogs of all sizes were spotted on the trail. It was fun to see how some big dogs were over enthusiastic and pulling the human zealously up or down the path, while some were very small and were taking one step forward and two steps backward before the human just picked it up and went on their way without hindrance.

The whole trail is around 8 miles one way. We reached till the first landmark which was 2 mile up. The path was well defined zig zags cutting through the mountain, with very steep cliff dropping on one side and mountain on the other side, with enough space on the road for two way traffic. Even though I was out of breath, mostly because I was a novice that day, the trail would be classified as a moderately difficult one. Along the path,there were small benches cut out of stone and logs for hikers to rest awhile and take in some breathtaking views of the central cascades and the rattlesnake lake. It was fascinating to see how the lake gradually became smaller and smaller as we went up, and when we reached the ledge, the whole view had just opened up.

We rested on the ledge for about half an hour. Others who had packed lunch were snacking too. We hiked light with only water bottles and energy bars on us. Because the trail is steep, I would recommend not to carry unnecessary weight as it would make the ascend more difficult.

It felt nice to sit on the ledge with our feet dangling over the edge from where there was a 1000 ft straight drop, and gaze at the majestic mountain peaks around.

From the ledge, there was still more way to go on till the Snoqualmine Point , but we returned from there. The way down was 99% downhill, which merited more caution than stamina. The Rattlesnake trail is at North Bend, about 1.5 hours from Seattle. If we had gone further up on the trail, we would have had better views of the MT. Si; now that's a difficult hike, I read somewhere. The Snoqualmine Casino is very near to the Rattlesnake, about a 10 mins drive, and can be an option to chill out after a wonderful day of hike and sun, before heading back to Seattle.

It was enough experience for the first hike. I enjoyed the workout a lot and had resolved to go on more hikes in the future. The Rattlesnake trail is accessible and comfortable from the month of May till November. I fell in love with the mountains and the wilderness of the grand Pacific Northwest.

To reach there from Seattle: Take I-90 east and get off on Exit 32 (436th Avenue SE) just past the exits to North Bend. Take a right off of the exit, heading south on 436th Ave SE which turns into Cedar Falls Road. Travel about three miles and follow the signs posted for Rattlesnake Lake.

The Pictures:

Rattlesnake Lake at the starting of the trail.
Along the way.
View of the lake from the trail.
The Rattlesnake ledge, 2 miles up from the trailhead.

Camping @ Mt Rainier National Park

2011-08-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

There is a reason why Seattle-ites fall in love with their Mt Rainier. 25 out of 30 days in a month, it manages to hide behind a layer of clouds; and when the clouds drift away the snow capped wonderful scenery we beheld, looming above the concrete highrises, just makes the day.

Mount Rainier is a dormant volcano which had last erupted about 150 years ago. That is a little scary fact , albeit no one can absolutely ignore the charm of this snow capped volcano. Once a person has set his foot in the mountain's vicinity, the glaciers, the meadows and the constant sound of flowing springs will keep beckoning him back again and again.

We recently made a plan to go camping in the Mount Rainier National Park. First fact I had missed while planning the trip is that there is no phone connection in the park. The first point where we can use the phone is 20 miles away from the Ashford entrance to the park.We had taken two cars, and were depending on walk-in campsites' availabilities. The second fact I had missed was that this park is hugely popular, and if we need to walk-in to a campsite on a sunny Saturday, we better reach there very early around 7am, because when we reached at 1pm, there were no campsites available at Cougar or Ohanapecosh! However, due to absence of AT&T network, we lost contact with our friends in the second car, and were waiting at Cougar Rock campsite for them. That is when luck looked up and the nice ranger informed us that somebody cancelled and a site had become available.We claimed the site, parked our car at the summer-weekend-shuttle stop at the campsite entrance with messages for our friends, and took the shuttle to the Paradise valley. There were pay phones near the campsite entrance which took coins only. Since we did not have any cash or coins, we had to purchase a phone card from the Longmire store.

Paradise valley proved so true to its name. John Muir is noted to quote that this mountain top meadow is the most luxurious scenery for a traveler.This was the month of August, and there was snow on the meadows, and yellow, white and pink flowers grew all over. We saw deer grazing the meadows, marmots playing in the rocks, and water falls flowing. The clouds came down very near to us. The snow capped mountain top we see from Seattle which is 2.5 hours away was so near and big to us now. That place could so aptly be called the Paradise on earth. After 4 hours of walking and enjoying the Myrtle Falls and Reflection Lakes, we went back to the campsite at almost sunset. We were disappointed to find that our friends had not received our messages, because we did not find them or any traces at the site. But, since we had already paid for the site, two of us decided to stay the night. Another phase of inconvenience ensued for that decision. We had to buy wood, and lady selling wood would not accept credit card, and there was no ATM machine within 20 miles of the park. So we put up the tent, and drove out of the park, beyond the Rainier park camp-base, to Elbe to fill up the tank, take cash and leave some more voice messages for our friends.
As a handy bit of know-how, one bundle of wood is available from the lady at the campground(cash only) for $6.50 and same price at the Longmire stop (credit card acceptable), 2 miles from the Cougar Rock campground. But if you are willing to drive a little further down beyond the park entrance(about 8 miles), one bundle is available for $3.99 and as you go further, the cheapest it gets is $2.99 a bundle.
We went back to the camp, started fire and I was still hoping that our friends would get the message and join us, when a car's headlight suddenly blinded us ! After a very zealous reunion, we had roasted chicken, vegetables and smores, and after a game of Uno, went inside our tents.

I find the morning after as the best part of camping. When I opened my eyes, I could hear birds and the cool morning breeze. In Cougar Rock, I was rewarded more with the awesome sighting of the huge mountain surrounding the campsite and the morning sun rays falling on parts of it.The campsite was great with clean flush toilets and separate pads for cars and tents, and a nice sturdy grill over the fire pit.Tea, parathas and omlettes constituted a huge fulfilling breakfast. After cleaning up and packing everything, we were then headed to the Narada Falls. This falls did not have much to mention, but the environment was very scenic. Probably a hike down the falls would have given me more insight of its magnificence. From there we went to the Paradise Valley again, this time with everybody.The Paradise Inn's cafe serves nice coffee and an awesome balcony to enjoy the mornings among serene nature. This time on, I have realized one more fact that even when we are seeing clouds above us and snow below us, a good UV protection is absolutely recommended because I was not feeling the sun, but it burnt me well. On mountain tops, the sun rays reflect from the snow and can cause more harm to human skin than on the grounds in the city.

Another hike worth mentioning from this recent trip was the Trail of Shadows near Longmire.This trail was through very tall and daunting trees casting a perennial shadow on us, and a feeling of insignificance.When one have traveled this path, he can realize that these trees have been here for ages and anyone trying to change it for any cause must be a fool.

And, as my wanderer heart has longed to take this trip for a long time since the day I moved to Seattle,after this trip,I have to go back there again soon to see the Sunrise.
I will write about that then.

Around Colorado in 4 days - Sand Dunes to the Rockies

2011-07-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

We drove along the circumference of the Colorado state in 4 days; a journey of 1200 miles. The state has some spectacular landscapes of rugged red canyons jutting down deep to where the rivers had cut through the mountains; vast stretches of sand dunes formed over the ages by the sand and debris deposited by winds which could not blow higher to cross the high mountains; and the ancient mountain dwellings excavated only a 100 years ago. The map below shows the route we had taken. In 4 days, we had hit 4 distinguished national parks and monuments.

 We flew into Denver from Seattle on a Thursday night. We had 2 friends flying in from Minnesota. We drove 2 hours ahead to Colorado Springs from there, so that we can start bright and early the next day. Our first stop was the Garden of Gods; it’s a garden built by man to preserve the queer and ancient sedimentary rock formations which includes the precariously looking Steamboat Rock and Balanced Rock formations. There are many opportunities of hiking and mountain climbing in this free public park. However, we just lazed about around the park for we had lots to catch up with our friends.

So,  if you are not hiking the trails, from the Garden of God’s park entrance  (where one can see the hogback-rock formations),  you need to drive  another 3 miles further into the park to reach the Balanced Rock  formations site.

Another 3 hours drive from the garden, we reached the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Of course we had to stop on the way for food and stuff, so we reached the dunes at 2pm; and that was not at all good timing, because the sun was high in the sky scorching everything under it, and the sand covered stretches made the heat even more unbearable. But, we were not to be deterred. First we tried to reach the Upper Sand Creek Lake by driving through the Music Pass Trail. The trail is unpaved and is one-car-lane narrow. 

 There was a SUV coming back, and the man had informed us that we would not make it to the lake as we did not have a 4 wheeled drive. We didn’t know the “exact” definition of a 4WD then, and all of us felt that the man had a hint of derision in his tone, so we decided to ignore him. But, after driving for another 5 minutes, the wheels were caught in the sand! So we had to turn back which was equally tough for the rented Sonata. But spotting a wild deer in the bushes made some of ours day. Anyways, we had about 3 hours to kill till sunset because I had to climb and watch the sunset over the dunes before leaving the park. 

When there’s a will, there’s a way, and thus we discovered the wonderfully cool Zapata falls about 3 miles outside the Great Sand Dunes NP. It’s an easy 1 mile trail upwards, and we went till we reached under the falls; it was scary and dark, but it is totally worth the adventure.

About 30 minutes to sunset, we started climbing the dunes. It was perfect, with the cool breeze blowing the sand around our feet and the setting sun in the horizon. Coming down the dunes was actually more fun, and as we drove out if the park in the backdrop of the twilight sky set ablaze by the sun, I wished we had more time to spend there.

The road from the Mosca to Durango was very tiresome. We started on the US160 which is a wild 100 miles stretch of nothing before hitting the Rio Grande National Forest. We had to settle for fast food again during dinner. We had booked a lodge-room in the Pagosa Springs which meant we had to cross the Rio Grande forest in the night. So after hours of cruising through the turns and slopes we reached our hotel, in the San Juan forest area. We discovered the splendor of the location only next morning. We had a log cabin right in the middle of the forest with bear warnings at the door! 

A small hike along a nameless waterfall ending in a river, after breakfast, we left the San Juan forest area towards the Mesa Verde National Park. The drive through the small farming villages in July is quite scenic, with majestic horses and numerous grass eating animals strolling on the yellow farms with quaint white farm houses. In Mesa Verde, we were going to see historic cliff dwellings made by the now better known Pueblo tribes. The route into the park is a steep, narrow, winding mountain road. Depending on weather, traffic, and road construction, one should plan at least two hours just to drive into and out of the park.

 

We went on the Spruce Tree house trail, explored ancient houses carved in the mountains, climbed down a Quiva, and a good one hour workout going back up the trail. It totally proved to be worth our time.

This was a free trail which did not require ranger's assistance, but they were there anyways to answer any questions anybody had. If time and spirit permitted, I also wanted to go on the Balcony house trail. Instead, we went on a 30 min drive of 6mile Mesa top loop road which had pullovers for views of the other dwellings

The next part of our journey was kept open to accommodate any unforeseen backlogs. We decided to skip Aspen and Maroon Bells, and instead drive through the Colorado National Monument towards the Rocky Mountain National Park the next day. Our GPS routed us through Utah to Grand Junction from Cortez, via Moab; instead of the route chalked out in the map above. Hence there was the missed opportunity of hitting the Arches NP due to lack of a well defined plan, for when we were crossing the Arches, there was still light, but I was a little apprehensive from the previous night's strenuous night-driving experience and we decided not to stop. 

The entrance to the Colorado Monument was only 10 minutes from our hotel in Grand Junction. We entered the monument when the ranger office had not opened yet for the day. We just drove through the Rim Rock drive, stopped for occasional photos and breathtaking canyon views and when we left the monument from the other end of the road, the offices had not opened still. When there is nobody at the entrances to the CO National Monument then everyone is expected to pay at the self-service pay station.

 It  took us about 3 hours to drive through, without any hiking stops. So,  there was no one to collect the entry fee for our car, since we left the  area before 10am. But, if time permits, the Coke Ovens and Devil’s  kitchen trails merit extra explorations.We just lazily viewed the  rock structures from pullover view points on the drive. 

By 10:30am, we were on our way to the Rocky Mountains. It is a 5 hours drive, and adding the two stops we made for lunch and rest, we reached Estes Park at around 1pm. I felt, the experience of the Rocky Mountains will be an everlasting one, irrespective of the time spent inside. On our first entry, we parked the car at Moraine Lake visitor center and took the park shuttle to Bear Lake, Sprague Lake and Moraine Lakes. From the Bear lake trailhead, we had gone further to the Alberta Falls where we saw double rainbows! 

 There are wild lives galore throughout the park, especially moose and marmots. The next morning, we did the trail ridge drive through the highest point (17000ft) on the route, the Alpine visitor center, the Continental divide to the Great Lakes on the other side. The drive is definitely very scenic, but often with sharp turns with moments when I felt I am just flying into the sky in the car. Nonetheless, we were amazed at how well the road had been made and maintained at such a great height! It also portrayed well the gradual phasing from the dense forest growth, then less dense fir forestation, then subalpine meadows to the alpine terrains with part snow and few yellow flowers at the top of the mountains. 

Down  the Rocky Mountains, in the small town of Estes Park, there are many  Nepali/Indian restaurants serving OK-Indian food, and I also noted that  the “I made it to the TOP” badge I had purchased from the Alpine Visitor  center store in the Rim Ridge drive for $10 was sold for half the price  in the stores there.

It was then about 3pm on Sunday, and we had to leave for Denver airport to catch our flight back home.

Hiking around Seattle (Wallace Falls SP)

2011-06-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Wallace Falls State Park is in the town of Gold Bar,WA. The hiking trail starts on a route along the Amtrak rail line. As we walked, we could clearly hear the electricty travelling through the wires above, a little scary if you give it a thought. The total hike is about 8 miles one way with 3 landmarks - the lower falls, the middle falls and the upper falls. As the "wise" names suggest, these points have been names according to the level of the Wallace Fall visible from there. We are not that atheletic and managed till the Lower Falls point. The hike was relatively easier than the Rattlesnake trail we had gone to before.

This terrain has a gradually increasing altitude, but are cut by flat terrains and up and down terrains. So, one has to climb up and down on both the ways. So the body gets a balanced rest and strain and the hike doesnt seem so stressful. Besides the waterfall is visible all along the way, and one can also break away from the actual trail and climb down to touch the water and rocks at some points along the way.

When we reached the Lower Falls marker, we crouched our way through a very bushy narrow path to reach the fall's water. The falls is almost a rapid river at this point, gushing its way though the big rocks. The rocks had gathered a little moss on them, but we rested on them anyways. Inspite of warning signs at the beginning of the trail, we saw wet shirts and shoes indicating people have gone into the water.

The most fun part for everybody in the group,besides me, was wild berry picking and eating on the way back to our car. These berries were juicy red and sweet. Little children were also picking then from the trees, and they were in so much abundance on the sides of the road.
It was one of the rare sunny days in the Seattle area. We did break a little sweat,albeit it was a wonderful calm hiking experience.

Off we went to Italy through the Swiss Apls...

2010-07-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to relive our trip to Italy in 2009. We had been wanting to do a week trip to Europe ever since we started living together in 2007. We needed a Schengen visa for the trip. Being Orlando,FL residents during that time, the first step was to take a day off from work to go to Italian consulate in Coral Gables in the Miami outskirts for it. FYI: The Schengen visa is issued only for the number of days on the flight tickets. So, of course we had booked our flight tickets before that. We had got an open-jaw ticket; Our port of entry was Zurich,Switzerland and was returning from Rome,Italy. Since we were planning to spend the most of our vacation in Italy, we chose to apply for the visa at an Italian consulate. The application process is no hassle, and we received our passports with visa in mail before the end of the week. My next step was to book the EuroRail tickets. For the next two weeks, all my lunch hours were spent calling the EuroRail office in New York. I had purchased individual tickets for each leg on my itinerary (that way it was cheaper than a pass), and two days after completing the transaction online, I had received an email stating that one of the leg's tickets were no longer available. So I had to call the Euro Rail office to reshuffle the itinerary in a way that I did not end up paying more but not leaving out any cities I already had on my schedule. But all was arranged well in the end. We were leaving on a Thursday, and two days before that, we had called our banks to bring to their notice that we would be using our cards for foreign transactions.
Also, in the mean time, I had gone through almost all media/notes available on the net on traveling in Italy. I had also purchased Rick Steve's guide for Rome. His guide is very elaborate and accurate.
Points to check before leaving:
1.Rick Steve's guide book
2.Inform the bank about impending foreign transactions - do not be primitive and carry travellers cheques, they are just waste of time - Bank Of America and Credit Unions credit cards can be used in Europe without incurring any extra transaction fees.
3.Carry a comfortable cross-body bag to carry money.
4.Carry lots of hand sanitizers and 50 euro cents - most of the public restrooms in Italy are pay-to-use.
5.Know if you order a Latte, expect to get a glass of milk - say caffe latte for buying coffee.
6.When booking hotels online, check to see if the hotel has people speaking English, well if you do not know Italian; and also try to keep a balance of the price and proximity to the train station when booking a hotel.

Our first stop was Zurich,Switzerland.
The first interaction with a Swiss person - the visa man at the checkpoint - asked us "Are you on a honeymoon?" - so sweet that he thought we looked like a newly married couple - it felt nice, but we just said the truth - No (our honeymoon was in Vegas !!)
Direct train from the airport to the city center, Limmatquai. Our hotel was very near the train station (Bahnofstrasse), opposite the Limmat river. We walked there. It was the most bargain hotel I could find on Orbitz. It had no attached bathroom, but the room was decent, the lady at the counter was very nice, and spoke English. Since we had arrived early at 6:30am, we could not check into our room on our arrival; so we kept our luggage at the hotel, freshened up a little and went out to see the city at daybreak. It still brings back a cool and crisp morning memory. We walked about, crossed the little foot bridge over the river.

On the walk, we came accross street markets; it was a Saturday, merchants opening up their shops, washing the roads with hoses (just like any daybreak in Calcutta which I had experienced on my routes from Howrah station to Salt Lake city). We already felt like a part of the city.Had a small breakfast in the market, went into the Grossmunster, Fraumunster and St Peter's churches. These were the beginning of the week long church-hopping trip we were embarking on. After that, we went back to the hotel and checked into our room. Took bath, and then after another 1 hour, went out again for the second half of the first day of this vacation which I had been so excited about since its inception as an idea.

The second half of the day started with our trip to the Sprungli store . I had read so much about the Luzemburgerli . The real things were as good as their pictures and reviews. I remember how the lady at the shop warned us that they will not be good beyond 3 days, and my box did not actually last more than 3 minutes ! They are really good. We walked about a little more around the area.
The bus rides in the downtown area is free. So we rode around the city on the bus for some more time. I had scheduled to go to Utleiberg, a 30 minutes train ride from the city, but on that day, both of us wanted to take in more of just the Zurich city, so we did not go. We saw a Bata shoe shop which I have seen only in Calcutta in the whole of India. I remember how SALE signs outside a show store had excited me, and the least price in the store was around 200 CHF.Then we spent the first evening at a school friend's place. I had lot of catching up to do since we met after 3 years and both of us had got married in the mean time.

The second day, I was awake very early. That always happens to me when I am on a vacation. I am too excited to explore the new place, to sleep well. We were going to catch a train to Lucerne to go to Mt Pilatus that day. I had not bought the train tickets beforehand, because I meant to keep the schedule flexible to accommodate weather changes. But it was going to be a very clear day and we started for Lucerne on a 6am train. We purchased a round trip ticket from Zurich to Pilatus including train and cog rails for 200 CHF. We paid the fare with our Credit Union credit card. They do not charge any foreign transaction or other fees, only the exchange rates. There was another option of a Golden Route which included a ferry ride one way and the cog rail ride on the return trip.

After a very comfortable train ride through idyllic Swiss terrains, we reached Lucerne. We had to catch a bus to the Mt Pilatus cable car stop. What followed was very confusing because we did not speak German and could not find any service personnel's who could guide us to the right bus stop, or I should put it this way: we could not follow their directions in half-english well . According to my studies the bus stop was right outside the train station gate. But there were more than one bus stop, and at all stops we found only tourists who, like us did not know anything definite about the right bus.Anyways, finally we all managed to get on the right bus, and reach the Mt Pilatus cable car stop. We noted however that on reaching the bus stop, if we did not have help from the nice little Swiss woman to take us behind houses, up a narrow pavement, we would not have been able to figure out how to reach the actual cable car station. The cable car had two stops. I am very afraid of heights from a moving object, so never looked down very well. But, the journey was equally wonderful; we could hear cow bells from the rolling mountains below, and see only greenery from the corner of my eyes. The Swiss lady was also telling us about their day to day village life, about the cows, etc. and finally we reached the first stop. From the first stop, the next cable car was much bigger, and no seats. It was much more exhilarating, and I was in total awe as the cable car climbed higher, and over the mountains, and then sudden emptiness-es below as it crossed each peak. We went on a trail around the Mt Pilatus, ate black forest cakes and lamb, lied down a little in the sun, among the clouds which floated around us which we could touch. I could feel I knew at that point, what has been drawing millions of people of all ages to the majestic Swiss Alps over the ages. Simultaneously,one can also see the amount of commercialization of the place all around.

We took the cog rail train down the Mt Pilatus. It had a quaint design with seats at 45 degree to the base of he train which is alligned with the mountain slope. So one cannot stand on the train, but at the same time provides opportunity for loads of fun if one actually stands up and enjoys the journey down.
Once, we reached back Lucerne, there was the old Kallipsell bridge, some very ornate Lutherean churches and souvenier shopping to do before catching the train back to Zurich.In the evening, we walked among the old streets in Lindenhof, had donner kebab; it was the closest we could get to our usual fast food experiences from before, both in likes and taste. Zurich is an expensive city. A Big-Mac is priced at roughly 7USD!

We were leaving early for Venice,Italy the next morning.

Clearwater Beach Gateaway

2010-05-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

One weekend we went out to the Clearwater Beach in the west coast of florida. I was telling Neil that we better check it out before the hurricane-season pulls the BP oil spill to the Floridian coasts.Its like my missed chance of savoring the marble's aura of Taj Mahal before the harsh effects of the pollution creep-ed in; or may be as he pointed out "thinking too much". I had a whole day of sea or rather gulf bathing,shell picking, para-sailing, dolphin watching and sunset-watching planned out an week earlier. its a 2 hour drive from Orlando and we were supposed to be there by 10am latest. but after stopping for gas , camera batteries, breakfast, waiting around for our company with kids, we started at around 11am. After about 1 and half hour of un-interesting driving, our GPS took us to a waterfront which looked like a part of the gulf and an abandoned small dock sort of. After another 30 mins of going in roundabouts , finally found the Memorial Causeway which would led us to the actual beach. It was an amazing sight indeed.. miles of white sand which looked more like snow under the bright sun, lined with bright blue beach umbrellas and the dazzling green waterbody and teeming with thousands of happy people.

Following the sign for "more parking", we reached the pink-hyatt garage which charged us $16 for a whole day. The fun fact is I had a print of the parking garages in the area and their charges. This was the costliest one in there, and even though i am very very money-minded, we had to end up there !! beach umbrella rental was $15 till 5pm, so we planned to buy one; but then we were novice to setting it up and missed out the whole beach umbrella holder totally and the umbrella was flying away with the wind every time we tried. Now, of course i know better. Then, finally ,we laid out our beach mats and then went for our sea/gulf-bathing session. the water was warm and so nice. we had a lovely time. The waves were small and was perfect for swimming. After about 3 hours and changing and lunch at the shop near the Pier60, we were all unwilling to venture into any of the other activities I had in out itinerary. I had read good reviews about the Grouper sandwich which is a specialty of the area, so I tried it, but believe me i will not recommend it to a hungry-someone , i however will highly recommend the ice creams from the attached sweet-shop. when we returned to the beach, the sun suddenly seemed unbearable. The white powdery sand seemed too white for my eyes to bear anymore, the truth is I was wishing we had rented a place where I could go and sleep at that time. So we moved to the sheds on the Pier 60. We were waiting for the sunset celebration. we had to wait out 3 full hours for that. Neil layed out the mat and had dozed off. I spent my time watching people catching fishes and feeding them to the brown pelicans and egrets and sea gulls which flocked in plenty near the pier.

Then as the sun set, the dark and threatening clouds rolled in . I overheard someone ask over the phone" are u stuck in the storm?", i am not sure where it was, but looking at and hearing the clouds , i felt the storm was coming our way. I took to the wheel on our way back, and I drove non-stop for full 2 hours and was so happy to come back to Orlando. We did not meet the storm on our way.