An Eventful Summer

This summer was one of the most eventful of all. Taking advantage of the pleasant weather as well as the opportunity to be able to put my driving to use, we executed our travel plans.

Our first trip was to 'Harpers Ferry'. It is a small historic town in West Virginia (WV), located at the confluence of Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. A perfect setting of natural andcultural amalgamation, Harpers Ferry is a must see.

NYC was the next destination on my list. Being a neighbour
of NYC, it took more than 3 years to experience this beautiful city. The first day, we toured Staten Island, Empire State, Wall Street and not to forget most important of all 'The Times Square'.
The second day, thanks to our friend, we decided to
experience the beautiful and serene
'Lake Minnewaska', 75 mi north of NYC.
An ideal place for hiking, picnic and to
experience the nature at its close proximity.
We chose to take the shortest trail to
have a close look at the waterfalls and the lake.




In July, I set off on the longest roadtrip from Philadelphia - Boston (271 mi) in the second week of July. The most interesting picture is on display. This picture is of a 'camera truck' on the borders of New York and Connecticut.







End of July, we set off to see the amazing million-dollar home lodged in the beautiful woods of Mill Run, built by a great American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright for the family of Kaufmann's. The uniqueness of
this work is that the house is built on a waterfall,
preserving the memories of the Kaufmann's
childhood.








Our final destination was a visit to the 'Roaring Niagara'. A breath-taking view of the falls on the 'Maid of the Mist' boat ride and an opportunity to experience the river force on the 'Hurricane Deck', it was a perfect trip to end my summer travel.

Travelethon

I have travelled from Sunny California to breath-taking Maine and have cherished every moment admiring Nature's endless beauty. As a child, I read fairy tales, dreamt of serene skies, green pastures, tall mountains and developed immense pleasure cherishing the thoughts with my presence in such places. Such a journey seemed far-fetched and a endless possibility. However, the advent of 2006 raised my hopes of fulfilling my travel desires, with the opportunity to attend conferences in Maine (will post the pictures later), California, Georgia, New Hampshire.







Waterville Valley, New Hampshire 2008











Atlanta, Georgia 2007











San Francisco, California 2008

Walt Disney World

Last weekend, being the long weekend is one which will remain in my memories forever. Summer time, everyone heads for the beach - we decided to visit Jacksonville, Florida- the sunshine state....Four days in Florida is what we were there for, even then the feeling of greed remains with me for the want of exploring more.

The first day, we went to 'Jacksonville Landing' where they had soothing music being played by a band but the best part was the boat ride on the serene St. John's river. It felt like another world altogether with cool breeze blowing which took me away from reality, i was lost for few minutes.


We were off to Walt Disney World the next day. Orlando is about two and a half hours away from Jacksonville. We reached the walt disney at noon. Walt Disney has four parts to it-
1. Magic Kingdom
2. Epcot Center
3. MGM Studios
4. Animal Kingdom




Epcot Center is what we opted for as it was scorching that day and it had all its shows indoors. After experiencing a couple of thrilling attractions such as Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, The Living Seas, Soaring, Living with the Land, we headed for International Gateway which has entertainment shows from different countries like Canada, France, Italy, Japan and many more. We decided to start with the French sector but by the end of it , we were exhausted, chose to bring a fantastic end to the day with the fireworks display.

spring break

this is my first ever break for the spring in the U.S and i am glad i could make it to washington d.c. its not that i haven't been to d.c before, but this time i had a chance to carry with me my very own camera....my second purchase after my laptop of course....
washington d.c has always been one of my favorites and the reason i like it, is that you have everything lined up in the same area "the mall"....starting from the museums, famous landmarks to the memorials.....and what more can a visitor wish for.
as i had visited d.c before, my friend insisted that i be her guide this time....i am sure i did my best on that....;-)) it is not as rosy as i am sounding right now...'coz the first day we went up 500ft to click some pics of the city from washington monument and gosh........the charge for my camera's battery was out....i am sure my friend would never ever think of taking me along again 'coz i was cribbing about it the whole day...so much so that the very next day, we again went up and this time, the charge taken care of....
i am posting some of the pics that were taken.....
this time we painted the city red....







this is an aerial view of the white house taken from the washington monument














the lincoln memorial














jefferson memorial














the capitol building







and before i cut it off at this...here's the famous washington monument at whose mercy i was able to get the aerial view of the president's city

the ski trip

whew.....how do i start....hmm....skiing is something which requires a lot of stability and patience...and gosh...i am definitely not that....
i was thinking of skiing sometime but never thought it would be so soon....thanks to my friend for inviting me over on his departmental ski trip....the preparations for the trip started a week before....and i was desparately waiting for the 4th of march. there were a couple of things which shook me though:
1. never thought the ski boots to be so heavy...man.....i can feel the pain even now....
2. and gosh it is not as easy as you think
3. the ski poles help you balance....the reality is that i gave myself too much push...so much so that i couldn'd control my speed and landed on the snow twice....
4. the 4 and 5 year old's definitely give you complex....you are trying so hard not to fall while these kids zoom in front of you like nobody's business
5. it is exhausting and for a day or two you would for sure feel yourself skiing though you are out of it all

guys...if you really enjoy ice skating, skiing is for you...but one thing, it is easier than ice skating...that is what i have been told

a fact before i end this post, cross country skiing is the best way to burn your cals.....;-)