Oct 26, 2008 Arches National Park The beautiful landscape of Southern Utah has been sculpted by forces of nature that have been working on it for millions of years. The result is quiet a beauty to behold. American Southwest which includes the states of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Nevada has a desert landscape which is unique. It has inspired Hollywood film makers over the years who have used this landscape for many a Western. Photographs of John Wayne and others were adorning the walls of some of the hotels I had stayed in during my 1 week trip of this region. John Wayne had, in fact, stayed in a few of these hotels during filming his movies. I started my trip from Salt Lake City. Drove south towards Moab along the scenic route 6. ... read more

Prince William Sound in South Central Alaska has the largest concentration of tidewater glaciers in the world. Harvard and Columbia glaciers are two of the big glaciers in these waters. Most popular way of seeing these glaciers is to take a half day cruise from the towns of Whittier in the west or Valdez in the east. I wanted to spend more time in front of these glaciers so I decided to take a longer cruise. Cruise West runs a 3 and 4 days cruise in Prince William Sound waters. This Cruise West ship, Spirit of Columbia, has rooms for single travelers unlike most large cruise ships which have room rates based on 'double occupancy'. So I did not have the pay the price for being single! After completing my road trip on July 10, I ... read more

Alaska was sold to US by Russia in the 19th century at a few cents per acre! Russian empire which had sovereignty over present day Alaska, thought of Alaska as a huge wasteland. It surely is huge with most of its area untouched by civilization. With the discovery of gold in late 19th century, prospectors began to arrive. Later oil was found along Arctic coast. More than a century later, it still continues to be a wilderness that it used to be. Having gotten a taste of its wilderness and beauty in TV documentaries, I had set Alaska on my tourism radar. Since not much is known about Alaska in Lower 48 states, it was a little difficult to plan an itinerary. With some help from a few web sites, I was able to chalk out ... read more

A trip to Walt Disney theme parks is a dream for many kids. But I ain't no kid. So what was I doing there during a couple of days before Christmas? Well Walt Disney parks in Florida are one of the top tourist destinations in the work. Millions visit every year. Christmas holiday time is more crowded than other times of the year, I think. The lights, decorations and festivities surrounding the holidays make it a little more special. So I was curious. After a really long road trip to Everglades and Florida Keys during Thanksgiving holidays in Nov, maybe I was a little reluctant to drive again to Florida in less than a month. But having not gotten any good deals for flights to anywhere in US, here I was, ready to drive from DC ... read more

I took a short trip to south Florida over the thanksgiving weekend. It is usually a 4 days holiday in most offices in US. And it is a busy travel time in the airports and on the roads. It was a last moment decision to go that far. I mean, from DC to Key West, in a car guzzling the over $3 per gallon gas for a round trip of over 2800 miles! Flight tickets become a little costly just before the holidays and sometimes it is difficult to find agreeable flight times. Driving through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, I finally reached my motel in Palm Bay. Next day I started early for Key West, which was about 6 hrs drive from Palm Bay. I had a seaplane flight scheduled for 12pm. On the way, a ... read more