When: Dec 25th - Dec 28th 2008 Where: Balboa Park, Downtown, Gaslamp quarter, Coronado parts of San Diego It's been a while since we traveled. We wanted to get out of our home for this vacation. But for a long time, we did not decide where. That makes it the least prepared trip for us. Usually, we have this plan laid out, like a month prior. I've read about so many people making unplanned trips that just involves taking the car & just drive. I've only imagined such trips as I am a planning freak. I need things to be in [View Full Entry]

---

---

First outing with our little S. Traveling with a baby is not as easy as I'd thought. If I remember to take a million things, its possible to forget a zillion! However, we had the need. The need for travel. In all these years, somehow we'd successfully managed to miss going to Fort Point(The amateur photographer in me always wanted to get the angle of Golden Gate from there). A sunny weather in south bay forced a huge fog into SF. The day was pleasant, the weather awesome & the place-need you ask? To master SF's roads, you n [View Full Entry]

---

---

Where: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA What: Pacific Orchid Expo A significant push from the better half made me wake up early Sunday morning to attend this show. The day was a warm 70F...warm enough in San Francisco. The day was clear & the skies were blue. What a day to spend in San Francisco!!! We planned to drive into town hoping to find one spot in the hundreds available in the Center. Alas! 11 am & we got to know the parking lot was "FULL" by 9.30 am. The next bet: a garage 2 blocks away, at Marina Mid [View Full Entry]

---

---

We had a really tiring Feb 18th. After that, the need to unwind rushed into the blood & with 3 days off from routine, we dashed to a place which we might not have thought of otherwise! 3 days in a resort among the Redwoods! Where: Avenue of the Giants, NorCal. When: 20th Feb - 23rd Feb 2008 Redcrest Resort is not the usual uptight "resort" community we'd expected. It is more like a rustic cabin without the Summer crowd. Guess, that made it worth it. Plus a functional kitchen. I got to learn ping pong from Ganesh. It is a [View Full Entry]

---

---

When: 21st Dec 2007 - 1st Jan 2008 Where: CA, NV & AZ American southwest is always a personal favorite. So, when our last minute plans to FL shut down, we embraced ourselves to yet another trip to The Grand Canyon State. It was winter & theme for the vacation was going to be "Deserts". Well, AZ is all desert, you may say. But this trip was going to be desert all in all. We love the deserts! After convincing each other about a "relaxed" vacation, I got down to business. For people on the run, it is pretty difficult to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Thanksgiving vacation found us in Western Nevada. Why? There was nowhere else we could go. We'd pretty much covered every place we knew. But like anything unexpected, it turned out to be a great trip. So, here goes the details. 22nd - 24th November 2007 Having ditched off all rental car plans, we had to run our speed machine for a quick service. Thursday, Nov 22nd 2007 Plans to start at 6:00am got delayed by an hour. Finally, we called it "ALL PACKED" & headed N. 7 mi on hwy 237, 3 mi on hwy 880 & a lot more on [View Full Entry]

---

---

Vacation: Labor Day weekend When: 31st Aug - 3rd Sep 2007 Where: Coastal Redwood Forests, Northern California Mileage: < 1000 mi RT I initially planned this trip as a surprise for Ganesh but I could not hold the secret for too long. Fri, 31st Aug: Rented a compact car from Alamo, San Jose Airport. Successfully overlooked a Chevy Aveo(Seriously, why are those cars even manufactured?) only to settle for a white Saturn Ion. Never driven a Saturn before. So, that's exciting! A huge trunk space(love those!). Ganesh spent a hectic day at work w [View Full Entry]

---

---

June 20th: Richardson highway to Wrangell NP. Richardson Highway: Our first stop was not too far from Fairbanks. 20 miles away is North Pole where it is Christmas everyday at "Santa Claus Haus". We were so glad we could meet Santa & actually talk to him. He was very friendly. We thought we had to wait in line for a handshake. This was so cool. This part of the highway was so hot & dry that we found it difficult to imagine how it would be in winter. The Trans Alaska pipeline curved its way in & out of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

June 15th: Anchorage is no more my favorite place in Alaska. I had no clue that the city was so crowded. Traffic bottlenecks everywhere. We were so glad that we were only passing by to get to Parks highway(highway 3). And did I mention it was hot? Boy, it was unbearable. Parks Highway(Highway 3) : Wasilla is a major city & you can find everything from a Home Depot to a Walmart here. The road is pretty much straight with grades here & there. Hatcher pass road is mostly unpaved & has good hiking trails/ATV riding & para gliding options, but [View Full Entry]

---

---

June 10th: Boarded the "American Eagle" flight to Los Angeles. Nothing to mention except that we had no complaints. That was the first time I saw LAX & immediately understood that it is as fast paced as the city itself. After a 3 hr walking in the airport, we boarded DL 816 to Anchorage. LA was blanketed in fog. Once the airplane took off, we came out of the fog & there was this Sun as if it was there all the time! For most of the journey, I fell asleep(or at least tried to). Ganesh was immersed in a movie. [View Full Entry]

---

---