My friend, Deepa, had come over from NC and we had planned "ladies day out". My husband was more than happy to let go of our car(and me, of course) for 2 days. I am meeting her after 2003, I guess. She shifted companies & a little while later, I got married and came to US. She joined me later in the US, but in the east coast. Thursday, July 27th, I drove over to show her the Pacific Ocean. She was actually stunned most of the times. Only then, I realized the importance of seeing places as a newbie. I don't remember, but I think I was dumbstruck by the Pacific(the first time I saw her) & I could trade anything for a drive along CA's Big Sur coast(till date). I had seen pictures of ... read more

18th June 2006 This is my first such hike- a hike with Swami Sukhabodhananda, the author of the best seller “Oh, Mind Relax please”. Well! He is a Hindu monk from India who has written a number of books for the benefit of people like me :-) This was a part of the completion of his first set of events in bay area. June 16th and 17th was spent very usefully with his Bhagavad-Gita talks in Sunnyvale. We were more than 10 in number. At that time, I did not know it would be such a long day there. I was informed 2-3 hrs. 10.45 am: We started off from the parking lot of Sanborn Park in Saratoga. We planned to take the Peterson trail, move on to San Andreas trail for a bit and turn ... read more

6th May 2006 - 14th May 2006 Trip to Hawaii! Mmm.. At the first thought, I didn’t really want to go there. I am basically from south India where we have lots of beaches, some good ones too.. The weather is not that hot(other than peak summer). So, um, what’s the big deal? Then, my husband bribed me with thoughts of volcanoes, hike down a colorful crater, colorful fishes. What the heck! No trip can be non-enjoyable. So, we decided & then planned.  I mean, we had no doubts which island to visit. Fortunately, we think alike(mostly) and we knew instantly it’s going to be the two southern most islands, Big Island & Maui. Hawaii First we booked the flight- ATA airlines(2 months in advance though!). Cheapest available, I am sure. We were going to ... read more

Road trips are always fun. But I’ve always wanted to do this trip in a long time. Winter time. Can’t go north. So, south it is! It’s been a while since we’d been there. So, I will have to refresh my memory here and there. We had covered Los Angeles a month back during thanksgiving. So, we were going to cover other places than L.A. There are a bunch of beautiful National Parks in that area. Deserts! Here we come. Thu, 22 Dec 2005 We were going to leave very early next morning (3:00 am). As usual, we got butterflies in our stomach. We were so excited. I don’t think we slept until 10.30 pm or so. Fri, 23-24 Dec 2005 I got up first at 1:30 am. Just could not sleep anymore. We loaded most ... read more

A 2005 Memorablog! When: Memorial weekend 2005 Where: Utah, Colorado & the Four Corners National Monument What: Covering all the most popular national parks This was our first long trip as a couple. Utah inspired me the first time I even set foot there . And since we had around 9-10 days, we wanted to cover Ganesh's favourite, The Rocky Mountains too! Itinerary Day 1: Delta flight to Salt Lake City, UT. Drive down to Cedar city, UT Day 2: Zion National Park Day 3: Bryce Canyon National Park Day 4: Arches National Park Day 5: Four corners National Monument Day 6: Mesa Verde National Park Day 7& 8: Million $ highway, San Juan Mountains, Colorado Day 9: Seven falls, Colorado Springs & Denver Day 10 & 11: Rocky Mountain National Park Day 12: Drive back ... read more