Big Sur is a very famous tourist destination along the Pacific Coastal Highway-1. Big Sur generally refers to the region surrounding the town of Big Sur. It’s boundaries are not very-well defined; however, in general it is considered to be the area between the Carmel River and San Simeon town along the pacific coast. Big Sur is world famous its resorts and state parks along the coastline. This beautiful drive on the PCH-1 provides number of stunning vistas. We reached San Simeon on Friday night and spent a night there. Our lodge - San Simeon Lodge was located just across the [View Full Entry]

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Our whitewater rafting expedition was at the Merced river near Yosemite National Park on Saturday. Hence, we decided to spend the Sunday around that area. We spent the night at Housekeeping Camp in the Yosemite Valley. This place is generally sold out during summer; however, fortunately, we got a reservation just two days back due to somebody’s cancelation. Housekeeping Camp does not provide any housekeeping despite of its confusing name! It is a place for those who want some camping feeling, but do not want the hassle of setting up tents. Also, this is the only place in the Yosemite valley [View Full Entry]

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Shreya and I were looking forward to a whitewater rafting trip for a few weeks now. For some reason or other, it was getting postponed. Finally, this weekend we had a rafting trip in Merced river near Yosemite National Park. We drove down to El Portal on Saturday morning as our rafting trip was scheduled for 2 pm. I have been to rafting before in Truckee river near Lake Tahoe. It was class III-III+. This time we chose class III-IV run of the Merced river. Being spring-time rafting, water was icy cold. However, thanks to the past few days’ warm weather, [View Full Entry]

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This Saturday we made a spontaneous plan of going for hike. It was supposed to be cold and windy but sunny weekend. Initially we were thinking of going for a hike in Muir Woods; however, considering the weather conditions we zeroed down to Mission Peak Preserve near Fremont. Even though this was a spontaneous plan, Pranav, Mohnish, Ruchi, and Saket also joined us. We started around 1 pm. It’s a 5.6 miles roundtrip hike. However, it is quite steep, especially in the beginning and at the end. Weather channel stated it would be a windy day. When we started the [View Full Entry]

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Disneyland is a self-acclaimed happiest place on the earth! No matter how old you are, how many times you have been there… the kid inside you will enjoy the experience for sure! This weekend, we decided to check the grounds of these accusations. There are two different resorts: Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park in Los Angeles. We decided to make a day trip to the Disneyland Park, as we were accompanied by my sister (Shailee), brother-in-law (Pritesh), and my 2.5 years old nephew (Rishi). For kids, Disneyland Park is definitely the right choice considering the attractions like Toontown and [View Full Entry]

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African Wild Life Safari in California! Safari West is a hidden jewel of North California. Well, it’s not exactly a hidden jewel, as some of the time slots we wanted were already sold out. However, I had not heard about this place from people around me. When I talked to some of my colleagues at work, none of them knew about it! Safari West is a privately owned wild life habitat and a zoo spread over 400 acre of area near Santa Rosa in Sonoma county. Safari West is home to over 400 mammals and birds including some endangered species. This [View Full Entry]

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After the Yosemite day trip, we were off to an adventure trip at Moaning Caverns on Sunday. There are number of caverns near Gold Country area of California - most of them have walking tours open to public. Moaning Cavern was discovered around 1850 by gold miners; however, no gold was found from this cavern. We chose Moaning Caverns as it had a rappelling and spelunking adventure available! We drove to the Moaning Caverns through the beautiful towns of James Town and Sonora. Pranav, Ruchi, and Sumita joined us from San Jose. It is a 2 hours drive from Yosemite and [View Full Entry]

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Shreya and I visited Yosemite National Park valley on the weekend of March 29, 2008. This was Shreya's first visit and my fifth or sixth visit. I'm really glad that I have the annual pass :). I can't stop getting more amazed with the place every time I visit! This is early spring; all the waterfalls are at their best! Not all the snow was melted yet; hence roads to the Glacier Point and Tioga Pass are still closed. We ended up spending one day in the valley itself. However, I will suggest people not to miss visiting Yosemite in spring. [View Full Entry]

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This season we had not been to skiing even once... We went to Reno-Tahoe in December, but by the time we reached the slopes, it was too late for skiing lessons! So, this weekend we decided to hit some slopes before winter is officially over. People generally go to northern areas for skiing and snow boarding. However, being different people that we are, we decided to go to Big Bear Lake in Southern California on the weekend of March 23, 2008! This time our travel buddies were Pranav and Mohnish from San Jose, and Prutha, Nirav, Siddarth, Kanan from SoCal! Big [View Full Entry]

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We spent the fourth day at the Polynesian Cultural Center near the north shore of Oahu. They provided us transportation from our hotel. It is a living museum of the culture of Polynesian islands. This cultural center represents seven islands of the Polynesia: Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Aotearoa, and Marquesas. Polynesian cultural center is divided into above mentioned villages. All the villages exhibits and conducts activities of respective cultures. They also participate in some common activities like Canoe Pageant “Rainbows of Paradise” and a multicultural show "Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky". There is also an IMAX theater, a [View Full Entry]

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