More than a hobby, writing blogs on our travels is not just about sharing our experiences to the people out there, but it was out of realisation that we ourselves started to forget the minute details of the trip. We started to forget the experiences when the number of trips got added which we had enjoyed at that moment. So, this has become a means to relish those moments of our life. A summary of things which Dillu reminded me & which I remember myself.
We had been
to the US a couple of years back. This was one among our very first trips and
this trip is the reason which shaped us into the kind of travellers we are
today. Both of us loved travelling, but until this trip we did not know what
kind of travelling we are into.
This trip
also had many firsts for me like the first long flight, time zone differences
and problems/ boons related to that which were mere textbook experiences during
geography classes at school, longest international stay till date then,
snowfall & other winter experiences etc.
Dillu was in
India for a longer period that year but busy with going for classes &giving
his exams and I was focused on my career. I had got my US visa two years back
by then. We planned to spend some time with Deepakka (Dileep’s sister) &
family who used to be busy during their trips to India. Their kids were very
small then who have grown to become independent loving teenagers.
It was
during winter we had been there, just 2 weeks after New Year. It was very cold
and I started to shiver even with my jackets on landing at Houston airport. But
this was just the start of the roller coaster experiences of this winter trip.
The decorations of Christmas & New Year were still on and so got glimpses
of those on our way to their home which was 3 hours’ drive from Houston. But
since I was tired, I slept until we reached their home.
In those 5
weeks we got to see the glimpses of their regular days & we too preferred
to stay indoors due to cold weather outside. Though occasionally we stepped out
to HEB, Austin scoops or to pick up the kids from their school. And as though
our luck, Sun would shine on weekends and so it was favorable to step out of
the house. It was during such weekends we visited San Antonio, Mount Bonell,
Canyon Lake Dam, Wimberley glassworks etc. During these short trips with the
family, Dillu got his driving lessons from Raj Bhavu (Deepakka's husband), which came to use for our one-week
2000 miles self-drive trip Vegas to Vegas.
Day 1 : Airport, Las Vegas -> 29
Palms 247 miles, 4 hours
We flew to Las Vegas from Austin. We had reached Las Vegas around 2.30 PM. We had booked a self-drive car from Las Vegas. All the formalities were done including filling the fuel. It was time to kickstart our trip. We did not have any local sim, but carried Deepakka’s phone for navigation. It is very easy to drive on US roads, if we follow the navigation instructions as per maps & the freeway (express highways) sign boards. You must be well prepared to drive on freeways because of the following reasons
- One cannot stop on the freeway to check the map.
- There will not be anyone on the freeway so that you can stop to ask like that in India.
- In case of a wrong turn taken, you must exit the freeway and enter again as there are no U-turns.
It took 45 minutes to exit the airport road and take the fork to freeway because we kept following the maps instead of step-by-step instruction on the maps. Looking at the maps, we were just looping the airport road. It also became dark as it was winter and the sun set early. This added fuel to my worries regarding how we are going to manage by ourselves for the entire 8-day trip. I was sweating even in that cold weather. P.S. I was the Navigator & using the Apple maps for the first time.
Finally,
Dillu stopped the vehicle and helped me to read & navigate using Apple
maps. P.S. Those days I was not much familiar with using google maps. Also,
Apple maps & google maps featured differently. Even today I use google maps
knowing there are many issues nowadays. We were supposed to reach 29 palms for
dinner, but since we lost time in navigation, we had to take a short break for
dinner or rather early dinner. It seemed very late & dark due to early
sunset during winters. The working hours of the shops and other outlets are
also limited due to winter. We were not sure about restaurants being open by
the time we reached 29 Palms.
After the exit where we stopped for dinner, we never came back to the road which we had travelled so far. There were only two lanes now (one lane for traffic in each direction) and I was getting more petrified as it got darker and no vehicles were on the road. Neither, we overtook any other vehicle, nor any other vehicle overtook us. Occasionally, when we saw brake lights of vehicles far ahead, we were relieved only to realise in a short while that we were never to reach those vehicles. Either those vehicles were very ahead or followed some other route. We could see lights like that of a town/village occasionally in the valley. We felt we were driving on a road which was on the top of a mountain. Later when we passed a few intersections (a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet, or cross), we realised that there were other roads as well and those lights which I mentioned earlier probably came from the vehicles which travelled on that road. When I conveyed my fear of being stranded on the road, Dillu asked me whether I can spot SOS on every mile which we can use to seek help in case of any emergency. P.S. We were lucky that we reached our destination without having to use an SOS. Thus, that was the first time ever I came across an SOS.
Day 2 : 29
Palms -> Joshua Tree National Park 5 miles, 7 min
After
breakfast, we proceeded to Joshua Tree National Park which was very close. Joshua
Tree National Park is a national park in southeastern California. It is named
after the Joshua trees native to the Mojave Desert. The paved main road allows
visitors to drive to major attractions and through the park. The reception at
the National Park provides you all the necessary information & charts which
includes the trails & other information required for a tourist to traverse
through the park. It normally takes 2-3 hours to exit from the park. It is very
hot once the sun shines.
Joshua Tree
National Park -> Palm Springs 49.2 miles, 54 min
After
spending quite some time traversing through the park & clicking enough pictures,
it was time for us to proceed to Palm springs. The city is noted for its
mid-century modern architecture, design elements, arts and cultural scene, and
recreational activities. One of the most famous aerial tramways to San Jacinto starts
from Palm Springs. We spent the rest of the day shopping & dining at Palm
Springs before returning to 29 Palms.
After an
early breakfast & a drive of an hour, we reached the ticket centre of the
Palm Springs aerial Tramways. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the world’s
largest rotating tram car. It travels over two and half miles along the
breathtaking cliffs of Chino Canyon, transporting riders to the pristine
wilderness of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. During your approximately
ten-minute journey, tram cars rotate slowly, offering picturesque and
spectacular vistas of the valley floor below. Once you reach the Mountain
Station which is at an elevation of 8,516 feet, enjoy two restaurants,
observation decks, a natural history museum, two documentary theatres, gift shop
and over 50 miles of hiking trails.
This is the place where I got my first experience of snow. It was very cold on the top, but I was super excited. It was snowing when we arrived and so the pathways were all slippery. But none of these things stopped me from having fun in the snow. Only thing I regret is that I could not build a snowman myself because Dillu stopped me from staying without gloves for a longer period. He did not want me to fall sick.
Palm Springs -> San Diego 133 miles, 2 hr 22 min
It was not a long drive. But we had to reach early before it got dark. Another thing which I noticed on freeways is High Occupancy Vehicles or HOV lanes. These are available only in a few states that promote carpooling and thereby reducing cost, pollution etc. The pavement of the carpool lanes is marked with the diamond symbol. These carpool lanes are reserved for buses and vehicles with a minimum of two or three people including the driver. These lanes are normally busy only during weekends when people travel along with family & friends. It was during this journey; I came to know about fast tags or RFID passive tags which are used for making toll payments.
Now we had almost reached San Diego & we could see the lighted name
board of our place of stay on my left side. We were following the maps &
passed it. But we had no way out so that we could turn towards the hotel. We
took the next exit and again followed the map and this happened thrice. It was
then we switched to step by step instruction of the map instead of the map view
only to realise, we had to switch the lane and turn towards the
fork/intersection which leads to our hotel. The main lane which we were
travelling had a multi-leg intersection. So, switching to the correct lane and
taking the right fork was important without reducing your speed. (P.S. The road
was very busy and there was no way we got time to think and act). We stayed in
San Diego for 3 nights. The to & fro. driving here made Dillu an expert
driver on US roads.
Day 4
In the
morning we went to Silver Strand. But we found the sun was a bit harsh &
there was no shade. So, after clicking a few pictures, we just drove till the
US – Mexico border and back. Then we headed to Point Loma.
A wrong
turn does not always mean to lead you down a wrong way. Before reaching Point
Loma, we again missed some turn on the map that we ended up somewhere else. To
check the maps, we needed a break, where we could stop our vehicle safely and
get back to the road later. This led us to Harbor Island - a shoreline path
with a steady ocean breeze that keeps walkers, joggers, skaters, and bikers
cool while they enjoy panoramic views of the San Diego skyline, Coronado
Island, and the Big Bay. Several grassy areas provide ample picnic spots. We
too chose to spend some time and then check our map.
Point Loma
is a rugged peninsula, known for Cabrillo National Monument, a park with
trails, tide pools and exhibits on California history. It is a seaside
community within the city of San Diego, California, United States. which is
bordered on the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, the east by the San Diego
Bay and Old Town, and the north by the San Diego River. Together with the
Silver Strand / Coronado peninsula, the Point Loma peninsula defines San Diego
Bay and separates it from the Pacific Ocean. Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is a
popular spot to watch the sun going down.
Day 5
The entire day was well spent at SeaWorld, San Diego. You can get close to dolphins, penguins, sharks, walrus and more. There were awe-inspiring shows with magnificent killer whales, playful dolphins, humorous sea lions and an amazing pet show featuring adopted animals along with the exhilarating rides, roller coasters and water rides.
This was also a once in a lifetime experience where
I got to see many of the creatures of the oceans in real life which I had only
seen in textbooks till then. I was totally awe struck by the way people &
these creatures interacted with each other. Seeing the penguins & these
water creatures like sharks, walrus etc live also became my firsts along with
many firsts in this journey.
Day 6 : San Diego -> Las Vegas 435 miles, 6 hr 43 min
This indeed
was a long drive, so we started very early. We were very much tired when we reached
Vegas. But all the weariness vanished seeing the glowing Vegas. Due to the
lights & crowd, the sky above Vegas seemed like it never sets.
At Vegas,
we stayed at Luxor - One of the most recognizable structures in Las Vegas, the
30-story pyramid – an architectural wonder. It is an easy access to tram and
monorail for going to most areas of the Strip. But what attracted me was the
elevators. They look just like regular elevators, but because of the shape of
the building, they ascend and descend on a slight angle. The floor stays level,
but there is a very brief sensation of sideways movement at starting and
stopping. They are enclosed that it is hard to tell that you are going up at an
angle but they do rattle as they go up and down.
We spent
roaming around the strip exploring fountains of Bellagio from atop Eiffel tower,
MGM Grand, New York, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay & hopping on & off
on monorail till we were tired. But it felt like night was still young in
Vegas.
Day 7 : Las Vegas -> Hoover
Dam 37.1
miles, 40 min
Hoover Dam -> Grand Canyon National Park 243 miles, 3 hr 44 min
After a long night, we started early in the morning after breakfast at Grand Canyon National Park. Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. One would get great views of the mountain & dam. We spent less than half of an hour and started our journey to the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon in Arizona is a natural formation distinguished by layered bands of red rock, revealing millions of years of geological history in cross-section. We spent quite a generous amount of time in the park stopping at viewpoints & clicking pictures. We wanted to see the sunset at the canyon. The words are not enough to describe the views we got. The canyon displayed different shades depending on the sun rays and it was truly a mesmerising & spectacular view once the sun set. The warmth around us disappeared and the temperature dropped so suddenly that Dillu started shivering as he was not wearing his jacket and I was wise enough to carry my jacket everywhere. The car was parked a bit far so that one cannot go fetch it quickly.
The return
journey seemed like it was taking longer. Another interesting thing for me was
the time zone. There was a one-hour difference between the Grand Canyon which
is in the state of Arizona & Las Vegas which was in the state of Nevada.
Out of 6 time zones in the US, we travelled from Central to Pacific & then
to Mountain driving 2000 miles ourselves.
Once we
reached back, and freshened up we again set out to try our luck at casinos and
then exploring further down the strip.
Day 8 : Back to Austin
With lots of memories added to our memory basket, it was time to return to Austin.