Matacanes Trip.....

Matacanes Trip......

<Originally Created > Monday, August 4, 2008 3:56:12 PM

Conquering the 3rd toughest / largest Canyon in the world was no easy task.....
How can the mind and the body co-ordinate and esure that u can face something that you have never expericence....to test all of it... Matacanes is the place....

We begin the day at 4 AM to gather at a place "Cola de Caballo".Thereafter, waited for the trip organisers to ensure the commutation of our group (36 people).

Then begins a ride to the town "Potrero Redondo". A rough rugged travel to the place where there was not much of a constructed road in sight with a duration of around gruelling 2.5 hrs. We had a thought probably it might be just where we begin...we came to know...we had not yet seen the beginning ...
On reaching, we change our dress...change our gear...get water proof clothes...life jackets..mountain climbing/descenting apparatus (opposite Eight,8).. some food for the journey (choclate and cereal bars).
Then, we began .....
Climbing up and drudging through the trees and narrow paths ... paths from where you just cant afford to slip... and you cant turn back...We kept on walking and moving on highs and lows of the mountain terrain...for about 2.5 hrs. Thereafter, we reach upon our first interaction with Water.... man was it a hurdle... thats when I came to the fact that the Matacanes trek has 60% of water in it.... A thought/feel gripped ..Oh... but why was such a thought that crashed with me... till now i think there are 2 reasons ..1) I wear glasses 2) I Dont know swimming...

A jump of around 5 - 6 meters into the gushing waters was the first step.... Had some uncertainity in the feets at the edge...but..there was no way back...hence...I just JUMPED ..
Then was the stage of Mountain Rappling... pull yourself down from the summit of the mountain into a pool below with the mountain being of a height of around 34 meters ...it was scaring... first timer ..complete amateur... oh..

A very nice avid description of the Matacanes adventure can be found here : http://www.gonomad.com/features/0706/mexico-matacanes.html ... it is very similar if not same to the experience I had....
Better shots of what we actually did http://iiijuntadeconsejo2008amhm.com/AImagen/Santiago2/Fotos_Matacanes.jpg

Checklists... extravagance

Checklists... extravagance

<Originally Created on >Tuesday, January 18, 2011 10:48:48 PM

...some of my extravagant activities ... my bucket list... living life on the edge ..

Thought to pen down some of the extravagant activities I have had done...

1) Bungee Jumping (Mexico)
2) Rope Rappling (Mexico)
3) Mountain Rappling (Mexico)
4) Night Hiking (Metacanes (Mexico))
5) Crossing a canyon swiming (Metacanes (Mexico))
6) Para gliding (Mexico)
7) Jet Sking (Mexico)
8) Scuba Diving (Mexico)
9) Snuba diving (Mexico)
10) Snorkling (Mexico)
11) Sking atop Mt. Appaclian (Appalician Mt. Range Near Charlotte - USA)
12) Sky Diving (Chester - USA)
13) White Water River Rafting (West Virginia - USA)


hope to add on ...

Mexico Experience..... and travels...

Mexico Experience.....

<Originally Created> Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:32:55 AM

<Chronological as far as possible>

Events in Monterrey,Mexico will stay in memory for long time to come. Awesome friends ... although troubling at times..

The place is very good indeed. Picturesque scenery.... good food....beautiful women folks...
Had new experiences with different kinds of people..
many things will stay etched in my memory....
Frankly, the first for many things were done in here....

Be it cooking...working in a company setup which is big but starting from literally meagre beginnings...
traveling to new places(a highlight indeed)...and last not least...a set of colleagues...turning to be friends ...hope so we can have the same bond of friendship further on in life ...................
An account of my trips to come in the coming posts..........

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TRIP TO TAMPICO & SAN LUIS POTOSI...[Feb'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Ashutosh,Kartik,Vijay,Gauri,Shankarram,Karan,Shakti]


To be written.......

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TRIP TO MEXICO CITY...[March'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Ashutosh,Kartik,Vijay,Gauri,Indrani,Senthil,Lokesh,Sanjay,Krishnan]

A trip to the capital city of this country revealed a lot of the traditions and culture that forms the backbone of this beautiful country...
Our travel started on a exciting note(of sorts...)by missing the bus Upon,reaching, the first striking difference from monterrey was visible in the difference in architecture and the commuting facilites. A network of Subways/Metros formed the backbone for the transportation needs of the locals there.
Having reached a designated hotel, we got together to have a Mexican Breakfast...Once all were freshened up, we went ahead to aboard the Turi Bus (Pronounced as Too-ri Boo-ss).... Atop the roof of the bus, we saw the City of Mexico... A nice time we had ... with a ear piece on, a pre-recorded voice kept explaining us the history and the ideas behind the many beautiful constructions in the city..
Although, it difficult to reaccount all..Some were...Zacalo..

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TRIP TO Guanajuato...[4th - 7th July]

[Participants: Pritam,Jatin,Indrani,Krishnan,Arvind,Praveen,Thiru,Krishna,Jennie,Andy,Gurmit,Shakti,Karan]

A trip to the historical genius of the Mexican culture. The trip was though cramped up in a weekend but it was fun.The places we visited included Guanajuato,Leon and San Miguel.




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TRIP TO Housten,San Antonio (USA)...[29th Aug - 1st Sept'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Jatin,Raghu,Gaurav,Aniket,Kunal,Amitav]

An Ad-hoc plan transalted to an adventure maiden trip to the USA.



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TRIP TO Gudlajara...[12th - 15th Sept'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Indrani,Shobna,Pepe,Kavitha,Onkar,Swaroop]

A quick plan and a nice trip to the 2nd biggest city in Mexico, the birth place of Tequilla (Tequilla Country)... ...


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TRIP TO Real De Catorce... [20th Sept'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Indrani,Ajay]

An Ad-hoc plan made over a drinks table and we find ourselves speeding away on a X-Trail to one of the oldest cities in Mexico... was also tagged as the Ghost Mining Town till sometime back... it has an mystical catus ,, said to have amazing healing and medicinal powers. Legend has it that the vision for building up Mexico City came from here. Long back it also used to be the Financial Center of Mexico with mines filled of Silver being excavated here and printing of coins being done here.
Thereafter, having a horseride at the top of a stony mountain with the trail looking like no less than the Great Walls of China.... believe me ... we really felt that we might have put our life to risks

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TRIP TO Mesa Del Oso... [27th - 28th Sept'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Gurmit,Snehal,Onkar,Akshay]

A place of heavenly beauty and calmness... serene and silent with literally only the chirping of the birds to break the silence... On a lonely cottage surrounded by clouds and greenery with the freedom to do Nothing and just RELAX. This was what we did for around 2 days...
With the road to the place was no less then heavy trekking... car getting stuck in the mud..we pushing the car to get it going..driving on blind turns on the mountains..rocky terrains and risky cliffs... ...but..it was FUN




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TRIP TO Veracruz... [4th - 6th Oct'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Indrani,Arvind,Ajay,Swaroop,Satish]

A trip that will be remembered where we swam in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico with 360 deg waters and Jet Skying on the ocean. Visiting the city of the Pyramids (El Tahin) and walking on the lonely beaches with no more than few people around... an exhuberance in true sense.


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TRIP TO Acapulco... [31st Oct - 2nd Nov'08]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Indrani,Ajay,Swaroop,Rashmi,Jatin]

Awesome time on the beach with almost tremendous water activities. Some of the things we did.... Parasailing (Boat pulls the rope attached to u and u fly up on hooked to a parachute) , Jet Skying (driving a water-bike on the hard/strong currents of the Pacific Ocean), Banana Rides (all 7 get hooked on to the banana shaped boat that gets toppled over at the middle of the ocean, a sudden shock to all who find themselves first struggling to come to terms and then to save themselves), Scuba Diving (completly loaded with Masks, Oxygen Cylinders, Fish Fins... we jump into the mid ocean and scale the depth of the ocean and the beauties under the water... swiming with the fishes... getting drowned sometime but managing to pull myself back to the levels ) , Boat Party (..Observing the beautiful sun go from the sorching self to the red cherry form and the vanishing in a glow....cracking up a champaigne on the boat...driving a boat :d) , Party like crazy on a beach side club till 5:00 am , culminating in barely missing the plane back to mty.


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TRIP TO Linares... [Jan 17th '2009]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Shobana,Kamal,Swaroop,Rashmi,Jatin]

Nice one day trip to a dam on a 2-3 hr drive from Mty. Nice scenic place with a difference.
On coming back, went to a go-karting arena (the biggest and best professional track in MTY).
Got lost in driving to the go-karting areana and back home.
Nice fun on the way and back.

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TRIP TO Zacatecus... [Jan 31st '2009]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Shobana,Kamal,Swaroop,Jatin,Senthil,Jennie,Lokesh,Sunny]



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TRIP TO US (McAllen). [Feb h '2009]

[Participants: Pritam]

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TRIP TO US (Laredo). [Next Week Feb '2009]

[Participants: Pritam]

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10 K marathon Run [March 8th '2009]

[Participants: Pritam,Praveen,Jatin]

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Saltillo Trip [April 25th '2009]

[Participants: Pritam,Hitesh,Gil,Rajesh,Santosh]

Was not ready to get on this trip as was having fever... but i went on....
A Nice small city with good museums and cultural place. Museum of Deserts was one of interst and a very lengthy affair. It had all various areas of interst. Starting from History,Bio-Diversity,Desert Plants,Historic animals..DINOSAURAS..stood out ..with their supposedly original fossils and excavated bones..under water world... eagles flying by..bears jumping around..meerkat's burrowing at the grounds...Stuffed animals in real life structure... nice place. Then roaming round around in the town of Saltillo... looking for food .. and a good place to chill out. ...Got on to the highway for back to MTY and halted to have dinner ar the "La Brazers". Nice place, nice live music (the lady could play the guitar really well).. ok drinks.. finished all and headed back to the road to MTY. Lest we knew that we would get lost after entering the city and roamed the roads for 2.5 hrs missing exits and finding new roads and names . Managed somehow with the help of a mexican guy who actually led us out of the bhool-bhlaiya. He mentioned a nice stmt. "..no problems.. Its the Mexican thing...", impressed me.
Anyways.. reached home and crashed on bed. A long quite exciting day closes.....

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Cancun Trip [June 27th - June 29th '2009]

[Participants: Pritam,Sunny,Gil,Rajesh,Manju,Shobana,Thirumalai]

1st day - xcaret and dady'o at night
2nd day - chichen itza and coco bongo at night
3rd day - Isla Mujeres and cancun beach

A place which I had to visit to complete my Mexico trip. A place hyped out and asked by all [].
A nice trip though. Fun from small activities.
Did Snorkling and Snuba diving (diff from Scuba where u have the oxygen cylinder to ur back) at xcaret.
Did Kyak at Isla Mujeres.
Jet skying at a cancun beach.Went on cruise amongst a good nice group of international crowd.
And much all...games at swimming pool..pockets being less of cash(unprecedented cost of stuffs)..etc etc...

Some Trips in US...

Some Trips in US... (Blogging in Progress List...)

<Originally Added on >Monday, September 13, 2010 5:26:12 AM

A Chronological Account of some of the trips I went to during the times in US .. some moments.. some memories.. [Date Format - MM/DD/YYYY]

2018 ->
The trip to Crater Lake and Beyond.. [5/26/18 - 5/28/18] [Participants: Me, Shilpi] 

All it started with.. thinking what to do on the Memorial Day weekend. It has been exhausting moving places to places, never for vacation but for work.
Thought it was about time, We needed a break. A small vacation of sorts. As well as considering the future, this seemed an appropriate time.

I thought to point it out on the Google Maps..

So how did we go about it...
Saturday morning decide

Afternoon... 

2:00 pm Drive from Beaverton to Eugene, Springfield

Pitt stop at lovell lake... 

Stay at holiday Inn...

Ate at noodles & company... 

Went to Bunett park

Sunday

Breakfast (free) 

Drove out.. . 

Destination crater lake

Crossed national parks (Deschutes, wineme, Umpqua) 

Couple of breaks down the road and view the lake. 

Skip Rim village

Head down to bend 

Stop over at lava cast forest (saw a amateur firing range) 

Check in at Hilton garden inn

Monday - 

Breakfast (paid) 

Visit Mt. Bachelor

Eat at Taj Indian 

Visitor center... Get to know and go to.. 

Summit point

Smith Rock national park

Drive to Redmond... Gas up, Walmart Pitt stop

Drive via Deschutes, three sisters town/forest area

Drive up to Woodburn premium outlet

Shop thru

Eat up at Red Robin

Drive back home.... 10:45 pm

Relocation (Yet Again) [03/10/2018] - [Participants: Me,Shilpi] to Beaverton, Oregon.

Places visited in and around:
Regional Blue Lake (05/12/18)
Estoria Bridge (4/ ../18) [Me, Shilpi, Swapna Di, Hemu Da, Ruhi, Ryan]



2017 ->
The year had an interesting turn of events to start re-accounting from... With the closing of Nov 2016 ... quite a few changes came about with my life as a contractor.

April 2017 - Relocation to Virginia, Fairfax [4/9/2017][Participants: Me,Shilpi]


3 weeks in Extended Stay in Tysons Corner
pick up the apartment in Fairfax, VA, take mETRO TO Washington dc..

...

A trip to Washington DC [5/20/2017][Participants: Me, Shilpi, Komal, Viren Tanna]

Trip to Acadia,Boston .. 5/26/2017 - 5/29/2017 [Participants: Me,Shilpi,Satakshi,Rphit Pandey]


Trip to Redmond, VA [6/3/2017][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Komal, Viren Tanna]

Trip to New York [7/1/2017 - 7/4/2017][Participants: Me,Shilp]
With a new car on our side.. excitement + apprehension abound our thoughts.

Sites visited :
Empire State Building
Madame Tussads

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2016



->


Trip to San Diego [02/03/2016 - 02/07/2016][Participants: Me]
Trip to San Diego [02/03/2016 - 02/13/2016][Participants: Shilpi]

Sudden and emergency visit to see her ailing sister in critical condition and her new born Aryan. I had to accompany her owing to the situation .. and a bit of morality kicked in... Nevertheless.. thought it might me a small gesture which might help them in some way..



Trip to San Juan Islands [02/14/2016 - 02/15/2016] 
[Participants: Me,Shilpi,Krishnarup,Sunanda,Rian,Amit,Amrita,Amrita's Mother & Amaira]

A get away that was essential.... amongst the rains we landed on the islands post a ferrery ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbour. Previous night Shilpi had landed tired and distraught and the day started off with a 1.5 Hrs drive to the ferry landing zone. ...


Trip to Olympic National Forest/Sequim [09/03/2016 - 09/05/2016][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Amit,Amrita & Amaira,Sanjoy Ghosh,Mitali Ghosh & Ishaan, Angshuman Dhar, Shilpi Dhar]

A Plan that took about  2 weeks.. with minimal interference from me :), we ended up on a quick short vacation for the Labor Day Long Weekend. ..  Saturday, we start at noon and start for Dungeness, with a few breaks.. exploring new citites along the way (Kitsap, ..et al) we reach close to evening. Other folks had reached already.. though not by a major gap. 

We spend the night chit-chatting, barbequing , star gazing, some dumbcharades..some card games.. 

Next Day - Places we covered - Hurricane Ridge, Lake Cresent, ..La Poel,Salmon Cascade,San doc,Fairholme,Storm King (Skipped the hike),Sole Day Springs (missed the waterfall which had a 1 mile hike), East Beach.. 

drove around via country roads..Shilpi navigated by the hard map (since N/w was not there and hence no GPS maps)....ended up in Port Angeles and a quick dinner at the Crabhouse. Then took chicken back to the house and had another round of BBq, although it ended up with the chicken fried since the gas gave up on us.. 

Monday morning.. peaceful start to the day with sitting across the serene waterfront.. the mesmerizing beauty of nature..and we pack our bags to get back home.. 

Having had a quick snack/lunch at IHOP, we head to Adiaz Hook..a strait flanked by the ocean on either sides.. beautiful !!! and then we head back on the road to home.... 

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2015

Trip to Charleston [01/18/2015 - 01/19/2015][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Sumanta,Debapriya]
Random trip with Sumanta and checking out the Charleston Crabs and beaches.

Trip to San Diego [Feb 25 - March 11][Participants: Shilpi]
Trip to her sisters house.

Trip and Settling in Bellevue,Washington [04/18/2015 - ] [Participants: Me,Shilpi]
Flying to Seattle, Moved to hotel in Bothell , then moved to hotel in Bellevue (extended Stay)
Then Moved to Foothill Commons (on May 1st) to set up new Household..

Trip to Mount Rainier (Sunrise Point) [May 24'2015][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Rupesh,Rakhi]
Trip to Leavenworth [May '2015][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Rupesh,Rakhi]

Trip to Bellevue / Seattle / Portland [June 10 - June 23'2015][Rudranil (Hemu Da), Swapna , Ruhi Shona, Shilpi, Me] - Shilpi's elder sister and brother in law came over to visit us in Bellevue and spend some vacation time with us. During the time, we visited in and around Bellevue, Seattle's tower, Chihuily Garden, Portland (Day trip), etc...

Trip to Crystal Mountain overlooking Mount Rainier [July 04 '2015][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Rajinder Singla,Vineeta ,harsha (daughter), Vineeta's Sister (Sunita), Sister's Husband]

Trip starts at 8 AM ..targeting Crystal Mountain's Gondola an awesome experience .. beautiful ..mesmerizing sight of Mount Rainier and trails of stony paths..upon greens of the hills.. Home made lunch from Vineeta added to the fervor..
Thereafter went on to Tipsoo Lake close by..good experience.

Trip to Green Lake and Golden Garden Park at the foot of Ballard near Seattle [07/18/2015][Participants: Me,Shilpi]

Been a while ... I wrote or we travelled out... its been a lot of social functions and random drives.. but not much trips...

Trip to California - Santa Clara/San Jose / San Francisco [11/26/2015 - 12/2/2015] [Participants: Me,Shilpi]
There wasn't much of a planning for this trip as well. I had been in town for a long while and wanted to get out. Shilpi as well has been house bound for a long while, with occasional socializing.. so I thought we both needed a break... Thanksgiving holiday and the black Friday holiday..sounded like a perfect time... with all the mental tensions and worries going on .. we needed this break.. hoping to start afresh the winter.. but alas...
Anyways, I did record a day - by - day recount of this trip... not sure why..but seems like I just had the time.. here goes...

So...here it is...

Day 0

Shopping....

Day 1

SFO-golden gate ; Pier 39 - bubba gump

Day-2

Santa Cruz ; mystery spot ; manju dinner

Day-3

Ca-1, half moon bay, twin peaks, painted ladies, fisherman's wharf, crooked street, dinner @ red hot chilli peppers

Day -4

Ladies shopping, dd-discounts, kohls,Satish house

Day-5

Shopping dd-discounts,JC penny, chaat bhavan,duli meeting

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2014 -->
MARRIAGE  - :) [02/11/2014 - 03/07/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi ] - A Life Changing and life modifying event.
 Engagement Day - 12/11/2013
 Marriage Day - 02/17/2014

Trip to Washington DC [04/18/2014 - 04/20/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Sumanta]

Sudden plan and end up on a first drive and first US visit for Shilpi .. my better half, starts on her trips in US.

Trip to Biltmore Estate & Ashville [05/24/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Shanthi,Rohit Shinde,Harsha,Rohit Singh,Gyatri]
One Day trip and plan to capture the grandeur of the largest private house in US and the winery tasting of Biltmore Wineries. It was a good but a bit tiring experience. An extended day that started with a scary moment at the roads with a log of wood shirking off my car damaging my car body  a bit and taking the rim off the car following mine. The day culminated although in a nice relaxed environment of wine tasting and a vist to the historical past of the Biltmore's. A tiring day is never finished unless we top it with a nice meal .. and so it was a dinner down @ Mela in Ashville.. A filled tummy and a satiated spirit.. we trudge back to base @ Clt..  A day well spent...

Day Trip to Clover/Kings Mountain/Crowders Peak [06/28/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi]
Random drive through upon the road towards South Carolina via Lake Wily took us through many of the adjoining towns/counties .. a day on the road and the vist to the country side of US ..

Trip to Durham  & Outerbanks [07/03/2014 - 07/06/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi,Rohit Pandey,Snigda (w/o)&Mayur,Shweta (w/o)&Pritish,Shilpa (w/o)&Sonu Sharma]

Quick planning and random getaway's continues when in the eye of the tropical typhoon Arthur, we planned to hit Outerbanks for our annual meetup .. It was a very good time spent amongst old and new friends..
Me & Shilpi stayed over @ Durham for the night of 3rd at a friendly home of Carrissa via AirBnB and then continued our journey to OB the next day. Looked around Durham a bit and then drove all the way to OB..
This was my first road trip where I drove all alone over 700 miles... ..

Trip to Atlanta [08/30/2014 - 09/01/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi]

Beautiful random trip....hectic schedule ...on the fly decisions. .. almost most of monuments were scoured...good food...good drive....

Trip to West Virginia Snowshoe Mountain [11/25/2014 - 11/29/2014][Participants: Me,Shilpi,..host of others]

Gathering of old buddies and introducing our new spouses.. complete 4 days of in house fun and card games..

2013------->

Trip to Grandfather Mountain/Blue Ridge Parkway [10/20/2013][Participants: Me,Sagar,Rohit Shinde,Harsha Shinde]
Drive and a nice getaway ... One day trip.. and a nice time out...... Caught up with the fall almost at the end of this season but it was a very nice sunny day for the trip. drove to the Mtn range and via the Blue ridge parkway..walked 3 trails and walked over the Mile High Bridge .. .

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Trip to Colorado/Utah [ 8/29 - 9/3][Participants: Me,Amit,Shivam,Santosh,Pritish,Shweta,Rohit Pandey,Mayur, Setu, Sonu,Shilpa, Rama]
Well planned trip by Pandey and team. I fly down from India and a weekend later I join this trip.
Flight on a Thursday Night to Denver and off to Vail via Road. ...The next day we drive close to 600 miles to Moab to visit the Arches National Park ..Milestone trip.
The next day we drive back to Vail via various scenic points ... and then have dinner cooked and a day later have barbeqee setup.
The next day we drive well back to Denver ....back to Clt on Tuesday Evening. ..

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Trip to Chicago [5/25 - 5/27][Participants: Me,Kunal,Shanthi,Anusha M]

A road trip planned in about a couple of days stared right out at us with a daunting task of driving around 786+ miles one way (close to 14 - 15 hrs) drive to Chicago and back.
Started off the trip by upgrading the car from a Full Size Sedan to a mid-size SUV to a Full Size SUV (Dodge), had to literally reach out for the brakes 
Started @ Night 9:00 PM EST on Friday, pitt stopped @ Louiseville @ 5:30 AM EST on Saturday, restarted @ 11:30 AM EST and reached Chicago @ 5:30 PM CST.
Looked up the place we booked via airbnb (a local site where people gave up their own apartments for rent, cheap and homely feeling place) and thereafter left for Sears Towers (Tallest Towers in Western Hemisphere). By the time we wrapped up the day, (had Dinner @ Devon Street a.k.a. Indian Street with plates of CHicken biryani and faluda and finishing off with a zarda pan) , each of us were dead tired off the journey and the walks and the wait times.. we crashed on the makeshift beds.
Day 2 - we start @ 11:00 AM and make our way to explore the downtown. Made a stop @ some harbour beach, nice place.. went and walked the city.. went to Navy Pier.. danced away to some local band (Rock Candy).. befriended a Cab wala (btw, a desi who was settled in Chi town), reached a place which was open 24 hrs outside the uptown area, (giving me a feeling of the hotels we used to find on the Shillong-Silchar night super bus journey's).. had a decent fill of the food.. had a nice masala chai.. and romped back home.. only to roam around in the middle of the night for a parking spot.. (heck its a pain to find parking in Chi town)...
Day 3 - Start off by packing and putting back the house in order.. picking up the threads of the old Indian feel.. had brunch @ Abhiruchi (a mix of US'ised Andhra Food) and then pan and off we hit the road again.. slept in the monstrous car.. drove crazy stretches of miles.. cross atleast 5 states driving .. (Indianapolis, Kentucky, Cincinaty... et al.)...
Return - Started @ 1:00 PM CST on Monday - Reached Charlotte @ 5:00 AM EST on Tuesday Morning.
...TBD.....

Trip to Atlanta [5/3 - 5/5][Participants: Me,Pritish, Shishir, Amit,Sampath,Santosh]

Having been asked by Amit to drive with him, we went on to Atlanta to buy possibly 3 cars and ended up getting back with a very successful campaign of 2 Cars (lexus 350 for Pritish and Mazda3 for Amit).
Woke up @ 5 AM on Friday, and with a day off from Office.. drove down to Atl and into the dealer shop (UIAuto Shop(Roswell, GA)) and spent a very entertaining day over there digging into the value of a car and negotiating the price of the same.
The ride back was interesting as well with Amit driving in fog and rains and me navigating.. pretty interesting at times 
...



2012----- -->

Trip to Cannan Valley [12/13 - 12/16][ Participants: Me,Pritish, Shweta, Shishir, Amit, Rohit Pandey, Mayur, Setu, Shirish shetty]

Gathering of old friends..chicken bbq..drinks..trail trekking..insane curvy mountain driving...nice time

Trip to Savannah [11/11 - 11/12][Participants: Me,Kunal,Shanthi]

Absolutely No plans for the weekend, we while away the time on Friday, Saturday and the on Sunday 12 Noon, we are bored.. so pick up the camera, get the rental car, pick up Shanthi and off we go to catch the Sunrise @ Savannah ('coz someone told that we get good food there).. Crazy as it is, its not that bad.. nice historical place, with the port on its side and quite a variety of food..

Trips to Asheville [10/ - 11/ ][Participants: Me,Kunal]
Multiple trips to Asheville, at the foot of the Smokie Mountains. We drive down there just as there is nothing better to do. Discovered good fooding joints (Mela , Kathmandu Cafe, Chai-Paani).
Very good food and a decent drive down the road...

Trip to NYC and US Opens 2012 [9/4 - 9/9] [Participants: Me]

Immediately back from the outerbanks trip.. i do a WFH of one day and fly out in the evening to NYC and New Jersey. Met old friends Sunny Rajora and Praveen Dodagodur and his wife.

Experienced LiveUS Open and saw all players whom we see in TV .. right in front of the eyes..
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Trip to OuterBanks [8/31 - 9/3] [Participants: Me,Rohit Pandey, Pritish, Shweta Naik,Shishir Kumar,Amit Singh]
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Trip to Miami [8/9 - 8/12] [Participants: Me,Rohit Pandey, Venkat Subramanium,Shishir Kumar,Amit Singh]

One of definately my best and unique B'day Celebrations and parties and time out. Chilled out and absolutely lazed out time.

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Trip to Knoxville/ Nanthala Pass/ CheroLay Skyway (Smokies) [6/28-6/29] [Participants: Me,Kunal]

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Trip to West Virginia (White Water River Rafting)[6/30][Participants: Me,Balaji,Venkat S, Channu,Jyotsna,Pandey,Shanthi,Amit Singh,Karthik Subramanium,Madhuri,Vijayalakshmi Kumar,Paramita Gupta] ...

A Single day trip that started @ 4:30AM and culminated @ 12:00 AM(next day) .. Exhaustive tiring day but satisfying..

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Trip to Chester County (Sky Diving) [6/16][Participants: Me,balaji,Venkat S, Channu,Jyotsna] ...

One of the most awaited bucket list item till date.. sudden chance came by and I jumped at the offer..

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Trip to Myrtle Beach and Charleston [6/10 - 6/12][Participants: Me,Kunal,Sugu] ...

First trip with roomies of Apt # 519 .. nice trip at the midst of Summer Break.. beach fun .. tried Baseball on the Sea.. surfing..

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Trip to YellowStone National Park [5/29 - 5/][Participants: Me,Pandey,Shishir,Venkat,Amit Singh,Shweta Naik,Amit Bhat,Pritish,Prabhu,Mayur Kishalaya] ...

Worlds primero Geyser basin ...Hot Springs at almost every quarter of a mile atop the YS ..

One of the most inspiring and soul-fully peaceful trips.. Amazing beauties and nature's glory to display. "We Enjoyed Nature's pleasureable glory as well as saw Natures wrath" .. Scores and scores of uninhabited lands purely in the lap of Nature.

We saw literally Seasonal changes in a sopace of 15 mins.. we saw hail,rain,snow,sun all within minutes. Some of the scenics were so amazing that I have no words. ......

A home to many natural habitats.. Bison,elks,fox, Bears (Grizzley)....

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Trip to Winston-Salem [4/7 - 4/7][Participants: Me,Pandey,Kavya,Shanthi] ...

Late decision to drive down to Raleigh ended up @ Winston-salem for a break for a 'coffee'.  ......

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Trip to Lake Murray [4/1 - 4/1][Participants: Me,Kunal] ...
Silent.. trying to break Ice trip.. calm .. visited quite far from Charlotte ..

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Trip to New Orleans (Mardi Gras)[2/17 - 2/21][Participants: Me,Pandey,Satish,Abhinav,Neha(Abhinav ki wife), Balaji, Venkat, Shishir, Prabhu, Siddharth (Venkat's Frnd)]

Amazing...Crazzyy.. mast... few words that come to the mind.

.... drove down arounf 12 hrs to Biloxi (92 miles off New Orleans).. the evening brought with it a tornado warning that drove the locals into their houses and us into the beach.. daring the sea and the winds gives a different feeling altogether.. thereafter we head back to our resort as the weather was unruly .. a game of Ass of cards and some relaxed talks gets us to the evening.. and then we head over to the Casino.. Beau Rivage...

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2011 -->

Trip to Washington DC and New York [10/7 - 10/10][Participants: Me,Kunal,Aafreen,Pritish]
A trip punctured with interesting and odd coincidental occurances not so pleasant.
Be it missing to see the Durga Puja Celebrations, Kunal missing his colleagues marriage,Aafreen toppling off a Chicken Briyani on herself, missing our bus to NYC, ending up reaching NYC @ 4 am , ...etc

Well the format was decently planned but all loopholes were not covered.. we drove down to DC, reached @5am, put up at a motel where we had a booking for the next day, the slept like a log till 11:30, bearing a very strong headache, roamed DC.. the Capitol , Lincon's Memorial.. etc
then the hunt for a overnight parking space made us get divided and roam around Union station to places where not many are allowed.. tension and confusion rode high..
add to it .. cell getting charged out of a bar ..

@ New York...

TBC..

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Trip to Myrtle Beach [9/10 - 9/11][Participants: Me,Kunal,Aafreen,Pritish,Pandey,Shanthi]

Extensive over worked week leads to a Late Saturday. Wake up, plan to go grab a coffee.. Starbucks..o'er there plan for a briyani.. then sudden plan for a quick trip to Myrtle and back.. all agreed and we head to Myrtle beach at 5:00 PM in the evening... drive down ,,,,,,,,,,,

tbc
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Trip to Arkansas.. [8/12 - 8/14][Participants: Me,Kunal]

Randomness knows no bounds... Spirit knows neither..We take two flights across multiple states... rest awhile and drive back 960 Miles on a Car which my roomie and friend buys...

we travel from Charlotte -> Atlanta (flight)(brief stop over) -> Arkansas (Flight) -> Memphis (By road) -> Charlotte....

Experiences account galore...

TBC

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Gainesville .. Highlands(Applacian mt. ranges) Trip [6/2 - 6/4][Participants: Me,Pritish,Pandey,kunal,Shanthi]

Another random trip decided late saturday noon ... trekking...bathing at the waterfall ..different fooding...

tbc

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Miami and Keywest Trip [5/26 - 5/31][Participants: Me,Pritish,Pandey,kunal,Shanthi,Jatin & Wife,Afreen, Ravi manem & Family.... 22 folks in total ]

did some watersports,, a cruise...ate dolphin...got ticket for over speeding...lost my ipod touch...2100 miles of road trip

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Crowders Mountain [10 Apr 2011][Participants: Me,Kunal,Himanshu]
What better way to start the summers than hiking. so with those thoughts, we get on to our rented car @ 6:30 in the morning .. to catch a sunrise and then to go find a trek  ...
wasn't able to get the sun come out of the clouds though.. a foggy morning .. led us to go in hunt of a Trek ... we ended up at the same place at which we finished our winters.. the Crowders Mt. in South Carolina. But this time round we scaled a tougher, steeper trek. Went up to the Overview point.. out of breath...and the body muscles screaming 
....


Kings Pinnacle Hiking (Crowders Mountain State Park)
[23 Jan 2011][Participants: Me,Kunal,Himanshu]

This episode adds to the randomness frenzy ... to reaccount the events... lets go to the past night.. we come back from watching 'Dhobi Ghat'.. discussions and introspection were in order when suddenly we came up with the thought at 2AM on Saturday of watching sunrise the next day (Sunday).
Next day... 6:30AM .. trudge along with sleepy eyes... hit the closest location (Mc'Dowels county nature preserve)... we were on the wrong side and as well had missed the twilight by quite a while.. spend some time there and then drove back... but planned to go on for a drive down the other side... about 30 mins into the drive.. thought to check the place we reached and if there was anything worthwhile around...voila.. there was a point...a peak.. thought to chk it out.. reaching there ..with some roads mismatch.. we come upon a trail.. thought to check it out... and we 3 started walking.. got converted into hiking .. and a pleasure stroll changed into a decent hike into a peak at a elevation of about 1800ft. .. not bad huh !!! 6 miles hike mixed with moderate and strenous patches... it felt good...


Appalachian Ski mountain ...
[16 Jan 2011][Participants: Me,Pritish,Pandey,Jatin & Wife, Aneesh, Shilpa Jindal, Afreen, Vishal Shenoy & Family, Ravi manem & Family.... 20 folks in total ]

First time in life.. Skiing .. Snow Clad Mountains and sliding down... Man it was an experience for sure... the sheer scary feeling and the adrenalin flowing ... the toppling and crashes down the hills.. brusies...
a scene that was starking... a kid.. with finger in his mouth .. and skiing  .. on slopes where we were struggling to keep balance .. :-P

TBC...

2010----------------->

Myrtle Beach Trip...
[26,27 Dec 2010][Participants: Me,Kunal,Himanshu,Pritish,Shankar]

A trip which was a sudden decision to break away from the monotony of Clt life. A drive of close to 300+ Miles one way.. nice to go down. Had a chance to see the sunrise .. a beauty upon the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlanta Trip...
[27 Nov 2010] [Participants: Me,Kunal,Shankar,Rohit,Pritish,Tilak,...]
One day trip.. to the coca-cola factory ... good desi food...

Grandfather Mountain .. (Charlotte)
[31 Oct 2010] [Participants: Me,Kunal,Shankar,Rohit,Pritish,Roshan,Roshan's Wife]
One Day Trip to one of the highest peaks around ...nice drive down the remains of the fall season...


NewYork - Boston - New Hamshire...
[8,9,10,11 Oct 2010][Participants: Me,Sovit,Praveen Srikantan,Kannan,Rakesh,Suryakant,Rahul Parmar,Sumanta,Rupesh,Abhishek Patil]

A Trip to New Hampshire to see the FIRST Fall Colours for the season...an awesome scenic drive (20 hrs total one way ) .. countryside drive down the road..
A get together with old friends.. folks woth whom had a gap of 3 Years .. an excitement that drove us along..
Snaps and experiments all down the road... tried my hand at photographies... snaps which did draw some appreciations...


TBC.....

Virginia Beach Trip..
[4,5,6 Sept 2010][Participants: Me,Mayur,Rohit Pandey,Pritish,Suraj,Abhinav,Pushkar,Jatin,Anu(Jatin's Wife)]

A trip to which I was pulled in almost instantenously as I set foot into Charlotte. A plan for which folks at Parkside had been planning for quite a while..I was pulled in by the virtue for a couple of my old friends being there in Parkside..
An Awesome trip.. The First in US.. a drive away that took away my breath for many scenic beauties and the awesome feeling of catching up with old buddies..
TBC...

US of A .. A mirage...

US of A .. A mirage...

<Originally Added> Monday, September 13, 2010 5:20:16 AM

Into the Land of Oppturnities...

After a pretty dillusional wait.. a wait extending beyond years... a thought .. a decision.. a flow.. which maintained its course.. but troubled waters did change the course...US was here.. or rather I was here...


Landed on the 27th of Aug, Saturday.. 2010. ...


.......TBC........

Small events .... but interesting...............@ Mexico

Small events .... but interesting...............

<Originally Created >Thursday, September 25, 2008 8:58:39 PM

First Christmas at MTY.....

Being invited to the house of Mauricio to spend the Christmas day with him and his Family was really an august moment as we felt so good and the feeling of being with a family was real emotional.

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First Boat Party at MTY.....


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First Live Football Match at MTY.....


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First Ice skating at MTY.....


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Night Out Barbque amongst close frnds in chilly winter .....


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First Indian Get-together at MTY..... [6th Sept]


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Small trip to Bio-parque at MTY.....[Shankar & Family,Pritam,Vijay,Kartik,Ashu,Senthil,.]


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Visit to a church in St.Nicholas....and Alfa Planetoriam.
Being invited over to attend a mass and be part of a family gathering. Hearning the mass and getting it translated by our friend Daniel Ortiz. We got an applause when we were introduced at the church by the presiding officier as people from India... it was really heartfilling.
From thereon, we had lunch and moved on to the planetoriam.

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Visit to a water park Parque Plaza sesamo.
Nice place ... small rides... and best part...all water rides were suspended temporarily...[:-p]

A small excerpt..........Mexico experiences....

A small excerpt..........Mexico experiences....

<Originally Created> Tuesday, September 16, 2008 11:38:50 AM

Experiences in Mexico

As I pen down some of the experiences / observations I have had, please do consider this as a thought specific to me and is not intended to hurt or change any perception.

As I speak sitting in Monterrey, the financial capital of Mexico, I realize that there is so much similarity to India. Initially when I came here, around 11 months back, it was indeed a very different feeling altogether compared to now. We were around 7 Indians together in a foreign land having to cope up with the language, food, people and a very basic setup of our workplace. The standard of the city, the posh vehicles plying around, the beautiful crowd and different taste and delicacies…all fascinated us to the core. We did have some tough time initially starting from finding a place to rent to figuring out the directions to a specific place to deciding upon what food we can eat… oh, it was a time that will stay embedded in our memories, with all the trial and errors..it was indeed an experience many might yearn to have. At this juncture, it will be inappropriate if I do not mention the help we got from our Mexican colleagues and friends. They were very kind and very easy to get along with. Increasingly, with time, I developed great friendships with many and a great rapport to begin with.

Mexico, a place imbibed with stories of past civilizations of Aztecs, Mayans, etc., modest and humble people and a very lively party crowd. Having been and seen the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon Gods at the outskirts of Mexico City and the remains of the past civilizations, all bring back patches of the majestic past cultures that existed in this part of the world. Just a quick brief glance, it is said that the Aztecs had come upon this land on the indication of some divine message which had asked them to look upon a piece of land where they would see an eagle fighting with a snake and water surrounding that island. This is where they found this unusual combination and this symbol has stayed on since then till the extent that it is now their national symbol.
Here in Mexico, the society is patriarchal and the value that they attribute to their parents and senior folks is adorable. They have a niche of living life to the fullest and have a very warm and open minded culture. Any new person coming from any part of the world would need very less time in getting acquainted with the people and the style of living.
Yes, the culture being completely different from our Asian mindset, it might come as a culture shock for few, but soon you would love the place and the people. It was indeed a bit of a culture shock for us no less than my fellow Mexican friends. They were indeed surprised and curious to understand our way of living and our style of thinking. I still remember how some of my friends were surprised that there are people who do not take any kind of meat or eggs…i.e. vegetarians:). We did have had to put together numerous explanations of various Indian culture and habits. The meeting of westernized and Asian culture was one of the most interesting outcomes we have had.

I have been lucky enough in having to know the Mexican lifestyle and the country from close proximity. Have visited pretty many places in here….and have been a part to quite a few celebrations.
Spanish is the official and the primary language that is spoken all around. It really makes your life much easier if you know Spanish, nevertheless, in quick time one can get the hang of it… as I did to some extent . English is also widely being spoken but to some extent limited to official or academic premises. My Mexican fiends were surprised when we told them that in India we have more than 30 completely different recognized languages and hundreds of dialects. Add to it the multiple religious beliefs that is followed in India. It was indeed difficult for them to comprehend how so many different religious beliefs, languages and style of daily life could co-exist.

Christianity being the primary religion, there are majestic churches all around. With the architecture in here being inherited from their Spanish conquerors, many other cultures or stages of civilization can be seen here. One of the very famous churches is the “Church of St. Guadalupe” in Mexico City. Its interiors are majestic and also the entire setup depicting the progress of Christianity through the ages. It is said and as we saw, the “Original image of Virgin Mary on the Original Cloak of Juan Diego” was installed over there. This image is in the newer church, beside the original church. On our trip to Mexico City, we came across many such majestic churches. A few were also in Zocalo, Mexico City , the biggest and the most important square in the capital town.
Apart from Cathedrals, many other old impressive buildings were all around the capital city. With modernization taking over, many of these buildings were being converted to government buildings. Staying on with the same topic of architectural wonders, Guanajuato, a place very true to the heart of traditional Mexican, not only the architecture but also the variety of people living over there. On a close bound area, we saw beautiful buildings built years ago. They build up such a picturesque setup and a give a satisfying feeling of having achieved something:). Walking down some of the alleys of Guanajuato, it felt as though we were walking down the alleys of the Vatican City in Rome. Moreover, the city of Guanajuato was so aptly interconnected by Tunnels, which you would not know when and where you reach without getting confused. Had to keep a local with us or else we would have been roaming in the tunnels only:).

Food habits, one of the most important ingredients of a stay, is very different from our masala specific taste buds . The taste buds need a bit of an alteration in here. The food in general is very different from our Indian variety with less of oil content and spices. Non-vegetarians have a lot to choose from in here. You can actually find varieties of delicious preparations from different varieties of meat. Cabrito (meat from young goat) is one of the specialties. Apart from that there are so many dishes. Some being Tamalipus, pollo mole(pronounced as poyo molaa) – chicken in sauce, chicaron, carnes, yamon…etc…etc.. Most of the food we have in here is with tacos. Tacos can be compared to the Indian version of Roti/chapatti, only that its of a little lesser circumference. We have dishes like tacos con pollo(tacos with chicken), tacos con yamon y queso(tacos with turkey and cheese) …etc..etc. A bit larger tacos is called Gorditto. On one of my trips to the sea facing state of San Luis Potosi and Tampico, we had a taste of varieties of underwater animals. Starting from octopus, crabs , king shrimps and many tasty varieties of fishes . A Bengali having his plate full of varieties of fish, chicken and sweets…what else would one want . Moreover, we have many a outlet in here for readymade food chains , Subway, McDonalds, KFC just to name a few.

Football is the muse of the nation. They are crazy about this game. I had been to one of the local league matches, that although turned out to be the inauguration of that league. The atmosphere was exhilarating and literally mind blowing. The cheering and the interest that they pour into the game makes the entire experience awesome fun. Adding to it, the elixir of excitement and enthusiasm, its infectious. . Some of the matches draw in so much of an interest that its impossible to get on to other things.

I have been taking on some awesome adventure trips in and around Monterrey. We had gone trekking, hiking, mountain rappelling, adventurous swimming, night hiking on one of the largest and biggest Canyon, the Matacanes. Doing bungee jumping from heights in excess of 200 feet, the tallest bungee in Mexico, at Cola de Caballo …it was an experience worth having. There is no dearth to fun in here as there are numerous activities one can get involved in. In one of my trips to the south of the country, Guadalajara, we had an opportunity to visit the birth place of tequila, The Tequila Country.
Nevertheless, let me bring this to an end adding that it’s a nice place to be in and to have a new different experience altogether
This was just a small excerpt accounting some of my experiences. Hope this was’nt very boring.

.... more to come