My Trip to Chattanooga

We had 4 days of holidays for Christmas... We planned for a 2 day trip to Chattanooga.
This is a place in Tennesse.... Quite near to my place... Just 3 hrs from my place...

These are few pics....

At one of the steepest railway stations



Water falls at Rock City



Peak of the Rock City... Also called 'Lover's Leap'



Within the caves... Formations of the caves



Ruby Falls.... This is an underground falls... Around 260 ft below the ground...



Details on the trip later.....

Just an update.. My driving is going on pretty fine :)

Google!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...I might be very slow.... or not in pace with whats happenning around me in the internet world....
I just created my personalized google web page.... Its cool I liked the concept of this....

And I am waiting for it to be evening.... have 4 days holiday.... Yippee!!!!!!!!!

My first Long Drive!!!

Been so long since I have updated my blog with posts...
Well life has been quite busy these days...

And yes... not much happening too... Just wanted to post today...

Oh ya!!! I got my driver's license... and yday we had been to Atlanta...(1.5 - 2 hrs from my place)... And i drove till there.... It was good... My first long drive... and it was amazing...

I was a little happy a little scared... Had never driven a car before coming here... and now driving in 70 mph with so much traffic.... was a little scary.... But slowly got used to it... It kind of gets monotonous but then sometimes feels good....

This is just the begining... :) I hope to do a lot more driving... not just to atlanta... but to go around nearby places too...

I have 4 days of holiday for christmas... but no plans as of yet...
Hope to go to some nearby places.... Lets see.. what happens....

Smokey Trip Part-III

Very late - dint find time to complete the story.. so here is the concluding part :)
For better understanding u might want to read all three parts together :)

Smokey1
Smokey2



After our Adventure on Saturday... we wanted to enjoy to our level best on Sunday... We had plans of going to Blue Ridge Parkway, but then we thought instead we will go to top of Smokey Mountains to get a nice view (of being on top of the huge mountains)



We started around 11 from our cabin (that was our check out time...) and then headed towards..the Smokey National Park...then went towards the tower... On the way we stopped number to places for the view points... The view from there was just amazing.. We tried to capture everything in our cameras... But nature is always best viewed naturally... We enjoyed each and every view point...



Finally reached the point where we had to climb to reach the peak point...We had to climb a steep (not that much) path to reach the point... We made our climb a bit easier by stopping by and taking photos... and looking at the scenary...Sometimes it felt..."Oh God!!! How much more should I climb" but then just turning around...looking at the beauty... it would just encourage more to reach the top....
Reaching the top we just had to climb a circular tower.... Here is where we could get the 360 degree view :)



And after reaching there.... Wow it was just so wonderful... "Top of the Smokies" Small hills around....Mountains around.... However far u look just see mountains n mountains... Wow it was so much worth the climb.... :D
We were there for around 15 mins... Then started to come down.... Again we stopped at so many points... to enjoy the scenic beauty...

Finally we started off back home at 3.00 PM. And reached home around 10.00 PM all tired and sleepy.

Long Weekend!!!

I had a fantabulous weekend... Long weekend.. ThanksGiving weekend... or what ever name we can give to this... It was so memorable weekend.



We had been to Orlando (In Florida)... Well, we had been to the Universal Studios... Disney World... Sea World.. .Island of Adventures... :)



Our plan was to visit Universal Studios, Island of Adventures and sea World...
First day we went to Sea World...









We were so amazed with all those wonderful creatures in Sea World... I just wished i was there with all those dolphins & killer whales... :)



Second day we went to Universal Studios...Saw those wonderful studios... It was amazing how people use technology and create such amazing things...



Rest was a part of the vacation.. but Disney was my childhood dream.... My childhood dream... Go atleast once to the USA and go to Disney... And the whole day i was singing "I have come to Disney"
It was so amazing I just dint feel like coming out of the place...





















Last day we went to Island of Adventures... It was fun..Those rides and stuff... Was a little scared in the beginning but then it was too good... Too much fun...



Well finally all this got over by 5... and my bus was at 10.45 PM, so decided to watch Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire... It was a nice movie....

I reached home next morning 6.30 AM... Just dint feel like going to office... but then cant help... had to go back to reality!!!

Cute!!!

Will we ever have such a peaceful sleep???

Innocence personified!!!

Kids are always so cute...

Movies Day out

This was yet another Saturday....
Got up around 9.30 (was awake by 7, but dint know what to do getting up), finally thought of getting up.... Was just reading through my diary, cherished some old memories :)
Somehow forced myself to go out of the bed....

Now by 10, I was feeling very hungry.... dint want to eat the same bread toast or cereal.. So I finally decided to prepare bread Upma...Well after preparing and talking to Mom... We started eating and side by side... started seeing the Movie - "Garam Masala"... - This is such a hopeless and pathetic movie... Seriously did the guys in the movie even know what they were trying to do?? Akshay Kumar is running around girls, he has a fiancee (who is pretty)... still he wants an affair...oops he wants lots of affairs... and god knows what they wanted to prove by the ending.... Anyway saw this movie in bits n pieces...
Well around 2.45 we went out... I started learning driving, never had i touched the steering wheel before in life... And before today had drove it twice, but just in the parking lot...But today I drove on the roads... I was a bit tensed..a bit nervous... but i drove good... I felt happy today.. So from Monday I can drive to office too... Ofcourse thanks to my roomies...
After the driving we came back home, then we finished watching Garam masala...

By evening we were feeling hungry so, we thought we'll prepare cutlet... And so by 6.30 we had number of aloo tikkis ready.. and we were now watching the movie "Teesri Manzil" . Its the old Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh movie... It is nice suspense movie...

Well around 8 we saw another movie "Mere yaar ki shaadi hai" .. had seen this movie before.... but saw it again on Sony....

Well this is what i did whole day :) It was something like "Movies Day out"

Smokey Trip Part-II

Ok... Now for part - II of Smokey Trip...

We were supposed to leave at 8.00 AM, but because of our previous night delay, we woke up around 8.30..... 9.....
Just got ready and went out to see how beautiful the morning was.. And it surely was... very beautiful and very very cold..:)

Sat outside by the poolside and had our breakfast....We were actually in a hurry, but left at 10.30 AM (2.5hrs late than our scheduled time)

Finally started off... we had just traveled for a few minutes..may be half an hour so and suddenly we felt that something went wrong with our car.... actually the tire had hit the pavement and car was making some peculiar sound... We stopped at the first stop point(actually a view point) and just saw - 'FLAT TIRE'... oops it was not just that...the rim was bent, which made the air go out....

Ok now we were in the middle of the trip(lets say just the beginning!!!) and our car is gone for a toss... What do we do now?? Do we call AAA ?? or do we call insurance company?? or the rental car company?? There was lot of confusion...tension and pressure... We dint even think of our trip being ruined at that time... We just wanted a fix!!!
And we were the only ppl there not enjoying the cold weather and not enjoying the scenic beauty right behind us!!!

We called AAA...so many talks so many discussions...how n where to get the tire fixed etc...etc...
Luckily an old man(atleast he looked old) said it wasn't that much of a prob..we could use our temporary tire and go to the nearest repair station..(with that tire we could still go on for 40-60 miles... ofcourse low speed). He put on that temporary tire for us.


We took some pics from that view point, we could see downtown of Gatlinburg from there....

Then we headed back to Pigeon Forge... Gave it for repair...by this time it was 3.00 PM
We were very hungry..so we walked till we found some place where we could eat... There was this pizza,pasta n salad buffet...
So we went in there...We had lots of food on our table... ok we took one bite of the pizza...hmm...not at all good... put it back on plate....thus we had only salad for lunch...and then went back to get our car...(we had given it in WalMart)...there the guy says he hasn't started...so we told him to start off... after around half an hour...our car was fine...

Now it was already 5.00 PM and we were very sad that we couldn't go to Blue Ridge Parkway... We thought y not go to the National Park and see something..

So again we headed towards the park...Reached the visitor center...grabbed a map...and we headed towards.. Lauren Falls (it was a trail)

By the time we reached there... it was 5.30 PM. We had to climb the 1.3 miles stretch..It wasn't that steep but was pretty dense... And yes all along the stretch we took picks...We finally reached the falls after one hour... and ok we saw falls we saw water... but it was a thin stream... normally when we walk upto falls...we see water and all the stress just gets washed away... we were tired..just sat there for 5 mins and started walking downwards... it was getting dark....

And we were not even 1/4 the distance it went so dark..we were just getting down cautiously... Finally in darkness we came down.... In the meanwhile it was so so cold....

And then feeling satisfied that we did something the whole day... :) and headed back to our cabin...This was the end of our day filled with tension and cold... Or let me say... Morning with tension and lessened down as the night came...

Rest.. to be contd....
PS: last part remains... :)

Happy Diwali!!!!!!!

Happy Diwali!!!

May this year bring happiness & prosperity to everything in the universe!!!!

Wish everyone a happy,prosperous and a colourful Diwali!!!!

Smokey Trip Part-I

Our trip to Smokeys....

Two weeks or more of preparation first of all...when we all thought of going to Smokey Mountains to see Fall Colours...
Well we were supposed to be 11 then finally it so happened that 4 of us decided not to cancel the trip..

We booked one of the cabins from Sunset Cottage for pics of the cabin we stayed in Tucked Away. We wanted to do so many things but then just 2 days. So had to plan what is to be covered in 2 days...

After all these initial things, we decided to start of on Friday at around 6.00 PM. So that we could reach the cabin by 11 or 12 (5 hrs of drive)
But then we started off at 8.00 PM.. so 2 hrs late :)

Beginning was all fun... We were tired, but enthusiastic to go for the eventful weekend...
After some 2 hrs of drive we started playing Antakshari (had been such a long time since I played this)... Time went by and after 4 and half hours we started looking at the place around to check how far we have come..Estimated time to reach our cabin was 5 hrs...

Now we were supposed to go to a Place named Pigeon Forge, this was where our cottage was... So off we went into a very bright street .... It was so lit up and since Halloween is coming up... all the hay dolls... Lighting etc made the street so beautiful.. :) [All this was happening at 1.00 AM] we were enjoying the beauty and were wondering where the cottage office was where we were supposed to pick up the keys...

We never realized that the beautiful street was in Pigeon Forge... All the while we thought it was Gatlinburg :)

Thinking that our place would come further... we went on.. entered Smokey National Park... We entered this forest...full of trees at the side and one narrow road.... All of a sudden we see a board "Pigeon Forge"... We think "Thank God!!! Finally" We follow this and reach the same street we had crossed... By now it was 2.00 AM....

And now we thought its high time we ask someone... So just went to the nearest Gas station... and then...

Us: Excuse me. Can you please tell us the Route to Pigeon Forge.
Lady: Well!! This is Pigeon Forge.
Us: oh!! Can you please tell us where this would come (show her the address)
Lady: Well this comes right behind... Just go this way and u'll find it...
Us: *Happy* Thanks a lot... Good night
Lady: Good night Take care....

We run back to the car. Tell my friends... its right behind.. Ok we get to the office, collect our directions for the cottage and move ahead...

Now need I say... we got lost again...but the place were the cabin was...was really very very confusing... And finally we reached our cottage....at 4.00 AM....
we just looked around the place... everything seemed like how it was in the website... just that it was a bit smaller... But then we were so tired... and we slept... hoping to have fun the next 2 days...

Rest.... To be contd.....