Snowflake and Niagara

Last few weeks has seen me travel a lot...10 days visit to Phoenix. Was quite a weather-shock to land in a place with 100 deg temp from one at 60! But was fun, at the end of the trip...not a bit of regret, in fact was surprised that 10 days flew so fast. South mountain, tempe lake, ASU campus, research parks, the Fanaa movie were just a few of the many exciting things that happened. Snowflake trip was easily one of the best ones I have taken at Phoenix. Horse riding, fishing, clubbing, the native Indian festivals were some of the fun activities in the 2 day long stay at a friends' place at Snowflake, a 3 hr drive from Phoenix. With a ranch of their own, they bred horses, goats, rabbits...it was so much exciting to be at a place cut out from the hussle-bustle of the city. Made quite a few friends and had loadds of fun!



Back to Columbus, and now was a trip to Niagara, my third visit to the falls but was the first one with parents and bros, was meant to be exciting! Drove to Pittsburgh from Columbus, a quick visit to the SV temple, some archanas for my Dad's b'day and drove thru the city bfore we headed to Niagara. The night view of the grand falls is awesome, I wont be exaggerating if I said I have never seen anything more spectacular in life! The lighting at the river side continues till midnight, after which we headed back to the hotel. The boat ride at Maid of the mist takes a close view of the Canadian falls in addition to the American falls. Its one thrilling ride! By the time we left for the hotel back, we were drenched but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Will fly tomorr to CA and join work soon...little excited, a bit nervous...the next few weeks are quite crucial... new place, new people, new work place, new boss...a beginning of yet another chapter in life :)

Hocking hills trip

At Columbus with parents and bro, came in after graduation...and its just chill time. Never ever get tired of doing the routine eat-sleep-workout-movies thingy, its fun. We thought of breaking this routine and throw some adventure into the otherwise lazy days and hence came up the trip to Hocking hills - exciting, thrilling and electrifying are just a few words I can come up with to describe the experience. Mom and Dad were exhausted and worn-out, but they thoroughly enjoyed nevertheless.

We drove from Columbus on the Friday night, took us a few hours to reach Hocking hills, the drive was scenic and beautiful, cool and relaxing, there have been only a few times I felt so close to nature...the cabin was an 'A-frame', set in a private and wooded area. All amenities, very comfy, with family for company, in the woods, nice weather, Mom's food, greenery so far that your eyes can see, there is nothing on earth you could wish for...hehe, thats an overstatement, but you get the point.

Friday night was spent just exploring the neighborhood, gazing at the starry clear sky, and the spa, food and beer :) Our adventure began with canoeing on Saturday morning at the Hocking river...Mom and bro on one canoe, me and Dad in the other. It was a two hour ride and I have not laughed so much in a long time now, haha...my bro's canoe toppled, they dropped their rowing paddle, it was scary but a damn funny sight. We were fast and cool, I didnt bother for the life jacket either...the weather was hot that day, but Mom and bro swore the water was dead cold, hehe....We went for horse ride at 4. The ride was throught the woods, some steep slopes, muddy roads, small streams, and the rest of the roads were smooth. It was about an hour...my first ride on a horse but definitely would not be the last one:) We were taught some signals to control the horse, to steer it, to prevent it from hogging on the grass on the way, to 'Who-who' stop it when it gallops fast n all. It was a dead-beat event, but thoroughly lively. A deer crossed us once, my horse got excited and jumped at the sight, but nothing scares me...hehe:D

We trekked on Conkle's hollow for the rest of the evening, and by the time we headed home I was absolutely exhausted. Some time in the spa and I was rejunevated, and could be up for 2 movies after some food and drinks :) If we thought day1 was action-packed, day2 was a lot more hectic and thrilling. We covered Old man's cave, Ash cave, and Cedar falls. Each trek was close to 2 miles, some involved such hilly routes and so much curvy ups and downs, it could have tired any great athlete to death. But I was longing for only more of this greenery, and the thrill and adventure.

On Day3, we started with the Rock house, and Cantwell Cliffs. The tunnel like corridors on our ways added only more spice to the ever beautiful forest. The Cantwell cliffs has such dense forest area and so many streams to cross by, we almost got lost in one of the never ending oh-so-narrow trails....a little freaky, but it seemed so much fun when we were out of the trail. Lost my sunglasses in one of these treks and the sun suddenly seemed harder on me. Lake Logan was our next destination, helped me cool down....We drove through Athens. Spent some time in the State park and Ohio University, where my bro graduated from 3 yrs back...

Drove back to Columbus, slept thru the drive...drained but pleased that this trip happened.