Minds At War

Out Road Trip draws to a close tomorrow. We decided to wind down a bit today. So it was a lazy morning for us as we got up late and then by the time we got out, it was 02:00 PM. We first went to an Indian Restaurant to have lunch, but unfortunately it was already closed for the noon break. So it was Mexican food today at "Chipotle". After a heavy burrito bowl we headed off to the Presque Isle State Park which is an sandy peninsula that arches into the Lake Erie which stretches from Ohio to Canada. Its is supposed to be the smallest of the 5 great fresh water lakes in the USA. It is almost like a small ocean rather than a lake with waves and sandy beaches etc... So we rented a motor boat and headed out from the lagoon to the bay and once we hit the main part of the lake it was fun. Never thought I would see waves in a lake, but did see that today. There were a few sail boats and ducks out there today. So it was amusing to watch Arun K. display his psychopathic tendencies

Day 10:  Today was mostly driving from Fairmont to Chicago. We were planning to stay over at Arun K.'s cousin's home at Lake Bluff close to Chicago. Co-Incidentally his name's Arun too. So we were three Arun(s) around that day. On the way we stopped at another Indian restaurant - India Garden. The food was great. So 2 out of the 3 Indian restaurants that we visited all in fairly unknown cities and places in the USA turned out to be very good and so now I have come to infer that all the lousy Indian restaurants in the USA are concentrated in Wilmington - the place where I stay. We reached Chicago close to 07:00 PM again driving more than 600 odd miles. Arun's cousin - Arun, his wife Divya and their little daughter (2 1/2 year old) Aditi were really sweet people. Aditi is a little bundle of energy and Divya had made a lot of sweets and muruku etc for Janmashtami. Honestly, that's when I even realized that it was Janmashtami. She is an awesome cook. Meeting Arun&

Day 8: Today was kind of an off day for us, if you discount the 250 odd miles we drove from Sheridan in Wyoming to another small town / city called Sturgis in South Dakota. Sturgis apparently is a biker's pilgrimage center with the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally being held in August every year. Today I touched 110 MPH... Got Arun K. all excited, though he is more of a curves person (I'm talking about roads here). I prefer the freeways. Day 9: Day 9 started with us driving from Sturgis to the Black Hills region of South Dakota, particularly to Mt. Rushmore. But even before we reached there, we had lunch at an Indian Store / Restaurant somewhere in South Dakota. I still have to figure out if it was a store or a restaurant, cause the menu was pretty limited and so were the items on the shelf, but you can't be too picky about food when on a road trip. At Mount Rushmore, it was wonderful to see the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln carved out of th

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain There are certain days that are worth remembering all your life and then there are days which leave you gasping. Today was one such day when the latter was true.  It started with me and Arun K. heading to the Yellowstone one more time. We checked out of our hotel and drove to see the rest of the park. Topmost on our agenda was to see at least 1 hot spring. We were soon at the Midway geyser Basin which had a bunch of Hot Springs / Geysers. The Excelsior Geyser was worth exploring. It was great watching the hot water spring bubbling out of the ground. The water then empties into the various rivulets. Around the springs, not even a blade of grass grows, but a certain form of bacteria and algae thrive even in those extreme conditions. The

What a day!!! Today was our first day at the Yellowstone National Park and it was every bit worth driving all the way from Wilmington. Yellowstone is the first established National Park in the world and has 400 miles of territory and 96% of Yellowstone is in Wyoming. Its is geologically and seismically one of the most active places on earth. It also has a super volcano inside it. This kind of geothermal activity gives rise to a number of geysers and hot-springs within the park. This activity also controls the weather in the region. It has one of the largest Bison herds in the world. In the 90s the wolves that had gone extinct in the region were reintroduced by importing a few wolves from Canada. The wolves thrived and now there are several wolf packs in the park. It also has Grizzly Bears, Elk & Deer. All these were the reasons why this was in my list of top places to visit. History & geography were my favourite subjects in school and that's why Yellowstone interes

Someone once said - '' To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.'' Though I wasn't quite alone, but the sensation was quite true. We woke up in Fargo, North Dakota and every city looks different in the morning especially if you have arrived in the night. Fargo was no exception. I liked the city and would move there if I got the right opportunity. Well we started from Fargo for Yellowstone in the morning and covered ‎750 miles in 10 hours at an average of 75 miles an hour which is 120 KMPH touching speeds of up to 85 MPH (136 KMPH) in most places. Had it not been for all that construction and the numerous 35 mph zones we would have made it faster. Yellowstone looks promising from what we have seen so far. Tomorrow we will know for sure.

Today was a good day. A day of many experiences and sights. The day started off from the town of Hibbing where we stopped at the Minnesota Discovery Center Briefly. There we got to see a F94C Starfire fighter that once belonged the Minnesota Air Guard. Also on display was a helicopter and a battle tank. It was pleasant to see that display in a city which many Americans may not even have heard of. After getting some pics clicked we left for Voyageurs National Park. Needless to say that the drive through the pristine forests was really beautiful. We stopped at the visitors center to obtain more information and was amazed to see the various stuffed animals on display, including a magnificent wolf. The Voyageurs national park is situated on the USA - Canada international border. There we went to the Kabetogama Lake and reserved ourselves a guided boat ride. The boat ride was to start at 02:00 PM, so in the meanwhile we had the opportunity to grab some lunch at a very quaint but bea

We had driven around 230 miles from Ohio into Indianapolis yesterday and got a good night's rest. Today we drove close to 800 miles and that was all we did. At the start of the trip, I had planned it in a way that we would not touch any of the major cities. That plan was kind of dashed today, when in search of an Indian restaurant, we were unwittingly led by the GPS into downtown Chicago. We lost about an hour and a half out there and it sucked!! The roads across the USA are in a state of being repaired and thereby causing huge traffic blocks. But on the positive side I got a glimpse of the Sears Tower and the Chicago Stock Exchange. My tryst with Chicago is hopefully done! The drive started in a rainy Indianapolis but the weather cleared as we headed Northwest and as we went further, it turned into beautiful and sunny August day. The windmills on the sprawling farms were a sight to behold. Those giant rotating blades were awesome! Our lunch was at a small food court somewher

Day 2 started off a bit on the back foot with a few scratches to the car when someone backed into our car in the parking lot. But overall it has been good. We had a brief stopover at Hocking Hills in Logan, Ohio. The ride was a curvy and up and down ride, almost like a roller-coaster. My friend Arun was executing all those curves at 60 miles an hour and it was tough not to be scared. But he was within the speed limit at all times. Wonder if they made a mistake in calibrating the speed limit on that road. But the drive through the farm lands was awesome. We first went to the Cedar falls, but it was a bit of a disappointment though with not much water at the fall. But that did not dampen the spirits of the people who had turned up at the place. The next stop was at the Logan Lake and it was beautiful as we expected it to be. But again disappointment came our way as all the boats were already rented. At the lake I happened to see a lady who had apparently come there on her Harley

Started off 3 hours late, but completed the first leg of the journey. Just checked into a hotel after a nice drive of over 400 miles. We are in Ohio. Tomorrow we will visit the Hocking Hills.

What happens when you wake up one morning a learn that you are going to be a father again? One moment you feel overjoyed and on top of the world and then the next you are consumed by a volley of questions and concerns- What is he / she gonna look like? Is everything okay? What doctor do I contact? How is it going to change our lives? How do we start preparing ourselves? etc etc.. Though everything was planned , it still kinda catches you unawares :-). The next few weeks went in a blur with the doctor's visits and planning for the arrival of the baby. In June-July we found that our baby was a BOY and not the GIRL that we were expecting. Hmmm.. interesting. Maheena wanted a sister, but I'm sure she will be understanding enough to settle for a little brother instead. It was of course fantastic to watch my little boy floating around in his little cocoon. And I and Arti had this disbelieving look on our face when the technician told us that it was a boy. We could not but h

Blogging after a very long time... Life has gotten even more busy after Rian has come into our lives :-) **************************************************************************** Ever wonder as to why the early civilizations used to try and live harmoniously with nature and why the modern civilization with all their vast knowledge has pushed this planet over the cliff! Beats me!!!!! We are bent upon destroying the very planet that we are living on and it is really not like we have another option. The human population is estimated to touch 70 Billion soon and natural disasters are killing scores each year. A huge natural calamity has the potential to wipe out big numbers. Apart from that we have been poisoning ourselves, the land and water with the use of Synthetic Fertilizers. Fertilizers find their way into the water table and also find their way into our bodies through the food and water. Over a period of time it seriously impacts the natural contents of the soil creating an