100 Happy Days: Day 78/31

My happy moment of the day- Since yesterday I have been having a very bad headache and even though I slept early, I didn’t wake up in a good mood. For the last 1 month, Sam and I have been playing old hindi songs while he gets ready for school and we have both realized that it helps control our morning stress. Meaning lesser arguements. But today, I am feeling the difference. I knew I had a frown on my face but now after listening to some old favourites (wasn’t that luck that the radio played lovely romantic songs?) I am feeling much better. Music definitely is healing! 

Days 5 & 6: Yosemite National Park  

This was a dream of mine for the last 10 years. I always wanted to see this place. I wanted to see if this lives up to the American hype too. I really do not have words to describe the nature here! This country has abundant beautiful nature and they know how to make it accessible to the people too. No matter what adjectives I use, I am sure words fall short for this post.

By the time we drove from San Jose to Yosemite it was nearly 11 am. We first decided to see the far places by car like the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. We got really lucky that we even saw a black bear (which is actually brown) too! It crossed the road right in front of us and hid behind a rock when we stopped to see. It waited until we moved again and then it went on its way. I was too scared to open the car window and take a picture though!

We spent nearly an hour near Hetch Hetchy and then got back to the camp grounds where we had home packed good lunch. We then began our drive around the park on our way to the Majestic Hotel for our 1 night stay. While I did my research, I realized  2 things: We had to stay inside the park to maximize our limited time at the park and I did not want to stay at any camp sites – so we paid the price and told each other that this was our anniversary treat to ourselves. On the way, we saw the Bridal Veil falls which was in full flow. We took a small trek to the bottom of the falls just so we could get wet 🙂 We stopped at a couple of scenic spots and reached the hotel by 6pm. We had already booked breakfast but we were told that we had to also book for dinner otherwise it will not be available. We took the 8pm dinner time and checked in. The minute Sam saw that there was an outdoor pool he was all excited to go swim. That activity done and a shower later we went for dinner. Sadly, I have to say it was a disaster. I don’t remember what Sam and hubby ordered but I ordered veggie pasta with no mushrooms. Unfortunately it came with mushrooms, so I couldn’t eat it. The very apologetic waitress took it back saying she will get me fresh one which took forever. By that time, I filled my stomach with salad and bread and Sam was so tired that he just put his head on the table and slept. So my food was boxed to take back to the room. Thankfully I did not eat it then.

The next morning, our breakfast was supposed to be at 10am so I decided to heat the boxed pasta so we could all eat a bite before we went to see the Lower Yosemite falls which was very close to the hotel and we knew we could be back before breakfast. As soon as I opened it I saw it had bits of meat in it! What a total waste of food! Only thing is when we showed the bits of bacon, they did not charge for my food 😦  The breakfast was good though, hearty and full with coffee giving us enough energy to last the day until we drove back to San Jose. We had finished the Lower Yosemite falls before breakfast, so we drove to Glacier point. Unfortunately we were stopped as no private vehicles could go at that time because of the snow and ice still at the top. We did not realize we were so late as the parking lot was full to even take the park’s vehicle to the top. We decided to drop that and drove to Vernal Falls trek. On the way we saw the tunnel overlook and Half Dome (hard to miss!). We realized we were too late for any major hikes as there was absolutely no parking space anywhere! A good 2miles walk/hike later we reached the footbridge at the base of the  Vernal fall. By this time it was nearly 1.30 pm and we knew we did not have much time. We got back to the base, stopped at the river and then decided to drive to Tuolumne Grove for the gaint Sequoia trees. Unfortunately for us the popular Mariposa grove was closed for restoration. The Tuolumne grove is a much steeper hike and lesser people visit the grove. By the time we reached the grove it was nearly 4pm and it looked like rain. But I did not want to go back without seeing the Sequoia trees. We decided to hike until we found atleast 1 of them. The grove is so thick with tall trees that it felt like it would get dark in no time. So we hurried to the grove from where we could hear some voices. Hubby picked up a thick stick as there was fear of bears too. Only once we saw the size of those trees did we realize why the trees are such a big deal! They are so thick and broad and we look like tiny ants next to their trunks. We trekked back (which was tougher as it was a 1 mile, 500ft elevation climb up) and were back at the car by 5:40pm. We then started the drive back to San Jose with the clouds giving way to beautiful, double rainbows – a fitting way to end this nature adventure. We reached home by 10pm happy and tired.

Am I satisfied with Yosemite – No! I really want to go again and spend more time at the park and visit the places we missed. But I am happy that we managed to see the key places and attractions of the place however.

One really good advantage for us was that it was spring and all the waterfalls were full from the ice melts. Every one of them was a beauty and worth every hike we did. Just getting wet under that cool mist felt wonderful.

I have tried hard to choose only 10 pictures 🙂

Hetchy Hetchy reservoir

Tunnel View

Bridal Veil

Water from Bridal Veil

The Magestic Hotel

Upper and Lower Yosemite falls

View from Vernal Falls footbridge

One of the dead Sequoia tree trucks!

Blogathon 2018: Day 29

CA Trip Day 3: Pacific Scenic Highway – 17 mile drive

We were told not to start early on Monday morning to avoid the LA traffic. We chose to wake up early, spend sometime with the kids before they left and then had a good breakfast. We decided to start by 10am. I had been checking this route and there had been land slides along this route and the route was closed near the cliffs – the Pfeiffer national park, beach, Big Sur were all sadly closed. Husband still wanted to see the Long Branch beach and Santa Barbara beaches so there we went. We stopped in Santa Barbara at the Promenade and had sandwiches for lunch. On the way I got a call from the whale watching company with whom I had booked the tour to say that our tour was cancelled for 1pm and our only alternative was the 9am tour. We did not want to miss the opportunity so we said yes and then decided to finish the 17mile drive that evening itself. One thing about California is – don’t believe the weather – at all! Even at 12 noon there was fog on the Santa Barbara beach. In San Diego we got rain and humidity and in the mornings and evenings after sunset, it does get cold enough for a jacket even in June. Since the highway was closed after that, we chose to get back to I-5 to get to Monterrey sooner. A good decision since we did reach Monterrey by 5pm. Sam wanted to eat in an Indian restaurant – he wanted his paneer fix! The nearest Indian was in Carmel and we chose to see the sunset along the 17 mile drive. Best decision we made. It was b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. to say the least. We thought the water of the pacific ocean will be warm but oh my God! It was freezing! I have no idea how the surfers brave that cold water! brrrr. We watched the sunset on the Carmel beach and then headed to the Indian restaurant for dinner. Back in the hotel by 8:30pm and decided to sleep as we had to go Whale Watching at 9am the next day.

Santa Barbara

Blogathon 2018: Day 28-CA trip

Days 1 and 2: San Diego

Let me get back to putting the details of the California trip that we did in June 2017. Though I’m not sure if I remember all the details (good for you readers 😉 ) I do want it here for posterity.

We took a flight on a friday evening from Chicago to LA. Like I have mentioned before, all our trips need to have small hiccups else they will not be completed. On this one, the flight got delayed by an hour and by the time we landed in LA it was past 10:30pm. From the airport we took a bus to the car rental which looked like all of LA was waiting for cars! It took us a good hour and half in the queue to get our car and then we drove another hour to our friends’ home in Irvine. We reached home only past midnight and though the kids had slept (ofcourse!) the couple were awake to make sure we had a good dinner before we hit the bed.

The next morning after a nice breakfast we left for San Diego Sea World. I thought this place was just like a big aquarium and had no idea that it had rides as well. (Which is why I always prefer to do my research in advance) We saw the famous Orka shows and the dolphin shows after which Sam was only interested in doing the rides. Hubby and I were very interested to see the travellator that takes us inside the tunnel to see the sharks but after going there we realized that its just a small aquarium and it hardly takes a minute to see it. In one word-disappointing, did not live up to the hype. We got everything done by the time the place closed at 5pm. We then went to La Jolla (pronounced La hoya) where we had booked a room for 1 night. A hearty dinner later we had a good night’s sleep and were all set for Lego Land on Day 2.

After Disney, one lesson learnt is that if we reach these places by their opening time, the crowds are lesser and we get enough time to do most rides. So, we were there by 9am. I thought that Sam would be bored of rides (what was I thinking?! duh!) but he refused to let go of ANY ride! He loved that he could drive the cars himself and even got a ‘license’ there. THAT was when we realized that hubby didn’t have his wallet with him. We thought and we thought and didn’t know where it could have fallen. It was terrifying. He ran back to the car while I stayed with Sam. Thankfully after a frantic 30mins and searching he found it fallen between the seat and the door. After that the day went pretty fast. It was not too sunny or hot, a good weather to walk around and we managed to do most rides. Sam chose not to do some ‘kiddy rides’ so we could wrap up by 5.00pm. We wanted to drive back to Irvine and spend a few hours with our friends who have been friends for the past 10years. Since our days in Columbus,OH. Thankfully there was not much traffic and we could be home by 7pm giving Sam and their son an hour to play. Their cutie 4yr old daughter who I call Gombe (doll) chose to sit with us and entertain us with her conversation. We were meeting after nearly 3 years but the charm of old time friends is that there is no dearth of conversation or awkwardness – we just pick up where we left off. The kids were made to sleep as it was a school night for them but we chatted until midnight before we forced ourselves to sleep.

The next morning was our most important drive – the pacific coastal highway.

 

 

Blogathon 2018: Day 30

CA Trip Day 4: Whale Watching and Carmel

The next morning after a light breakfast we drove to the Monterrey Bay Wharf from where our whale watching tour started. I little flash back here 🙂 I had decided to wear a down jacket on this trip and keep a good jacket for Sam too. But husband teased me and said people will laugh at us with the jackets in June in CA so he made me drop the jackets.

Now, at 9am in the morning, at the wharf where there was so much fog the temperature was in single digits! We HAD to buy new warm jackets despite wearing sweaters. Duh! Now you know what happens when I listen to my husband (hehehe). We ran and bought new fleece jackets and then onward to the boat. Since it was so foggy, we were taken quite a distance before we could spot 2 Orka whales together hunting for fish. A little further inside and after about an hour we saw a HUGE blue whale. Its size! and the water it spouts goes higher than the boat itself! We never realized when it went from under us but 10 mins later we saw it on the other side! It was definitely an experience. Unfortunately, since the weather was foggy the water was choppy and the husband got sea sick. Though Sam and I also felt uneasy we didn’t throw up atleast. But on the way back I urged Sam to sleep and take a nap so it will help settle his stomach. While he slept on the way back to land, we also saw a group of Dolphins to end a good tour. By 12 we were back on land and hungry. I checked for good restaurants near us and figured that the best ones were in Carmel-by-the-sea. A 15mins drive and we reached this little town with 1 main street filled with tourists, artists, antique shops, plenty of galleries – just a lot of life. We found a good Greek restaurant with live music and indulged ourselves to delicious food. One good practice we have is that Sam eats whatever we eat – no kiddy meals for him. So, we generally order and share everything and that meal – we cleaned the plates! We then did another drive along the pacific coastal highway to see the Bisby bridge until the road closure started. Back to Carmel and a cup of Starbucks coffee later (we needed the rest room, see) we started by 4pm on a 2 hr drive to my cousin’s home in San Jose. Sam wanted some comfort food – uppu thuppa anna! (rice with  bit of salt and ghee) which was gobbled up and he slept early giving us adults some time to catch up. While they had work the next day we had to leave sooner for the 4hr drive to Yosemite (the whole reason for this trip).

100 Happy Days: Day 77/ 27

Today’s happy moment(s) are all thanks to the husband and his sporadic interest in cooking! He woke up earlier than all usual, decided to make egg burji sandwiches with sprouted multigrain bread for breakfast. They were super yummy, hotel level. Then while I made the usual sambar and rice watching Food Network star-kids, he decided to bake potato wedges. They turned out super spicy but still yummy that we finished them and then had cups of curd to counteract the spice effect 😀 And then he decided to make banana,berries and chocolate smoothie with almond milk for dessert. What? Calorie count you thought? What does that mean? 😉

Sam has also finished all his homework so a relaxed Saturday so far. The boys have now decided to spend sometime hitting goals in our small basement giving me time to draft our California trip posts 😀

100 Happy Days: Day 76/ 26

Husband and I, now become doddappa and doddamma… yaaay!! We got news that a new member of the family joined us last night 🙂 What a coincidence that I am doing the California memories and the husband’s cousin in CA became a dad. There is always such a pleasure in seeing a tiny bundle of joy with tiny hands and feet. 😀 I messaged D just yesterday that I would like to talk to her before the baby comes but looks like I need to wait a couple months atleast to have a conversation with her? 🙂

 

Blogathon Day 25: The California Trip

Looks like every blogathon of mine has to have a travelogue of where we had been the previous year. Sticking to that tradition 😛 and the fact that I have not put the memories here is prompting me to put up the details now.

June is our anniversary and we always try and get away on a vacation as much as possible. Since December 2016 saw us on a week long Disney trip, I had not given much thought about the June trip. However, I had the Arches national park and Yellowstone on my mind. As always, its me who plans the vacations and I began to look for places to stay and flight tickets first to these places only in May. Which, I realized later, was foolish. People book these accommodations an year in advance and here I was looking when there was less than 30days. Also the flight tickets were way beyond  budget. We were getting cheaper flights to California instead. Also, the lure of California was family 🙂 Both husband and I have cousins living near San Jose so, we could take advantage of their hospitality 😛 We decided, if we get a night stay inside the Yosemite National Park we will go. If not Yellowstone, Yosemite it is! I was not getting any availability online, so I asked hubby to just call the call centre once. We were lucky! We got a 1 night at a cottage at the resort for a wednesday night. Apparently someone had just cancelled. Yippee! We paid a hefty fee but it was worth it – we hadn’t thought we would get it.

Once that date was fixed, I planned the rest of the week – We had to do the Pacific Coastal scenic drive which is supposed to be the No.1 scenic routes in America. I also wanted to take Sam to San Diego water world and while talking to cousin D she said there was also a Lego Land there. Which worked out for us. We started on a friday evening, reached LA late night and stayed with friends. The next 2 days was all for Sam – water world and Lego Land. All day monday was driving from San Diego to Monterrey – 8hrs on scenic highway. Whale watching the next day and the 17mile drive to Carmel-by-the-sea and night at my cousin’s place in San Jose. Next 2 days in Yosemite and then 1 day for SFO –  Ghirardelli mostly 😀 We had booked tickets for Saturday night and hubby’s cousin said we had time for the NAPA valley wine tasting tour which was an added bonus.

It looks like we were running all the time, but to be honest, we had plenty of time to rest and relax too. Spending time with friends and cousins was an additional incentive to do all that driving. Sam did get a bit bored, but the boy doesn’t crib much during vacations. He is now used to taking these long drives in his stride. Daily details in upcoming posts – so be warned! You might want to miss the next few posts 🙂

 

 

Blogathon 2018: Day 24

Hibernating in winter is something I love to do – All the pictures of snow I take are mostly from the patio doors. So, my mind starts dreaming up lists of places to visit – the laptop screen that gives me a new picture every day doesn’t help to quell the desire to travel.

For now, I still have the Yellowstone National Park, Rocky mountains and the Arches national park that we were supposed to go last year but as usual we were late and didn’t get the accommodations anywhere. It is now on the back burner. I am disappointed in myself that I have not logged our travelogue of California in June last year – the 3 things ticked – the Pacific coastal highway, NAPA valley and wine tasting and ofcourse Yosemite. Ha! I got fodder for atleast a couple of posts now! 😀

Some other lofty dream vacations are the African Safari (its been husband’s no.1 ever since I have known him), Alaska and Hawaii – hopefully while we are here, Spain and Greece. There is still a cruise that I had done some research on – to Thailand and Malaysia.

So what are your dream vacation destinations? Do tell!

Blogathon 2018 – Day 23

Since there is nothing like a ‘happy moment’ today, I choose not to include it in the title as well as count today has one of the 100 days. But I’m determined about putting up the post for the blogathon 🙂

I have mentioned here that we are generally behind the curve when it comes to buying electronics. Especially for Sam. I think and rethink before investing in a new device. I even bugged Maya about the reading device for the kids. Sam has an Amazon Fire on which he plays his games but even those are never paid ones. The ones that come free are all he gets. As for any homework online – it has to be done sitting at the dining table, on the laptop that we all use at home. We have been thinking of getting him an ipad but it has not come to materialize yet. Our thoughts – any way next year he will get the device from school.

Over 2 years now, Sam has been asking for an xbox. He plays whenever we go to any friends’ homes or he goes on playdates but somehow I have been very reluctant about buying one. Finally now I have given that as an incentive for summer vacations if the rest of the school year goes smoothly and he does well. I remember as kids my brother and I would get such ‘deals’. But the boy is (obviously) not happy. All his friends already have it and he does not like me putting such restrictions.

This has been a constant discussion between the husband and me as well. He would rather buy the moon if his son asked for it! Also, his argument is Sam might be ridiculed in school if he is not on par in technology with his friends. But, I argue that Sam knows how to play, he plays well (we saw him play just last week) and he gets so engrossed in it that he  doesn’t realize how close to the screen he is. I am sure that setting up rules and time limits for the play would get harder than what it is now. I am not ready to take on another reason for argument with the kid.

Thankfully though, this time, hubby seems to have held back. We are now in this limbo with repeated discussions on why we can’t have an Xbox NOW and not having it until summer. I know I am living up to the mean mom name and hope that I am not making a mistake with the decision.

How do you handle the device invasion in your homes?

100 Happy Days: Day 75/22

Oh for the love of books! It’s been a pleasure to read for the past 3 years. I have not bought a single book because I get to borrow even the latest ones from the library. It used to be pretty easy in Chicago – the library was swanky, filled with books and all magazines and plenty of online ones too. Only once we shifted here did we realize that not all libraries are so updated. The library here is quite old, has plenty of books but not the latest ones and surprisingly no magazines. Oh, there is Rachel Ray and Healthy cooking and something on Guitars and Oprah – you get the idea right? The books are old, like 2016 copies are still stacked and there are not enough copies either. It’s kind of disappointing. Online too the wait lists are long but I still get them faster online than the actual book.

One really sad thing is that none of the libraries stock Enid Blyton! I wanted Sam to start with the famous five series because he enjoyed the Magic Faraway tree, but I have not been able to get the all the books of Magic Faraway tree and none of the famous five ones. I really want him to read those books. The books that I enjoyed reading, the books that first taught me what cucumber sandwiches are and the joy of picnics with cousins 🙂

Like I tell the husband, I come cheap -Given a choice between a movie, mall and library – I will gladly choose the library any day 😀