13th August 2008, 20:05
| #46 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
However, some of us, like me, try to find traces of India, in Umreeka. The Kaza plateau, the Hindustan Tibet road, Kashmir valley (can't single out, but I think the road to Gulmarg was fantastic), then there is the road to Jaisalmer, there is far too many to list, the variation is mind boggling. I am sure, your dreams are also filled with doing these. Even in this country, years earlier I took an escapade, round the Michigan lake from Indianapolis, going to Lake Superior, Mackinac Island. It was supposed to be fantastic. The places seemmed nothing like what I had seen before till that time. I wasn't as mature as I am now, and had to pay the price of responsible enjoyment with two speeding tickets that only helped some local counties fill up their coffers. That devastated me so much, that I stopped enjoying driving in this country all-together. Even now, I dont. These 4 days were an exception, I decided to not let those thoughts bother me, just be my own. | |
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13th August 2008, 20:20
| #47 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | beautiful Excellent pictoral travelogue 1100D. I went through your earlier travelogues too - great stuff  . You do get around, don't you?Fantastic way to see the U.S. - a road trip! Enjoy! Quote:
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13th August 2008, 22:00
| #48 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Chennai / Dubai
Posts: 171
Thanked: 3 Times
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14th August 2008, 09:43
| #49 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
Day 3 - One walk to the National Geographic Visitor center to watch the mandatory IMAX movie on Grand Canyon (which they say is the worlds most watched IMAX movie). I was surprised to see that it was the same movie I had seen years earlier when they were setting up the IMAX in Science City Calcutta. The Hemispherical dome in Science City, ofcourse, conveyed an entirely different effect that time (We were previleged to see the test runs, during which another movie on Serengeti was also projected). Here at the NG IMAX theater the screen was a flat screen. In other words, most of the halabaloo I had heard about the IMAX, turned out to be quite disappointing. Anyway, took the "pleasure" of mentioning the science City fact (even a few posts earlier!) to all those who had recommended it so strongly that it became mandatory! We bought our park passes, which gave us the entry rights with our car to the Grand Canyon National park, or take the free shuttle bus service. I dont recall many moments where the bus was chosen over the car, having equal economic consequence. But this time the bus presented its case very strongly. The various routes were easily available on the map. Being a Sunday, parking at the attraction points was a hassle. Moreover you could just drive the stroller (pram) onto the Bus. What else, the Bus frequency was such that it was enough to visit a point and come back to take the next one. So, Bus it was. For those familiar with the developed world these busses wouldn't be strange. But for the developing world, especially Calcutta, would like to see these (Although recently Calcutta is getting modern by showing the Tata Starbus).  There will be more of the bus in a later post. The complete picture  component view 1  component view 2  The gorge of the Colorado river (see if you can identify it in the pic). It runs diagonally across the picture and is a darker drop.   The Colorado River on the right  Compare this with the picture from the same point in the previous evening (post #36)  Compare the colour of the water with respect to what it was the previous evening (post #40)   Last edited by 1100D : 14th August 2008 at 09:46. | |
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14th August 2008, 10:11
| #50 |
| Senior - BHPian | From the grand view point, I had decided to take a short hike down below. This is what I saw. (8 SNAPS)         However after sometime I realised that the crowds that were actually busy clicking pictures were no where to be heard. Turned back to see an empty trail.  That alongwith the supreme calmness, immediately brought my mind to this thing that I had seen.   I was beginning to feel thirsty!! So it was time to go up. The beauty of the area is that you may be ignorantly marching up to the Canyon rim, thinking you are lost in a forest like this, almost plain.   But soon you see just nothing in front, the land vanishes.  This was the horseshoe mesa |
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14th August 2008, 10:27
| #51 |
| Senior - BHPian | However here too, the clouds had its effect and at one point completely drenched us with its contents. It also added a little bit of a tightness to our otherwise laid back schedule that day. But the shadows created by hte clouds had their own character The beginning      Sunlight peeping through  Camera has the ability to see in a way the eye cannot  Coming to drench us    Last edited by 1100D : 14th August 2008 at 10:30. |
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14th August 2008, 10:41
| #52 |
| Team-BHP Support  | |
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14th August 2008, 10:45
| #53 |
| Senior - BHPian | Some Random shots that day The G went missing from Grand    Jeep in an offroad environment (Its certainly raining Jeeps in T-bhp, she joined the club too)      A distant trail thru the red soil, surprisingly on the same trail the soil was yellow earlier    Natural cantelever porch   |
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14th August 2008, 10:56
| #54 |
| Senior - BHPian | By 4pm we were at the National Geographic visitor center for some food and collecting our car before hitting the road again. Destination was, Winslow just east of Flagstaff. Why? Because of this.  Its what they claim is the first preserved Meteor crater on Earth. Although the road leading to it, off the I-40 East was fantastic in its surface. Surprisingly, what we saw as a hill in the Horizon turned out to be the rim of the crater.  Road rising up the side of the crater rim to reach the visitor center   Thats how high the crater rim was from the surrounding plain.  An aerial view of the crater taken from inside the visitor center (an exhibit)  The day draws to a close  It was time to drive down further east for the night to a small town on route 66 called Holbrook, to stay here -  |
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14th August 2008, 10:59
| #55 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
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14th August 2008, 11:16
| #56 |
| Team-BHP Support  | |
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14th August 2008, 14:03
| #57 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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15th August 2008, 00:29
| #58 | ||
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
Touchwood the tickets on my Mackinac trip in 2003 were my last. Quote:
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15th August 2008, 09:50
| #59 |
| Senior - BHPian | Where we had stayed is known as the Wigwam motel, which forms a character of the movie "cars". Sally Carrera used to stay there! The conical cottages are called Teepee.    The inside....   However this wasn't a cloth teepee  ...and still on the road!! Last edited by 1100D : 15th August 2008 at 09:59. |
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15th August 2008, 10:09
| #60 |
| Senior - BHPian | Day 4 - This was supposed to be an uneventful day apart from the need to drive East 840 miles back to Dallas (Irving to be precise). The GPS said it was going to be 11hrs and 20 mins total drive time, adding 2 hours for stops, we targetted setting out at 9am Dallas time (7am Holbrook time) to reach home by, say 10pm. But there was a problem. Previous night, we were looking for a place to dine, could not find one as the town had shut for the night at 9pm (till a few moments back there was still dwindling light of the day), so had to suffice with McDonalds. On the way back, while getting into the Motel Complex, which had its lights turned off, I misjudged the ramp in the curb and actually climbed up the sidewalk with a bang. I couldn't actually see it at all, even a second time (although on experimental basis). The bang wasn't feeble, and in the dark environment, it did not appear to have caused any external dent, but it was sure that the engine guard was in shatters and hanging. Could not see what else had gone wrong. It did not seem that the car was leaking any oil or anything. So the whole night was spent worrying and hoping that it wasn't serious and this sleepy town actually had a mechanic. In the morning the attendant at the Motel pointed to a repair shop, but that would open at 8:30am Holbrook time (10:30 am Dallas time). We decided to do breakfast first and then go to the mechanic shop. But 8:30am their shutters were still down. A big guy comes in at 8:45 and lazily opens shop. I tell him about my 840mile constraint and then his pace increases. The car is hoisted again, inspected, no other damage other than the plastic stone guard having been ripped off. He secures it with two oversized washers and at a point where it has cut, he secures it with a wire. We get the alignment checked as well. Do a small test drive at speeds we would have to do for the day because of the delay. At 11am Dallas time we were off for Dallas, after doing some mandatory snapping assignments. Why? Because of these beauties some of which are showcased even in their deplorable condition  Thats "Ramone" the 1959 Impala  Doc Hudson (Hornet)  Modern American classic with german genes  1952 Ford Custom line  The Lady in Red only liked this one (although there's a lot to be pissed off with)  Guess what....  Thats how I like my car, low wide and long...."Quiet is the sound of a well made car"  Look Mater got his hood back   Don't I just love Fords    Whyyy?  The Buick got hit a few days back (said the attendant)  Last edited by 1100D : 15th August 2008 at 10:22. |
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