[mobike008]

Great pictures of the snow sidelined highways Venu. So when are you back in town?

[ElantraGT]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Don't worry, I will.



Really? Must be fun to drive then. BTW, what is Enterprise---a car rental agency?

Yes buddy. Its a car rental agency like Hertz, Budget rentals. Rental in florida is costly, Enterprise was close by my apartment and they do home pickup and drop. I lived in tampa - Florida and visit Miami once a month so my preference will be Charger.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

And for a change, I am gonna drive down to Leeds----it is soooo nice to drive after being driven around for 3 months.

At least I feel safe to have a right-hand side steering wheel.

Venu saab, some really good pictures.

Hope you had a good journey to London. The drive from London to Leeds thru the M1 is generally fast but be careful of the average speed limit traps especially around Liecester.

Leeds is also known as the Milan of England because the ultra fashionable people that you see all around. While at Leeds, do visit York, Scarborough & Bradford - The "Desi Restaurant" Capital of UK for some good ole chicken tikka's and Vindaloo.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Venu saab, some really good pictures.

Hope you had a good journey to London. The drive from London to Leeds thru the M1 is generally fast but be careful of the average speed limit traps especially around Liecester.

Leeds is also known as the Milan of England because the ultra fashionable people that you see all around. While at Leeds, do visit York, Scarborough & Bradford - The "Desi Restaurant" Capital of UK for some good ole chicken tikka's and Vindaloo.

Thanks for your suggestions, MC, but I got to see those only after I returned.

I did hire a 7-seater Ford SMax from Enterprise and took M1 to Leeds. But unfortunately, owing to Easter Holidays, it took us 6 hours to cover those 240 miles! Some parts of the motorway were jammed as much as Hyderabad--especially near Nottingham.

The return however took only 4 hours and I could explore the full potential of the car, driving at 95 mph most of the time, except at those speed traps you'd mentioned about, where I dropped speed to 50. The trick is to do what other cars are doing!

[vnabhi]

Here are a few pics of the drive to Leeds from London on M1 motorway.

The mighty steed we enjoyed for 2 full days---the Ford smax 2-litre tdci with 6 manual gears (can put my petrol 1.6 Fiesta to shame with its low end high end grunt) The only thing it did not have was handling equivalent to my 1.6 Sedan, though the steering feel was remarkably similar.

[MX6]

I missed out on some parts of this thread. Now I find you are back! And you went from london to leeds as well. Nice seeing those places again.
Welcome back to India. Let me go through the inbetweens that I missed now.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by MX6

I missed out on some parts of this thread. Now I find you are back! And you went from london to leeds as well. Nice seeing those places again.
Welcome back to India. Let me go through the inbetweens that I missed now.

Thanks. It took me nearly 2 weeks to get adjusted to the sweltering heat here. I am back and promise to post more pics soon.

[MX6]

I checked. I didn't miss anything between your on the sly photo of the sheriff and the london leeds road photos. Just that your trip took a quantum leap all off a sudden. What happened? You didn't get to go to Shenandoah/ Luray?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by MX6

I checked. I didn't miss anything between your on the sly photo of the sheriff and the london leeds road photos. Just that your trip took a quantum leap all off a sudden. What happened? You didn't get to go to Shenandoah/ Luray?

Yes sir, I did. Photos coming up soon.

[vnabhi]

Now I know why Shakespeare was inspired to write so many plays---the countryside is England is so alluring.

The magnificent views, coupled with the fab weather (bright and sunny, though cold at 12 deg Celsius), provokes your poetic instincts that lie within you.

Haven't seen the Scottish meadows though.

Here are some pics:-

[vnabhi]

Moving back a couple of weeks, here are some pics of our trip to Shenandoah Valley and Luray Caverns. The total distanced travelled was around 160 miles and they are only about 2.5 hours drive from D.C. area.

Remember that song by John Denver---
'Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...Country Roads, take me home, to the place, I belong West Virginia, Mountain Mama take me home..'

Well, I'd heard that song in the 70s, but seeiing those places in reality brought back fond memories of that hit song.

[vnabhi]

Once we crossed the historic town of Manassas, the crowded I-66 freeway really frees up, leaving you a splendid drive.









A lovely couple from the Hyundai stable

[vnabhi]

Having seen Borra caves near Araku several times, I was not expecting much, but a visit to that place caused a sea-change in my attitude: I realized that Luray was far, far better, and more user-friendly in the sense that there were not bats flying around, nor were there steep climbs, not to mention that marvellous lighting.

Here are some pics:-

[vnabhi]

[vnabhi]