We had a group of 10 ppl going to Tahoe for snowsports. We went to south lake tahoe and stayed in this nice 3 bedroom house we rented for 3 days. We went to Heavenly to ski for the first day, and 6 of us were taking lessons as they were first time skiers/snowboarders. Anu and I went skiing and joined the beginners around 2 pm. We took them to the mountain and gave them some tips. Everyone really enjoyed their first day.
Next day, we went to snowshoeing while some of the first timers went for the snowsports again. We went to Kirkwood for snoeshoeing, and I really liked the trail. We made golas out of Gatorade and well, snow and went up to neat creek.
The next day, we had lunch and came back to San Jose. Anu discovered the hot tub on the last day and we made the most of it!
12.27.2006
11.30.2006
Thanksgiving trip to Maui
Having loved our last trip to Oahu last thanksgiving, we went to Maui this thanksgiving, making good use of the Hawaiian Airlines vouchers we received last time.
We landed at the Kahului airport on Nov. 23. The flight got delayed so we landed at 4 rather than the 2:12 pm. We picked up our car and headed straight to our hotel in Kihei. Our hotel was one minute from Kamaole Beach Park 1 and had a nice ocean view. The waters at the beach are really calm and are best for the purposes of a novice swimmer like me.
On Nov. 24, I just chilled out in the water, and in the afternoon, we went to Kaanapali beach. The surf out there was really high, so we refrained from going into the water.
On Nov. 25, we went on Hana highway and it was really beautiful before it started getting dizzy to drive. Our Pontiac Vibe started showing "check engine light" so we exchanged it for a Chevy Impala, a much better car. It was a good decision to do that before the trip because Hana highway had a lot of turns. It had beautiful sights and we stopped over to drink sugarcane juice thrice. We had supper at the Garden of Eden, which has exotic flowers, peacocks, ducks and a beautiful vista of a waterfall.
On Nov. 26, we went for Paragliding with Proflyght paragliding. It was a lot of fun. You run from a cliff and then there is no ground and you are in the air with your instructor behind you. Next, we went to IAO state park near Kahului.
We went into the water every day, even on Nov. 27 when we left for San Jose. A great trip all in all!
We landed at the Kahului airport on Nov. 23. The flight got delayed so we landed at 4 rather than the 2:12 pm. We picked up our car and headed straight to our hotel in Kihei. Our hotel was one minute from Kamaole Beach Park 1 and had a nice ocean view. The waters at the beach are really calm and are best for the purposes of a novice swimmer like me.
On Nov. 24, I just chilled out in the water, and in the afternoon, we went to Kaanapali beach. The surf out there was really high, so we refrained from going into the water.
On Nov. 25, we went on Hana highway and it was really beautiful before it started getting dizzy to drive. Our Pontiac Vibe started showing "check engine light" so we exchanged it for a Chevy Impala, a much better car. It was a good decision to do that before the trip because Hana highway had a lot of turns. It had beautiful sights and we stopped over to drink sugarcane juice thrice. We had supper at the Garden of Eden, which has exotic flowers, peacocks, ducks and a beautiful vista of a waterfall.
On Nov. 26, we went for Paragliding with Proflyght paragliding. It was a lot of fun. You run from a cliff and then there is no ground and you are in the air with your instructor behind you. Next, we went to IAO state park near Kahului.
We went into the water every day, even on Nov. 27 when we left for San Jose. A great trip all in all!
7.09.2006
4th July Weekend to Yellowstone NP
Anu, Me, Karan, Nimish, Vivek and Reshma decided to meet up for the 4th July weekend and goto Yellowstone NP.
We decided to stay at a different place every night to make sure that we cover both the loops, and our hope was to catch some animals (ppl were most excited about viewing a bear). We did see bear, deers and bison. We rented a minivan with DVD player, which turned out to be really handy.
We went on this wonderful trail and it started raining followed by hail towards the end of the trail. I havent seen icy rain/hail many times and I was really excited despite all the hurt due to the hailstones.
P.S. This post needs more flesh, and since I did not blog this trip right after we went, I have forgotten a lot of it.
We decided to stay at a different place every night to make sure that we cover both the loops, and our hope was to catch some animals (ppl were most excited about viewing a bear). We did see bear, deers and bison. We rented a minivan with DVD player, which turned out to be really handy.
We went on this wonderful trail and it started raining followed by hail towards the end of the trail. I havent seen icy rain/hail many times and I was really excited despite all the hurt due to the hailstones.
P.S. This post needs more flesh, and since I did not blog this trip right after we went, I have forgotten a lot of it.
5.30.2006
Memorial Day weekend to Alaska
This has been the most adventurous trip of my life yet. This seemingly crazy idea of going Alaska was mooted by me, but it ended up being way more than expected.
Day 1: We went north of Anchorage to Matanuska Glacier. Hiked the glacier with normal shoes and came back to Anchorage. It was like walking on a huge ice landscape. We kept climbing until we reached a stage where we would just slip down trying to climb. Going up was much easier than coming down and at a point, the only was to come down given our shoes was to slide down (my ass and hands still hurt...)
Day 2: We headed south on Seward Highway to a hike of Exit Glacier. We were told we couldn't reach the top and we didn't. But we went far enough to see wonderful views of the glacier, and again reached a point where going up was very difficult and coming down was impossible short of sliding. I did try sliding down on one of the stretches with a gentler slope and realized that we made a good decision to stop where we did. The best part abt Alaska at this time was that the sun is out 19 hours. So we decided to do some sailing (kudos to Anu for finding the place). I had anticipated that I would be on a sailboat for the first time in my life, but I did not know that I would also drive the sailboat (yeah, we are talking tacks and jibes here!!!). The owner Greg was more than happy to let us go hands on on his sailboat, which had the head sail, the middle and the tail. Gaurav pulled up the sails and I did some steering (both with Greg's help of course). After a few tacks and a jibe, it was Gaurav's turn to steer. This was totally unexpected and hence quite wonderful.
Day 3: We went to Alyeska resort on the third day. We took the tram to the peak of the mountain, and boy, what a view. In the evening, we went to Anchorage to watch two movies. First one was the Alaska experience movie. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The shots taken by a helicopter in flight arount Mt McKinley and along the Alaska pipeline will make you giddy. Next, we saw the movie about Northern Lights, it was just a slide show. An absolute anticlimax compared to the earlier show.
Day 1: We went north of Anchorage to Matanuska Glacier. Hiked the glacier with normal shoes and came back to Anchorage. It was like walking on a huge ice landscape. We kept climbing until we reached a stage where we would just slip down trying to climb. Going up was much easier than coming down and at a point, the only was to come down given our shoes was to slide down (my ass and hands still hurt...)
Day 2: We headed south on Seward Highway to a hike of Exit Glacier. We were told we couldn't reach the top and we didn't. But we went far enough to see wonderful views of the glacier, and again reached a point where going up was very difficult and coming down was impossible short of sliding. I did try sliding down on one of the stretches with a gentler slope and realized that we made a good decision to stop where we did. The best part abt Alaska at this time was that the sun is out 19 hours. So we decided to do some sailing (kudos to Anu for finding the place). I had anticipated that I would be on a sailboat for the first time in my life, but I did not know that I would also drive the sailboat (yeah, we are talking tacks and jibes here!!!). The owner Greg was more than happy to let us go hands on on his sailboat, which had the head sail, the middle and the tail. Gaurav pulled up the sails and I did some steering (both with Greg's help of course). After a few tacks and a jibe, it was Gaurav's turn to steer. This was totally unexpected and hence quite wonderful.
Day 3: We went to Alyeska resort on the third day. We took the tram to the peak of the mountain, and boy, what a view. In the evening, we went to Anchorage to watch two movies. First one was the Alaska experience movie. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The shots taken by a helicopter in flight arount Mt McKinley and along the Alaska pipeline will make you giddy. Next, we saw the movie about Northern Lights, it was just a slide show. An absolute anticlimax compared to the earlier show.
3.07.2006
Trip to India
This is going to be a long one. Most of the trips were to get blessings from various Gods after our marriage.
- Mahabaleshwar: The first stop after arriving in Mumbai was going to Mahabaleshwar to Alka's marriage.
- Tirupati: This is a wonderful trip going in and coming back by flight with Priti and Darshan.
- Rajasthan: Went to Ajmer, Kuchaman City, Jaipur (and Chokhi Dhani), Salemabad. Salemabad is where our Guruji lives, a nice place in the middle of the desert. We met relatives in Ajmer, Kuchaman City(my birthplace), and Kadel (my dad's birthplace).
- Tuljapur and Jejuri: To get blessing from the lords (the thing that I found unique was that turmeric powder is used for devotion to Tulja Bhavani and Khandoba). My in-laws have great devotion in these places, just as my family has in Salemabad. We took the famous Pune expressway, built to US standards.
2.03.2006
Skiing at Squaw and Diamond Peak
Finally, I got to ski at Squaw (I like that alliteration). I have once missed the company ski trip, once gone in an injured state and this time, I finally got to doing something! Squaw is a huge resort and I could cover only 40-50% of the blue slopes. The view from the top of Emigrant is really breathtaking. It was icy prompting me to stop skiing at about 3:30 pm.
At night, my wife and friends came over to Squaw. Since it was my wife's birthday the next day, we cut a cake at midnight. then we left for Tahoe Biltmore Casino for the night. The next day, we got a late start to skiing at Diamond peak, but boy it was a really good day to ski after the clouds cleared up after 2 pm. I went up Crystal Express when the clouds were there and was hammered by the winds on the top and poor visibility. That accompanied by my okish skiing skills was a scary combination. But when I went after the clouds cleared up, it was really awesome. The winds were there, but the lake view and the snow was pretty good.
At night, my wife and friends came over to Squaw. Since it was my wife's birthday the next day, we cut a cake at midnight. then we left for Tahoe Biltmore Casino for the night. The next day, we got a late start to skiing at Diamond peak, but boy it was a really good day to ski after the clouds cleared up after 2 pm. I went up Crystal Express when the clouds were there and was hammered by the winds on the top and poor visibility. That accompanied by my okish skiing skills was a scary combination. But when I went after the clouds cleared up, it was really awesome. The winds were there, but the lake view and the snow was pretty good.
1.08.2006
New years in Tahoe
We spent the new years in a cabin in Tahoe. Booked a cabin in south lake tahoe. We reached there just before a snowstorm on 30 Dec. Due to the snowstorm, all ski resorts were closed on 31 Dec. We were indoors all the time, playing poker. 31st nite, we went to harvey's but couldnt get dinner and ended up eating at Taj Mahal (much to many ppl's disappointment). The unique part was this: when we entered the casinos, it was all OK. While coming out, the entire street was blocked out. I went back into the street the wrong way and the cops stopped me. I told them I came in by mistake and they allowed me to leave, removing barriers in my path.
Played Dumb C in the night and went to sleep. Skiing was the prominent thing the next two days, first on Diamond Peak (cut short by power outage) and then on Heavenly. Anu was learning well and I took her on a blue slope on Heavenly; she did fine with a few tumbles.
Played Dumb C in the night and went to sleep. Skiing was the prominent thing the next two days, first on Diamond Peak (cut short by power outage) and then on Heavenly. Anu was learning well and I took her on a blue slope on Heavenly; she did fine with a few tumbles.
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