...And Back!

There and back again: A tale of two hobbits. I don't know about S, but I certainly feel hobbit-like. I have the height (or rather, lack of it), stoutness and large feet for it, in any case.

I really have begun to ramble, haven't I?

I would normally not have made a separate post on just the drive back. But this drive reinforced for us our usual approach to holidays: don't travel when everyone is travelling. A journey that should have taken us about 8 hours, took us over 12! There was so much traffic on the road! It took us longer to get to Los Angeles, from San Diego, than we expected. After a fuel stop, we continued, and unfortunately, the most important/quickest freeway between Los Angeles and San Francisco is, for the most part, a four-lane road. By that, I mean two lanes each direction. What with the holiday traffic, that just wasn't enough. We got stuck in a long stretch, in slow, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

After that, I came up with the idea of exiting the main freeway and driving through some State highways to catch up elsewhere. It seemed like a good idea at the point, and not too much of a detour. We didn't have any connectivity there though, so we couldn't tell how much of a detour it really was. And so we took off. By the time we merged with our correct route again, we would have driven an additional 40-50 miles, at the least. While I did think initially that there was at least a time saving there, on reflection, I wasn't too sure. But we did get to drive by large tracts of farm land, with no traffic, and I think that was possibly better.

Maybe it makes sense to stick with the road afterall? Who can tell? Only hindsight is 20/20!

Old Town San Diego

I must start by saying this was my favourite part of San Diego.

Old Town San Diego is essentially several streets of the reconstructed and restored old town. It has the first mansion that was built in San Diego, some famous shops that have been doing business since the earliest days, and lots of Mexican shops, souvenirs and restaurants. No surprise, since San Diego is right next to the Mexican border along Baja California.

Everything in Old Town San Diego is colourful and quaint. The shops sell very interesting things - handmade soaps and candles, hats, Mexican dresses, jewellery, chocolates and candy (and yummy fudge) and to my greatest delight, specialty teas.

We found a shop (San Diego House) that sold some lovely blends of flavoured coffee and tea. They also served masala chai (chai latte, as it's called here), and you could pick the blend of tea you wanted. They had Bengal Chai (essential masala chai - lovely flavours), Masala Chai (a lighter version), Indian Mocha (very strong tea with a hint of chocolate), Coconut Chai (very interesting flavour - it had some coconut mixed into the tea leaves!), and a Kashmiri Masala (which had cardamom mixed with green tea, reminiscent of Kashmiri green tea which usually has saffron too and smells - and tastes - divine). We tried the Bengal Chai and the Masala Chai, and I loved the Bengal Chai. We also bought some green tea - lemon mint cooler - to replace our favourite peppermint tea.

I really have dwelt on teas for too long! So we explored the area over two afternoons and evenings. There was a lot of activity, a lot to just see. All the storekeepers and salespersons were dressed in either Western attire from the 19th century, or Mexican traditional attire. We tried Mexican coke (which is a lot like Thums Up), candy from one of the older stores, and bought a couple of cute pendants in another store. I also got myself a hat, primarily influenced by my heat stroke the previous day, but it was too little too late. In any case, next time, I will be prepared.

I also stopped by the courthouse, to make a brief appearance. :)

I'd been wanting to eat Mexican food in San Diego. I'd read that it tastes that much better, and more authentic, closer to the border. North California is apparently a distant cry from San Diego, as far as Mexican food goes. But my, my, the crowds! The oldest restaurants there proudly proclaiming their years of making authentic Mexican foods had such long queues! So we settled for a cafe which had some space, although (to my slight disappointment), they informed us they served "Tex-Mex" or Texas-Mexican food, rather than authentic Mexican food. In any case, we had a place to sit, and we were hungry. And so we ordered Nachos and a sizzling Fajita platter. The food was nice, especially the nachos!

I clicked this sign inside the cafe. I think I liked them just for this.

After this, we had chai at San Diego House, and were looking for our way back to the car...when we stumbled upon a live performance by a Mexican band, Los Rios Mariachi Fusion. They seem to be a big thing there. They were playing Hotel California when we stopped by, and then played a traditional Mexican dancing number. Quite a few people actually got up to dance. We enjoyed the music, and picked up a CD of their traditional Mexican music. And then headed back to our room.

The USS Midway

That's the USS Midway.

The USS Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy which was launched in 1945, and decommissioned in 1992. It is now a naval museum.

Speaking for myself, although I've watched a few films with battleships, navy aircraft carriers, etc., I never really wondered what it was like inside a such ships. What made their nitty-gritties work, what powered the ship, what sort of workforce would be required to keep the ship floating (quite literally).

The visit to the USS Midway was fun, that way. Visitors can walk around inside the ship, through the marked paths. There are also some informative graphics and pictures, quotes from crew members.

Space inside a ship, even if it's this huge, is cramped. Look at the brigade (the "jail" in the ship). The crew members' quarters were no better!

This is where the controls of the ship are located, part of Engineering.

There were some simulation rides too, but the queues for them were long and we didn't feel up to waiting in line. Plus we have tickets to a 4D laser game (which I will hopefully blog about when we're done with it). We stepped out after a tour of the interiors...to see a number of restored aircraft lined up. It was one of the things that made you realise the size of the ship! We tried getting a few photos, but it was sunny and crowded, and well, the photos didn't turn out quite the way we (I) wanted.

There were also a few instructors teaching people how the catapult worked to sort of "fire" aircraft for take-off, and how aircraft would land. Reminded me of my NCC days, only this was definitely more fun.

We couldn't climb up the signal tower either. The line for that was winding, and it was nearly closing time. But we got a few pictures anyway.

Next stop, Old Town San Diego!

Coronado and Mission Beach

When we left to San Diego, I fully intended to completely enjoy myself at the beach. I took along a swimsuit and a beach dress, and was looking forward to running into the warm waves and letting them wash over me gently. I was hoping for a cleaner version of Elliots Beach or a Gokarna-like beach, essentially.

The day at San Diego zoo turned out unbearably sultry, though. We still did head to Coronado Island, which is just off the coast of San Diego and loosely forms a part of the city, similar to the islands of Mumbai. Coronado is a pretty island, with lavish and quaint hotels and inns, and of course nice beaches. It also has a number of interesting restaurants, and we ate at an Asian restaurant - we had a Thai curry with rice, and stir fried tofu in orange sauce with rice. The stir fried tofu seemed much more likely fried than stir fried, but we quite enjoyed it regardless. By the time we were done with lunch, we decided to give the beach a skip and head over to Old Town San Diego. We would of course visit another beach the next day.

Although it didn't hit me immediately, soon after I left Coronado beach, I began to have a pounding, migraine like headache which just wouldn't go away, nausea, chills and a fever and general weakness. I had to have a painkiller to sleep that night, something I generally don't like doing. From what I understand, heat strokes are commonly experienced in San Diego, especially given its recent heat waves. California is reeling from a terrible drought, and everywhere the land seems parched and dry. Rains are few and far between, and farming is being affected. Farmers also seem to be finding fault with governmental policies - there were many boards on the way that said "Congress created dust bowl" next to parched, dry and dusty lands. There is of course a lot more to it, but the drought and the heat waves, during winter, are truly worrisome.

My experience at the zoo and its after effects meant that I was taking no chances when we visited Mission Beach the next day. I kept my shades on, wore light coloured clothes, and decided to test the weather. But it was a lovely day!

S and I tend to go to beaches either in an unplanned manner, or in a planned manner but without the right attire. We rarely get into water in our swimwear, usually entering in whatever shorts we're wearing and either buying a change of (trampy) clothes as in Gokarna, or "drying" ourselves off walking around. Of course it's a lot of fun doing it this way. This time was no different. The weather was perfect - warm but not hot, a somewhat gentle breeze which was cool but not too cold. The water was cold at first - ah, the Pacific Ocean is never warm! - but we got used to it very quickly. There were some huge waves, and many people were surfing. We stood in the water for a while, soaking ourselves and having a wonderful time, before heading out to see the USS Midway.

If we ever return to San Diego, I would want to visit more of its beaches.

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego zoo is world-famous. The zoo's website explains that it houses over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and sub-species. Popular literature suggests that it is huge, and difficult if not impossible to finish seeing in a day.

As an animal-lover, I was keen to go visit this much-hyped zoo. Unfortunately, it did fall a little short of my possibly excessive expectations. There were a number of interesting animals, and I loved watching the koalas eat their breakfast, watch the Tasmanian devil sleeping like an oversized rat, and see a kangaroo struggle to stay awake like a night watchman doing a third shift in a row.

There was a grizzly bear trying to beat the heat in water. The polar bear reminded me of a certain adorable labrador I know (Cyber), but couldn't bother to open its eyes to see the gawking humans. As opposed to a Malayan bear which was busy playing with a barrel/toy.

The meerkats were frisky!

Christmas is almost here! Rudolph should wake up and go help Santa!

And of course there were the usual apes, monkeys, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras and so on.

S and I finished seeing most of the animals in the zoo in about three to four hours! I'd like to think that that was because we're really fit, can walk really fast, and have keen observation skills to spot animals that quickly. The reality though, is that the zoo was probably not as big as we expected it to be. Except for one cable car/shy tram ride across the zoo, we walked to/from most of the other regions of the zoo, comfortably. There was also the fact that so many animals were sleeping in the sweltering heat.

Yes, sweltering heat. San Diego is extremely hot, even in winter! Perhaps not every day, but when it's hot, it is ridiculously hot. I didn't think it necessary to use sunscreen or wear a hat, but I did pay the price for that - I had a mild heat stroke that day! Considering that I've lived in Chennai and Hyderabad without that happening, I think San Diego is not to be taken lightly. So if any of you visit, keep a hat handy!

Spontaneity and So On

I am in general one of those persons who will have a great many things planned out, for the rest of the day, for the next day, for the rest of the week. Inconsequential things, like what to cook for dinner, when to do a particular chore, and of course the constantly juggled list of deliverables for work. Consequential things and long term plans, I usually leave to S.

Travel plans though, we both are normally gung-ho about. We love traveling, and planning out our travels. I love picking places to visit from a map (although I'd prefer to pick random places blindfolded from a globe, I suppose I'm not adventurous or rich enough to do that), researching its attractions and basic history/information about the place, and picking places to stay and things to do. That said, shorter, day trips we yend to embark on without too much research, and usually without any preparation. This is somehow especially the case with our visits to beaches. 

This time, we did things quite differently. We decided that we would travel to San Diego over the Thanksgiving weekend, almost on the eve of Thanksgiving day. We luckily got reservations at the Comfort Inn, Gaslamp District, San Diego, and S as always was game to drive all the way and back - a journey that ended up being about a thousand miles. 

San Diego is famous for its lovely beaches, and sunsets. It's a lot warmer than San Francisco and the (San Francisco) Bay area. It's located way South of San Francisco (which is considered part of 'NorCal' or Nothern California), South of Los Angeles by about a couple hundred miles. It's less than twenty miles from the Mexican border, and while I was tempted to visit Tijuana in Mexico, it seemed a little unsafe, and we decided to resist the temptation this time.

And so we were ready to leave!

The selfie to kickstart the journey...

It seemed a nice day, on the way.

But it was sundown before we reached! A lot of San Diego's attractions, such as the zoo, Sea World and the USS Midway Museum close by 5 pm, and the city was quite a ghost town on Thanksgiving Day, so we had to wait till the next day to really explore the city. 

There and back again – The End.

Everything that has a beginning has an end. And so has our trip ended with 3,000 miles of road adventures, etched into our collective memories. Before getting into the narration of our last leg, let me digress a tad bit to bring in my perspective of the trip. At the outset, I was pretty convinced that the only way one can explore the New World (aka the US) is by road. I stand to hold that view at the close of the trip as well. We managed to cover a fair bit of ground in the last 10 days, soaking in as much of the grandeur of nature as there was to offer. The stunning and endless vistas of mountains, valleys, forests, rivers, lakes and waterfalls needs to be experienced.  Words can only say so much.  We also did pit stops at a couple of cities, getting a flavor of the culture and the people there.  The stops provided a much needed break from an otherwise continuous journey on the road. All said and done, we are now home, with a sense of purposeful accomplishment.

As H mentioned in the last post, the plan was to stopover at Mt. Shastha on the way back home.   In the end, we did not go all the way up the mountain for various reasons (primarily because both of us were beginning to feel a little weary and exhausted). We however managed to stop by and take a few snaps of the mountain, on our way back. I leave you with that image below as the final one from this trip. Hopefully, we can continue to tell our tale when we undertake more trips in the future.  Until then, Adios!

Crater Lake and Klamath Lake

We're nearing the end of the epic road trip! Today we drove from Portland up to Crater Lake National Park, and from there on to Klamath Falls. 

By the time we reached Crater Lake, I was mumbling to myself that it was just another lake and maybe we should just head on to Klamath Falls and stretch for a bit instead of rushing to see *another* lake in the mountains. As we drove in and looked at the pamphlets, I wondered why they bothered to write about how blue the lake looked.

Until we reached the lake. This trip has been one of revelations for me, especially about how nature works. Crater Lake has been formed in a caldera - a crater left after a volcanic eruption that just took off the peak of a mountain. More interesting trivia: Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US. The lake lies at quite an elevation - there was still snow (albeit hard, icy and very dirty) along the slopes, although it was a very hot day - and is the deepest, loveliest shade of blue that I have ever seen (in the context of lakes). Take a look at this!

S and I also discussed what a dialogue between us and the lake might have been:

Us: "Oh, hi. Words fail me. I cannot find adequate adjectives to describe you. I think I'll just stand afar and stare."

Lake: *Cold silence. Not worth responding.*

We headed over to the cafe for lunch....to see the place practically flooded with Indians (I mean Indians and not native Americans). Wherever you go, other Indians will be there before, along with and after you. Strength of our population, and all that.

We finally left Crater Lake a couple of hours later, heading towards Klamath Falls. Turns out there's a much larger lake, Klamath Lake, in the vicinity.

Our road trip is almost at an end. We head towards Mount Shasta - our final stop - and then home tomorrow!

Quaint Portland

An important lesson we learnt on this trip was to pick public transport when sightseeing in busy/small cities. I suppose it's something we've always done, but it was a conscious decision as well, this time. Especially in smaller cities, it's always a lot more fun to get a feel of the city by walking around the streets, looking for the little, obscure, interesting things, than just doing all the touristy things by car.

There certainly is a lot to see that way, in Portland. It looks and feels a lot like San Francisco, only the downtown area is smaller, and to my somewhat inexperienced eye, it isn't as clean. It also seems to have an even younger population, and a large number of hipsters.

We started our day with a trip to the International Rose Test Garden. It reminded me a great deal of the rose garden in Ooty. Roses of so many hues, sizes and kinds! We bought some lovely rose-scented souvenirs and clicked a great many pictures...

We then ate at a food cart - another thing Portland is famous for - and walked around the streets. Portland is full of shops and restaurants and bistros with strange signs. The city appears to revel in its strangeness, as also the queerness of many of its inhabitants.

A very curious but effective ride in Portland is a commuter cable car (or aerial tram) ride from the South Waterfront, up to the OHSU, or Oregon Health Sciences University's hospital. This was originally intended to reduce the commute for people working there, but morphed into a popular tourist attraction, since it affords great views of the city. There's also a great view right at the top, on the balcony of the OHSU hospital.

Last but not least, we did something very touristy - we visited a famous doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, and picked up a couple of doughnuts. Yummy! Portland was a nice city and a nice break from being on the road all the time! But we had to hit the road again the very next day, for the last leg of our journey.

Hello, Oregon!

We had another huge drive from Boise to Portland. While nearing Portland, we realised S had already driven about 2,100 miles on this trip! Another amusing thing was that Boise is very close to the boundary between Idaho and Oregon, but crossing over into Oregon, we returned to the Pacific time zone. It was a good thing I hadn't bothered to change the time on my watch. We seem to have reached the last leg rather soon.

There were some farms in Oregon which had curiously rolled sheets of grass up in spiral shapes, possibly to form hay. 

There were places with gusty winds, trying to push the car (a little). No surprise, then, that we saw windmills at several places.

As we were driving along westward towards Portland, at some point, we noticed that a river began to wind along the landscape, right next to the freeway. In the light, it appeared like millions of sparkling diamonds on a blue shimmering silk. 

There were also places where the river flowed through gorges. And a small park near a dam, where we could wet our feet.

There were more views near a forest, including some of a snow-capped mountain (Mount Hood) almost like a ghost mountain in the background. There were also train tracks very close to the edge of the hills, right next to the river. We later found that this was the Columbia River, at places called Mt. Hood River. This is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region. In fact, it felt like we were back on US-1, driving next to the Pacific Ocean, at places.   

At the end of this scenic drive, we reached Portland. Portland is, among other things, famous for food carts, or food sold out of trucks. We located a famous Indian food cart, Bombay Chaat House with quite a history, and had a nice snack there, packing a meal for dinner.

We also got stuck in a lot of traffic, before finally reaching our hotel room. Our Portland exploration will commence tomorrow!