You know you are on vacation when the 5:00 AM wake-up alarm is not greeted with scorn. Our eight day trip to the west dawned bright on 21st Apr 2007.
What is "home" ? To many million immigrants such as us, this word evokes different responses. For our Nigerian-born cab driver, “home” was Nigeria and Minneapolis a place for his vocation. He sees this country as a dangerous place to raise kids and railed against school children having easy access to arms. (The Virginia Tech incident is still fresh in everybody’s mind here in the US where 31 people were gunned down by a student on Apr 16th. The whole country is mourning this senseless act.). His thoughts might surprise those who consider the African continent to be politically fragile and a land of violence. The "land of milk and honey" is no hive but just another flower to this bee !
21st Apr 2007
The flight into Los Angeles, CA was picturesque and we got in at 3 PM. After several faux transactions at Hertz Car rentals (which included a bright blue two-door Ford Mustang and a Chevy HHR), we managed to get a Hyundai Santa Fe 4WD and drove to Pasedena, 40 miles away from the airport to meet P Mallya (Y’s cousin) and family. The Mallyas are wonderful hosts and genuinely warm people. They live in paradise – beautiful garden with roses as large as peonies, hummingbirds at the kitchen window, parakeets in the trees and the Santa Madre hills in the background. Y and S’mai had a good time catching up on news with P and Lyn while I retired early to recover from the jet lag !;)
22nd Apr 2007
We left for Universal Studios, Hollywood City rather early that morning. Universal is an entertainment park-cum-film studio. We avoided the rides like plague and took to the shows like there was no tomorrow. The special effect show was entertaining and educative. After a special photo-op with Shrek, we also got to see a 3D show of this adorable gnome. It was past 5:00PM while we drove out to Bakersfield, CA, our halt for the night. The I-5 route runs through hills and valleys and presents a very pretty picture for passengers while the driver has to watch out for large runaway trucks that struggle with their controls on steep slopes. In Bakersfield, G guided us over the phone to an Indian restaurant for dinner (predictably named Taj India).
23rd Apr 2007
Next stop Sequoia National Park(SNP). The drive to Sequoia from Bakersfield was very refreshing. With songs from the Raj Kapoor era playing in the car, we drove down roads lined with orange orchards. The trees were laden with fruit and the ground around them strewn with fallen oranges. Orange trees are squat and dense and as S'mai so well described it , were “like girls who sat with their petticoats around them (gavana ghalnu basle manke – the Konkani version)”.
SNP and Sequoia National Forest are adjacent green lands but are administered by different govt. departments. The visitor’s lodge at SNP is at 4200ft. We drove up to see the giant red oak trees and General Sherman (who stands at 240 ft at an altitude of 6000ft) in particular. But zero visibility, fresh snow and the narrow winding road deterred our attempt and we had to turn back without as much as a sight of those magnificent oaks. All of us were disappointed - cest la vie.
We drove on to Kingman, AZ in what could be the most grueling part of the vacation. I took the wheel for 2 hours and Y did a marathon 7 hours to cover the 560 odd mile stretch. We got to our hotel at midnight and sensibly just went to bed!
24th Apr 2007
Kingman is a small town of ~40,000 people. Tall cactuses (that cowboy movies sport) are a common sight and as we drove out of town we were rather charmed by the landscape. We were also excited by our next destination – Grand Canyon. Tusayan, on the southern rim of the Canyon is 60 mi east of Kingman and we got there at noon. My perception of the Grand Canyon was that it was a good tourist spot with all the elements of a good trekking spot. Nothing that we had heard, read or seen prepared us for the magnificent grandeur of the Canyon. The Colorado river runs through the deep gorge that is 8500 ft deep and 10 miles wide. The wide open skies and the Ponderosa pine forests, the soaring birds and the giant squirrels were all a compliment to the stunning beauty of the canyon. Each view was breathtaking. The rocks are stratified and colored based on their mineral content and sunlight highlighted the layout differently by the minute.
Geologists date the bottom layer to be over 15,000 million years old. The top layer is relatively young at 270 million years ! It is mind-boggling that life could have existed on this planet that far back. It is equally fascinating to see how Man has tried to unravel the secrets of the past – it has been a slow process nonetheless a tribute to the intellect of the homo sapiens.
We watched the sunset that evening with happiness in our hearts marvelling at this extraordinary natural formation. Later, the mountain lion was so well profiled by a park ranger that evening that all of us made our way cautiously to the car park hoping not to meet the big cat. We also attended the birding program, the geology talk and the ecology talk by park rangers. We sighted the California Condor, a magnificent bird with a wingspan of around 9 feet.
Park rangers work round the clock to help preserve the habitat, educate visitors and tackle growing ecological problems in the Canyon. Rangers are tenured govt. employees and that makes their job coveted enough to be keenly contested. It is an interesting phenomenon to see how a strenuous job profile such as this is packaged into an attractive career. The passion to live and work in the wild is, however, only something specific individuals can bring to the table (errr..forest).
25th April 2007
We slept past sun rise and had a rather lazy morning strolling from point to point within the canyon until noon. Tusayan has a fleet of helicopters operated by small organisations and we did feel like Mavericks when we boarded one for a 45 min ride over the Canyon. Those who know of the Indian epic Ramayana and how the earth parted below Sita to engulf her will appreciate what it means for the earth to bottom out from under your feet. Our pilot took off over green wooded terrain and 15 min later we were over the edge of the canyon and then, in an instant, there was only the yawning gap of the canyon and no ground beneath us. While we caught our breath and overcame the panic, the sights around us of the many peaks and plateaus, the hues, the river and panoramic view of the landscape stunned us into silence. The north rim of the Canyon is fairly less visited and more pristine from the lack of man-made structures. Our pilot pointed out the fault line that ran through the Canyon (like a crease on a wrinkled shirt), the confluence of the Colorado river and the Little Colarado river (that was a cobalt blue) and many of the rock formations some named after Hindu gods (Vishnu schist, Brahma, Krishna schist..).
In the evening we took a 7-mile ride on the shuttle bus to Hopi (named after a Native American tribe) point and back.
26th April 2007
We got to sunrise point by 5:30 AM but there was a lot of cloud cover and the sun barely managed to peek out.
It was time to pack and leave. This was getting to be a routine – arrive, lodge, unpack, pack, drive, arrive, lodge, unpack. There was much left to be done. We told ourselves that we should do the 7 mile trek down the gorge next time or event attempt the mule ride. That we also should visit the West Rim where the glass lookout beckons. Or simply trek 12 miles along the Southern rim. There is also a bird census in summer that is open to public. The Canyon offers countless opportunities to study the Earth and its ways !
We drove 27 mi to the East rim Desert View. The watch tower offers great views of the Canyon and the gift shop is very well stocked. We returned to our car feeling a lot lighter financially !
20 min into our drive we were into the arid regions of Arizona. Barren land and McAdamised highways. It was a stark contrast from the canyon. We drove on to Hoover dam, which is marketed as a symbol of man’s power to positively exploit natural resources for social betterment. It was surprising to know that the gates of the dam are held in place by the force of the water. While the sound and light show told us all that we should marvel about the dam, my thoughts were about the plant and animal life that we may have conciously altered in the quest for happier, trouble-free living.
We drove on to Las Vegas a little before sunset. The MGM Grand parking lot is attached to the hotel but a good mile away. Each hotel in Vegas is a city by itself complete with shops, food, entertainment and of course, the casinos. The streets are always busy during the day and super busy at night. People seem “uplifted” from the worries of daily life and there is a gay abandon in their behaviour. Margaritas by the yard, Eiffel tower all of 690 ft, shark and lion shows make it a very exotic place for tourists. Gandhi India served us good dinner that night.
27th April 2007
We toured Las Vegas Boulevard first, stopping at the Paris hotel, taking the ride up Eiffel tower, dropping in to Luxor Hotel, walking in the scorching sun down the street and taking the shuttle ride along the entire boulevard. The icing on the cake was the spectacular performance at the Cirque du soleil show “Ka”. Some incredible acrobatic feats, unique moving sets, great costumes and packed crowd made it a memorable night.
28th April 2007
Star Bucks is a star brand beyond doubt. Their cafes are well laid out, the staff professional and coffees consistently good. Las Vegas has numerous of these cafes and after a breakfast of muffins and coffee, we left for the airport to catch our return flight to Minneapolis. Las Vegas, asta la vista.
We had covered over 4600 miles in eight days using different modes of transport. We had hopefully also covered atleast a few more in our personal journey towards a more humble life.
What is "home" ? To many million immigrants such as us, this word evokes different responses. For our Nigerian-born cab driver, “home” was Nigeria and Minneapolis a place for his vocation. He sees this country as a dangerous place to raise kids and railed against school children having easy access to arms. (The Virginia Tech incident is still fresh in everybody’s mind here in the US where 31 people were gunned down by a student on Apr 16th. The whole country is mourning this senseless act.). His thoughts might surprise those who consider the African continent to be politically fragile and a land of violence. The "land of milk and honey" is no hive but just another flower to this bee !
21st Apr 2007
The flight into Los Angeles, CA was picturesque and we got in at 3 PM. After several faux transactions at Hertz Car rentals (which included a bright blue two-door Ford Mustang and a Chevy HHR), we managed to get a Hyundai Santa Fe 4WD and drove to Pasedena, 40 miles away from the airport to meet P Mallya (Y’s cousin) and family. The Mallyas are wonderful hosts and genuinely warm people. They live in paradise – beautiful garden with roses as large as peonies, hummingbirds at the kitchen window, parakeets in the trees and the Santa Madre hills in the background. Y and S’mai had a good time catching up on news with P and Lyn while I retired early to recover from the jet lag !;)
22nd Apr 2007
We left for Universal Studios, Hollywood City rather early that morning. Universal is an entertainment park-cum-film studio. We avoided the rides like plague and took to the shows like there was no tomorrow. The special effect show was entertaining and educative. After a special photo-op with Shrek, we also got to see a 3D show of this adorable gnome. It was past 5:00PM while we drove out to Bakersfield, CA, our halt for the night. The I-5 route runs through hills and valleys and presents a very pretty picture for passengers while the driver has to watch out for large runaway trucks that struggle with their controls on steep slopes. In Bakersfield, G guided us over the phone to an Indian restaurant for dinner (predictably named Taj India).
23rd Apr 2007
Next stop Sequoia National Park(SNP). The drive to Sequoia from Bakersfield was very refreshing. With songs from the Raj Kapoor era playing in the car, we drove down roads lined with orange orchards. The trees were laden with fruit and the ground around them strewn with fallen oranges. Orange trees are squat and dense and as S'mai so well described it , were “like girls who sat with their petticoats around them (gavana ghalnu basle manke – the Konkani version)”.
SNP and Sequoia National Forest are adjacent green lands but are administered by different govt. departments. The visitor’s lodge at SNP is at 4200ft. We drove up to see the giant red oak trees and General Sherman (who stands at 240 ft at an altitude of 6000ft) in particular. But zero visibility, fresh snow and the narrow winding road deterred our attempt and we had to turn back without as much as a sight of those magnificent oaks. All of us were disappointed - cest la vie.
We drove on to Kingman, AZ in what could be the most grueling part of the vacation. I took the wheel for 2 hours and Y did a marathon 7 hours to cover the 560 odd mile stretch. We got to our hotel at midnight and sensibly just went to bed!
24th Apr 2007
Kingman is a small town of ~40,000 people. Tall cactuses (that cowboy movies sport) are a common sight and as we drove out of town we were rather charmed by the landscape. We were also excited by our next destination – Grand Canyon. Tusayan, on the southern rim of the Canyon is 60 mi east of Kingman and we got there at noon. My perception of the Grand Canyon was that it was a good tourist spot with all the elements of a good trekking spot. Nothing that we had heard, read or seen prepared us for the magnificent grandeur of the Canyon. The Colorado river runs through the deep gorge that is 8500 ft deep and 10 miles wide. The wide open skies and the Ponderosa pine forests, the soaring birds and the giant squirrels were all a compliment to the stunning beauty of the canyon. Each view was breathtaking. The rocks are stratified and colored based on their mineral content and sunlight highlighted the layout differently by the minute.
Geologists date the bottom layer to be over 15,000 million years old. The top layer is relatively young at 270 million years ! It is mind-boggling that life could have existed on this planet that far back. It is equally fascinating to see how Man has tried to unravel the secrets of the past – it has been a slow process nonetheless a tribute to the intellect of the homo sapiens.
We watched the sunset that evening with happiness in our hearts marvelling at this extraordinary natural formation. Later, the mountain lion was so well profiled by a park ranger that evening that all of us made our way cautiously to the car park hoping not to meet the big cat. We also attended the birding program, the geology talk and the ecology talk by park rangers. We sighted the California Condor, a magnificent bird with a wingspan of around 9 feet.
Park rangers work round the clock to help preserve the habitat, educate visitors and tackle growing ecological problems in the Canyon. Rangers are tenured govt. employees and that makes their job coveted enough to be keenly contested. It is an interesting phenomenon to see how a strenuous job profile such as this is packaged into an attractive career. The passion to live and work in the wild is, however, only something specific individuals can bring to the table (errr..forest).
25th April 2007
We slept past sun rise and had a rather lazy morning strolling from point to point within the canyon until noon. Tusayan has a fleet of helicopters operated by small organisations and we did feel like Mavericks when we boarded one for a 45 min ride over the Canyon. Those who know of the Indian epic Ramayana and how the earth parted below Sita to engulf her will appreciate what it means for the earth to bottom out from under your feet. Our pilot took off over green wooded terrain and 15 min later we were over the edge of the canyon and then, in an instant, there was only the yawning gap of the canyon and no ground beneath us. While we caught our breath and overcame the panic, the sights around us of the many peaks and plateaus, the hues, the river and panoramic view of the landscape stunned us into silence. The north rim of the Canyon is fairly less visited and more pristine from the lack of man-made structures. Our pilot pointed out the fault line that ran through the Canyon (like a crease on a wrinkled shirt), the confluence of the Colorado river and the Little Colarado river (that was a cobalt blue) and many of the rock formations some named after Hindu gods (Vishnu schist, Brahma, Krishna schist..).
In the evening we took a 7-mile ride on the shuttle bus to Hopi (named after a Native American tribe) point and back.
26th April 2007
We got to sunrise point by 5:30 AM but there was a lot of cloud cover and the sun barely managed to peek out.
It was time to pack and leave. This was getting to be a routine – arrive, lodge, unpack, pack, drive, arrive, lodge, unpack. There was much left to be done. We told ourselves that we should do the 7 mile trek down the gorge next time or event attempt the mule ride. That we also should visit the West Rim where the glass lookout beckons. Or simply trek 12 miles along the Southern rim. There is also a bird census in summer that is open to public. The Canyon offers countless opportunities to study the Earth and its ways !
We drove 27 mi to the East rim Desert View. The watch tower offers great views of the Canyon and the gift shop is very well stocked. We returned to our car feeling a lot lighter financially !
20 min into our drive we were into the arid regions of Arizona. Barren land and McAdamised highways. It was a stark contrast from the canyon. We drove on to Hoover dam, which is marketed as a symbol of man’s power to positively exploit natural resources for social betterment. It was surprising to know that the gates of the dam are held in place by the force of the water. While the sound and light show told us all that we should marvel about the dam, my thoughts were about the plant and animal life that we may have conciously altered in the quest for happier, trouble-free living.
We drove on to Las Vegas a little before sunset. The MGM Grand parking lot is attached to the hotel but a good mile away. Each hotel in Vegas is a city by itself complete with shops, food, entertainment and of course, the casinos. The streets are always busy during the day and super busy at night. People seem “uplifted” from the worries of daily life and there is a gay abandon in their behaviour. Margaritas by the yard, Eiffel tower all of 690 ft, shark and lion shows make it a very exotic place for tourists. Gandhi India served us good dinner that night.
27th April 2007
We toured Las Vegas Boulevard first, stopping at the Paris hotel, taking the ride up Eiffel tower, dropping in to Luxor Hotel, walking in the scorching sun down the street and taking the shuttle ride along the entire boulevard. The icing on the cake was the spectacular performance at the Cirque du soleil show “Ka”. Some incredible acrobatic feats, unique moving sets, great costumes and packed crowd made it a memorable night.
28th April 2007
Star Bucks is a star brand beyond doubt. Their cafes are well laid out, the staff professional and coffees consistently good. Las Vegas has numerous of these cafes and after a breakfast of muffins and coffee, we left for the airport to catch our return flight to Minneapolis. Las Vegas, asta la vista.
We had covered over 4600 miles in eight days using different modes of transport. We had hopefully also covered atleast a few more in our personal journey towards a more humble life.
