this is a test post

Test post.

Amma at Pike's place

We made our annual pilgrimage to Seattle, WA in mid November, as usual the trip was very memorable and just too much of fun.

Amma at Pike's place

We were joined by Baldev Uncle and family from Vancouver. We all stayed with Andy dada and Hershey Vahini.

Baldev Uncle & family

We also visited Shashi kaka and Jaya Kaki for dinner. Here is a group picture of all of us (well almost...)


Stay tuned for more ...

My new train set, given to me by Jyothi on my birthday :-)

Camping at San Gorgonio

Over the weekend, we went camping to the San Bernardino Mountains.

We left La Palma at around 10:30 and reached the San Gorgonio Campground at around noon. The campground is located at 6400 ft above sea level and the drive up the mountain was very pretty.

We were a big group, of 16 people, so we had booked 3 campsites – 18, 19 and 20, which were on the north-east corner of the camp-ground. Site 18 had a lot of shade, so we spread out lunch there. After a hearty meal of tamarind rice, roti, tindora-sabji, muttar-paneer and cheesecake, the kids and men got down to a few games of volleyball, while the ladies chit-chatted.

At around 3, we set up tents at site 20 – which was on flat ground. After the last peg was secured, we had some yummy papdi-chaat that Trupti had made. Then it was time for a nature walk. The trail that we took was a pretty easy one, through the large pine and oak trees and connected the other campgrounds. Even the youngest of the kids (2 and 4 yr olds) walked all the way through.

All the activity had everyone famished and when we got back to the sites. As the stars came out and the laterns came on, we got dinner started. It got chillier too, so out came the jackets, as the kids huddled around the camp-fire. Dinner was elaborate with hot samosas, Chicken 65, Shimp masala and Vegetable Pulao. After dinner, everyone settled around the camp-fire. As the marshmallows were being roasted for smores, ghost stories were narrated, keeping the kids at the edge of their seats.

Before we knew it, it was 10:00 PM and quite time. We cleaned up and put away all the food since we were in bear county. As a matter of fact, the rangers had told us that a bear had come to the campground just the night before, and we did not want to take any chances.

It was a beautiful star lit night, and as we waited for the last embers of wood to burn out, we spotted a satellite, a shooting star and the Milky Way!

The next morning, after breakfast of eggs and sandwiches, we packed up. On our way back, we stopped at Big Falls. The Big Falls waterfall is supposed to be the tallest waterfall in Southern California. And it is made up of a number of 6-8 smaller cascading waterfalls. Though the hike to the falls is less than ¼ mile, there is no paved trail as such and it takes about 20 minutes to climb the rocky terrain. There was a good flow of water, even though it was the peak of summer and it was very nice to sit in the shade of the trees and dip our feet in the cool water.

It was a very relaxing trip and we would definitely plan another trip there.

Click here for pictures

Recommendation : Though we stayed at the San Gorgonio campground, the Barton flats campground looked better. Also, since the camp ground was located right off Highway 38, the traffic, though sporadic, was loud at night.

Grand canyon & Sedona Trip

We had a very memorable trip along with Deepa, Mukta Pacchi, Shabbappa and Ananth to the Grand canyon & Sedona. First we picked up Deepa cutti at the Fullerton station and left for Loma Linda. At Loma Linda we stocked up Shabappa's van with food and luggage and left for grand canyon at around 7:30 PM on Friday, 03/21/2008. The drive was great, not much traffic. We were escorted by beautiful moon light throughout our trip. We reached Tusayan around 2:30 AM and checked into the hotel - Quality Inn Suites. Next day we got up late, had lunch at the tourist center and then headed for the Canyon. The Grand canyon is located about 5 miles north of Tusayan. In order to enter, we need to buy the auto permit.

The Grand canyon is a magnificent sight. It is only after a few minutes that you can really realize or comprehend it's magnanimity. The grand canyon stretches east to west for about 277 miles. Tusayan is located near the south rim. We hiked around the rim trail catching different views of the canyon. It was almost evening by the time we ended our hike and so we headed back to the hotel.

Tusayan is a very small town. It has only a few restaurants and all of them usually close by nine. We barely managed to catch the dinner at our hotel's restaurant. After having a sumptuous meal we had a good night's sleep.

Next day, we headed south to Sedona. The weather was really nice at Sedona. Jyothi had chosen a really nice holel located on the hilltop with a very beautiful view overlooking the city of Sedona. In the afternoon, the gentlemen rested in the hotel while the girls went out shopping. We enjoyed a very beautiful sunset from our backyard patio in the evening. For dinner, we went to a small Mexican restaurant.

After having a good nights sleep, next day it was time to head back home. Initially, we had planned to visit Crater lake, but chucked the plans as everyone felt like getting back home early, to get ready for the work week. We were back in Loma Linda around 7:00 PM. We had a yummy dinner made by Mukta pacchi and headed home to Buena Park.

Here is a link to the pictures.

India Trip - Memorable videos

X'mas break 2007 with family and friends

We had a wonderful get together during the christmas vacation of 2007. Anand dada, Harshada vahini, Keyur and Krutika visited us from Seattle. And sameer came down from Sacramento. All of them landed on 21st December. Next day we drove up to San Jose, and met with Suwarna Tai and family. We had a nice dinner there, and then spent the night at the Holiday Inn in San Jose. Next morning we drove up to San Francisco. The weather was very nice, and we had a great time sight seeing. We also met Shashi kaka and family at Preeti's place. Here are some of the snaps from SF.
We drove back to LA on the same day. It was almost midnight by the time we were back.

We spent the next few days, playing X-box at home and spending time together. Vahini cooked yummy dishes for us everyday. Krutika also cooked yummy Undhiyu for us. Dada and vahini's anniversary was a blast. We all went to a Japanese steak house called "Tokyo Wako". We all had a great time there.

Here is a link to the pictures.