Spring Break Itinerary

This spring break, I saw something I'd wanted to see for decades - the Grand Canyon. Along with it, we saw some other canyons too - it was a pretty efficient itinerary, though it was more touristy than hiker-friendly. Yet, this is all the time we had this time around, so no regrets.

Anyway, for anybody interested in doing this tour, here's our itinerary.

Day 1

- Flew from San Jose to Las Vegas
- Rented car at the airport, drove from Las Vegas to vacation rental at Glendale, Utah. On the way, we passed through Zion National Park.

Day 2

- Drove to Bryce Canyon. Did a hike, drove back to Glendale. (To eat - Ruby's Inn is great)

Day 3

- Drove to Zion. Did a hike, drove back to Glendale (Food - lots of options in Springdale.)

Day 4

- Checked out of vacation rental, drove to Page, Arizona.
- Took the Upper Antelope Canyon tour (Tickets have to be booked weeks in advance.).
- Also took the Antelope Canyon Boat tour.
- Drove to vacation rental at Williams, AZ

Day 5

- Drove to Grand Canyon, and back to Williams. (RP's Stage Stop in Tusayan - great sandwiches)

Day 6

- Saw the sunrise at GC
- Checked out of the rental, drove to LV
- Stopped at Hoover dam on the way
- Flew from Las Vegas back to San Jose

So that was it.

Most of these places need more time to really soak it up and enjoy it. But this was pretty good too if your intention is to see them all.

Plus the landscapes of Utah are stunning, so driving is not monotonous.

Stay tuned for details and pictures.

The story of my glasses

In Hawaii, I wore my glasses when I went into the sea. (I'd forgotten to take them off.) We were in waist-high water. A particularly large wave took me by surprise, and I went under. I could feel my glasses being pulled away from my face. I flailed around for my glasses, but no luck. By the time the water receded a little - in just two seconds - a thousand thoughts had flitted through my head.

"My glasses are gone. How stupid of me. Have to manage with lenses for the rest ...of the vacation. Can I get temp glasses anywhere close by? Too small a place. Will take time. How stupid of me. How'll I manage? What'll I do? How stupid of me. First order of things the moment I get back is to rush to an optometrist. Which one? The one I went to last time didn't have a good selection. How stupid of me." And so on.

As I turned to S to tell him what happened, I felt something stick-like under my foot. "Watch out, another big wave!" said S, but I just pressed the object into the sand with my foot, held onto S, and plunged in. I picked up the object and came up just as the second wave washed over us. When the wave receded, I looked at the object - and yes, my glasses. Intact!

I couldn't believe that the ocean gave my glasses back to me.

Three weeks later, I was playing basketball with Puttachi. And the glasses fell, and broke. The irony, I tell you.

I've got new glasses now.

Hawaii - Day 5, 6 and 7

Day 5 - We went to Pearl Harbor (Puttachi was very interested in it because she'd read an article on it) We did go inside and see the place, but unfortunately, we couldn't get a seat on the ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial (just call it bad planning). Puttachi was deeply disappointed, but she and I decided to be content that we did get to go to the site. There were other museums too, which we couldn't see. Ah well, anyway. As I said, some bad planning, and some bad decisions. What is a holiday without that, eh?

Then we went snorkelling in Hanauma Bay.

All the snorkelling experiences I had heard of involved going in a boat to the middle of the ocean, and a kind of guided snorkelling experience. But this was different. The friends we'd been with had done it before, and so, based on their experience, we rented gear, and just got into the bay by ourselves. Getting used to the snorkel, and more than that, getting used to breathing through your mouth is not at all as easy as I thought. After a few mouth breaths, the body screams for a nose breath, and to tell your brain to shut up and not panic is not that easy (needs time and patience, which we didn't really have.)

So not only did it take a while to get used to it, but the breathing in and out failed me when I was in 6-foot deep water and I panicked and clung to S at the same time that Puttachi had a mini-fright and she clung to S too, and he was amazingly collected and cool in the crisis (and earned my renewed undying admiration) as he led us calmly to shallow water. That was it -- I had had enough of it (besides I can't see very clearly without glasses, and I wasn't wearing lenses and so I couldn't really appreciate whatever fish I saw.) I went out onto the beach, and then Puttachi went back in again with S and had another little fright, but came back fine. I can see how snorkelling might be a good experience, but I think I'm done with it (until next time of course, haha).

Day 6 - I had hoped to do the hike to the Albatross sanctuary (this was what I'd been hoping for, really, the most) - but heavy rain washed out the whole day. We did give it a try -- the rain stopped for a bit, and we went to the starting point of the hike, but it was a dirt track, and extremely slippery. So we just came back. And good that we did, because it rained again heavily.

The good thing was that we got to experience a real tropical thunderstorm after such a long time, after the "fake rain" (as Puttachi calls it) of California. And it was nice to curl up in a hammock and read, as Puttachi demonstrates here.

We walked a little, to the nearby Makaha beach, and the kids played in the sand. And I successfully got a picture of the gorgeous blue-green that I wanted to capture:

In the evening, we went to the beach again to play in the water -- a little beach three houses away from our house. It was like a private beach, and the waves were the best I've seen. Strong and exciting, and at the same time, it was safe.



The greatest plus point was that this remote, obscure beach that nobody knows about (except for the people who live on that little lane) is the chosen hangout for endangered Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles. There are boards on the beach asking us not to touch or go near these beautiful creatures. One turtle seemed to be basking on the beach all the time, and a couple of them swam with us, even brushing past us oh-so-casually. Truly a wild and unique encounter.
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Day 7 - An early start, a last cup of tea on the fabulous patio overlooking the ocean, and then off to the airport.

Hawaii - Day 3 and Day 4

Day 3 - Waimea Valley. Primarily a botanical garden, this was a beautiful, soothing haven of green. It was drizzling throughout, and was a true tropical paradise. Saw many familiar trees, and many strange ones that I'd never seen before.
Was a sight for my eyes - they might not look so spectacular to those of you who live in tropical areas, but for me, starved of this thick, dense, wild kind of greenery, it was like going home.

After that, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Touristy place, but they've done it up well. And you can really spend days here if you are so inclined. You can experience a sample of the culture of different Polynesian islands (Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji and so on) in each little village. There are popular shows by talented young people (many of who study in the university on the island). There are cuisines you can taste, dances you can learn, traditional games you can play, canoes you can ride, traditional crafts you can learn, things you can buy - and many more touristy things to do.
Only one picture from here for you - since most of the pictures have us in them. :) Do click on the link above for a good idea of the place.

Day 4 - I really, really wanted to go to this Albatross sanctuary very near where we lived, but we'd booked a Dolphin encounter at Sea Life in the afternoon, and we knew we wouldn't have enough time to finish the hike to the sanctuary and reach Sea Life in time, and so we just went to Sea Life directly.

There was an aviary where we could feed birds, and at one point, there were 5 birds sitting on me, eating out of my hand (literally) and trying to peck at my hat, looking for, perhaps some soft straw to line their non-existent nests with?

And then we went and saw the dolphin show (which made me bawl very publicly -- full of tears and snot -- to see those wonderful animals forced to jump and show off for us stupid humans.) Yet, I was hypocritical enough to go to the Dolphin Encounter to see the dolphin from up close and pose for photographs. Can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was to get close to a dolphin and touch it -- those lovely eyes, and that smiling-like mouth --  how can you not fall in love with those creatures?

Right after the show, we went to a beach right across (Sherwood I think it was called) and wallowed in the water for hours, before going back home.

Hawaii - Day 1 and Day 2

Day 1 - This was a very long day. We left California in an early morning flight, and were in Honolulu before noon local time. We checked into the home we'd rented, and in the evening, went to check out the local beaches. We swam in the nearby Makaha beach. The others went beach hopping, but I went back to the house to rest -- I had a bad  headache. I just sat looking at the ocean and listening to the sounds and felt so much better.

Day 2 - Hiked up Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff cone. It was a hot day and it wasn't a very easy hike.

Diamond Head (Le'Ahi)

Views from the top:

Honolulu

That evening, we went into the sea again. Okay, not me. I am strictly not a big fan of the sand. I love the sea. LOVE it. But wet sand - I can do without. So I just took some pictures. But this was the last time I avoided the sea. Let's just say I love the waves too much.

The Moods of the Ocean

Here are a series of photos of the same two chairs at the vacation home that we had rented in Hawaii, taken at different times of the day, and different weathers.

Hawaii

More than 20 years ago, I read Hawaii by James Michener and was taken with the story and history of the place, and I immediately knew that someday I would just have to visit the place.

Last week, during spring break, we did go. Yes, it was beautiful. But to tell you the truth, it was a slight let down. Let me explain. Yes, it is really beautiful, and all that it is touted to be. It is just that I had imagined this place of wonder, a paradise, an exotic escape - something that had to be seen and experienced. But in reality, it is a combination of Kerala/coastal Karnataka/Western Ghats/Goa. Once again, don't get me wrong - these are beautiful places and among my most favourite places in the world, places that I love to keep going back to. But my point is that Hawaii was not so different!

There are differences, of course. For instance, when the sun is out, the blue of the Hawaiian Pacific is such a light, ethereal colour that I can't stop looking it. Almost as good as the deep rich blue of the Pacific in California that I love so much.

Everything else brought back memories of India. The weather, for instance. You, yes you, who are standing right now in the balcony at 10 o clock at night with only a thin half-sleeved t-shirt on, you are very, very lucky. Even on the hottest days here in the Bay Area, I can't go out at night with a thin t-shirt, because the night invariably gets cold. And even if the night is warm, I have to carry a jacket with me because you never know when the night's mood will change!

Back to Hawaii - the flora was so familiar. I exclaimed at the profusion of coconut trees, mango trees, the plumeria (the place is full of blooming, fragrant plumeria!) and a host of other familiar trees which I greeted like they were old friends.

We went to the island Oahu - which would  not have been our first choice, but we were going with someone who had already been to Big Island and Maui.

Anyway, now that I have gotten all that out of the way, I'll put up some posts in the next couple of days about what we did, and of course, more pictures of the ocean!

Day 30 - The Missions of California

An integral part of the history of California is its network of missions. Spanish missionaries stablished them in the later part of the 18th century. The Native Americans were absorbed into the missions and put to work there. Many cities in California have these missions, and during our travels, we've seen several of them - and they all look both simple and grand at the same time. The adobe structure is unique to all these mission buildings. There is one comparatively small mission in Fremont itself - Mission San Jose.

4th grade history textbooks speak in detail about these missions, their ultimate secularization, and their effects on the lives and culture of Native Americans. Students are also allocated a mission each, and they have to do a report and a slideshow on their mission, and study in detail the history of that mission. Puttachi was allocated Mission San Antonia de Padua and she did a decent job of reporting about it, finding pictures for the slideshow.

And it was as part of this education that the children were taken to Mission San Juan Bautista (named after St John the Baptist) on Wednesday.

Some pictures taken from a phone, so please excuse the quality.

Mission San Juan Bautista.

The statue of St John the Baptist, his arms raised in prayer or rapture

But from afar, he looks as if he is picking fruit from a tree (acc to one of the children in my charge)

The Plaza Hotel - rooms for travellers cost $2.50 at a time when most people earned less than a dollar a month. A very fancy place, with stables, a saloon, a card room and comfortable rooms. But privies outside!

But even the privies at the back were fancy - 2 storied! There was a separate walkway that connected the living rooms on the right, above, to a storeyed privy on the left (behind the trees) so that women and children could go there directly without having to face the horrors of passing by the card room in the ground floor

The altar at the church

The pug mark of a mountain line - it came in when the tiles were being set.

The church was supposedly one of the larger and grander among missions.

Day 26 - Yosemite

I finally got to go to the famous Yosemite National Park late last year, with my family, my sister's family, and my aunt's family (who were visiting from the UK)

The impressive El Capitan

Half Dome

Sentinel Dome, which we climbed

The final stretch of Sentinel Dome. This was unique because I did this with a toe splint and special footwear that I had been wearing, to correct an issue with my foot.

This is the Tunnel View. You can see all the major rocks from here - among others, El Capitan, Half Dome and Sentinel Dome

Panoramic View of Half Dome. In this picture, you can see how the glaciers have carved out a path (and given that dome its unique look) over the years.

This is as seen from the deck at our vacation rental in Groveland.

Puttachi enjoying her early morning solitude

Day 24 - Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Continued from this vacation.

I'd seen the Californian coastal redwoods (Big Basin, Portola Valley) but I hadn't seen the giant sequoias (Which is another type of redwood). And Calaveras Big Trees State Park had two groves of giant sequoia. So off we went.

While the coastal redwoods are slim and tall, the giant sequoia are much wider, and shorter. Though this visit was full of some breathtaking sights, it was also filled with despair at the stupidity of human beings.

Take the Discovery Stump, for instance. In the 1850s, a hunter came across this huge, 1300-year-old-tree and because nobody in the cities believed him when he told them about it, he came back with workmen and cut the tree off in order to take a slice of it to display to them. And then they used the stump as a dance floor.

The Discovery Stump

Soaring into the skies - so mighty!

Just look at that rich, red, colour!

"The screaming mother" or some such  name. This is another tree that suffered from human greed. Humans removed its bark, in order to go and reassemble it at some exhibition, to show how tall and thick these trees are. This tree died.

A grove of young sequoia. Redwoods usually grow in groves and clusters.

The Pioneer Cabin Tree. I've been obsessed with this tree ever since I'd seen a picture in a book. Finally saw it. 4-5 months after this, this tree toppled over in a storm. I was just in time.

The top of the Pioneer Cabin Tree. This giant tree was surviving (until it fell down recently) thanks to that single photosynthesizing branch.