Our first Baseball experience

Yesterday (9/10/11) we went to the Safeco field to watch our first Baseball game. Sandip got the tickets from his collegue Scott and we were looking forward to this for the whole week.
It was a game between Seattle Mariners and Kansas Royals. Me and Sandip are not familiar with the rules of the game and we tried finding out as much as we could from Rishi.

It was Latin American day at Safeco field and before the start of the match and during the mid break, Latin dancers entertained the crowd.

By the second innings, we were very much into the game and joined the fan squad cheering the home team. The only downer was that the Mariners lost to the Royals 2-4. I am already looking forward to the next time we get to go.

Caught a fish and let it go...

8/27/11
What a memorable experience!! We went to Tapovan for the day and before returning back, I wanted to try fishing. Swami M accompanied me for some time and later he wanted me to enjoy the experience alone with some peace and quite. Well, 'alone' is a relative term as Rishi and Sandip were close by. So, was our retreat 'Buddy - the dog' :)
I was just about to give up when I felt the tell tale tug on the line. I started yelling (bad idea) and pulled the pole up and there it was!! A mid size fish caught in the bait.
Rishi, Sandip and Buddy all came close, all excited and Sandip missed the photo oppurtunity. I think after me, Buddy was the most excited one and he wanted to get a closer look and probably bite on the fish. So, I took it in my hands (what an experience!!!), and let it go in the water. I will never forget that moment in my life.
This is my third year fishing and I could never pull up the fish to the shore before. 1 more unique experience I longed for ticked off the list.

Last road trip of the summer of 2011....

Embarked on yet another road trip on the Labor Day weekend. This time to the Crater Lakes in Oregon and Keshav joined us on this trip.
Started early on the morning on 9/3. Fun and games on the way, lots of junk food and then we arrived at the Silver Falls. This state park in Oregon is known for the 10 falls and the trails. We went upto two of the 10 falls, and enjoyed the cool mist of the falls in a very hot day.

After Silver Lakes, dragged our tired selves to the hotel at Klamath Falls (only name has falls in it, no falls there), and called it a night.

Another early morning start from the hotel on 9/4/11 towards Crater Lake. We really hoped to catch the boat ride, but unfortunately the tickets were all sold out. The view of the lake was spectacular. It was a HOT day but we braved the heat and hiked down to the lake. Had lots of fun by the lake - we saw several people jump to the lake to cool off and swim.

Rishi made new friends on this trip :)

Inspite of so much beauty all around, the hike back up was brutal. It is a one mile very steep trail. It is said that this trail is equivalent to a 75 storey building. The hot weather made it worse. After reaching the top, we didnt have any energy left for more sight seeing. Had a big lunch at a park restaurant and came back to the hotel.
Early next day, we started the trip back home.

Road trip through the Rocky Mountains

Day 1 (6/25/11)
Started early in the morning and entered Canada through Sumas (WA, USA) – Abbotsford (BC, Canada) border.

The drive was very very scenic and we reached Kamloops just in time for lunch.

After a mouth watering lunch at Boston Pizza, we continued on our way towards Jasper. The scenary was breathtaking.

We took a small break at the Mount Robson Park for some photo ops :)

Reached Jasper around 7.30pm. Looking forward to exploring Jasper tomorrow.

Day 2 (6/26/11)
Jasper did manage to take our breathe away today. The first stop after a quick breakfast was the Tramway ride and then hike upto the summit of Whistler Mountain. The Gondola ride from lower to upper terminal is more than 3000 feet rise.

We then hiked to the summit of Whistlers Mountain. Truly knew what it feels like to be 'On top of the world, looking down on creation' :)

After coming off the Whistler Mountain, we proceeded towards the Athabasca Falls. It was a nice trek along the river coast.

After lunch and some rest, we headed out to see the Maligne Canyon.

On our way back, we stopped by Lake Edith. It was one of the most peaceful places I have been to.

After that, we called it a day and rested up for more fun tomorrow.

Day 3 (6/27/11)
We started the day eager to get on the ZipLine Adventure. Rishi was brave enough to go alone while I chickened out and went in tandem with Sandip. It was a lot of fun and really nothing to be scared about. Loved it and looking forward to the next time.

After this exhilarating experience, we went to Lake Maligne. We saw a lot of wild life on the way and back - Mountain Goats, Moose, Bear. It was very scenic drive to the lake.

After lunch we strolled around the town of Jasper, had yummy ice creams, visited a few shops and back to the hotel. Our last day at Jasper came to close. Heading out to Banff tomorrow.

Day 4 (6/28/11)
Time to bid adieu to Jasper. I think we have seen only about 50% of all that this place has to offer. Heading towards Banff.
The road leading from Jasper to Banff is said to be the most scenic one in the world. After travelling through this route - we don't doubt that at all.

On our way, we first stopped at the Sunwapta Falls.

After a little fun and frolic, we proceeded to Columbia IceFileds. This is the largest IceFiled that humans can reach. The size of this ice field is the size of the city of Vancouver. We were taken to the ice field and the glaciers by what looked like a bus from the inside. When we reached there and embarked from the bus - the view and the feeling that it ensued left us dumbfounded. We all drank the unadultered water from the glacier that our tour guide told us would make us 10 years younger :D Not sure of that claim, but none of us passed this chance and the water tasted heavenly.

We were amazed to see Moulins - which are Glacier wells - up close. These are known to be extremely dangerous.

We had lunch at the Ice Filed cafe overlooking the glaciers. Then we resumed our drive towards Banff. The scenary continued to amaze us.
We stopped at the Bow Summit and Peytoe Lake.The view was spectacular.

After this we went straight to our hotel in Banff for a much needed R&R :)
Day 4 done!!

Day 5 (6/29/11)

Banff is such a quaint little city. We walked all over downtown last night just to get a feel for the city.

The bus service is very convenient here. The hotel provided us with bus passes for our stay here. We took the bus and went to the Gondola station soon after breakfast. The Gondola took us upto 7496 feet of Sulphur Mountain. After that we hiked 377 steps to reach the summit. The summit has a 'Cosmic Ray Station'. We were of course rewarded by the breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains.

New Delhi is only 11,046 Km away :)

Yes!! We reached the summit

We then drove to Lake Louise. Such a beautiful place!!

Day 6 (6/30/11)
Last day in Banff. We went to Kootenay National park in the morning today. The weather was perfect as was the drive to the park. This national park is in British Columbia.

We had to stop our car for his/her highness to pass :)

Our first stop was at Radium Hot Springs - which was a huge disappointment. It looked like an enclosed swimming pool but we were told the water was heated naturally by the hot springs. Whatever!! To make up for this disappointment, we gorged on huge, yummy ice creams. Feeling better we proceeded to our next stop which was Numa Falls.

We then drove around in the beautiful park for a couple more hours before finally calling it a day.

Reached the last leg of our trip. We head out home tomorrow.

7/1/11 (Day 7)

We headed out for Seattle early in the morning. We stopped at Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National park on the way back.

After that, it was a looong drive home.
It was a great, relaxing trip. But as with everything else, not everything was perfect. So, what was not good?
1. Mosquitos in the national park.
2. I fell in one of the many creeks at Numa Falls. A few scrapes and bruises were all the harm that was done.

But the memories that linger are of the majestic, beautiful Rocky Mountains!