US cross country drive (2) : Fort Smith to Flagstaff

US cross country drive (1) : Durham to Fort Smith

In the next 5 days we crossed the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Day 4 : Fort Smith (Arkansas) - 350 miles - Shamrock (Texas)

In the morning, we first went to see the Fort Smith located on the Fourth Street in the town, on the banks of the river Arkansas. The Fort Smith was an old building constructed in 1888, to house the Jail, the district courts and the troops to maintain law order in the area. The fort also served as a supply depot for troops fighting the Red Indians in the old times. 

The building today is converted into a museum displaying photographs of the period of the federal fights against the Red Indians, the court proceedings of those times and the jail used to house the outlawed Indians. It also displays the guns and other arms of yesteryears. 

After checking out the fort, we drove back on the I-40 and after crossing the river Arkansas moved into the state of Oklahoma: 'the land of Red Indians'. It is a dry state with hardly any forest cover with red soil all around. The weather became warm by now, and you don't get to see many people around also. It is just barren all around. The people en-route seemed polite and they were all very similar looking : well built, tall, tough- looking rough and all sporting mustaches! The typical hinterland Americans!

While moving along the I-40, we suddenly came across a bill-board on the right saying 'Sajhi Roti' written in Gurmukhi, a script used by Sikhs in India. On following the directions on the board, we kept moving around in circles and finally reached a road side Dhaba run by a Sardarji from India!! Of course the board sign had been put up in the opposite direction to the dhaba, but once we got there, we were served very delicious Indian food, typical India style.

After a filling dinner, we moved along the highway and reached Shamrock in Texas and checked in at Holiday Inn to spend the night. Shamrock was a small sleepy village with hardly any people seen on the roads. We just had a nice swim in the pool which was refreshing in the hot weather and retired for the night as there wasn't much to explore in the little village.

Day 5 : Shamrock (Texas) - 270 miles - Tucumcari (New Mexico) via Palo Duro Canyon

After spending the previous night comfortably at the Holiday Inn just next to the highway, we set out early by about 9 am and set our GPS for Amarillo, a major town in north Texas. We drove along the highway for 100 miles and we were able to maintain a good speed of about 80 mph as there were hardly any vehicles on the road. The entire stretch was very thinly inhabited and we could not see any habitation for miles on both sides. All we could see were some cattle grazing in the vast dry grass fields on both sides of the road. There was no greenery at all but for few bushes in the fields here and there.

On reaching Amarillo, we moved south along I-27 for Palo Duro Canyon State Park. In the park, we saw deep ravines with 27-30 layers of rocks in various colors and textures. There were many walking, horse and bicycle trails in the park and we decided to walk to the Light House along one such trail.

The trail was 3.5 miles one way and the day turned out to be too hot, 101 Fahrenheit! It was a tough trek and only people who are physically very fit should take the risk as there are chances of dehydration en-route. Lot of people gave up mid-way and returned but we were able to reach the top somehow.

It was a picturesque site at the top of the the light house, which has been designated as the National Natural Monument by the US government. It is a natural feature created due to the effect of rain over a long period but looks just like a man-made lighthouse. On reaching the lighthouse you feel good about being able to complete the trail. It was a tough walk and tests your fitness to the maximum level. 

After the canyon, we returned back to the main highway and stopped at the famous Cadillac Ranch which has a couple of graffiti painted cadillac cars planted into the red Texan soil! It was something different then anything else we have seen and was definitely worth checking out. After the ranch, we drove further for 100 miles and reached a small town called Tucumcari (New Mexico) on the I-40 itself to spend the night at Days Inn.

Day 6 : Tucumcari (New Mexico) - 170 miles - Santa Fe (New Mexico)

In the morning as we got ready to leave the motel, the owner Mr Bhavesh came to us and invited us for a cup of tea at his house as he was also from India, just like us. He was happy to meet us as we had also stayed at his native state of Gujarat for a couple of days and he narrated his success story to us about how he came and started a motel in the US. It's nice to see how happy people from India are to see others from their country!

Anyways, today, we decided to not drive much as the day before had been a hectic one for us. So we travelled for about 170 miles on the I-40 towards Santa Fe. The whole drive was completely barren and for miles and miles you could not see a human or even an animal. Its an absolutely empty desert with no vegetation at all. And the weather here was also very hot. 

Interestingly, en-route, when we stopped at one place for taking a couple of photographs, a lady moving in the opposite direction went past us for about 50 yards, then stopped, took a u-turn and came back us to ask if we wanted some help!! We were really touched by this gesture and also realized, that in a place like this if you get stuck, there is no help for miles either side!!

Anyways, in two hours, we reached Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico and an 'oasis in the desert'. On reaching Santa Fe, the weather which had been warm till now suddenly became quite cold, so much so that we had to put on woolens here!

Santa Fe is a very quaint little place, quite touristy too. All the buildings here have a unique design similar to the mud houses in Rajasthan in India. It was a pleasure to walk through the town admiring its beauty. We also saw the oldest house, the oldest church in US as well as the hanging stairs in the church. And for the Indian food enthusiast, there is a good Indian restaurant named India Palace that serves very tasty Indian food.

In the evening, we checked into the Hilton Golf Resort & Spa, a grand resort in the New Mexico desert, and a place to definitely stay in if you get a chance. It is difficult to imagine such a green lush area right in the middle of a desert! Including a well landscaped green 18-hole golf course!! Anyways the hotel had rooms built in the same mud designs as the rest of Santa Fe. It also houses a Casino, which is the largest in the state. After spending the evening in town, we had a nice swim at the hotel and relaxed.

It was a moonlit night and the resort was looking like a diamond in the desert! It was a special day for me too, my 59th birthday and was lucky to celebrate at such a wonderful location!

Day 7 : Santa Fe (New Mexico) - 300 miles - Holbrook (Arizona)

We started again on the I-40 and after traveling for about 100 Miles through the New Mexican desert, with no sign of any human settlement for miles and miles, we reached the Petrified National Forest Park. Well, its just called a 'forest park' but in reality it is a 28-mile drive through barren painted desert. The rocks here are all multi-colored and multi-layered. They were created due to the sand washed away by rains. This park is also called the 'Bad Land' in local areas. The park also has some craters where it had volcanic eruptions, we checked out a crater nearby.

In the evening, we checked in at Holbrook in Arizona, again a small village on the I-40.

Day 8 : Holbrook (Arizona) - 150 miles - Flagstaff (Arizona)

After spending the night at the small town Holbrook, we started in the morning at 8 AM. We drove through the Arizona desert on I-40 with no vegetation all around and a very hot weather. As we covered about 100 miles, when we entered the city of Flagstaff, suddenly there was a big temperature drop. The weather became cooler and there were tall pine trees all around. Its a sudden change from a desert  landscape to low mountains, from dry bushes and grass to lush green vegetation. It's a great feeling when you enter this town leaving the searing hot and yellow desert behind.

From Flagstaff, we moved another 20 miles along a meandering road through the pine forests along deep gorges and reached Sedona or the Slide Rock National park where there was a nice stream flowing with ice cold water. The water in the stream flows at a very slow speed and is normally 2-4 feet deep but at one place it was about 10-12 feet deep too! People were jumping from the top of a high rock into the stream, I tried the stunt too! We also saw some more deep gorges on the way.

That night, we came back to Flagstaff to stay for the night. We had dinner at Delhi Palace, a nice restaurant that served very tasty Indian food. Its a surprise how even in the smallest of US towns, we were able to find at least one restaurant with good Indian cuisine.

By this time we were at more than halfway through our cross country trip, but still San Francisco looked a long way off. Nearby there were a lot of more places to visit and we ended up staying a couple of days more at Flagstaff itself.

US cross country drive (3) : Flagstaff to San Francisco

US cross country drive (1) : Durham to Fort Smith

My parents and brother recently completed a cross country drive across the US, from Durham (North Carolina) on the East Coast to San Francisco on the West Coast. During this trip, they drove from one end of this vast country to the other, crossing 9 US states on the way and driving more than 4000 miles in 15 days. It was a leisurely paced trip, with them driving only a couple of hours every day and spending the rest of the day exploring places on the way and stopping in a new city and state every night.

And even though I was not a part of this trip (sadly!) I am still putting up what they wrote about it, because for one I think such a long driving trip is pretty cool for my blog:) and secondly because such information would be very helpful for anyone else planning a trip like this!

Anyways, so they drove on the I-40 for most part, as this highway runs across the breadth of the country.  On the way they witnessed the interiors of US, people were different everywhere: vegetation varied from green forest to cactus: landscape varied from yellow deserts to lush green mountains, orange canyons to blue lakes and rivers. It was an exciting trip for them all, something to remember forever!

And since it was a long trip, I would be breaking it down into multiple posts.  In this post, I would describe their journey from Durham to Fort Smith across the states of North Carolina, Tenessee and Arkansas.




Day 1 : Durham (North Carolina) - 300 miles - Pigeon Forge (Tennessee)

We started from Durham, North Carolina for Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains (Tenessee) around 2 PM in the afternoon along the interstate highway, I-40. This highway crosses the US from east to west through the southern part of US, crossing nine states on the way. The drive was not too long, about 5-6 hours and was very enjoyable, driving through the Smoky mountains with lush green forests and a cool breeze everywhere. There was very little wild life in this region though, even though its all forested.

On the way, if you are interested, you can hike in the Smoky Mountains or engage in activities like white water rafting etc or visit Asheville, a small little quaint town on the way or the Biltmore Residence. We however did not have much time, so we drove directly to Pigeon Forge, and reached in the evening around 7 PM after a comfortable and enjoyable drive. We did however stop on the way in the mountains for a quick lunch, any place on the way is a picnic spot you see!

We stayed the night at Pigeon Forge, a small resort town built mainly as a tourist attraction or as I would call it, 'Las Vegas for the kids'. The town is located on a river bank which adds to its beauty. There are also colourfully designed buses running city tours.

In the main street, there are different activities and attractions for all to see like the Jurassic jungle boat ride, go-carting, miniature golf greens for putting, a house model constructed in an upside down design (!!), a model of the Titanic and many other similar attractions.  Its good fun to explore this place for a couple of hours.

There are many good hotels located in and around Pigeon Forge if you are looking to stay. And if you crave for Indian food, there is an Indian restaurant nearby too, Tastes of India which serves good Indian food.

Day 2 : Pigeon Forge (Tennessee) - 425 miles -  Memphis (Tennessee)

On the second day, we had a long drive ahead of us and so we left early after breakfast. We again drove on the I-40 across the state of Tennessee towards its capital, Memphis which is located on the border of three states:  Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. The drive was again enjoyable driving through green forests with pleasant weather.

We covered a distance of more than 400 miles across the state of Tennessee and also stopped at many viewpoints enroute to see the vast countryside. We stopped at Hunter State Park on the way for our lunch. You can also stop at Nashville on the way if you have time, its a pretty town to visit on the way. The houses built along the road in the forests were really handsome and would be fun to stay in. We reached Memphis around 6 PM and stayed at the Hilton, is quite a good place to stay.

Memphis is a green town with a lot of vegetation and pure clean air. The Beale Street in the historic part of the city is also worth visiting as is Graceland, the birthplace of Elvis. We gave both these areas a miss though, had had a long day of driving today. In the evening we just visited the First Evangilical Church in the city which was pretty. And for dinner there was Mayuri, an Indian restaurant with tasty Indian food.

Day 3 : Memphis (Tennessee) - 320 miles - Fort Smith (Arkansas) via Hot Springs and Ouachita Lake

After a hearty breakfast at the Hilton in Memphis we took the I-40 towards Fort Smith. From the lush green countryside, the landscape now changed to dry land with small hills covered at places with small bushes.

We took a little detour towards the south and visited the town of Hot Springs (apparently the place where Bill Clinton spent his childhood!). Its a pleasing little town, and you can spend some time here. At the Hot Springs national park, you have springs where hot water is oozing out from the base of the hill which you can take a bath in even in the cold weather. There is also a very high tower built on the top of the hill from where you can get a good view of the town.

About six miles from here is the Ouachita lake where many water sports facilities are available. There is a also the Diamond State Park crater on this route, where you can see an open diamond mine and find some diamonds for yourself;-). We however gave this a miss.

Anyways, from Hot Springs, we drove towards Fort Smith, back on the I-40. It's again a pretty drive along the state highway through forests and small hills all around covered with lush green vegetation all along the road (Ouachita State Park). It also started raining by this time which made the drive even more enjoyable. By late evening, we reached Fort Smith and spent the night there.

US cross country drive (2) : Fort Smith to Flagstaff

US cross country drive (3) : Flagstaff to San Francisco

The Capitol : Washington DC

Washington DC is one of those places in the US which are a 'must-tick'. Honestly, I don't think its anything out of this world or a place you cannot do without visiting, but still it's something we all still think of visiting just because its the Capital City of the most powerful country in the world! So anyways, we did a weekend trip to Washington this summer and spent about two days in the capital city.

I would categorise the places to visit in DC as of two types, museums and government buildings/memorials. Most of these places are located very close to each other, on both sides of the National Mall starting with the Capitol on one side and ending with the Lincoln Memorial.

It's not that easy to visit all these places in a car though, as parking is tough to find and apparently expensive. The best way to explore the city is either by walking or taking one of the hop-on-hop-off buses which take you to all the places to visit. So, we stayed in a hotel outside of town and then took the shuttle to town and explored it on foot.

We started at one end of the Mall, with the Capitol, which is this huge parliament in white. It's pretty and it's huge, I guess keeping in line with the majestic squares that imperialist countries in Europe used to build to awe visitors. That's the feeling that you get when you see the Capitol and the buildings around it. Its all open, green, with some water bodies and fountains and surrounded by massive buildings all around. The Capitol is worth seeing from the inside but for that you need to book the tour at least a couple of days before. We did not do that so had to contend with just the outside:).

Just behind the Capitol as you walk on the mall, you cross the reflecting pool which has some botanical gardens around it. Crossing those, you will pass in front of many museums: Art, Sculpture, Space, American History, Natural History and so on. All these museums are run by the Smithsonian organisation and have a free entry. Have heard they are very good but we did not get a chance to see them from the inside, so can't say for sure.

As you walk along, you pass other government buildings or see them at a distance, the National Archives, Supreme Court, Reagen Buildings etc. They all look magnificent and give you an aura of being at a different kind of place.

Near the end of this Mall, you will see at the right side possibly the most photographed building of DC, the White House. It has a huge playing field called the Ellipse just in front of it. But the house isn't as huge as you would expect to be. Its this little white building which you can see from a distance with green gardens all around and a fountain in front. You still get yourself photographed in front of the house, but it does leave you asking for more. The White house again you can take a tour inside if you book in advance.

And then you come to the memorials area, all around the Basin. First you see to the Washington Memorial, a huge white obelisk on a raised platform. Its quite a dominating structure and visible from quite a distance all around.





Then you have the World War II Memorial, which is a series of fountains and overlooking the Lincoln Memorial.





The Lincoln Memorial is majestic too and houses a huge statue of Lincoln sitting in a chair (like a throne?:) ). From the memorial, you can also get a view of the Potomac river behind it. As you walk along, you will pass the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam memorial.


Then as you walk around the river basin, you cross the Martin Luther King Memorial and the FDR Memorial.







And at the end is the Jefferson Memorial, another huge white structure on a raised platform with Jefferson's statue standing majestically inside.



Washington is supposed to be pretty at night, all lighted up. Also there are a couple of cruises there, which take you around the Potomac river and show all the monuments at night. We couldn't see that but am guessing would be fun.  Also DC is a must-visit during the spring season with Cherry Blossoms everywhere! In the photographs, the whole basin area looks magnificent in white and pink. Maybe for next time:)! Another place we did not visit but looks worthwhile is the National Cathedral, guess should try to see it if you get a chance.

Other than that, we also visited Georgetown which is the old part of Washington with European looking streets and houses which also neighbours the Georgetown University. It was a nice walk, and we could lunch at an Indian restaurant. Wasn't anything great though, so guess can give it a miss.

So all in all it was a weekend out and a chance to see the seat of the American government. Impressive but not hugely.

US Hinterland: Roanoke, Virginia

In the last month, I have got to travel across different states of the US and it's interesting to see how varied and vast the country is. I recently visited Washington DC and while driving back from DC to Durham, visited a family friend in Roanoke, Virginia. That's how I landed in this place unknown to me and people I know.

For my first impressions, the drive from DC to Roanoke was very scenic. Rolling green hills, lush forests and pretty little wooden houses dotting the landscape. It was really breathtaking, driving through such a magnificent green region. Apparently Virginia is one of the most pretty states of the US and it was clearly evident why.

Anyways, even the town of Roanoke was pretty. It's surrounded by mountains all around, isn't too crowded and again has the pretty houses all around. It looks like one of those postcard towns which might be a pleasure to stay in. Green, healthy and relaxing. We had initially planned to stay there for a night but ended up staying for three days (and wanted to stay longer too)!

The first day we drove to the Roanoke Star, a huge lighted star atop a hill. The star at night is visible from afar, signifying the town of Roanoke. From the top of the mountain, you can get a good view of the town below as well as the mountains surrounding Roanoke. The mountain is heavily forested and has a couple of trails too for the trekking enthusiast. On a warm clouded day, this place is the perfect picnic spot.


The next day we drove to the New River area for tubing in the lake. Due to high water, the tubing was closed but the place turned out to be the perfect place to enjoy a day out. With the river lazily flowing next to you, green hills surrounding all around, cool breeze flowing and a warm nice sun: the feeling is just too tough to explain. We had a picnic there, ate, lazed around, played and just enjoyed being close to nature.




This place just looks like a painting, doesn't it? We drove along the lake and saw a couple of camping sites. Would love to camp at a place like this for a couple of days, gives you the kind of peace you sometimes miss in a big city. Also a lot of people were kayaking on the river as it had a couple of rapids too. Wish we had been allowed to do tubing too!

The next day, we just walked around town and visited a local festival They had lot of rides, games and a helicopter tour of the town too. There is a cathedral in Roanoke which looks yellow! Quite a funny color!

Other than that there are a couple of park drives closeby in the blue ridge mountains which are supposedly scenic. We did not get a chance to go there though. We also went to a local yogurt place to try out their frozen yogurt: it's definitely the best frozen yogurt I have ever had. Very yum, depending on what toppings you add. A definite must do if you ever get a chance to visit this small town in the Virginia hinterland!

Anyways the whole stay for us turned out to be more fun and longer than what we expected! A nice few days spent there...

Around Durham: Wrightsville Beach and Jordan Lake

We spent some time in Durham this year and now have got an idea about stuff to do nearby. It looked initially that there is not that much to do but slowly we found out, there is enough for a couple of weeks!

North Carolina is a nature state with lush green forests, beaches and lots of lakes around. So all the places worth visiting are nature-based. We visited two places nearby, both were day trips and fun.

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH

Wrightsville beach is located in the town of Wilmington and about 2.5 hours away from Durham along the I-40. The beach is on a long and narrow island which is connected via bridges to the main land. The whole length of the island on one side is a beach, open to the sea and the other side of the island is the place to moor the boats and enjoy some water sports. There are lots of vacation rentals also all along the island, and by how full it was, looks like its a very popular beach!

We spent some time on the beach, swimming and enjoying the sun and waves. The beach was very very windy when we went though, not sure if its always like this or just this one time. Anyways, there were plenty of waves to body surf, and lot of real surfers around too. There were very strong undercurrents though, so you had to be a lot more careful. But a lovely beach nonetheless.

We went to a restaurant on the beach too, the Oceanic. It had very tasty sea-food at reasonable prices, glassed seating with an overview of the beach and an open air musical performance being given live. And the food was yum!! I would say a definite eat if you visit the beach!

JORDAN LAKE

Jordan lake is about an hour or so drive from Durham, and its a huge lake! Wasn't at all what we expected, much better than that in fact! Its got an artificial sandy beach where tourists can enjoy the sun. You can also swim in the lake as its quite calm waters. 

New York weekend getaways

As with any major city, there are lot of weekend getaways near New York for people to be able to quickly get away from the city hustle bustle and enjoy some quiet or some action in a natural environment.

The getaways vary with the season or the activity desired. For winters, you have the skiing resorts of New York, New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire (Wyndham, Hunter Mountain, Bear Mountain etc). For summers, there are the beaches and lakes and camping in the forests (Lake George, Finger Lakes, Cape Cod etc) and for fall, you have the fall colours in the New England area. And of course many other activities are available nearby.

Some of these places are worth visiting while some become worthwhile just because they are so close to New York :)! Anyways have been to a few such places nearby, and thought would talk about those. Will keep adding as and when we keep exploring more!

SKIING AT MOUNTAIN CREEK, VERNON, NEW JERSEY

Mountain Creek falls in the category of being good just because of its proximity to New York. Located about an hour or so from the city, its a perfect place if you want to ski and don't have the time to stay overnight. You can drive from New York, ski and be back home in time for dinner! There are daily buses also running from New York till the resort, so its quite popular among Ne Yorkers. Since during winter, options are limited, and skiing being the only activity possible, we went skiing to Mountain Creek Resort in Jan 2011. 

The ski slopes are fine and the ski rentals high. It was fun nevertheless, with the sugar slope being do-able for novices like us. There is also the kids slope to start with, especially if you are just learning skiing. The green slopes also looked not too bad, so maybe for next time!

One advantage of Mountain Creek though is that they have night skiing. So you can ski longer. Only negative I saw here though was that there was just too much crowd here! It looks like a mela really! But I guess everyone in New York has the bright idea to go to the nearest ski slope available!

RAFTING AT ADIRONDACKS MOUNTAINS

We did a whitewater rafting trip recently to the Adirondacks Mountains. Our organiser was Adirondacks Adventures and we rafted on the Hudson. It was soo much fun!

The weather was cold though, only on the weekend that we were there that is!! Temperatures were sub-zero in the night, so we were all fully packed with fleeces and wet suits. The whole route is quite long, about 15 miles or so. You start on the Indian River which meets the Hudson and then you flow through miles of Hudson through dense green foliages on both sides. You also pass through the Hudson Gorge which is again very magnificent.

The rapids though supposedly Class III and IV did not seem that tough. Supposedly this year since it did not snow as much, the water levels weren't high enough and so the whole experience did seem too subdued. Was still fun and taxing though, rafting through miles and miles of the river. By the end of it we all even stopped rowing, we just waited for our boat to flow with the flow and reach our destination. It was fun but would have been better with more water.

We had rented a vacation rental next to the Hudson nearby and it's location was awesome. Next to the river with total privacy, no sounds and no pollution and no people. Just barbeque outside in the evening and enjoy the cosy house in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't as cosy though since our house did not have any heating or hot water, but it could have been:). On the whole a great place for a weekend away from the city.  Exercise a lot and then relax!

GAMBLING AT ATLANTIC CITY

Atlantic city would be one of the first places people in New York go to! A less than 2 hours drive to multiple casinos with other stuff to do. A definite must-visit.

For the casinos. Borgata is good.  A recently opened place with a huge casino. Other than that, you have Ceasars, Wild West, Taj Trump, Ballys, Hannahs and so on. Don't think there is much to choose between them. All give you an equal oppurtunity to lose money:). Ceasars is done up well on the inside though, they've got sculptors from Roman history all over. You can walk around inside and explore some of the shops and eating places there too.

Other than the casinos, shopping is another major attraction there. Lots of outlet stores all around, so enough for a shopper to spend time and money on. A lot of good shows also keep happening at the bigger hotels regularly, stand-up comedy, musical shows etc. Its nice to buy tickets beforehand though and land up that weekend to enjoy both the shows and a little bit of the casinos.

The boardwalk is another place to walk around. Would be nice in summer I guess, just walk around passing through all the different hotels and casinos.  The buildings on the side of the Boardwalk are painted in multiple colours giving it a very different feel from the rest of the city. I've gone to Atlantic City only in the winter, so the boardwalk wasn't really our preferred place to spend time on!  But something to do in the summers definitely!

The beach in Atlantic city is also worth going to but since I haven't been there, so can't comment I guess. All in all a nice day trip from New York, anything longer gets boring though!

Skiing at Killington, Vermont

Killington Resort in Green Mountains, Vermont is located near the city of Rutland.  Its a 5-6 hour drive from New York and passes through some very pretty little ski towns. Colourful wooden houses on both sides of the road giving it a very pretty feel, the typical New England look I guess.

There are two ski resorts here, one is the Pico Mountain which is much smaller and the other is the Killington slope which is a lot more popular. They have 4-5 different mountains to ski and different parking lots to start from depending on which mountain you want to ski.

The ski slopes are awesome here especially for learners. There are lots of green slopes, shorter ones for the absolute learners while some longer ones from the top of the mountain to the bottom if you feel more adventurous. The crowds here increase during weekends as would be expected, but its still not as much to discourage you from skiing. 

We stayed at Killington for four days and really improved on our skiing skills. For the first day we practiced mostly on the Snowshed slopes which was decently steep but not too long: gave us enough practice and confidence to try something tougher later. Our favourite on this slope was the detour through the Highlander, which is an almost flat slope to get an experience of cross country skiing. 

The last day we tried the Great Northern green slope too, from the top of the Killington Mountain to the bottom. Was a lot of fun and worth it!! If you don't want to ski, just the Gondola ride will also be enjoyable, going up the mountain and taking in the view of the whole area around.

You should rent your equipment from Killington rentals slightly before the slopes. Its a lot cheaper here than renting at the slopes itself. There are multiple parking areas around the ski area, and its all free though fills up fast! You can park your car at a different place everytime, depending on which mountain you plan to ski that day. One point to note though is that skiing finishes at 4pm everyday. So you need to start early as there is no night skiing at this resort.

Other than skiing there are a couple of things to do to spend your evenings. Since the whole Killington area is centered around skiing, in the winter season its all decorated with lights. It looks very pretty especially with the snow and the winter lights. There is also a trail nearby called the Appalachian trails. We did part of it but with the snow only as much you can go. Might be more fun in the summer.

There are lots of nice eating places nearby with good food and music. We tried Garlic, which was very tasty. The pub food more than the restaurant though! Sushi Yoshi was tasty too. And near it was Pickle Barrel, a nightclub with live music. It rocked!! There was a good fun crowd there and live music everyday. Apparently they have famous singers also performing at Pickle during season. A definite must-go for all visitors to Killington. Another restaurant we went to was the Peppino's Ristorante Italiano, it was not up to the mark though. Neither in terms of service nor food.

We stayed at the Cortina Inn and it was good.  Nice lounge, lot of activities to relax with at the end of the day. Pool, table tennis and lots of other games. You skii all day and come back to the pool to relax. What else would you want:) ? 

We also stayed a night in a house in Rutland. It was a nice experience. Rutland is like one of those lazy looking towns over rolling hills with cows grazing and the whole area strewn with wooden houses all along. Delightful and serene.

Killington is definitely a place to go skiing if you are a learner. Plus the whole area is so pretty, a definite recommend for people in New York.

Fall Colours in Vermont

This Fall, we decided to a do an upstate driving trip to Vermont to see the so-called famous 'Fall Colours'. So on a weekend in Oct, we did our research to check where the peak fall colours would be visible and off we went. We did not really have a fixed plan in mind of the places we would go to and all. Just picked up a couple of random places and the rest would be decided on the way!

The drive initially seemed quite exciting actually. The colours along the highway showed the oranges and yellows and browns that we had seen so many times earlier, in photographs, in movies and so on... 

We drove from New York towards the Catskill mountains, but somehow the colours weren't as great as we had imagined. Looked like we were a week or two late. So we kept on driving, and next we reached a small town of Hudson which is located on the river Hudson itself. The colours there were a little more brighter than before.  

After lunch in the sleepy (and pretty) town, onwards we drove on towards the Green Mountain National Park in Vermont which was supposed to have the best colours. But it started snowing on the way!! In October!! Anyways so most of our trip turned out to be a white snow trip rather than the red fall colours we wanted to see. 

Driving was a bit tough, and we decided to stop at the Northshire Lodge at Machester in Vermont. It was a nice small lodge, with a breathtaking view of the mountains in front which is apparently even more colourful in Fall! 

Of course all we saw was white snow all around! And thanks to the snow, the Halloween Parade for the weekend had also got cancelled! The snow was pretty though, and the Lodge looked very pretty with the just fallen snow in the morning!

Anyways, we roamed around in the town of Manchester, which at night with the snow all around looked straight out of Alpian Europe! It reminded me so much of the Swiss small towns, the same kind of wooden houses, small lanes and with ski slopes all around. The perfect ski town for the snow time! Is definitely a place to go to in the cold and dreary winters, it would looks so cheerful and bright here am sure...

Anyways, we still did not lose heart to see the fall colours and the next day while driving back to New York, we decided to drive via the Bear Mountain. Apparently that still had the Fall colours there! And a good choice it turned out to be! On the drive back, we saw a lot more of the flaming bright yellow and red colours we had imagined before. Next to lakes, with the reflection of the colours showing in the waters. Entire mountains burning in yellow! It was pleasing to finally see all we had been driving around for! 

The Bear Mountain was closed that time but the area around the Hessian Lake was open and people had already started trying to ski even in the little bit of snow! Anyways we spent some time there, admiring the colours which we had been trying to find for two days! There was a lot of crowd there from New York, apparently you can take a cruise from New York along the Hudson upto the Bear Mountain. Something to remember for later on:).

Anyways after we were satisfied of having seen the Fall colours finally, we were back in New York and back to the city life. Here is a link of our drive, New York to Vermont and Vermont to New York.