Road Trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*sigh*

Finally.... I'm back from my road trip. 10 days...on the road. 10 days of awesome travels.

Recapping....

9th: We left around Noon... and drove more or less straight to Buffalo NY. We wanted to stop on the way but the Hostel was packed. So, using Raghu's internet access (via the phone) we managed to get into the hostel at Buffalo. Reached there at 2am (Almost got lost). And promptly went to sleep. Of course.. we ate White Castle on the way!!

10th: Walked around Buffalo ... taking photos..etc. It was a self guided walking tour. After that... drove down to Niagara which was less than an hour away. AWESOME place. Totally fell in love with the place.. and was totally awestruck by the total power of nature. Totally enjoyed the view from the 'Maid of the Mist'. We drenched by the awesome falls. Unfortunately... my camera kept getting wet....so the photographs were'nt the best. From there, we headed out by 4:30 to Williamsport, PA where my good friend Vamsi stays. AWESOME scenery on the way. Had to drive through dense fog.... winding hilly country... ... simply beautiful. Spent the night with Vamsi... ate some AWESOME food that his aunt prepared and saw a movie with Vamsi (On his laptop... in the room he had booked for us)

11th: Ate some more home cooked food (breakfast).. said goodbye to Vamsi who had work. So.. we drove down... hoping to get a place at washington. But that place was full too.. and pretty darned expensive. So.. we ended up reserving a room at a hostel in knoxville, MD. Awesome hostel. Right next to the potomac river... and at harpers ferry, which is connected with the US civil war. It was also the midpoint for the Appalachian hiking trail which runs from Maine to Georgia. On our way down, we came across Baltimore.. and I suggested we explore the place. So..we went in...with no detailed maps... and following the signs to the zoo, we ended up in a shady part of the city. We got totally scared ( Somehow.. reading about gangs.. and all... makes me quiver with fear whenever I go into shady neighbourhoods). So.. we kept driving around... trying to get out... but no matter what we did.. we ended up in the same place... on state highway 40!! Finally..we decided to simply leave Baltimore and head out to Knoxville.

We got to the hostel around 5:30pm. The owners were wonderful ppl... and the ppl there were soooo nice. So.. we just relaxed that night... ate out at a local small restaurant... and went for a walk till the potomac river. When we came back, one person there was playing the guitar and singing wonderfully...some old english songs that Clive knew. Clive sat around drawing..while I was reading.

12th: woke up at 5:30am to catch the 7am train into DC. Reach DC... walk around looking at various buildings (Capitol bldng.. supreme court... monument...etc)... and went into the Air and Space Museum. We spent the entire day just walking around.... and ended the day at the White House. After that... it started drizzling... and we headed back to catch the train back. We missed the first train... and the second train was delayed by over 1.5 hrs due to some damage caused by the heavy rains. So... we get back to the hostel... and I wrote my blog out (They had high speed net).

13th: Friday the 13th... wasnt as bad as it could have been. We woke up at 5:30 again.. caught the train again... and , taking V's advice, got ourselves a subway daily pass each (Cheaper as the train ticket collector had totally forgotten to ask us for the tickets.. while we had been faast asleep). Well, anyway... we went and saw the Museum of Natural History. Before we could go in... we were taking pics of the Smithsonian castle. Clive... cleverly... had put his umbrella's holding thread under his belt. The Unbrella promptly decided to slip out. It probably went out for a run... coz when we went back searching for it 5 mins later.... it was GONE!! Clive was heartbroken. Yet, we managed to be amazed by the museum. My camera's batteries died on me at this stage. Ah well!! We caught the subway to Dupont circle where we ate lunch. Then we saw a National Geographic exhibit on dogs.. reminded me of goldie.. my aunt's dog back in India... that I spent sooo much time with. After that... we were planning to go see the lincoln memorial... which just didnt happen (was getting too late to catch the train). So.. we started towards the memorial.. and then headed back (making it just in time for the train). Back at the hostel... ppl made applie pie that they offered to us. The owner entertained us with magic tricks (her father was a magician).. and anectodes from various hikes and about various hikers. I read myself to sleep as we didnt need to be up by 5:30 again

14th: we got up earlier than planned as a hurricane was supposed to hit the east coast. So.. instead of heading to DC and seeing the lincoln memorial and the air and space museum at Dulles (With the AWE inspiring blackbird and concorde displays), we headed down to Duke univ to meet my friend V. We reached there in the afternoon and she promptly took us out on a tour of the campus. Unfortunately... the famous local tobacco museum was closed. ;). Surprising .. considering that Duke was setup by a tobacco baron. He had offered to double Princeton's endowment if they changed their name to Duke. Princeton refused. So... James Buchanan Duke (I believe), came to a smaller college at Durham, NC that readily accepted his offer. So.. everything at Duke is in direct competition with princeton. The Huuuge .. and beeyootiiful cathedral (built in the gothic style after the one at Princeton) was built exactly 1 foot taller than the one at Princeton. Well... we saw the beeyootiful Duke gardens.. walked around the cathedral as a wedding was being held inside... and then went out for some coffee / hot chocolate where we played Chinese Checkers (I played Valiantly... but lost:( ). Then came eating out at Bojangles... and came home. Later that night... we experienced a Duke med school party up close... and met some really cool Doctors to be!! Then just chit chatted with V and her housemate after which we promptly fell asleep.

15th: India's Independence day. We didnt even realize that. We just ate some awesome pancakes (with m&m's mixed into the batter) that V made for us. Then V took us out for the service at the Duke Cathedral. It was my first ever visit to a church. I went in with a doubtful.... after all my experiences with fanatical christian preachers. I spent too much time analyzing how the preacher's words could be interpreted in the wrong way.. but in the end... it was pretty enjoyable. Then we headed out to the great smokey mountains!!! It rained a bit on the way.... but we managed to get there safe and sound. Clive used his Mensa card to get 20% discount on a room at Cherokee, NC. it was a Comfort Inn close to the smokey mountains national park inside an Indian reservation. That evening... we just relaxed and watched TV.

16th: We got up around 9... ate the complimentary breakfast... and headed out to see some scenery and do some hiking. We ended up hiking to the top of Mt. Le Comte (around 5000feet elevation) ( total of 11 miles... of strenous hiking). By evening.. we were dead tired..so we just went back to the room and crashed.

17th: We just drove around some empty roads... through clouds... or maybe fog. It was AWESOME. After that...we tried hiking to see some waterfalls. But we were sore all over. So.. we headed back by afternoon and crashed again..just watching TV

18th: We were planning to see some more stuff on our way out... but we were tired. So.. we just drove straight out.. and arrived at Purdue at 5:30pm local time. And thats where the journey ended.

Clive and I both were afflicted by the lovvveee disease... and we kept singing "All this world... needs now.... is Love...Sweet Love..." and that became the theme song for our trip.

Well... I want to write so much more... but will probably just spend a few hrs putting up pics. Enjoyy.