After much deliberation by my dear friend (and his colleagues) that lasted for nearly 18 hours, it was decided that on Sunday, the 6th of April 2008, they would visit Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. The underlying plan was to have their portraits taken (by yours-truly) with waterfalls/ravines/woods as the background.

Why Worth Forgetting?

After intermittent obstacles (stopping and waiting for others to tag along, for breakfast, etc.), the group finally reached the area near Layton around 11 am (which was about two hours behind schedule according my plan)! When stopped for the first set of road-side shots on the way to Tillman’s Ravine, signs of uncivilized behavior surface for the first time. Yelling, shouting, and other such condemnable acts started one after the other…

Situation further worsened when I saw reckless and speedy driving on a wilder road, interspersed with residential areas, and the icing on the cake was at the Tillman’s Ravine parking lot. After having parked my car and setting up my camera gear, I see one [BLEEP] (apparently considered to be the leader/cause of such stupid acts) drives the car at high speed and does donuts (swirling/circling movements) with the car – resulting in noise that would easily outshine that in Times Square in NYC.

I was (and still am) in complete disbelief as to how could a bunch of people – so called educated (each one had one / two degrees from prestigious institutions) professionals (all of them work for the same multi-national company that Tiger Woods advertises for!) could behave like with such utter disrespect towards (the quietness of) nature!!

Upon asking a reason for such behavior, the lead [BLEEP]‘s response: Now that I have done it [CAR DONUTS IN A QUIET ENVIRONMENT, CAUSING INSANE AMOUNTS OF NOISE], you will enjoy the quietness more/better!. My dear friend, whom I have known (or so I thought) for 10+ years, summarized & justified the behavior: Whenever a group of people go out, it’s quite natural for the mob-mentality to set in. If that lead [BLEEP] hadn’t shown up, most of the crowd would have behaved in a sane manner.

Compelling argument, but leaves me begging the same old questions:

1. How much longer before maturity sets in, even amongst the so-called educated professionals?
2. If a person’s behavior depends on those of the people surrounding her/him, should she/he be considered mature?
3. Why is it so easy to pick and follow a dumb/stupid thing? Why doesn’t our brain think to do something from its own judgement?
4. How much more loss (in terms of natural resources and wildlife habitats) do we have to endure before we realize that nature’s quiet beauty should enjoyed quietly and not abused.
5. Did the students fail the education system or the education system fail the students?

   My dear friend supported the latter but, please, I beg to differ.

6. How much longer before the realization, that JUST BECAUSE I PAID FOR IT, I NEITHER OWN IT NOR HAVE THE RIGHTS TO ABUSE IT, sets in?
7. How much longer before one realizes that one’s act(s), especially when outside of his/her own country, helps formulate views about that nation in general?
8. Most importantly, how long before we realize that freedom comes with responsibility?

It has been a week and I still can’t stop fuming about it – the scene ([CAR DONUTS IN A QUIET ENVIRONMENT, CAUSING INSANE AMOUNTS OF NOISE]) is still etched in my mind and pisses me off quite often. This one was, by far, the worst outing I have ever gone on. and I have never been more ashamed (of the people that I went with) in my life.

At the end of it all, I believe I am the one to be blamed – while these educated professionals assumed that they would be finding a 100 feet waterfall in the middle of Manhattan and that they could make as much noise as they wanted, I assumed that all educated professionals (most of them were/are in a serious relationship as well – another sign of maturity?) are mature enough to know the required etiquette to be amidst wildlife habitats and natural wonders. Neither their assumption was right nor mine – but the consequence(s) of my bad assumption(s) are worse than theirs

If everybody was like you, world would be a very boring place … so said my dear friend on that dreadful day. May be very very true. But by the same token, I strongly believe that if everybody was like them – with utter disrespect towards time, other’s opinions and public property – much of the wildlife on this God’s Green Earth would disappear sooner than later and we would have nothing to show for subsequent generations!

What makes this experience even more pitiful is that people involved hail from the same region that was once (at least in part) ruled by emperor Ashoka – the same fella who once inscribed the wildlife conservation laws/policies. Much like everything from that time, these were inscribed on stone – so that they would stand the test of time and some natural elements. But the level of natural awareness (amongst majority of people) is much like those stones … buried deep some place (the social fabric)…

Lessons Learnt

I swear you will never see me with these folks ever again – at least not in any place/region that has anything to do with nature and/or wildlife. It also has made me keep the phone numbers of all NPS local offices handy – so that I can report such obscene acts immediately. Last but certainly not the least, I learnt that I should not judge a book by its cover and that looks are most often deceiving, like Shakespeare once wrote in MacBeth – Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.

I have also realized that wildlife and nature (landscapes and waterfalls, etc.) were there in UP Michigan and there are probably plenty more in this part of the world. But what it certainly lacks (the mistake is on me, I haven’t found many yet) is the same number of sane people – that share similar concern and enjoy it the way it was/is meant to be. I MISS YOU GUYS

If I thought what I went through was bad, my friend went though something that’s a million times worse. READ IT HERE.

City of Spokane

Even with approximately 200,000 population, this city has the small town feeling and ASCS workshop (both accommodation and workshop) was in downtown – in an area designated as the Spokane’s Art District. Plenty of options for passionate food lovers and a wide variety of opportunities to spend any spare time makes this a nice little town to live in. As usual – before and after the workshop hours – I roamed around a bit in downtown and my favorite place here was the river-front park: quite many variety of birds (predominantly ducks) show up and so do kind-hearted people who come to feed them on a regular basis.

Aerial view of Spokane’s wheat fields

Sunday morning dew drops (or sprinkled water), near river front park, downtown Spokane

Birds (and their feeders) in river front park, downtown Spokane

More downtown attractions

BTW, if you didn’t know (I didn’t), this is the hometown of Gonzaga University – made nationwide famous by Adam Morrison & Co. during last NCAA Basketball season.

Manito Park, Spokane

In my personal opinion, this 90+ acre primary garden showplace located on the south side is probably the most under-advertised entity of Spokane (I am quite sure not many participants of ASCS were aware of its existence). Originally called Montrose Park, its name was changed in early 1900s to Manito Park (Manito meaning Spirit or Spirit of Nature in the Algonquin Indian language). For many years, its main attractions were exhibition gardens and a small zoo, but a conservatory was added in 1912 followed by a Sunken Garden a year later. What’s so special about this place, you ask? To keep the description short, it houses the following: Duncan Garden, Gaiser Conservatory, Perennial Garden, Rose Hill, Nishinomiya Japanese Garden, Lilac Garden, Duck Pond, Loop Drive/Bridge, apart from a picnic shelter. As one can imagine, there are tons and tons of flowers and other plant varieties and /me personally thinks that the Rose Garden is the crown of Manito Park. With over hundred species of roses (and well sought-after wedding location), this is an All America Rose Selections display garden. Following are some of the pics that I shot in this park (rest are in the gallery).

Duck Pond Entrance

In & around Rose Hill

Duncan Garden

Duncan Garden Bench

While roaming around in Gaiser Conservatory, I ran into an elderly lady speaking Kannada – I must say, the amount of Kannada I spoke here in Spokane was much more than I ever did in Bangalore with any given stranger at any given time. Had I known before that this place was only few steps away from heaven, we (Wil and myself) probably would have planned to spend much longer. Definitely, this is a must not miss place for anybody who visits this part of the universe and hopefully, /me will get a second chance to shoot more…

From Farmland To A Snow Capped Mountain…

Instead of originally planned four state road trip (which would have meant that we would have been literally on the road for much of the time), Wil planned to do the bi-state tour – of Washington and Oregon – the drive taking us through some of the breathtakingly beautiful gorges, valleys and such. After our short but memorable visit to Manito Park, we headed west (I-90) towards Yakima. Much of the drive prior to Moses Lake, either side of road had farm-lands as far as eyesight could take… wheat fields and such. In spite of knowing that we were driving in Columbia Plateau, little did we realize that a huge water body in the adjacent gorge was actually Columbia River! Route that was followed is depicted below (map taken from Google! Maps and later edited by hand with GIMP):

Our Road Map (click for full sized view)

Driving along I-90 towards Moses Lake/Ellensberg, in Columbia River Plateau

Columbia River, in the gorge

Few more miles later, the view starts to change quite drastically – from plain farm-lands to hills in almost every direction. These, so called, foot hills of Cascade Range make our Brockway Mountain look like a tiny pimple. Driving towards and through them, we reached Yakima (46.73, -120.22) – our place of rest. Learning some (very very) useful tips from Wil about getting cheaper rates for accommodation will definitely make my further such stays quite economical. A Horse With No Name kept re-appearing few times, keeping us good company throughout our drives… Here’s the lyrics, if you wish:

A Horse With No Name by Dewey Bunnell, 1971

On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …

After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead

You see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …

After nine days I let the horse run free
‘Cause the desert had turned to sea
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
there was sand and hills and rings
The ocean is a desert with it’s life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love

You see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …

Nice one, isn’t it? Hear it on radio (or online), it sounds even better

Foothills of Cascade Range

Semi-aerial view of Cascade Range Foothills

Our drive next day, towards Mount Rainier, reminded me of my poor vocabulary to explain what I saw Anyways, here are more pictures and they do a better talking than I do. Mount Rainier, basically half-a-mount-Everest in height, is the tallest peak in the Cascade Range and offers postcard-like views more than once…

Light at the end of ….

Mt. Rainier, from a distance

Steven’s Canyon Entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park

Hands weren’t shaking – intentional panning

Hint of Fall colors…

Another view of Mt. Rainier, still from a distance…

With given time constraint and plan, we hiked for about 3 hours (approximately 2 miles each way, at nearly 45 degree inclination) to a place called Panorama Point (approximately 6500+ feet above sea level) and as the name suggests, this place offers nice panoramic view of surroundings – including Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens – with Mt. Rainier in the background. While hiking up, we did hear a mighty rumble… On a clear blue sky day, in the vicinity of a glacier filled mountain – you probably can guess what it was. Fortunately (from a living point of view) and unfortunately (from a photographic point of view), whatever happened happened so on the other side of the peak…

Hiking up to Panorama Point in Mt. Rainier

Some folks, who probably hadn’t seen snow before, playing around in a glacier-remnant…

As we hiked down, we did see some (milder form of) wild life too – mother-kid pair of deers apart from some form of rodent and few birds…

Kid deer following its mom

From A Snow Capped Mountain To An Active Volcano…

A relatively shorter, but longer seeming drive later, we were at Mt. St. Helens by Sunset – again, we were within striking distance from it, if it had decided to strike… Needless to remind you that I am short of words to explain…

One of the many long bridges on the way to Mt. St. Helens

Mt. Adams (snow capped) around Sunset

Mt. St. Helens

Closer look at Mt. St. Helen’s Crater – northern portion that broke open in 1980

Completing The Loop…

While in Oregon, I missed the opportunity to shoot Mt. Hood, one that appears in the logo of this company – well, I did not miss it but I have put it on those places that don’t need a photograph to remember list After finishing the intended work in Lake Oswego (about 10 miles from Portland, OR), we headed back to Spokane – driving through the Columbia River valley (actually, right next to the river for much of the way) and seeing some historic entities – Bonneville Dam and such, and more trains than I have seen in a looooong time… reaching Spokane much after the Sun had finished day’s business. Thanks to Wil, I didn’t have to drive but for some book-keeping purposes (a personal book-keeping – to boast off that I have driven in Washington, and from Oregon to Washington, lol), giving me ample opportunities to shoot away anything/everything I saw (he helped me carry much of my equipment too)…

One of the few tunnels in I-84, along Columbia river in Oregon

Driving on I-84, along Columbia river in Oregon

Goods Carrier… some were powered/pulled by as many as six engines!

Back To U P Michigan

Considering that I had just returned from India and my body was undergoing a 9+ hours time difference, I almost didn’t want to make this trip. Bur re-considering the facts that /me got bumped twice in Minneapolis on my way to Spokane (and a free upgrade to First Class, along with vouchers for two more travels), and having witnessed all that I got to see, /me thinks it was a good decision to put my body through 3 more hours of time difference. Personally, it would have been really sad if NWA was in need of volunteers to stay back during return journey. I had quite a bit of unfinished work and moreover, feeling of home sickness had started to creep in – it had been nearly 7 weeks that I was away from Houghton… Fortunately, all flights were decently booked and /me reached town around Tuesday mid-night. Thanks to cool dudes (Santosh and Rajiv), I got a ride from the airport to the apartment – needless to mention, after a cup of Chai at their place.

My body is accustomed to some unknown time zone, but there are few things that come close to the feeling of sitting at home, in front of your favorite, ever-loyal desktop, and such…. Life’s good and ready to finish some pending work & move on to some new ones…

But for Dave waking me up around 5:20 am, I would have to be satisfied by watching canyons in my dream or probably on TV! We started around 5:35 am and I was the first one to check-in. It was good to see an operational coffee/snacks shop (a satellite center of Shipping Shop). NWA agents were requesting people to stay back (over-weight problem) – I was tempted to accept the offer but since I had so many things to do in my short vacation, I declined it. Eventually, two people didn’t show up and I wasn’t at loss! I met Dr. Pushpa Murthy and Sonali, spent quite some time talking to them, both in Houghton and in Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport, on varied topics; The journey started off on-time and while on board NW2790, I met someone who specializes in IT part of Avionics. Our flight attendant turned out to be very social and given a chance, I would love to be on a flight with her again. Flight reached MSP on time too. Not having taken time difference into account, I did get a mild shock when I thought it was just two minutes to the second part of the journey. My next flight started off on time too and my co-traveler was a travel agent from Bloomington, MN. She did give me useful, insider’s, information about ‘flight cancellations. I reached Phoenix a few minutes ahead of schedule, around 10.50 am MT. My luggage too reached Phoenix by the same flight and journey to the wild (or the Wild Journey) started off in a nice car, Nissan Sentra Compact, about 45 minutes later. Owing to a hard-learned (and strictly being followed) No Panic Policy, I did not miss exits – though there were too few to miss anyway.

Journey from Sedona to Flagstaff, on AZ89-A, was another segment of my drive that’s beyond my capacity to explain. Curly, snakish roads, climbing up at least couple thousand feet was great but I just wish I was in a better state of mind to enjoy the drive. Beyond Flagstaff, continuing my journey on I-40 West and AZ-64/AZ-180, I could not help but wonder as to where exactly was the canyon – all that I got to see is plain land for miles and one small hillock hinting that I was on the right road. Probably due to headache or over-anxiousness to see the canyon, I had forgotten the fact that Flagstaff itself was at 6000+ feet above the sea level and more importantly, I was driving on an almost flat but wide mesa. I reached Grand Canyon by about 6 pm or so and just a glimpse of the canyon from the road gave me, as it probably does to most, a sense of accomplishment. I had some difficulty, first finding a place to park my car and then in searching for my room. All that I had in me was enough to take some more pictures of the sunset, talk to few people, get something to eat (Banana and Yogurt), and I forced myself to sleep, just to avoid aggregating my already cracking headache.

Day 2

I got up, as planned, pretty early and made it right in time for the Sunrise in South Rim. It wasn’t spectacular or anything like that, but the change in shades of various colors was nevertheless enjoyable. Needless to mention that I took quite a few pictures and soon, around 6.30 am MT, started my journey to the Meteorite Crater Center. I am glad that I stopped in Valle for gas and the lady at the counter gave me easier-to-follow directions (than Yahoo! Maps had done). Road condition was so good and the traffic was so thin on I-40 East that I went past 100 mph mark again – this time to check the repeatability of my first attempt. Meteorite Crater Center is literally in the midst of nowhere – about 6 miles South of the highway and with absolutely no clue about its presence.

I thought an entry fee of $12 was quite cheap, given that they also offered an hour long guided rim tour or interested tourists, at no extra cost. I went up to the View Point, took some pictures, met a Physics grad who worked on some cool thing for her thesis and went on the guided tour. Bob Kruse, my tour guide, aged 65+, was in my opinion, extremely energetic and very clear in his explanation of the facts about the crater, and its history. As usual, I took several pictures and I did something that I had never done before : I talked to Bob about having a group picture and everybody agreed. The picture was taken from the first, now extinct, museum on the rim of the crater. Many thought I was some journalist for a magazine!. After taking down everyone’s email address and eating at the SubWay, I started my return journey to the Grand Canyon. Just for sheer pleasure of it, I went past 100 mph once more on I-40 West. While driving along, I noticed a cargo train, traveling on a track parallel to I-40 East. Since trains aren’t very common in Houghton area, I decided to get a picture of it. I had to drive at 100+ again to go past that train. Incidentally, I had driven so fast that I had to wait a few minutes before the train appeared!

On AZ-64/AZ-180, I visited Kaibab lake and out of some weird curiosity, I stopped in the Grand Canyon Airport (in Tusayan) just to take some pictures of low flying aircrafts/helicopters. Little did I know that the helicopter ride over the canyon cost so less. There seemed no way I could pass this and signed up for the 3.15 pm MT ride. My co-passengers were a family from Bolivia, I have no words to explain what I saw in my second wild thing – probably the simplest way would be to write WOW and repeat it a 100 million times or write out all the exclamatory superlatives : it still wouldn’t be a good enough expression of one’s feelings. The ride lasted about 40 minutes. Only time I got scared to death was during a near 270 degree turn coming into the Canyon from the North side. Needless to mention that I took some of my best pictures. After taking a copy of the group picture, signed by Tim (Guiding Pilot) and my fellow passengers, I headed back into the Canyon.

I stopped in Mather Point, near the entrance, which offers spectacular views of the canyon, in all directions. My camera seems to be attracting lot of attention and I have no doubt in my mind about the quality of pictures/service it has been giving me ever since I bought it. One more joined my camera’s fan club and she gave me her email address, so that I could mail her the details of the camera, accessories and link to the site from where I bought.

I got into this restaurant, attached to the Bright Angel Lodge, and had some very tasty food. Trailed Chilli or something like that was its name – it tasted too good, and was filling too. Wish I knew about it yesterday, for it would have helped me reduce my headache. I desperately wanted to cancel the Soft Water Rafting and go hiking down the Bright Angel Trail to the Plateau Point instead. But the lady at the counter (Kathleen Tiedge) refused to cancel, citing a 48 hour notice restriction. I started staring at the night sky in disappointment : but as is almost everything here, it was just amazing – with stars and other objects visible all around, right to the eye-level.

Day 3

I got up around 5 am, took everything I wanted to and walked over to the Maswik Lodge. My journey, kind of a package tour, started off in a reluctant mood/mode, but all traces of reluctancy vanished pretty soon, with Rick (Guiding Driver) lightening up everybody and the view from the Desert View. Soon after, I went up to Rick and sat next to him for most of the remaining journey – taking some very good pictures (in Sports Mode) and enjoying the sight all the way. One must not forget to visit this beautiful place called Page, which I was later told that has the famous Horseshoe Bend in Colorado River, as a part of Glen Canyon. We reached Lake Powell by about 10 am and after the usual security check and drive through a two mile long tunnel, we arrived at the starting point for the soft water rafting. It was nice of the organizers to arrange individual group photo session and I got into Paul’ s raft. The dam itself in an engineering beauty, given the type of rock formation found in this area.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as our tour guide, Paul, was an extremely learned person having worked as a Park Ranger for nearly a decade. His explanations seemed very logical and language was very clear. He stopped at the best possible places for us to enjoy the water and the breathtaking beauty of the Glen Canyon. The first stop, Acclimatization Beach as Paul called it, was the first time we, the people on boat, started interacting and following the Price family, I took a dip in the freezing waters of Colorado (first of the wild things I did today). It sure felt so good/thrilling and I was so eager to plunge in, that I forgot to keep my wallet aside. Journey continued, with raft speed varying according to the places of interest and stopped at a place that had Step Trail and some petroglyphs, some as old as few thousands of years. There was dramatic, 30 F, difference in temperature from the on the river to just 15 feet above!

After having traveled for about 90 minutes or so, we stopped for food, and there was something for me too. I jumped into the waters, though it was very close to the deepest point of Colorado, had some food, then swam for couple minutes, talked to some more fellow travelers. I was very surprised to learn that some one had actually come to UP for their last year’s vacation! During the reminder of the journey, we passed through the famous Horseshoe Bend, a 270 degree turn, and stopped for one last time in the transition zone – transition between Glen Canyon System and Grand Canyon System and transition being apparent even to the naivest of eyes. I had to do quite a bit of circus to find a suitable place to set my camera up for a group picture, and it did come out pretty nice. Paul did another short stop at Mile Zero on Colorado before ending the tour at Lee’s Ferry. It is about a quarter mile from here that White Water Rafting starts and a tiny tributary that joins Colorado, changing its color from pristine bluish green muddy brownish.

The return journey was good too. From Cameron till we reached Maswik Lodge, I talked to a family from New York area : topics varied from general Science, Physics, Astronomy, Solar System, Network Security, Patience, Family Affairs, Infosys, Narayana Murthy, mothers loosing a part of their brain while upbringing their kids, and so on. Like a cute little girl (aged about 3 I guess) said it, everyone on the bus had started to feel like being a part of an extended family. At the end of the day, I was just glad that I did not cancel this trip; and was left thanking my stars and counting my blessings.

Return Journey

As planned, I got up around 2.30am and started towards the big city, with a hope of reaching Phoenix before it woke up for work : after a non-stop 4+ hour journey (didn’t even stop for gas) and missing only one last exit (which did not make any difference whatsoever to my trip), I was well within the city before 6.30am and in PHX by 7am! I tried my best to get bumped off, both in Phoenix and in Minneapolis, but both lights were under-booked. When I checked my NWA WorldPerks accounts after reaching Houghton, I realized that I already have 25,000 miles! One thing that I could remember was a statement from one of the plays I had done, about 12 years ago – Nature can only fulfil a man’s need, but not his greed.

I got up, after not-sufficient sleep, around 6.20 am and my plan of leaving around 5 am had gone for a toss. My journey started around 7 am and after a comfortable length of driving, I reached Munising around 9.30 am. After refuelling the car and taking a bit more time to memorize the driving directions, I started towards Mackinaw. This stretch of journey was also good, with not much traffic. Weather was good too. I stopped at several places to take pictures and somehow missed the Mystery Spot. The first sight of Mackinaw Bridge was fascinating. I eventually found the Mystery Spot – it was amazing to see such a strong gravitation pull but couldn’t figure out any decent explanation for what I saw – to me, it’s just optical illusions. I still cannot believe that I have seen Mackinaw Bridge and have crossed it (twice). I ate some food and went to Mackinac Island by the Shepler’s. Almost everything on the island, as people had informed me earlier, was insanely expensive. I rented a bike and went round the island. There were too many good things happening and the island still retains European (British) stain in almost everything. One feature that impressed me a lot was the absence of automobiles (gas-based). After about two hours of biking, I was tired; had taken plenty of pictures, mostly of aesthetic looking buildings and natural stuff. I returned back the mainland by the 5.30 pm trip.

The moment I got off the boat, two Border Patrol Officers approached me – apparently, someone on the island had complained that I was looking suspicious. After a brief session of questioning / interrogation, I started my journey to Sault Sainte Marie. Interrogation clearly had some effect on my mind – I missed the route twice and finally reached my destination around 8.30 pm. This is the first time I drove on a free-way in Michigan. After searching for a while and asking the local policeman, I found the Sherman’s Park, situated in some remote corner of Soo. I was already suffering from severe head-ache, mostly due to not-eating timely food and partly due to the incident earlier in the day. After some dilemma, I bought some food and water and decided to camp at Sherman’s Park. I saw a huge freight passing by while I was putting up the tent.

Day 2

Getting up at 5.45 am without the help of an alarm ? I don’t remember doing this in a long long time. I took some very nice pictures of the Sunrise and after placing the required amount (Sherman’s Park Fee) in an envelope, I started out. After eating some Onion Rings in the Burger King, I crossed an in-town bridge (I was very very nervous while doing this and had to ask a couple to make sure that I was still in the USA!) reached the very border of USA. I roamed around behind the River of History Museum taking several pictures of the monuments and reached a place right beneath the International Bridge – while I was taking a well-framed picture from within the car, an old, respectable lady passed along side with plenty of tension and doubt on her face. I roamed around for some more time, before pulling over at a park to see the famous Soo Locks.

Just as I got off the car, couple of spots away, a Border Patrol Officer parked his vehicle and started walking towards me – this time, I started the conversation and as I was expecting, it was a repeat of yesterday’s incidence. Another interrogation session and this one was heart-breaking. I gave the officer (Jones Jr.) all the information I could and he passed the same to some other person elsewhere. While my identity was being searched, I explained to him the complexity associated with my family name. As I heard, female voice over phone said, GOWTHAM SHANKARA, results negative and just as the officers were getting ready to take me to the station for further search, the same voice said, GOWTHAM SHANKARA, FOXTROT ONE. Unfortunately, she was searching for my name in the wrong database (illegal residents’)! Officers, after this interrogation, advised to carry the passport at all times. I later took some pictures of a freight (Stewart J Cort) coming into the Soo Locks. I visited Valley Camp Museum but didn’t go for the Soo Locks Boat Tour as it would go through the American side and come back via the Canadian side.

I then went to Taco Bell to get some food, refueled the car and started my journey towards Tahquamenon Falls. After about an hour, I reached the White Fish Point – I saw the same freight again, passing quietly in the calm waters of the Lake Superior. Around 1.45 pm or so, I reached the Lower Tahquamenon Falls – it wasn’t very impressive. About four miles ahead was the Upper Tahquamenon Falls – this was much better. I drove through Newberry and after nearly two hour journey, I reached Grand Marais – located very close to this place are Grand Sable Falls and Dunes. Both were nice but I couldn’t get all the way down to the waters for several reasons – nearly 200 feet of it was very very steep, I was wearing inappropriate clothing and more importantly, was running out of steam and time. As I was relaxing near my car, few people thought I was a professional photographer!! Thanks to my professional looking camera, this was a pleasant thing to hear after all that happened in the morning.

I then drove for a while and reached Log Slides – if Grand Sable Dunes were breath-taking, this one was shocking, all the way, down to bottom – 500 feet of steep descent. It takes only few seconds to get to the waters but more than one hour to climb-up! I didn’t go down owing to shortage of time. As if this wasn’t sufficient, journey for the next two hours is probably the best one I have done, on a dirt road. Driving along the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore was an experience I wouldn’t forget all my life – Sunlight and Darkness play hide-and-seek all through a 46 mile stretch. I stopped at a couple of places before reaching Munising around 8 pm. I took a break, refueled the car and started heading back home. I just stopped at one place, to take a picture of Sunset and reached Houghton by 10.45 pm.

Three Great Lakes and the land in between them had fed my eyes more than I had asked for! I decided to stop my vacation – not because I was tired of driving, but because I was afraid of constipation – my eyes couldn’t take any more beauty and it would take some time to digest what they had so far.

Day 3

I got up around 9.30 am and called the National Car about returning the car. As there was no difference in the charge between returning the car in the morning or evening, I decided to go around some more. I first went to then drove to Eagle Harbor, stopping at several places to take pictures. Northern Lake Shore Drive up to Copper Harbor was great – I went all the way to the starting point of US-41 and even went to Mandan’s Loop, only to return after traveling just 3 miles. I was told that it’s 15 mile journey and this car was certainly not capable of going through such a rugged road. I came back via the Cover Drive and reached Bete Grise. Journey back via the Southern Lakeshore Drive — Lac La Belle, The Gay, Lake Linden – to Houghton was very very impressive. I washed the car and returned it around 5.15 pm.

Thus ended my first ever planned vacation in US, helping me relax quite a bit and gain plenty of experience – driving (over 900 miles), photography (nearly 500 snaps).