Our Wild Wild West Vacation (April 18th - April 25th )

I inherited the wanderlust gene from my parents, and luckily my husband too has been bitten by the travel bug. We feel that some of the best family memories are created in travel. To create more memories together, we decided to voyage to places endowed with uniqueness and distinct characteristics.

With my parents and 3 year old, we boarded our flight to Las Vegas at night (April 18th). This was my hubby’s and my third trip to this city.  We were excited about our adventurous road trip that we had planned to set out on from Vegas.

 

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

I really thought I wouldn’t be excited to see the strip again and I was so wrong!!  Rishi’s scream of “windows down Thatha(grandpa)” and “look! Pink Famingo”  and “look at all the lights amma” … got me all excited!! Travelling to the same place with different people gives you a fresh perspective and a chance to create new memories. We drove through the famous Vegas strip to our hotel room. Though excited, we hit the bed for the night. Next morning, we had scrumptious restaurant style breakfast and started our Road Trip!!

Zion National Park

Drive duration - 3 hours

Distance -  164 miles

Stayed - Springdale City Utah

Time Zone - AZ does not follow DLS time

Park entrance fee - $25 for a week
Date - April 19th 2012

The landscape and changing scenery along our 3 hour drive from Nevada to Utah was captivating.

Visitors Center

We entered the park, parked our car at the Visitors center and took the free Zion Shuttle that takes us around 6 miles of spectacular rock formations of Zion National Park.

The tumbling and sparkling rivers flowing along the colorful sandstone cliffs rising 2,000 to 3,000 feet from the canyon floor was a true unique beauty of nature that you can experience here. The roads are red which gives a striking effect to the wonderful rugged red rocks and canyons. We got an itch to get out of the bus and walk though the canyons and hike and wet our hands in the river and we acted on our impulse.

Weeping Rock
We got down at Weeping Rock Parking area and started the trail to the Weeping Rock. 

This is a short walk up a steep hill. It’s only quarter mile, however it’s a tough steep walk. Since we didn’t want to wear out everyone at the beginning and wished to do plenty more in the park, we took a volte-face after some walking and then took the shuttle for our next trail.

Temple of Sinawava
We got down at the ‘Temple of Sinawava’ which is the last stop of the shuttle and embarked on the Riverside walk trail. It’s a trail that leads to the famous Narrows trail. It was a paved pathway and the ease and beauty of this hike is the reason for its popularity. As soon as we started, Rishi got a splinter in his finger by touching one of the wooden fences; we somehow managed to remove the splinter from his finger and with a sigh of relief continued on the trail. The trail is beautiful with the view of the canyons and red rocks and flowing river. Totally worth it!! 

Zion Lodge
We then took the shuttle and got down at the Zion Lodge to have some hot chocolate, coffee and some snacks that we got from home. 

Emerald Pool
After loading up on all the mooli parathas, we hiked to Emerald Pool. This hike was paved, stroller friendly and steep. Did I mention the trail was BEAUTIFUL. To be honest, the pool was just okay and not magnificent like one would expect on trails. However walking the scenic trail with my mom discussing how some people spend their life working for the betterment of the society was memorable.

After this, we took the bus back to where our car was parked,and drove less than 5 minutes to reach our hotel room. We ate our dinner and hit the sack.

Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway

Next day after breakfast and brief exploration around the Springdale city, we drove through Zion National park to proceed to our next destination via Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway. It is a 10-mile road that connects the east and south entrances of the park. One of the highlights of the drive is a mile-long tunnel, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel that was completed in 1930. 

We stopped at a spot that was east of the tunnel and we saw Checkerboard Mesa, a sandstone mountain that is etched with fantastic cross-bedding of lines and shapes,made through the forces of erosion. This place is an inspiration for artists and we met 2 painters who were there for 3 hours painting the wonderful natural formations. I am glad they allowed us to click pictures of their wonderful art.

I can’t wait to go again to this amazing national park and hike to all the breathtaking hiking trails that this national park offers.

We left Utah to enter Arizona for our next adventure... To be continued :)

Backyard Tourist

This Labor Day weekend, to take a break from routine, we played tourist in our own backyard. We went to Zoo Miami for the first time with our super energetic little toddler. We got a Livingsocial deal of $5 for entrance – a deal not worth passing up on!!

Backyard Tourist

It’s a sizeable Zoo and they have a vast range of animals. They also have family bikes that you can rent to cruise through the zoo,an elevated choo choo train (that was closed due to construction),a small kiddie water splash zone,a petting area with Goats and Ponies,a camel ride for $3 and a carousel for $2

We enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day by walking for hours throughout the zoo. It rained heavily for 10 minutes and that was what made our visit cool and breezy!!

The best attraction for my kid was "Meeting Diego". His joy knew no bounds when he held Diego's hands. Even after Diego politely and relentlessly waved bye, Rishi stood there looking with awe and admiration at Diego till I had to intervene and pull him away for the sake of other Diego fans standing in line waiting for their rendezvous with Diego!!

We left the Zoo and drove down to our friends place who lives in the heart of Miami (Brickell) on the 15th floor overlooking the beautiful Miami buildings. After a scrumptious dinner, we walked to some cool hangouts and ended the day having yummy Italian gelato.

The next day when I asked Rishi where we had been yesterday, pop came the reply "To meet Diego" and then when I probed he said "Sat on Jaguar just like Diego" (well that was the carousel), so I prodded him till he said walked on the snake and sat on the hippo :-) 

Backyard touristy stuff is great fun – Who Knew!! :)

El Yunque National Forest

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life".John Muir

...So... we decided to go to a fountain of life!!!

Prior to our visit to the beautiful Caguas Mountain for our hiking and ziplining adventure, we toured and explored the El Yunque National Forest on our first day in Puerto Rico

El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rain forest in the US National Parks system

We drove from San Juan airport to the most amazing El Yunque Rainforest. The drive is beautiful and it took us about 45 minutes. All the signs are in Spanish, which was not a hindrance at all.

We made a quick stop at Palmer Bakery which is on the road to the rainforest in the city of Palmer. We packed some lunch and were geared up for our rainforest exploration to begin.

El Yunque National Forest

We skipped the visitor’s center since I had a printout of the map and we headed to our first stop

La Coca falls at KM 8.1

We parked our car and walked to La Coca Falls. It’s a fall that can be seen from the road and there is no hiking required to enjoy this beautiful glistening waterfall. We did some rock climbing to get up close and personal with the beautiful falls. 





Little one in training

Yokahu Observation Tower at KM 8.9

Our next stop was KM 8.9 to Yokahu Observation Tower. The tower is a must climb (about 100 steps) for all to enjoy the Rainforest views.  As soon as we were ready to head down from the tower it started raining and it was extremely beautiful. Rainfall in the Rainforest and views from the tower - perfect timing, so we stayed a little longer in the tower enjoying the wonderful views

We had our lunch in the serene and beautiful rainforest watching the pitter patter rainfall.. and then we headed to our next spot ...

La Mina Falls at KM 12.2

This is the most popular trail in El Yunque. It has a drop in elevation from 2100ft to 1640ft. The trail is rated ‘challenging’ in difficulty by the US Forest Services, with a narrow path and a series of steps along the trail. As soon as we started the trail, we were immersed in the beauty of the rainforest

The trail is paved and well-maintained making the footing much easier.

The rainforest scenery is beautiful and we passed through a lot of small waterfalls that was so picturesque.

To be so up and close to La Mina waterfall is a wonderful experience.. We loved it !!!

Juan Diego at KM 9.8 

This is a hidden treasure. Its not touristy and popular. We were the only one's here and it was magnificent. To reach this secluded spot, we had to do some rock climbing for about 10 minutes. Its not paved and the climb into the wilderness is a quintessential rainforest hike. We could hear the coqui frogs as we hiked to the falls and my toddler totally loved it. 

The crescendo of joy the beautiful El Yunque rainforest immersed us in is unexplicable. We then drove to our resort in Fajardo and, at night we all slept peacefully with a smile on our face and with an unforgettable memory in our life.

A break in the rainforest is SO worth it!!!!