Happy News to share in 2009!!!!!

Its been a long time since I blogged and I know its not fair to give excuses…….but this time I have a very good reason and I want to share it with all my fellow bloggers :)

I found out I was expecting in December and there began the start of a round of Morning sickness , nausea , fatigue and the list goes on. By End of day I used to be so drained out that I hardly had the time to cook. At the same time my Hubby had a change in project and had to leave at home at 7 in the morning . I guess everything turned up at the same time…. And I just used to have time to pack up D to office and then crash. Most of the initial months were spent sleeping , eating , sleeping :(.

There were also days when my Hubby after a whole day of work would come and cook dinner …. guess I troubled him enough those days. Obviously I still do trouble him these days but comparatively its less these days :)

Once my little one arrives , I am sure the time I spend on blogging is going to be very little , so I thought I would utilize to the maximum these months before he/she comes home. So here iam. I promise to regularly update my blogs in the coming couple of months ;).

Let me begin this post by first wishing all fellow bloggers “ A very Happy New year”….. I know its 4 months into the New Year , but as they say , "Better Late Than Never ". I hope this year can make all our wishes come true and give us all loads of happiness. Let us also hope that with a change in the Presidency here in the USofA , the economy does stabilize and all of us can take a deep breath and relax.

So let me begin with my normal posts next :)

Trip to Grand Canyon

My last post in 2008 was about my trip to Las Vegas. Combined with this trip was a visit to Grand Canyon. So this post is gonna be about my trip down to Grand Canyon.

We set out at around 8am in the morning from Las Vegas. A trip down to Grand Canyon must encompass either a view of the Sunrise or the Sunset. We were planning to watch the Sunset. On that particular day the Sun was to set at 5.32pm. So we were planning to be there at around 2pm..... visit the Rims , watch the sunset and then start back to Vegas.

Enroute we were planning to visit Hoover Dam too. Starting out from Las Vegas , we got stuck in traffic and it was then that i decided that i was not planning any more holidays during the long weekends. The traffic during the long weekends is horrid.... and sitting in the car for hours together makes it even more impossible to bear.

To reach Hoover Dam we had to cross Lake Mead........ and is the largest reservoir in the US.Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam , it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water. The water held in Lake Mead is released to communities in Southern California and Nevada, via aqueducts. To know more about lake Mead , check out the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead .

Of the less than 1 hour duration it should have taken us to reach Hoover Dam , it took us almost 2 hours and we reached there at 10am. We spent around an hour there admiring the structure of the Dam... man is it awesome :). As we were planning to start we happened to meet a friend of my husband's who was also enroute to Hoover Dam with his wife. We decided to stop together for lunch and then meet later on at Grand Canyon.

Starting from Hoover Dam we were expecting to travel atleast 3 hours to reach Grand Canyon. At the Nevada / Arizona border is a scenic view point. We had stopped there and the view of the Colorado River running so small was something i did not expect to see. So small but in fact a big river :)...... amazing view...... as the photo on the right indicates.

On the dusty road , i was too tired and fell asleep for almost an hour. We stopped for lunch at McD's..... there was nothing else enroute..... and i happen to love McD's...while my hubby dear hates eating burgers :).... guess opposites attract is an example here.

The traffic was light so we were able to make it to Grand canyon as per plan at 2:30pm. That day the temperature was supposed to be in the negatives and we were all prepared for it. But still when i got down from the car , it was freezing cold. I was decked up in a woollen knit top , a sweater on top , a knee length coat , a scarf and gloves ....and i still felt cold :(.

We met our friends there , parked our cars and decided to use the local tourist bus to visit the various Rims at Grand Canyon. To read more about Grand Canyon check the link...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon .

There were 4 major spots in the Park but due to time constarints we were able to make it to only 3 points. Since the sunset was at 5.32 , my Hubby who has already paid 2 visits to Grand Canyon was like lets make it to Hopi Point , as supposedly the view there is awesome. So all of us started walking..... as we reached Hopi point by 5.10pm and were among the early birds we could grab good seats for a birds eye view of the sunset.

As the time was nearing , the crowds started and i could see people from various walks of life coming up. Among the crowds i could also identify a couple of Indian languages :). D , my hubby , kept telling me that within 5 mins the sun would set down completely , but i hardly did believe and i did believe when i finally saw it :).

At exactly 5.32pm the sun started setting down , and in less than 5 mins the sun was completely down. Within 10 mins the sky started turning dark. Awesome and i am sure ho many ever sunsets i may see in the future , this one will always stay in mind and iam going to make

comparisons always to the Sunset that i had a chance to view here.

The first pic on the right is that of the setting sun at Hopi Point , and the second one below it is within 10 mins of the sun setting down :)

As we were returning back to the base....the cafeteria for us :).... i kept thinking how even a small attraction was turned out to be a big tourist spot here , whereas back home ...even if the place had the best view /attraction , it still would not have been utilized properly either by the people or by the Government. Guess the art of turning everything into a Business proposition is something that we have to learn from people here :)

We were back at the cafeteria by 6.30pm , had a cup of hot chocolate , said good bye to our friends and started back on our journey to Vegas. Luckily gtraffic was once again light so we could make it up fast. But inspite of everything , we reached the hotel at past 11pm that night...... and i just remember crashing onto the bed and falling asleep. The last thought on my mind was that after returning home i should learn driving as then my hubby would also have been able to take a break during the drive :). I did take the Driving test ...but that was almost a year later :).

Next day....post lunch saw us heading back to CA from Vegas and getting stuck in traffic. The journey of around 5 hours ended up being a journey of 8+ hours :(....

So anyways friends this is it for now...... will be back soon with more updates :)