West coast trip

In 2006 we accomplished the most awaited (by me) west coast trip. Almost 5 years in US & I have seen pretty much all of the east coast & Midwest, but hadn’t been at all on the west coast except for the rainy Seattle. I always thought; all the places are same in US with the exceptions of the terrain, accent & attitude. I mean no matter where you go, everybody still eats in Taco Bell or buys stuff from Kroger. It’s not like India where every place has some specialty of its own. However, the terrain on the west coast was entirely different than what I was used to in the Midwest or south.

SF day 1&2: K welcomed us & took us around SF. SF came across as a very lively place with a flare of its own. Entire downtown boasting of the IT companies, Pacific & the Golden Gate; not to forget the crooked street. It’s quite a cliché though, but we had to take our pictures there as every other desi. Pacific beautifies this place evidently. Napa valley was OK, I thought it was overrated, S found it “worth once a visit” for the kind of wine lover that he is.

Vegas/Grand Canyon day 3, 4 & 4.5: Whatever happens in Vegas actually deserves to stay in Vegas! Whoever came up with the idea of building a sin city right in the middle of a desert was quite innovative; for the kind of employment it has generated around Nevada. Yeah right, now Vegas actually owes us $500! However, the hordes of people I guess make it difficult for the officials to maintain the decorum. Terrain wise, I thought it was wonderful, huge cactuses & mountains, had never seen anything like this! GC is truly a marvel; although it was very chilly.

LA day 5,6 & 7: Fun in LA actually started by celebrating R’s b’day. There is one thing I like the most (among others) about S’s friends; absolutely no hang-ups group! The day started with us strolling across the Hollywood walk of fame; which again I was expecting to be a lot more glamorous than what it turned out. Nobody was interested in going to actual Hollywood strip or Disney so instead we ended up strolling on Rhodeo drive in the Beverly Hills area. Looked forward to spot some celebrities; but I guess they were unfortunate to miss us! Although we all can claim to have spotted Jackie Chan’s dad & Lucy Liu’s mom (some random Chinese people walking around). Malibu visit was worth every minute that we drove along; awesome beaches boasting of sunlight 12 months a year. No doubt all the celebs die to live in Malibu. The wonderful day ended with S’s b’day bash.

California stood up to it’s expectations!