Leaving Las Vegas - June 4

We have finally arrived! After 2 weeks and 3500 miles on the road, we just checked into our motel in Hollywood. Though it may sound glamorous, Hollywood is actually pretty seedy but I'm just happy to be here. After eating food from Denny's and Taco Bell while on the road, I definitely need to detox my body and get back into my exercise routine.

After seeing much of the country, I would definitely recommend a cross-country trip to anyone with the time and money to do it. We took exactly 2 weeks for our trip (but it can be done in much less) and spent about $1500 between the two of us, including food, accommodation, gas and sight seeing. That amounts to about $100 a day, which is a reasonable price. The United States is a vast and beautiful country with tremendously diverse topography and culture. We saw mountains, deserts, forests, grassy plains, lakes, rolling hills and everything in between. We saw people of many races, cultures and ethnicities. And we've only seen a small part of what there is to see! From Washington, DC to Los Angeles we passed through only 11 states will leave the rest of them for another trip. Right now, I just want to rest and lie on the beach for a few days :)

Now that I'm in LA, I'll be starting another blog for my experience here. I'll be here for 2 months participating in the "Summer in LA" program sponsored by my film school (American University). During the day we'll be doing an internship of our choice and at night, we'll be meeting with producers, writers, executives and other filmmakers who are working in the film industry. Overall, I'm looking forward to a lot of fun and hands on experience in the movie capital of the world! Stay tuned....

On to Sin City, Las Vegas - June 3

Today we drove all the way to Las Vegas and got there in time to drive up and down the "Strip." I kind of knew Las Vegas wasn't my type of place (one reason why I've never been there), but I'm glad I went. I have never seen spectacle on such a huge scale and the hotels blew me away- we walked around the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace and we literally lost ourselves in the acres and acres of marble atriums, bars, lounges, shopping malls, fountains, gardens, and pools. My mom calls it "heaven on earth" and loves it here, but the neon lights, prostitutes, strip clubs, and smoky casinos are giving me a headache.

The world-famous (or infamous) "Strip" in Las Vegas- a garish, vulgar tribute to hedonism.

Are we in Paris now? No- Las Vegas has re-created entire European streets in a gigantic, over the top fantasy-land.

One thing I do like about Las Vegas is the excellent food- we had a great dinner at the Bellagio Cafe that was probably the best meal I've had on this trip. Tomorrow, we're planning to visit one of the famous all you can eat buffets before heading to Los Angeles.

Grand Canyon at day - June 2

Today we went to the Grand Canyon to see it during the day and my experience was quite different from last night's. My mother is feeling sick and wasn't able to join me, so I walked along the south rim of the canyon and found a quiet place with an amazing view. Pictures can't do justice to the Grand Canyon. No matter how beautiful the pictures, they can't give you the same feeling as standing on the edge of a steep precipice under an endless sky and staring down into a one-mile deep chasm just beyond the tips of your toes. I've found that a beautiful site in nature is best enjoyed in silence. Words could never do justice to the experience and I guess that's one reason I travel.

The Grand Canyon at day. Words can't describe the feeling of standing on the edge of a one-mile chasm.

The young boy in the orange shirt almost gave his mother a heart attack by jumping off the trail and inching his way to the edge of this cliff.

Since my mother is not feeling well, we drove just 70 miles to Williams, AZ and found a comfortable hotel. Staying healthy is much harder when we're on the road because our daily routines have been disrupted. We can't eat the healthy, home-cooked meals we're used to and we sleep in a different place every night. But we're careful and eat lots of fruits and vegetables and rest whenever we feel tired, so things have worked out well.

Grand Canyon at sunset - June 1

The Grand Canyon at sunset was spectacular and I was able to get a lot of great shots as the sun went down. All of the lookouts were mob-scenes with an international crowd of people jostling for position for the best views and best pictures. My mother and I were able to snap a couple of pictures of each other at the guard rail before being pushed out of the way by some Japanese tourists. Later that night, we tried checking into a lodge in the canyon village but everything was booked, so we had to drive 7 miles out of the park to find a hotel. If you plan to stay in the canyon village, definitely book your rooms in advance!

The Grand Canyon at sunset- the setting sun makes the red rocks glow.

A panoramic shot of the Grand Canyon. My digital camera can combine several shots into a single picture.

The people on this Grand Canyon overlook are dwarfed by layers and layers of mountains.

As the moon was rising, I got this outline of a tree at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Michael, our new best friend - June 1

After spending a free night at our luxurious motel, we had to attend a sales seminar at 11:30 this morning. It was sponsored by Fairfield, a company that owns resorts all over the world and sells timeshares. Our meeting was with Michael, a typical fast-talking salesman who acted like our best friend in the whole world. He told my mom that she looked like my sister and she ate it all up while I rolled my eyes. After he found out my mom was a social worker, he told us his mother and sister are social workers too and how much he admired them. Yeah right. Michael took 2 whole hours to go through his spiel and then finally got down to business. The timeshare he was selling would cost me $250 a month for the next 10 years (total cost = $30,000) and would entitle me to stay in one of their resorts for one week a year . I would also have to pay a monthly "maintenance" fee of around $50 for as long as I owned the timeshare, which could be the rest of my life. After I pointed out these facts to Michael, he told me I was forgetting about all the "benefits of joining their family." When I told Michael that I was a student and definitely couldn't afford one of these timeshares, his mood and manner changed instantly. No longer was he our best friend. He became somewhat sullen and withdrawn. He told me his boss was probably going to fire him and he needs to feed his children. He told me how "magnanimous" he was to spend his precious time on a penniless student like me. Blah blah blah blah.

I was finally able to extricate myself from Michael and then I met "Joe" who was the manager. Joe pretended to fill out a customer satisfaction survey that he assured me wouldn't take long. He asked me innocuous questions for a few minutes, then suddenly sprung another sales pitch on me. He pulled out a special program called the "Discovery" program that cost "only" $3000 and had some benefits to it that I don't remember. By this point I had spent almost 3 hours at this place and I was getting tired, hungry and frustrated. Joe sensed something was wrong and asked me what the matter was. Through clenched teeth, I laid it on him: "I've been here 3 hours and you guys said it would only take an hour or two. I want my deposit back and I want to leave. Now." And then I stood up and walked out of Joes' office without saying another word. Some lady gave me my $20 deposit back (which I had to leave when I signed up for this) and I was finally free. So, was it worth it? If I had to do it again, I would probably just pay for the stupid hotel room myself and spend the day enjoying myself rather than trying to extricate myself from a bunch of smarmy, high-pressure salesmen.

We missed the Indian buffet but had a great meal at a vegetarian restaurant and then headed for the Grand Canyon, which we wanted to see at sunset.

The Red Rocks of Sedona - May 31

After our experience at the Thunderbird Motel last night, my mother and I had a small fight. I called her a "cheapskate" and she called me "ungrateful" and said that I would have to pay for everything today since I was "acting like such a big shot". I told her that wouldn't be a problem- I think it's worth spending a bit more money and having a good time. After all, I may never travel cross-country again for the rest of my life.

Our next destination was Sedona, Arizona and we immediately went to the visitor's office and inquired about local hotels. The man there was very friendly and said he would give us a free hotel room if we agreed to attend a marketing seminar the next day. I thought it sounded too good to be true, but he assured me that I wouldn't have to buy anything and it would take only an hour or two. So I signed all the paper work and drove over to our hotel, where they gave me an "Executive Suite" that had a private balcony, a jacuzzi and a great view of the mountains. Talk about contrast! Last night we stayed at the cheapest motel in the world and now we're living in style at a fancy hotel. My mother told me how lucky I am- on the one day I was supposed to pay for everything, we get a FREE room.

We had a great view from our suite in Sedona.

Sedona is famous for its red rocks, energy vortexes, and metaphysical resources. I had seen dozens of photos of Sedona before arriving but none of them were as pretty as the real thing. It's always nice when a location exceeds your expectations and Sedona definitely did that. The town is tucked between dozens of red mountains and its streets wind up and down the hills and offer great views.

The town of Sedona is surrounded by beautiful red mountains.

One of the red rocks around Sedona. Many are believed to contain energy "vortexes" with spiritual and healing properties.

Sedona also has tons of metaphysical shops with crystals, books, music, jewelry, vegetarian food, juices, massage, reiki and other healing modalities. We went to the airport to watch the sunset and then I went back to the hotel and jumped into the jacuzzi. Not surprisingly, we both slept like babies that night.

The $19.95 motel - May 30

After leaving Acoma, we drove almost 300 miles to a small, forgettable town near the New Mexico border called Gallup. We decided to stay there for the night and drove down the "main drag" which was near the highway and a railroad track. To our surprise, accommodations in town were really, really cheap. We drove past a motel that advertised $14.95 a night and I distracted my mom as we drove past it because I didn't want to stay in a total dive. A couple blocks down, we passed the "Thunderbird Motel" that advertised $19.95 a night and I tried distracting my mother again, but to no avail. My mom promptly pulled into the parking lot and said we'd be staying there for the night. I told her I would rather stay at the Econo Lodge down the street (which was about $40) but she told me that "we're not millionaires" and promptly slammed the door in my face as she went into the motel.

If you ever see this motel, RUN (don't walk) the other way.

After checking into our room, everything appeared ok. The room was definitely run down and needed a lot of maintenance (carpets, paint, bedcovers etc.) but it was adequate. We started getting ready for bed and soon realized why the room was so cheap: a train passed by and blew its whistle right outside our window. It was really loud and I could practically feel the walls shake. My mom said it probably wouldn't come during the night, but boy was she wrong. Turns out, the train passed our motel every 20 minutes and blew its whistle almost every single time. And when I tried locking the window, I discovered that the lock was broken and anyone could just slide the window open and jump into our room. To have some fun with my mom, I told her that someone tried jiggling our doorknob to get into our room and she started freaking out. If I had to stay in this hell-hole, at least I was going to entertain myself :)

To make a long story short, we barely slept all night, my mom was petrified that someone was going to rob us, and we both woke up the next morning exhausted. When I asked my mom if she would ever stay at that motel again she promptly said: "Never". I guess I learned a couple of things from this:
- you get what you pay for
- the lowest price is not always the best value
- NEVER stay in a motel that charges less than $20

Acoma Pueblo - "Sky City" - May 30

Before leaving New Mexico, I wanted to check out one of the "pueblos" the region is famous for. Lonely Planet recommended Acoma, or "Sky City" which was an Indian village at the top of a mountain.

Acoma, or "Sky City," is an Indian village at the top of a mountain with no power or water, but beautiful views.

Acoma had been continuously inhabited for thousands of years by the native people there and was famous for its pottery and ceramics:

Some of the pottery in Acoma and the view of the surrounding desert.

The guide books made the town sound romantic and lovely, but when we got there it was dry, dusty and almost abandoned. There is no electricity or running water and the few inhabitants live in small, ramshackle huts interspersed with smelly outhouses and port-a-potty's. Fortunately, the views from Acoma were beautiful and the pottery was also very nice.

One of the adobe houses in Acoma with a Catholic Church in the background.

Half way through our tour, a retarded little boy tried selling me cheap trinkets for a few dollars. When I asked him a simple question he babbled incoherently and started drooling on himself, so I stopped asking him any questions.

Life on the reservation is definitely not all that it's cracked up to be. My mom said "my grandmother's village in India was better than this" and I believe her. It's kind of sad what's happened to the native americans- their old way of life has been destroyed and many still aren't fully integrated into modern society. It's as though they're lost between two worlds. But at least they can enjoy the view from up there:

John Wayne shot several films in and around Acoma because of the beautiful scenery. I felt like I was in a Western movie here!

Rested in Santa Fe - May 29

Today was another day of rest, though we were able to drive around some of the streets of Santa Fe and see the art galleries and museums. Santa Fe is a hip, stylish city with an interesting mixture of Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo cultures. Though my mom was concerned by all the "hippies and gays" walking openly in the streets.

Stylish SantaFe - May 28

We drove from Albuquerque to Santa Fe along the "Turquoise Trail", which has been designated a national scenic byway.

One of the views from the Turquoise Trail

Unfortunately I'm feeling sick today so we just rested in the hotel room so I can recover. Being on the road can take a toll on your body and I think my immune system has become weaker. Though I did have some time to drive through the stylish downtown Santa Fe.

One of the buildings in downtown Santa Fe

After leaving Santa Fe, I got this shot of a train passing in front of the mountains.

Texas Panhandle to New Mexico - May 27

We aren't planning to spend a lot of time in Texas. We just want to cross the panhandle, which is some of the flattest land I've ever seen and head on to New Mexico. We did make a short pit stop on "Historic Route 66" in Amarillo, which turned out to be a lonely, empty street that has seen better days.

Later in the day, we arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico which is close to some beautiful mountains. We wanted to take a tram ride up the side of a mountain but the winds were too strong and all tram rides were canceled for the day. But we were able to get some nice views of Albuquerque from the base of the mountain.

Nice view of Albuquerque from the surrounding mountains.


Bikers enjoy the view of the mountains surrounding Albuquerque, NM.


We saw a lot of adobe style architecture in New Mexico.

Camping near Cherokee Nation - May 26

After leaving Shanti's house, we headed west and drove through a scenic byway in Oklahoma.

The trees formed a canopy over our car as we drove down a scenic byway in northeast Oklahoma.

We drove along a river and stopped at a Cherokee cultural center that had a re-creation of an ancient village. I learned a lot about Cherokee culture and got my picture taken with some authentic Cherokee indians. One thing that was interesting was that Cherokee culture was matriarchal- the women inherited property and defined the blood line of the people.

Two Cherokee women practice the ancient art of basket-making in a traditional village.

A re-creation of a traditional Cherokee village.

That night we camped for the first time and I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon. Before starting the trip, I had romantic notions about how great camping would be- sleeping under the stars amid nature. Well, the truth was far from that. My mother and I had a horrible experience for many reasons:
- the ground was really hard and uneven
- there was a strong wind that made the tent flap around and make a lot of noise
- the tent was muggy and humid, which covered my entire body with a cold sweat
- we were close to the highway and could hear the noise of traffic
- the bathroom was on the other side of the campground
- my mom snored right into my face
- it took almost an hour to set up the tent and prepare our beds

Our first night camping! (and last)

The bottom line is that we both could barely sleep for the entire night. And to add insult to injury the old man who ran the campground charged us $22 for the camp site! Across the street was a hotel for around $30, which had two double beds, private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV etc. We felt like idiots and said we probably wouldn't be doing much more camping. If we do it again, I'll make sure we find a quiet, tranquil site that is reasonably priced.

Internet Love in Arkansas - May 25

We arrived at my cousin Shanti's house late last night and were grateful to have our own clean, quiet bedrooms. Both my mom and I snore and I'm not used to sleeping in the same room as someone else. By the time we arrived in Fayetteville, which is in the northwest part of

Arkansas, we had driven over 1300 miles in just 3 days. Now, we can just relax and do a lot of nothing in Shanti's brand new house. Which brings me to an interesting story:

Here's a little story for for those who are skeptical about Internet dating. Shanti and Ravi found each other through a dating website last year and met in person about 6 months ago when Ravi was in New York on business (Shanti lived in New Jersey and Ravi in Arkansas). To their surprise, they fell madly in love with each other almost instantly. They were engaged within a month, and then bought and moved into into a brand new 5-bedroom house within 3 months. The marriage is scheduled for September, 2006 and Shanti says "Thank you Shaadi.com!"


The happy couple, Ravi and Shanti...


...and their brand new home.

Fayetteville seems kind of rural and quaint and even when we were driving through the "city" I thought we were on a giant farm. There were cows roaming around and everything. Ravi proudly informed me that "Fayetteville is the largest city in northwest Arkansas," which sent Shanti into hysterical fits of laughter. Arkansas has places called "Toad Suck Park" and the "Greasy Pig Bar-B-Q" and today's headline in the local paper was: "Fayetteville Library Bringing in Collection Agency to Help Collect Overdue Fines." Wow, there's some earth shattering news! Where's CNN?

But seriously, Fayetteville is surrounded by beautiful mountains and the people are down to earth and friendly. And it was really nice seeing my cousin again after her transformation. Her life has changed so quickly and she left her entire life in New Jersey behind- her school, job, family, home- all because she found the "one." I wonder if something like that will ever happen to me? A part of me hopes it does and a part of me doesn't.

Elvis Lives! Memphis, TN - May 24

You see this poster all over town. I guess Elvis will never die!

Memphis lies in the southwestern corner of Tennessee, right on the borders of Arkansas and Mississippi. You get a real flavor of the deep south here and the people speak with a thick drawl and are real friendly. We drove straight to Graceland, the national shrine to Elvis and his legacy. I've never been a big Elvis fan but I definitely felt his spirit as I walked through his mansion. Before leaving, I bought a CD with 30 of his number one hits for road music. I couldn't believe that Elvis had 30 number one hits! We also watched a 20-minute film about Elvis and saw lots of news clips and excerpts from his TV appearances and concerts. Overall, I had a good time and at the Elvis cafe we tried a brand new dish: a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich (it was excellent).

Elvis' spirit looks over me as I walked through Graceland.

Elvis' final resting place.

After leaving Memphis, we crossed the Mississippi river and drove straight to my cousin's house in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Smokin' through the Smoky Mountains - May 23

My trusty 'Lonely Planet USA' guide highly recommended the mountain pass through Smoky Mountain National Park on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, so I figured it would be worth the extra few hours it would take. The road connects Cherokee on the south with Gatlinburg on the north and passes through some of the highest mountains on the East Coast. The mountain air was crisp and clear and we stopped at least a half dozen times to enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Here are some of the shots I got:

View of the Smoky Mountains, which straddle the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Another shot of the Smoky Mountains.

This creek ran through Smoky Mountain National Park.

We didn't leave the mountains until late in the day and my mother thought we spent too much time enjoying the views, but I thought it was totally worth it. The rest of the way to California is going to be pretty flat so I wanted us to take our time. One thing I realized today is that Tennessee is a huge state and we'll be driving all day today just to get through Nashville. I was hoping we could make it all the way to Memphis but that's not going to happen. The cool, crisp mountain air disappeared quickly as we left the Smoky Mountain area and we started to feel the Southern heat as we drove down I-40 West. I checked the map today and someone can drive from East Coast to West Coast on I-40 alone.

My mother has been entertaining me with stories about the Hindu Temple she attends. Based on her stories, it seems like the Indian women there fall into 3 categories:
- those who don't say "hi" to her
- those who don't invite her to their dinner parties
- those who are jealous of her and try constantly to undermine her

I think we must be becoming more patient with each other because we only yelled at each other twice today. One thing I've noticed when you're stuck in a small place with the same person hour after hour, day after day is that they can really get on your nerves. If they have any annoying habits or idiosyncracies, traveling with them will intensify all of them. But I'm definitely glad that she came- she's helped a lot with the driving and it would be lonely driving to California all by myself.

When we started the trip, I was excited about using the tent and sleeping out in nature under the stars. But we can get such good deals on motel rooms that we haven't camped at all. Our hotel here in Tennesse was just $29.95 and had 2 double beds, a TV, air conditioning, wireless internet, private bathroon and a lot of other amenities! A campground has a shared bathroom and still can cost anywhere from $10 to $30. And on top of that, we would have to show up before sunset in order to put the tent up properly. Maybe we'll camp a little bit later....
When we finally arrived at our hotel (which we found in a motel coupon book), we were totally exhausted. It was around 10 or 11 at night and after checking out some of my day's photos, I fell into bed like a pile of bricks.

Tomorrow we'll be visiting Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee!

Blinded in the Blueridge Mountains - May 22

We're finally off!


Here my mother and I are right before starting the road trip.

Our goal today was to reach Asheville, NC and after 470 miles and nearly 10 hours on the road, we made it. One of the reasons it took us so long is that we took the "scenic" route that took us a lot longer- namely, the Blueridge Parkway which travels down over the mountains in western North Carolina. It was definitely worth the extra time because we were able to see views like these:

View from Blueridge Parkway in North Carolina. Definitely worth the extra time!

Perfect place to have a picnic along the Blueridge Parkway in North Carolina.

In spite of the beauty of today's trip, we did have a scary incident late in the evening. The sun was going down and we were high up in the Black Mountains surrounding Asheville. We wanted to get to our hotel before dark but we were still about an hour away, winding our way through a narrow and steep mountain road. As we climbed up the side of a mountain we drove through some thin clouds. At first, we thought they were beautiful and it felt like we were flying through the sky. But as we drove higher and higher, our car was suddenly engulfed by a thick shroud of clouds that swirled all around us. We slowed down and turned our high beams on but could still barely see 10 feet in front of us. It was impossible to pull over or turn around because there was no shoulder- the road had the mountain on one side and a steep precipice on the other. At some points, we could only the see the yellow line in the middle of the road and didn't know what was going on in front of or on either side of the car. All we could do was follow the yellow line and pray the clouds would disappear. I was really scared at this point and was just praying to get off that mountain alive. Sweat was covering my body and I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest. And the road was just getting higher and higher, taking us deeper into the cloud cover. Finally, we reached the peak of the mountain and started descending. We could still only go about 5 or 10 miles per hour and after about 15 minutes (but which seemed like an eternity) the clouds became thinner. And then all of a sudden as we turned a sharp corner, we emerged from the cloud and the road was in front of us, clear as ever. I breathed a sigh of relief and we soon found our motel in Asheville. I don't think I've ever been as happy to arrive at a cheap motel in all my life!

I guess I learned a couple of things from this incident:
- don't ever drive on a narrow mountain road after dark
- clouds are better enjoyed from a distance

Tomorrow, we'll be traveling through the Smoky Mountains- but this time, early in the day.