Country Roads

Grandfather Mountain, NC

2018-07-05T17:49:00.002-07:00

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Grandfather mountain is a state park located near Linville, NC.

You have to take the car to a parking lot up in the mountain and the scenery you can see during the drive is spectacular. The ticket is little bit pricey but I think it is reasonable considering how hard it is to maintain the park.
They give you a CD to play during the drive and it narrates with all the information about the park and it has nice relaxing music as well.

From the parking lot, you can cross a one mile high swinging bridge which leads you to another mountain and experience a breath taking scenery.

On the way down, we stopped at their food court for lunch and visited an animal sanctuary they maintain which was next to the food court. We saw many animals including brown bears :)

Elk River Falls, NC

2018-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

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Elk river falls is located near Elk Park, North Carolina. You have to follow a small trail down the fall to get a glimpse of the water fall. Small kids can do the hike as well but parents should be cautious.

It is so relaxing to stare at the fall while sitting in front of it.

We came back to the cabin after having lunch from a restaurant hoping to visit Grandfather mountain next day.
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Trip to Banner Elk, NC

2018-07-05T17:26:00.002-07:00

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We visited Banner Elk, NC in spring break, 2018. We reserved a cabin there and spent two nights. The cabin was located in a mountain area. Surrounding was gorgeous as mountain tops were covered with little snow as well.

The next day, we visited Elk River falls.

Idaho Falls, ID (Trip to Yellowstone - Day 07)

2017-07-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

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On day 07, we drove from Bigsky, MT to Salt lake city, UT. So we crossed Idaho state and visited Idaho falls.

The waterfall is man made one and was not that interesting to see. However it added beauty to the city center.

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Mud Volcano - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-31T18:36:00.001-07:00

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The Mud volcano is a wonderful thing to see.

It is like a mud spring with boiling swirling mud.

We wish we had more time to spend in Yellowstone but it was getting dark and we had to turn back to the cabin.
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Dragon's Mouth Spring - Yellowstone, WY

2017-07-31T18:32:00.002-07:00

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Dragon's mouth spring is another amazing place to see.

The spring which is inside a cave, contains of swirling hot water and you can hear a big explosion sound every 30 secs or so from inside the cave.

Then we visited the mud volcano which is nearby.
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Hayden Valley - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-31T18:13:00.002-07:00

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We drove through Hayden valley when we come back from canyon village. People were watching with big telescopes but we didn't stop and spend much time there.

We saw few deer drinking water from the river. The Yellowstone river is flowing through the valley and that was a really beautiful scenery.

Then we stopped on the shore of Yellowstone lake near the natural bridge.

We stopped at Dragon's mouth and mud volcano too.
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Canyon Village - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

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Our intention was to visit Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The drive from Mammoth springs to canyon village was splendid. That's when we saw a black bear too.

We visited Lower falls in the canyon. There was a short hike to the lookout point.

Due to the time limitation, we had to skip upper falls and artist point. Then we turned back to drive through Hayden Valley.
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Mammoth Hot Springs - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Mammoth hot springs terrace. It was a bit long hike and the atmosphere was full of sulfur smell.

It is actually a natural wonder.

It is a large area and we couldn't cover the full trail. It was around 2 pm and we were really hungry. Then we turned back and had lunch from the hotel near by.

Then we headed to the canyon village.
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Gibbons Falls - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-25T10:25:00.002-07:00

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On the second day, we entered from West entrance and took left from Madison junction. On the way to Norris junction, we got down at Gibbons falls.

The fall was beautiful. We didn't spend much time there though. We tried to cover the park as much as possible on that day.

We left Gibbon's fall and stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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Old Faithful Geyser - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-24T12:16:00.002-07:00

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Old Faithful geyser is an active geyser and the visitor center predicts the eruptions pretty accurately. It was raining at the time so we went inside the visitor center to watch the eruption from the inside. However, the rain ceased a bit after a while and we could watch the eruption at the geyser itself.

The eruption lasts several minutes and it is a really wonderful scene to watch.

Before visiting old faithful, we tried to visit Black Sand basin too but we didn't get down there due to heavy rain.

After watching the eruption, we turned back and drove to the cabin. We prepared dinner at the cabin and it was past mid night when we go to sleep.
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Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park, WY

2017-07-24T08:26:00.003-07:00

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Grand Prismatic Spring is said to be a must see place in Yellowstone. It is located in Midway Geyser basin.

It was hard to find a parking spot there. Finally we got one and we started the short trail to the spring. The spring is magnificent. It is bit hard to see all the colors if the steam is too much but still it was radiant.

This trail also includes the Excelsior Geyser. This is not actively erupting geyser though. It is still beautiful with dark blue steaming water.

Our next stop was Old Faithful Geyser.
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Yellowstone National Park, WY (Trip to Yellowstone - Day 05 and Day 06)

2017-07-24T07:44:00.002-07:00

We spent two days in Yellowstone and wish we were able to spend more time there. We didn't have time to see all the places and we missed visiting some places like Morning glory pool, Black river, etc.

For wild life, we saw many Bisons on the way. We saw one black bear too.

The first day was a rainy day so we had to turn back early. We entered to the park from West entrance and turned right from the Madison junction. The first stop was Fountain Paint pot but we didn't stop there because time was limited. We directly drove to Grand prismatic Spring.

This is an abstract map of Yellowstone national park. You can get a more detailed map here.

Wayfarers State Park, Montana (Trip to Yellowstone - Day 04)

2017-07-21T08:16:00.003-07:00

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In day 04, we drove from Whitefish, MT to to the cabin in Big sky, MT. On our way we stopped in Wayfarers state park. We had bought lunch on the way and we ate in the picnic area near the lake. The lake was named as Flathead lake.

The road to Big sky was also scenic.

We arrived in our cabin in Big sky around mid night. Next day our plan was to visit Yellowstone.
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Many Glacier - Glacier National Park, MT

2017-07-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

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It took another two hours to reach Many Glacier. That place was just magical. A crystal clear lake surrounded by bluish mountains was just gorgeous.

We had to drive 4 hours back to Big mountain lodge and our next day plan was to drive down to Bigsky, where we had booked a cabin from
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Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park, MT

2017-07-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Lake McDonald by lunch time. The lake was gorgeous with the mountains in the back ground. The water was like crystal and the shadow of the mountains on the lake was beautiful.

There was a cafe called "Eddie's Cafe" there and we had lunch from the cafe. Food was good. After lunch our plan was to visit Many Glacier.
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Glacier National Park, MT (Trip to Yellowstone - Day 03)

2017-07-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

Our plan was to visit Glacier national park and come back to the Big mountain lodge for the night. It took around 2 hours for us to reach the park entrance.

The surrounding was really beautiful. The streams with cold blue water and huge mountain tops covered with green trees and bit of snow looked like a painting.

By lunch time, we arrived at Lake McDonald in Glacier national park.
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Trip to Yellowstone - Day 01 and Day 02

2017-07-18T08:08:00.001-07:00

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We went on a long train trip to Yellowstone in June, 2017. We started the trip on 22nd Thursday evening and drove up to Knoxville, TN where our friends live. We stayed the night there and on Friday afternoon, we drove to Bloomington. Some other friends were supposed to join from Bloomington. We stayed the night at friend's place.

We left Bloomington around 10 am heading Chicago from where we were supposed to take the train. We reached Union station around 12.30 pm. We got on the train (Amtrak - Empirebuilder) on time and our party of 14 could get adjacent seats in one compartment. Then the train started chugging...and went on and on for another day and a half.

The train seat was spacious and it had a lot of leg space. It can be tilted and had a leg rest too. You can sleep in this train more comfortably than in a plane for sure. There was a dining cart on the train and the food was good. My only complain is the bathrooms. They are so tiny and old. They get dirty quickly as well. Other than that, the overall train experience was a pleasant one.

When the train enters Glacier National park on Sunday evening, we were in the observation cart. The surrounding was really beautiful. We saw pale blue streams and green mountains. We felt like traveling through a paradise.

We got down from Whitefish, Montana on 25th Sunday around 9pm and stayed the night in Big Mountain lodge.

Next day our plan was to see the Glacier National Park.
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Biltmore Mansion - Ashville, NC

2017-07-18T06:51:00.002-07:00

We visited Biltmore mansion in Ashville in March, 2017. It was a 3 1/2 hr drive from Blacksburg to Ashville.We stayed in a cabin and went to see Biltmore next day.

It is actually a wonderful mansion. The garden is marvelous and huge. We wish if we could come back in a summer time.

Inside the mansion, there's a lot to see including bed rooms, swimming pool, gym, laundry room, servant rooms, kitchen, dressing rooms, etc.

We spent most of the day there and came back to the cabin. The next day, we drove back to Blacksburg.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium, CA

2017-03-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

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Monterey Bay aquarium is located in Monterey bay, CA.

This aquarium is one of the best ones I've seen. It is large and has many different varieties of fish and birds too.

Thea sea fish section was our favorite.

After seeing the aquarium, we headed to San Jose and stayed the night with our friends there. Next, day we flew back to Blacksburg, VA.
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McWay Falls, CA

2017-03-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

McWay falls is said to be the only waterfall that falls to a sea beach. The trail is not a big one. It takes only 10-15 mins for the hike.

The fall is small but beautiful. The beach is inaccessible though. Then we took lunch from Nepenthe restaurant which had a gorgeous view. The food was not bad either.

Our next destination was Monterey bay aquarium.
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Big Sur (Trip to California - Day 06)

2017-03-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

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On day 06, we drove to San Jose via Highway 01. Big sur is a part of that highway. This is the most beautiful road I have seen in USA. You can get amazing views of the blue sea all the way through.

Also, not far from Cambria there is a place that seals come to the shore for sun bathing. The first picture shows the seals.

Along the road, there are many vista points too. It was gloomy and misty when we start the trip around 9 am but luckily it became sunny after a while. The scenary was gorgeous.

McWay waterfall is located on this route so we visited it too.
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Moonstone Beach, Cambria (Trip to California - Day 05)

2017-03-16T13:44:00.002-07:00

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On Day 05, we drove all the way from death valley to Cambria, CA. It was a long drive and we reached Cambria in the evening. Our lodge was near Moonstone beach.

We visited Moonstone beach just before the sun set.

Since it was winter, no one was at the beach.

Next day our plan was to drive back to San Jose via Big Sur.
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Artist's Drive - Death Valley, CA

2017-03-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

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Artist's drive is a gorgeous winding road. It is located closed to Devil's golf course. You can see colorful rocks and hills while driving through this road. Artist's pallet is a must see place, shown in last picture.

I wish we had more time to spend in death valley. There is so much to see. However the sun set happened too soon and we had to go back to the lodge. Next day, we were planning to drive up to Cambria so we couldn't spend next day in death valley.
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Devil's Golf Course - Death Valley, CA

2017-03-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

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Devil's golf course in death valley is a strange place. Only a devil can play golf there :) The ground is so coarse and its hard to walk on it. The rocks are formed by salt and soil it seemed.

Our next point on interest was Artist's drive.