Laboring with the campfire on Labor Day weekend at New Hampshire

The first long weekend of my career...... Yeah like all things you start appreciating them when you don't get them often... Though there was a dark cloud looming on the horizon in the form of Hurricane Earl... Threatening to spray dampening showers on my camping trip.. But it decided to swirl away from where I was (seems it was afraid of me)... and we had the perfect sunshine and weather as would be appropriate for the camping expedition...

Marinating our chicken..getting our spices.... filling our icebox with fluids applicable for people above 21 years old... the journey commenced.... heading for Bear River campground in New Hampshire.... The drive itself is not long, so we reached there around noon... With stomachs grumbling for food.. I geared myself to light the campfire... I was determined not to use the gas for cooking food... Everything was supposed to be cooked on campfire... So I created the foundation for the fire with small twigs, leaves, pine cones... laid the big logs on it and lit it.. the foundation burned out with much aplomb.. but the big logs.... they had no intention of burning... when I looked at the pile.. it seemed that it was jeering at me with its tongue out.. So with renewed determination I created another foundation.. this time a much bigger one and this time it burned out even more readily than before and the big logs did not even have a layer of soot on them... duh... now came the time for the lighter fluid... I sprayed it on the logs as if I was playing Holi with the logs... but still the logs had no intention of lighting.... So after much attempts and finally giving up on the task we resorted to cooking it on the gas provided to us... and then out of somewhere I hear a crackling noise... and I turned around to look at the pit.. there the campfire was burning away merrily, enjoying itself in its own blazing form, happy that it had won the fight with me... So at last my camp fire was burning.. The temperature had fallen down slightly, so gathering our chairs around the campfire, with cans of drinks in our hand, listening to nice music, looking out into the dark dark night, we sat..... I have never ever seen so many stars in the sky.. apart from at Nehru Planetorium..and yeah.. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai also has a sky with many stars.... than I saw on that day... the sky was draped in those twinkling jewels.. Just felt like gazing and gazing and gazing...

The next day was a drive to the Cannon Aerial Tramway in the White mountains... the first aerial tramway in the US... carrying people to an altitude of over 4000 feet.. From atop the mountains you could see more mountains into as fair as Maine... vast and green.. and beautiful... simply breathtaking views... which reminds me.. It was here where I took the breath away from an Amru aunty... :)... I was sitting on edge of the mountain on a rock.... admiring the beauty of the Cannon mountains... I think the lady was afraid of heights and seeing us in that place made her feel breathless... She was like... are you people nuts.. looking at you I cant even breathe.... After an hour we did a quick tour of the Flume which is a gorge created in the Mount Liberty and then headed back to the campsite...

The evening was dedicated to cooking kebabs and dum biryani on the camp fire which worked fine this time because we got better logs.... the end result was awesome... the kebab were grilled perfectly and were a sight to behold on those skewers... the dum biryani was full of Dum....

It is a beautiful combination.. chill in the air and the warmth of your comforter..... the next morning was to pack up and back to Boston... but not before I made sure that all the unburnt logs were burnt to ashes... hah.. dare they jeer at me again... :) :)... (by the way I had to use almost the entire tin of the lighter fluid to burn them down)...

Maine....Rising Rapids.... Chicken on the grills.. with a glass of Margarita... Just like I ordered

Everyday when I cross the Charles River on the train to work... I think there is a connection between me and the city of Boston... It knows what I wish or like to do..... and so when i moved to Boston from Syracuse....how does it welcome me.. And as always no prizes for guessing... A trip to the Forks in the Vacation land called Maine...

A wooden cabin in the midst of trees.. with a beautiful calm river for a view.. Oh yeah there was some creature swimming in the water.. Did not venture out there... I don't want a Hollywood movie made on me..... And now the preparation for the beautiful evening... Tender chicken marinated in spices.. Paneer grilled for the veggie folks.. fried chicken, chicken curry.. and my favorite part.. Margarita...

I always have fun preparing the grill... I think preparing the grill falls under the category of Special skills... Turning the cold coal into burning hot requires patience, persistence.. well prepares you to handle hot things in your life :D.. Music booming out from the car... well it did disturb the peace of the serene environment... aroma of the chicken getting grilled engulfing us... cans of beer popping.. tasty wine and the best of all... Margarita.... There were 4 queen sized beds in the house... when I went to sleep.. all neatly arranged... In the morning one bed was on the floor in some bedroom.. other was in the hall... apparently it become hot in the night and people crawled to wherever was the coolest... as far as I am concerned... I was peacefully sleeping.. bole toh.. in "dhagat"...

The challenging part of it all... Had booked for an early morning white water rafting expedition... When I woke up... I am like woho.. where am I... Will I be able to do the water rafting.. Heard the water is quite rough... and to top it... had to sign the disclaimer form from the water rafting company... "We are not responsible".... One simple solution... Nice hot tea... One cup in my stomach.. and I was roaring to go....

The river was welcoming.. warm waters... 6500 CFS .. which is equal to 6500 basket balls passing through in one sec... thats what our guide told us.... By the way she was cute.. :)... Dil ekdum garden garden ho gaaya... It all starts slowly.. the river appears in the calm.. but it is all deceptive.. very deceptive...And suddenly.. it all starts to happen.. You hear your guide calling out... All ahead.. left only... right only... back on the left... by the way those are all rafting commands... I was in the front.. thats the best place to be... you can see the water coming onto you... the adrenaline rush when you go up and down and sideways is priceless.... Finally after 3 hours on the river with the wild water running haywire.... we docked near a calm section of the river.. where our lunch was served... it was one hell of a tasty food.. Yeah i will obviously say that... when you have nothing to eat since morning and you do all the hardwork of rafting.. anything you eat will appear as delicious food..

Satisfied with our excursions.. it was time to relax... tasted five different flavors of locally brewed Maine beer... of course for relaxation.. and we were back on our way back to Boston...


Boston we are back babyyyyyyy..

Natures beauty at Saranac Lake, Adirondacks and Free falls at Six Flags, Lake George

Done with my Masters... (yeah!) please don't ask me how much I have learned.... But this important landmark in my life calls for some celebration.... And what better way than to go on a trip...Does not mean we did not celebrate in other ways.. But for the purpose of this blog we will solely stick to the trip side of the celebration... So it all started with the thought of going on a camping trip... A loads of ifs,buts and googles later... we finally zeroed on Adirondacks.... That almost took us 3 weeks... And then finding a place to stay and things to do and finally we were all set to go...

First destination: Wild Wood Motels, Saranac Lake, Adirondacks.
A destination of 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics... situated among the mountains.. a laid back town... a beautiful lake..... The drive to this place is wonderful... passing through villages.. and beautiful fields.. Oh, yeah and they do have state troopers patrolling the area... So no speeding.... Right?? Well for some it is not... (:D) Saying our hellos and regards to the state trooper, we continued on our merry way.... Drive for a couple of hours from Syracuse and then the mountains start to peek slowly and before you know... You are saying hello to them... Reached Wild Wood Motels around 2 in the afternoon... a free upgrade to the lake view rooms and that was essentially the tone of the entire trip.. expect the unexpected.... amazing rooms and beautiful view... but had no plans to be indoors.. Throwing something into our growling stomachs, we went for a small trail called High Falls George.. a privately maintained trail along the AuSable River rapids and has a beautiful waterfall... Time for some kayaking... Headed back to the town to Mirror lake, where we were the only tourists inclined to do some water sports in the inclement weather that had the capability to dampen most of the spirits... But no way it was gonna dampen ours.. Had the entire lake to ourselves... kayak races amongst ourselves... ropes sticking in propellers and people getting stuck in the midst of the lake.. was wondering if a crocodile from Lake Placid would come and devour the poor man stuck in the middle of the lake :D..... With blood freezing in our hands.. yeah the water was supposed to be below 0 degrees and precisely the reason, why no one else was in the lake... call it stupidity.. who cares.... We were on a high... i mean high spirits.. spirits as in ... not the other one... anyways.. done for the day.. we headed back to the hotel.. Chinese dinner, game of cards late into the night and we were ready to crash in our beds....

Day 2, Destination:Six Flags, Lake George
For enjoying Six Flags, it is mandatory that there is some sun and no rain... When we started in the morning from Adirondacks... the weather had no intention of letting us enjoy Six Flags.. Dark clouds loomed large over our heads.. Drizzling... But that made the drive from Adirondacks to Lake George even more prettier... Same to same Hollywood movies drive... One side mountains.. One side river... Tall pine trees...snake curve roads... Finally reached Lake George and as we entered the parking lot.. the clouds started clearing out and the drizzle stopped... that is the reward for taking chances.... and god hearing our prayers... Amazing day spent at six flags... loads of rides.. and since it was the first day of Six Flags opening for the season, there were not many people around.. so we got to do the rides "n" number of times without even bothering to get down from the ride... roller coasters, go karting, drops and launches, but the best one was the 175 feet free fall... called Sky Coaster.. One freaking ride, I was reluctant to go.. but finally did go.. was cursing like anything till I went up... then one, two, three and fly.... and then everything was like whooooosh... gravity taking full control and you loosing all your control.. just have to trust that rope behind you... it was mind boggling... Literally I was flying... as always.. time flies away like anything when you are having a blast.... Never realized it was almost 6 and time to head back home... It seems the rain gods realized that we were done at Six Flags and so they resumed again.. Dark clouds, rain.... but not before visiting some place else..

Destination 3: Capital Buffet, Albany
One of the best Chinese Buffet.... it has like over 50 dishes to choose from... sesame chicken, peanut butter chicken, pepper chicken, coconut shrimps, fried shrimps, stuffed shrimps, stuffed mushrooms, chicken sticks, chicken dumplings, soups, octopus (:D), ducks, sushis and I can go on and on and on... not only literally, but we also went on and on and on changing plates after plates... tried everything... we were eating for like 1 and half hours... :D... Oh yeah!! I missed mentioning the dessert.... (:D)...

Now it was indeed time to head back home.... The drive back home was tough... winds, rains... but managed it... Looking back it was just amazinggg.....

Adiron"rocks".....

And now it was indeed time to head back home..

Baltimore: I came; I saw, I ate…. Fishes

What’s on an agenda, after a hectic week full of midterms, pressure packed scenarios and the same old routine….. No brownie points for answering that right……Get moving guys... Well I headed to Baltimore to spend the weekend with old buddies....... As if to agree with and bolster our plans, the weather turned into a nice pleasant avatar, with the sun coming out and the chill going away to take a chill pill..... What justification will you give for this: (Week starts: Monday -> Clouds, Tue -> Clouds and Winds and drizzle, Wed -> More clouds, more wind, more chill, more rain Thurs -> Amit embarks on his journey:The Sun comes out smiling).... Wound up some work in office (oh, really...) and headed to the bus terminal for the first half of the journey into New York City from where we were to take our connecting bus into Baltimore...... The journey took us about 9 hours and we reached Baltimore at around 11 with stomachs grumbling..... ready to devour anything.....

Now I should be forgiven to say that Baltimore looks horrifying at 11 in the night... no souls on the street... and why should they be... Even people who disembarked from the bus literally vanished into thin air as soon as they got out from the bus... Took us about another 20 minutes to reach our friends house.... Now most of us very well know Tom and Jerry... Imagine how Jerry the mouse floats and flies like a "kati patang" in the air towards the cheese when he smells it... Same to same... As soon as we entered the house... I almost floated towards the kitchen... attracted by the aroma of the thing cooking in the kitchen.... What was it??? Believe it or not.... Pomfret currrrryyyyyyy... Slurrrrrp... and pomfret fry... yummmmmmyyy...... Bless the soul who cooked it.... Ate like I was kept hungry for weeks..... By the way for the uninitiated... We also refer to pomfret as "PAPLET" in aamchi Mumbai...

The next day we went to the Aquarium in Inner harbor in Baltimore.. The inner harbor is a beautiful place... The aquarium was wonderful... Saw fishes big, small, huge.. Almost kissed a shark.... But the show that I was looking forward to was the Dolphin show... They are one hell of intelligent creatures...... Obedient.. unlike many of us.. Smart... unlike many of you... (:D).. Then we went to the 4D theater to watch a documentary. You get only 20 minutes of the experience, but none the less... it is good.... You have winds blowing into the theatre, snow flakes falling on you, bats flying into you, alligators out there to eat you... mice running between your feet.... The announcer in the theatre pulled a prank on the audience.... While announcing the instructions she mentioned, please fasten your seat belts before the movie begins, for your safety.... Everybody is searching like crazzzy.. where the hell were the seat belts.... Then she calmly says.... "Just making sure everybody is paying attention".... Dinner was at Buffalo Wild Wings.... Amazing wingss.... Tried the Mango Habanero sauce... which is in the hottest sauce range... Again yummyyyyyyyy....

Saturday was reserved for lazing.... and sleeping.... We had planned many things..... But what can you do when one person wakes up from the bedroom... goes into the hall and sleeps on the floor... and then again wakes up goes back into the bedroomm... sleeping at different angles... sleeping anywhere..... Multiply that one person by 4..... Finally we somehow managed to shake off the sleep... Went to a store to prepare to get groceries for evening dinner... And also.... '"Meetha Paan" after the dinner..... The menu for dinner was "Kombdi Vaade".... It is a famous Malvaani cuisine and my favorite... Mouth watering dinner...... I felt literally privileged to be eating that dish in the United States... Senti side (mummy........)....Heavy dinner and in no time.. people we back to their hibernation state....

And comes Sunday.... Time to head back to Syracuse.... After a good relaxing break.... ready to take on more assignments and more exams and more projects and more work.....

P.S. (At the time of this writing, I am not at all ready to do the above mentioned things.....)