The horseshoe bend.. Arizona

After the jaw dropping few hours at the Grand Canyon, we were headed back and then towards the Horseshoe bend. There was another tour that had Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend, but since I was keen on the Grand Canyon i chose this one..  We were a handful of us in the bus and it was quite exciting... Located near the town of Page, Arizona, the horse shoe bend got its name based on the shape formation of the mountain. From up here, you can see the Colorado river flow down below, all the way down the canyon... This is a continuation of the Grand Canyon... 

I had read and seen pictures of the place, but did not know of anyone personally who had visited here. Anyways, it was all part of the travel experience right?  The van pulled into the parking lot and we were told we had an hour to get back to the van. If any of us found it difficult to hike up, we could always come sit in the van and wait for the others.

Now, even though the hike to the edge of the horse shoe bend is less than a mile, the first few yards is uphill and quite steep. Beyond that it was all sand with ups and downs.. The path is not difficult, I spotted many wearing flip flops and sandals, walking by. It took me about 15mins and as I neared the ledge, it got a bit scary. I kept thinking "please God, let me not slip and slide down the edge". There are no fences or walls, or even ropes for us to hold on to.. You go as far as you can, stand for as long as you want or sit or walk around, or jump on nearby rocks, click pictures but it is all upto you how safe you remain!! 

It was a good thing I carried my water bottle, even though it was cool and windy, I was thirsty and I hear that in summers it gets quite hot.. There are no shaded areas, so make sure to carry a cap along. met a couple who have been coming here every month on their anniversary date and all they do is drive down here with their dog, sit for a few minutes and go back.. I also spotted quite a few others with their dogs :-) 

I am not scared of heights, but I guess I was afraid of slipping and falling [esp since it has happened before to me] Hands were shaking as I was trying to click pictures and so I stepped back a bit before clicking them~ Oh well, fear conquered and I survived the trip.. Yipee...

Skywatch Friday... Fire escapes of New york

While in New york, I did a brief tour via the hop on hop off buses and the views were beautiful, especially since I was sitting on the top. But then after a while, the cold winds got a bit too much and I had to rush downstairs to warm myself up... 

I loved clicking shots of the various tall buildings sprouting from the ground, almost felt like I was watching a movie or an animation being put together, where buildings just grow and go all the way to the skies. The one thing that caught my eye were the fire escape stairways in these buildings, having seen them in many a TV show or movie, it was interesting to see them in real.. Here are two shots that I love...

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

The Niagara Falls

E: So, are you heading towards New york?

Me: Yes, towards end of the trip and I fly back home from there.

E: Ah cool.. Wanna do a trip to Niagara?

Me: Ooh yes, was hoping to do a bus tour from NY or DC... 

E: Will put a plan together and we shall go one Sunday.

Me: Soopa, thanks!! 

This conversation happened within days of my landing in USA. And then after a few weeks, there were changes, there were debates, there were times when the plan was scrapped. E felt it would be too cold and misty, might not be able to withstand the cold, or see anything at Niagara. While the initial plan was for his entire family to join us, it finally came down to "Ok, I shall fly out and take you there, wont drag family , esp if its gonna be biting cold etc...". I said "Sure, makes sense" and got ready that Sunday morning for the flight to Buffalo. 

I land in Buffalo, get out of the airport and am hit by a blast of the coldest wind I have ever faced. I had a pair of woollen socks that became mittens of sorts and I huddled up in my jacket to deal with the chill. Hoped and prayed it settled down as time went by. Within minutes E calls to say they are pulling in, and asks me to come out. What do I see, a car full of people, yes his wife and twin boys had also made it.. Yay!! 

That was it, we had a blast the rest of the time. Drove down to Niagara [which is about an hour and a half from Buffalo], parked in the lot and made our way towards the falls. I was super excited. Well, I agree it is probably a very touristy thing to do, but then the falls are legendary and so a visit does go down in my list of "awesome places I visited"... 

In about half an hour, we were walking along the falls and it was cold... somehow it is always extra cold when you are near the water, ever noticed that? E kinda convinced us that doing the "Maid of the mist" boat tour might not be a good idea, considering how cold it was and that you would get drenched by the time you are done with the cruise.  We settled for spending time all along the way, up to the view point and getting as close to the falls as possible.. I was amazed at the sheer size of the falls.  Apparently the view from the Canadian side is better, you get to the see the entire Horse shoe falls and Bridal Veil falls, but this was no less.   

The Niagara is made up of three waterfalls -Horseshoe Falls [lies on the border of the United States and Canada], the American Falls[on the American side, separated by Goat Island] and the Bridal Veil Falls [also on the American side, separated from the other waterfalls by Luna Island].  The Niagara falls contains more than six million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost four million cubic feet (110,000 m3) on average [approx]... Also heard that during peak winter, for the briefest of times the falls freezes completely. Breath taking indeed... 

After spending a few hours, a few coins in the view master trying to spot different things and elements, we finally made our way out of the place back to the parking lot. E mentioned this was probably the shortest but most fun trip he had made here.. Invariably it was with larger groups of family,   who would spend little time at the falls and want to go find a place to eat/shop etc... 

As we walked out of the view point area, could feel the cold water spray from the falls hit us for quite a distance...