California

We were on time at the onset of our trip, despite having pushed a number of items to do till the last moment. As we crossed Portland, we stopped briefly for dinner. Dinner was delicious. Fried shrimp, aaloo paranthas, curd rice and tamarind rice. It was a cold December night with small showers intermittently. After a couple of hours we stopped at a nice motel somewhere near the Oregon-California border, to spend the night. Next morning, breakfast on the go, we had a long drive ahead of us to San Jose, our first stop.
As we entered the state of California, a snow-capped Mt. Shastha was clearly visible. Contrary to the rest of the state, this small stretch near the Oregon border is white with snow. As for us, we were looking forward for some respite from the chilly Seattle weather when we planned this trip. And California is famously known for its bright and sunny weather even in winter. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the cotton white snow. Seattle is a funny place, though too cold for good sense, it hardly snows there even at temperatures below zero. And since it is damp and cloudy all through the year, a ray of sunlight is almost a delicacy. So we in Seattle are fed up of the cold and jump for joy at seeing the sun, yet are equally delighted to see snow. So we pulled over and played in the snow in California!

That was probably the last I would see of the snow this winter. Going down Mt. Shasta, we were cruising past the Shastha lake and breathtakingly beautiful landscapes. Further down, the snow reduced and we saw lush green pastures typical of California with the Californian cows grazing away happily. But what we had not planned on, was to be tailed by cops. We didn’t realize it but going downhill we were speeding at 90 miles an hour! So one speeding and one speeding ticket later, we continued more carefully never going beyond the speed limit and reached Roopesh’s place by 7.00pm.

San Jose and San Francisco

Roopesh and his wife Nitya accommodated us for the night. The next day we were joined by another couple-Vinesh and Mini. Roopesh was the guide who showed us around San Francisco, which is only a few minutes’ drive from San Jose. First he took us to the Twin Peaks from where we all had a beautiful bird’s-eye view of all of San Francisco- the Golden Gate Bridge and the Alcatraz were the main attractions. I instantly recognized the Golden Gate bridge from the “Full House” that I had seen a countless number of times on TV. Alcatraz is built on a massive rock in the middle of the sea – though that’s not the reason why it’s called as The Rock.
While cruising in San Francisco, we got a taste of her roads.we got a taste of the I I have to mention that the roads are an interesting phenomenon on themselves. Some of them in my opinion are no less than rollercoaster rides! At one point, while waiting to be parked, our car with us in it was precariously perched on top of a road which might as well have been a mountain! Looking down at the winding road behind us, from the back seat, it was more or less like another view from the Twin Peaks, only more dangerous this time, for one wrong slip on Vinesh’s right foot and we go crashing down the road! But the people living in San Francisco seem to find this most desirable because they live in houses built along this road and many others like this, for example the dangerously steep Crooked street with its sharp hairpin bends is one of the most expensive living areas in San Francisco. It is also a beautiful tourist attraction. Beautiful though it is, taking your car in and out of the garage everyday can be quite a task!! On the way to the fisherman’s wharf from there, we passed by the famous Rainbow street.
Fisherman’s wharf of San Francisco was a lively market by the harbor with shops and road-side eating joints with delicious seafood of all sorts. Fishing boats were decked in the harbor and the whole place is swarmed by seagulls flying low over our heads at all times. Alcatraz was more clearly visible from here. We lunched on the famous sour dough and a delicious clam (kakka in malyalam) chowder(soup) served inside a bowl made of sour dough.
We had a six hour trip ahead of us that night to Los Angeles. As we planned on starting at 7.00pm we quickly wound up shopping at the Fisherman’s wharf and headed for the Golden Gate bridge. Surely we couldn’t leave San Francisco without riding on that! If we had had more time in our hands, I wouldn’t have missed a trip to the Alcatraz for anything. At this point it’s high time that I elaborate on what Alcatraz is. Alcatraz is a fearful prison. More correctly, Alcatraz used to be the most feared and formidable prison in America until a few decades ago. It has lived up to its name of being the prison that can’t ever be broken. None of its inmates have ever escaped from it and the only two who had managed to break out were probably eaten by sharks while they were swimming to get to the main land coz no one ever heard of them after that. Thus Alcatraz remains unbreakable. And that’s how it came to be called The Rock. There are no prison inmates there now and it’s a tourist attraction.

San Diego




A ride on the Golden Gate later, we packed our bags and headed out to Los Angeles. We checked in to the Best Western hotel at Los Angeles by 3.00 am. We managed a six hour sleep before waking up to explore the Sea World in San Diego. Sea World is home to so many water animals that I had never seen! I didn’t know that many of them even existed. Seals, Sea lions, Walruses, Sea whales, otters, dolphins, sharks of all kinds and the show stoppers – killer whales! The thirty-minute show by Shamu the killer whale was a touching one. A well trained and intelligent whale, Shamu conquered every ones hearts with his little antics. Everyone in the audience was spell bound by how cleverly the trainers were getting the killer whales to do their bidding. It is indeed an amazing feat to achieve when man and man-eaters share the stage as equals in camaraderie.

If killer whales stole our hearts, the dolphins stole the limelight. Not to be intimidated by any whale or shark, the dolphins put up an even more mesmerizing show for all of us to enjoy. The connection between the dolphins and the humans was all the more palpable when they responded accurately to all the instructions.

One cannot help but wonder whether they really could comprehend human language. Now came seals and otters. Together they put up a show that was as amusing as it was intriguing. Proving that they were second to none they performed to a packed stadium that was too small to fit all the people that eagerly came to see them perform.

Sea World closes early in winter. So after the last show – which was a ride over the Arctic circle (that’s right! we flew over the Arctic in an helicopter! It certainly felt like it. Simulation rides are great attractions all over the world now)- we bade adieu to San Diego. After all the sea animals we saw, our interest as well as appetite in sea creatures touched a new level. So we headed straight to a famous Thai restaurant in Los Angeles and had delicious sea food – shrimp, scallops, squid and catfish to name a few. We had plenty of time to relax that night. We needed all the time to recharge our batteries and get back in shape for the big day tomorrow at Disneyland. Disneyland has various kinds of spell-binding endless shows and rides for us to enjoy all day. More than the shows there I was looking forward to the roller coaster rides.

Disneyland - Los Angeles

I have to make a special mention of the breakfast at Denny’s. It was as delicious as it was filling. The toast, hash-browns, scrambled eggs, pancake, orange juice and Vishal Ettan’s favorite – the meat lover’s breakfast - only he could dare to order it and actually finish it. We were all set to burn every ounce of this power breakfast at Disneyland. Half an hour’s ride and as soon as we parked the car, a cute little tram took us to the entrance. Disneyland is every child’s dream come true. It’s the perfect heaven on earth for all the children (as well as adults who like to indulge in some innocent frolicking). I was in primary school when I first heard of the wondrous world that is Disneyland. I had never ever dreamt that one day I would actually be there. We decided to keep the rides for the last, coz shows have timings and they close early in winters. We started off with the 4D Bugs show.

We went in to the dark and murky mud pit where all the bugs lived. We met a few of them. Some of them were really nice while some others clearly didn’t like having us humans for visitors. They were in fact quite angry with us and were all set to have their revenge. So before we knew it, we got spit all over our faces by some very nasty bugs and some of them actually tried to smoke and screech us to death. One of the species had such huge antennas that I was almost caught dead between them. Just as we were about to run for our lives, we were invaded by creepy cockroaches! One of them nudged me on the buttocks and I jumped off my chair screaming. That was it and we all stormed out of the dark mud pit not wanting to die of poisonous bee sting. Phew! That was one hell of a show. Next time, I would think twice before messing with bugs.

We had had enough of bugs and were in the mood for some good natured humans. Off we went to see Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie! The good old fairy-tale was once again splendidly shown to a dumbstruck audience. The props, lighting, technical effects and the antics were excellent. The genie stole the show with his antics and wit. We forgot all about those nasty bugs when finally good prevailed over evil and Aladdin and Jasmine lived happily ever after. We decided to see the 4D puppet show next. That clearly was another wrong move coz, here we were actually hoodwinked by a bunch of puppets in to thinking that there was going to be some kind of a puppet show or movie. Instead all we saw was a bunch of crazy puppets of all forms and sizes zooming in and out of the screen towards us, swatting us (can u believe it! Puppets! Swatting us!), spitting, throwing stuff at us and if that wasn’t enough, literally dancing on top of our heads while we waited for the show to start. The puppet troop was angry for some reason and each member was assuaging his/her anger by venting their spleen on us unsuspecting audience. The show never happened and finally when one fat little piggy lady tried to sing to us, she was drowned in water barely two minutes after she started. It was total chaos and before this pandemonium could make was any dizzier than we already were, we rushed out for our own sake! What’s with these bugs and puppets. They seem to enjoy preying on us as their perfect choice for venting all anger and frustration. Anyways we decided that we better stay away from these and rather stick to our good old sweet natured humans.
We had had enough of shows by now so we decided to go riding! We started off with a small water ride. All of us were strapped on to our seat on a boat and we were ready to be drenched all over by water. As the boat took speed, it spun and meandered crazily. The ride kept getting better and more exciting by the second as we went up and fell steeply down the water way splashing water all over us. Moving further, the boat was spinning faster, and we knew that there was a steep fall ahead waiting for us coz the water was pulling the boat faster every second. And before we knew it, a screaming bunch of seven adults fell steeply down the waterfall! It was thrilling! Though a short ride, it was sufficient to whet my appetite for more. This was a good ride, good as in decent-good. But I was raring for more dangerous and indecent rides and couldn’t wait to get on them.

California Screaming! It’s the mother of all roller coaster rides! We could hear screams of people riding on it from quite far away. I had had my eye on it since the beginning. But some of us, who were weak at heart, chickened out and preferred to watch. I was tingling with excitement as we were waited in the long queue. I had seen this on TV many times before and wondered how exciting this could be. I would soon find out. My heart was racing as we seated and strapped ourselves. Without warning, the car jerked, and sped forward. And before I could say “Oh my God”, we were falling down a steep slope. Eyes shut tight and mouth wide open, I might have been screaming on top of my lungs, but I never heard my voice. When our car swung a full three hundred and sixty degrees, I could have sworn that my heart fell out right through my mouth. I had no idea how many slopes and hills were there, but there sure were enough to get the adrenaline plummet to my head. At one point when the car slowed down, I remember opening my eyes a little to steal a peep at Vishal Ettan sitting by my side. He was sitting with his head down, eyes tightly shut. That’s when I saw that we were literally on top of the world. The car had stopped. Looking down, I saw Disneyland was bustling with activity far below us. We were precariously hanging in air, I couldn’t hear a thing and there was total silence as we sat there frozen still in the immobile car on the top of the world. I nudged Vishal Ettan to open his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked up for a fraction of a second, only to shut it ever so tight again. Then with a jerk much ruder than the one before, we lunged forward, ever so faster down the steepest slope I had ever ridden on. The ride ended. I could have loved to go on it once more, but there were more rides to go on.
If California Screaming was exciting, the next one scared the living daylights out of me. It was no match for the California Screaming, being much smaller and not too high. But I didn’t even know that this was ride until the ride started. So I was unprepared and was caught completely unawares (that by the way is the trick to enjoy these dare-devil rides to the fullest. You have to be a little scared. That along with the soaring adrenaline, will give you a ride that you will never forget!). It was a ride with the rudest of jerks and lunges and the most unexpected twists and turns. The car speeds up to the edge of the rail and for a moment I was certain that we were about to topple over and go crashing down on the crowd below. Just as this was about to happen, we took a nasty sharp turn down a steep slope and we were thus saved from death. After several such narrow escapes from death, the ride came to an end. While the car returned to its dock, I was hanging on to my seat for dear life.

We went to another ride of a different kind. It’s technically not a ride. We felt that we were playing a movie or something – so we went to Hollywood Hotel and checked in for the night. The whole place looked very sinister and spooky. The hotel staff looked as if they were hiding something from us. Then we were showed a video clip of about twenty years ago when a couple of unsuspecting poor souls like us checked in to Hollywood Hotel took an elevator up to their rooms and then vanished from the face of the earth. Now we had idea of what our fate was to be. There was no going back now. So we climbed on to the dark elevator and waited to turn in to smoke. Then suddenly a screen appeared before us and we saw ourselves as if in a mirror. A second later our reflections turned in to smoke! Now I was really scared, but couldn’t do anything to escape. The elevator started moving up. Then as we reached the top, the doors opened to show us how high we were. Then the doors closed and we fell crashing down. We were actually free falling towards the ground. it was dark all over and everyone was screaming; silly idiots, as if screaming might save their lives! The elevator came to a sudden stop throwing us all out of balance and was moving up again in greater speed. It stopped, gave us the final view of the world outside, and then went on a free fall again! This process was repeated a couple of time until I started to feel that I was really never going to get out of this haunted place. When it all came to an end, I had a funny feeling about checking in to hotels!
Anyways, that was one heck of a ride. Having had a taste of all the real rides, we now headed for a simulated ride. It was the very popular ‘California Soaring’ ride, where you are soared over (not literally) all of California. We once again saw the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and all of the beautiful places in Californnia.

The last attraction of the day is the parade, where all the characters in all the fairy tales that you have ever read as a child, jump right out their books and parade in front of you! As a child, I had wanted to meet them, talk to them and hold their hands; finally now I did. There was Cinderella riding in her pumpkin chariot, snow white and the seven dwarfs, dragons, mushrooms, Goldilocks and her bears, giant worms, tortoises and all sorts of fairy tale characters beautifully dressed in colorful lights! We bade good bye to Disney(dream) land and all those beautiful fairy tale princes and princesses.

Universal Studios – Los Angeles

The next day we were at the Universal Studios quite early. First we headed to the “House of Terror”. One would think that I became braver after having survived the terrorizations at Disney land, but I was terrorized and scared to death by a ghost in the House of Terror! There we all sorts of scary movie characters prowling about in the house. If u were not careful u just might step on to their toes and be damned for life! It was a big, dark, spooky and haunted house and when we finally came out I breathed easy.

There were shows here too and we went to see the Shrek 4D show. It was quite exciting, as in a 4D show, the audience had a part too. We rode along with the donkey and Shrek in search of Fiona. I must say that the donkey is a real ass, coz he sneezed all the time spraying his dirty mucus all over us. After all the adventures we found Fiona and Shrek and Fiona lived happily ever after.

Next we went to see some serious action with Arnie(Arnold Schwarzenegger). We watched him terminate his enemies and crush them in to pieces. It was quite an action packed thriller 3D show. Next we moved on to one of the most exciting attractions of Universal Studios – studio tour. We were taken to all the movie sets and were given a splendid description of how movies are taken and how sets are manipulated, managed, modeled and remodeled for each movie or serial. We saw the houses of all the leading ladies of desperate housewives. We met one of the biggest and most popular stars in Hollywood, and he was willing to show us some of his tricks. Wanna know who he was? King Kong! That’s right King Kong showed us a few tricks that he had up his sleeve. We saw how rains, floods and earthquakes are created in movie sets. Our tram was parked at a station when suddenly there was an earthquake and the whole world started to shake. Water was gushing out from all directions. We pulled out of the station and sped away before we got killed.

It was lunch time. We grabbed a quick lunch and continued our tour of the Universal Studios. By now it was getting too cold and windy. Fear Factor’s live show was going on and we decided to see that. I always thought that the TV show was gross. Call me weak hearted but I don’t find any pleasure in watching people eat dead and decayed insects. The live show was not any better. The four contestants that took part in the show were put to the ultimate test. Hanging from a high bar, eating decayed fish, getting electrocuted and coming out of it all unscathed is no easy task. But one of the contestants did it and I was only happy for him and for me to be out of there asap. Although there was a couple of shows more to see, we wound up our trip coz the weather was getting too chilly to be roaming outside.

After a long and refreshing sleep, we woke up the next morning and decided to explore LA. LA downtown had a lot of attractions to keep tourists busy for a whole week. All we had was a day so we touched only the most popular ones.

The wax museum, the house of horror, Ripley’s believe it or not, the famous Kodak theatre where the Oscar Academy awards are presented each year, the famous and most coveted Hollywood Walk-of-fame were the prime tourist attractions.

It was exciting to see the stars of all my favorite actors, singers and artists at the Walk-of-fame. We met batman, the Simpsons, Superman, Super girl, Marilyn Monroe and many more stars that had lighted up the silver screens. By noon it was time to bid LA goodbye. Vegas was beckoning us!