tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77133607658141810342023-11-16T07:19:48.876-06:00Fun and DreamsPreetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-88338520720006052272011-03-07T12:01:00.000-06:002011-03-07T12:01:27.179-06:00Hello Chennai !I m back. I will not say I missed this place for 2 years, yet that 11 years of bondage between me and Chennai make me to think a little. In this two years how many changes? I am more amazed to see the new look of Chennai, new buildings, fly overs, big malls, 4 wheelers, traffic, Oh, the list goes on and on. <br />
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Three weeks ago, me and Karthik landed in Chennai International Airport. We rushed to Chennai to see my father-in-law, who got admitted in Apollo. He had a by-pass surgery, so first 2 weeks, we were busy running between Hospital and home. Thanks to God, my in-law is recovering fast. <br />
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Last week, we both went to a beautiful Shiva temple in Tirukkachur, roughly 30 kms from Chennai. Tirukachur, looks like a small town. Its an ancient temple must be 1000 years old. We think it has been built by Pallavas, based on the layout and structure of the temple premises. But not sure about that, if any of you know more about this temple, please write to me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Front view of the temple from outside</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was a very nice experience, as soon as we reached the temple, more than 25 cows were standing before the temple to welcome us. I was very happy to see the cows, inside little scared too. The door of the temple was slightly opened, when we entered, we were the only person inside that big temple, after few minutes, the temple Gurukal came and opened the Swami gate.<br />
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The temple have a big pragaram inside, beautiful stupas engraved with different deities. The Shiva, Kachabheswarar and Devi, Anjanakshi. According to the stala puranam, Sundaramurthy nayanaar was visiting this place. He was very hungry, at that time Lord Shiva Himself went for Bikshai and fed Sundarar.<br />
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Though the temple is having a lot of inner beauty within, its lagging a lot in the external beauty. We spent an hour there, hardly we saw 2 or 3 people in the temple. Near the main entrance so many wooden planks were lying on the ground. After dusk, we were little scared to go pradakshanam out side the temple. <br />
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Wish some big sponsors will undertake the temple and replinish its outer beauty and do a Kumbabishegam to the temple.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-23817150206080120162011-01-07T12:29:00.000-06:002011-01-07T12:29:40.262-06:00Are you thereWhy no updates in Fun and dreams ?<br />
I am asking the same question to myself a lot. I didn't totally abandon this blog, but still not getting a push within myself . Or am I concentarting much about my other blog <a href="http://preethibhojan.blogspot.com/">Preethi Bhojan</a>? I am having a lot of news to share with you all, still....<br />
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OK, past is past. I am coming out of my shell. From this first month of the New Year, I am going to write and share my all experiences with you.<br />
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Wishing a Happy new year to allPreetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-42516553952830953492010-11-15T19:32:00.000-06:002010-11-15T19:32:58.077-06:00Fall Colours at the Peninsula State ParkLast month, to enjoy the fall colors we went to Peninsula State Park in Wisconsin. It is one of the best scenic drives that we enjoyed so far. Since the park is 4 and a half hours drive from our place, we started at around 6 o'clock in the morning. <br />
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We like to drive in the morning a lot. Nice to see the world waking up, the sun rise, sun rays flashing in between the colorful trees. Oh God, nature is so beautiful, can't describe it in simple words. I captured a little through my lens.<br />
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In this trip, I drove the car for an hour. I am comfortable driving at 45 to 50 mph on state roads byut having to drive at 70mph on the interstate was a bit scary. Still enjoyed the drive and the fall colors. By 11 'o clock we reached the park and took bicycle for rent to roam around the park.<br />
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This is my dream America. Oh yes, in my dreams I have always imagined America with lots of trees, big farms, small wood house, single lane road, big long trees in different colors on the sides, me and my loved one riding bicycle, enjoying the chilly breeze and the crystal clear lake... You all know, how I would have enjoyed this place.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s1020.photobucket.com/albums/af325/dolly_preetha/?action=view&current=IMG_1264.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="300" src="http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af325/dolly_preetha/IMG_1264.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The whole day I had lots of fun, bought a nice earring as a souvenir...Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-88830798496900102132010-11-11T18:06:00.002-06:002010-11-11T18:17:38.557-06:00Deepavali Celebration at homeAs soon as we get the New Year calender, the first thing we look is for our Birthday and the next thing is obviously Deepavali. If anybody is saying No, they are fooling themselves. Ok, it doesn't matter whether you agree or not, the point is Deepavali. It is always fun.<br />
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Deepavali, always a big celebration at our home. It starts two days before the deepavali day and lasts till the next day. Since we all three, me,my Sister and my brother stayed away from our parents, we try to make sure that we come home a day earlier and help mom in bakshanam preparation. As I mentioned in my <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://preethibhojan.blogspot.com/2010/11/coconut-ladoo.html">earlier post</a></span> my mom will do lots and lots of sweets and savouries we all sit and help her. The actual fun part is that for us. We all sit and talk more about our works, friends, cracks joke, sometime get motherly scolding also :)) All for good...<br />
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The day before deepavali is the actual pandigai for us. My mom will cook a big feast for dinner. My dad will fill the water tank and tubs with water, also keep Chandhanam and Kumkum as a ritual. I still don't know actual reason behind it May be since we are getting early in the morning around 4.00 am, we should not disturb others, like running the motor or draw water from the well and make any screeching noise. <br />
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Our ancestors were great, they made some unwritten laws to follow which are very good to us till today.<br />
Getting up early on deepvali day, taking a nice herbal oil bath, greeting people, going to temple, enjoying the crackers, sharing the joy by exchanging sweets, lighting up the whole house.Oops, I forgot to mention one main thing its Deepavali Legiyam or Marunthu. This is one of the finest thing our ancestors passed to us. <br />
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On Deepavali day, after having nice oil bath, the first thing my mom give to all is a spoonful of Legiyam. When we were kids, we hesitate to eat , so she will give our favorite sweet in another hand. Even now nothing has changed in our house. I missing them a lot...<br />
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Now a days, I don't see anybody enjoying like this. Everybody is addicted only to Television and buy sweets from outside . All the channels compete with each others and airing all new films, some talk shows with somebody, in the name of debates one will make fun out of his wife and mom in public. Its like everybody is tied up with TV. Thank God, we are not gone that bad.<br />
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I am praying God that this should change. People should spend time with family and friends, other than watching TV crap. Wish they should enjoy the Deepavali as we enjoyed.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-2256154035621198902010-10-11T19:02:00.000-05:002010-10-11T19:02:04.671-05:00A week out in a FarmBack into my world... HGTV and Food Network. Shows are running back to back in TV and I m with my laptop. What to say friends, past two months I had a very good time with my in-laws. After having our lunch we three used to sit and watch our great epics Mahabaratham, Ramayanam aired in our great Doordharshan. Celebrated few festivals, cooked lot new dishes...Oh, those days were memorable good days. Now, me and my husband are little bored in weekends. Since the weather is changing dramatically, we dropped our weekend trail plans which we were doing earlier in the summer. <br />
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A week ago, one of my friend suggested about Apple picking. So we planned our trip to a farm on a nice warm Sunday. After many days we went out for a drive about 50 miles from our place. Excitement caught both of us, I was asking many questions to my husband. I was dreaming me picking apples from the trees. On our way we enjoyed the fall colours in small towns.<br />
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When we reached the farm, we were utterly disappointed to see the information board. <em>'Corn maze, fun activities for children, Pumpkin patch are open. Sorry, No apple picking'. </em>Yet, we had a great time there. Come, let me show you how we enjoyed.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Took a maze challenge and entered inside a corn maze. It was a real challenge to us. Though we had a map of the corn maze, it was confusing a lot. First time inside corn field. Had good fun.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJIIFONLyS-PfBANzdLfDef4_dVJA1dTjkwU9z0BHJO9AVYNh06Ni5pkwGIRplMXjRtE6KT4NpqxqkkFByG1EtoFDf33ArSjaPUGUmNEjHGHK9qXWQny8_ffOmOZKEQVEXv21hhbcjGc/s1600/IMG_0845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJIIFONLyS-PfBANzdLfDef4_dVJA1dTjkwU9z0BHJO9AVYNh06Ni5pkwGIRplMXjRtE6KT4NpqxqkkFByG1EtoFDf33ArSjaPUGUmNEjHGHK9qXWQny8_ffOmOZKEQVEXv21hhbcjGc/s320/IMG_0845.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA9b2W46_VR2sqjpQjCpNVIkSyni60rU6aB2BhhLVH-Y4S4dLr_fw8oUcYeqXiejOHHqOhXQAr1f3K8X6EYK0gvN-y-DSsdVSwz-0gnxa8d-Qs943F0gTZVZCjtWoUHElFbzuy-blPdc/s1600/IMG_0849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfA9b2W46_VR2sqjpQjCpNVIkSyni60rU6aB2BhhLVH-Y4S4dLr_fw8oUcYeqXiejOHHqOhXQAr1f3K8X6EYK0gvN-y-DSsdVSwz-0gnxa8d-Qs943F0gTZVZCjtWoUHElFbzuy-blPdc/s320/IMG_0849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Also went to Pumpkin patch and plugged a nice big butter squash fresh from the field.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWHumPaCTzigf3lz9D-Tv00G88q1vMAkpEHrYNZNmfpLuESYkFeavQAquBWN1hIhGa7gahVtUtJGwhCWq_7-vkso0j86xa-8da67lH_qA_7cYh6roJfJK_alLQYgzFIQ6dF3nzfu2sNc/s1600/IMG_0862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWHumPaCTzigf3lz9D-Tv00G88q1vMAkpEHrYNZNmfpLuESYkFeavQAquBWN1hIhGa7gahVtUtJGwhCWq_7-vkso0j86xa-8da67lH_qA_7cYh6roJfJK_alLQYgzFIQ6dF3nzfu2sNc/s320/IMG_0862.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjev2BCg6b6ZhKh8V-tspmzFNPL_F_IssvB_U3mycbYGOHvSgjdSgBHKVCosV-l-_a7vZZANT1tXqI2NUwGd3n1U9RZ9lwIi70Chza2Roy9Gs0EhnTuodbrMfgtpRpZyv_q7qIfWb8n44k/s1600/IMG_0863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjev2BCg6b6ZhKh8V-tspmzFNPL_F_IssvB_U3mycbYGOHvSgjdSgBHKVCosV-l-_a7vZZANT1tXqI2NUwGd3n1U9RZ9lwIi70Chza2Roy9Gs0EhnTuodbrMfgtpRpZyv_q7qIfWb8n44k/s320/IMG_0863.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Had a fresh caramel apple at their cute little store and came home happily with a bag of fresh honey crisp apples. How these apples turned into a more edible form my husband is the story for another day.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-21847608925693357812010-08-30T19:55:00.000-05:002010-08-30T19:55:56.908-05:00Weekend outing after a long gapWe spent the weekend visiting Chicago downtown with our in-laws. This trip was special for us as we were unable to go out anywhere for the past 20 days. My mother in-law has the arthritis in her knees, so we decided not to strain her much. It was for this reason that she initially refused to come US and it was only after great persuasion that my in-laws accepted to come here. That too under some conditions, only to be with us and not to go much outing or sight seeing.<br />
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Remember, I mentioned in my <a href="http://funanddreams.blogspot.com/2010/08/days-with-my-inlaws.html">earlier post </a>that we are going to give them a surprise by taking them to the one of the tallest buildings in the world, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Tower">'Willis Tower'</a>. While we were going I was telling them about the skyscrapers, difference between the suburbs and the cities, about the great Michigan lake and its Lake shore. That time she was only nodding, but understood the fact, once we entered the city loop.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsLbo96-UzjQaFuNa3swHyXAo4NVGPX3uxdP26ypzfC_RW2zke9TpDZpSW2qUBmxbzAd_5ZqJFrrBNoQ5QFizKgeK_Uxc42bMIuZRnsjUgM-Vd67MDDu6yGRhn9mBxqLVtyCWOSTN90U/s1600/IMG_0338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsLbo96-UzjQaFuNa3swHyXAo4NVGPX3uxdP26ypzfC_RW2zke9TpDZpSW2qUBmxbzAd_5ZqJFrrBNoQ5QFizKgeK_Uxc42bMIuZRnsjUgM-Vd67MDDu6yGRhn9mBxqLVtyCWOSTN90U/s320/IMG_0338.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vxyYrMWCkZWe5yvs9HYpVnlWJ3UhreTcrIeuRaDA5P5w-tUG6p4_5xUsie-K6pVFHO6otfsdCA25U3mXJdrJbSrfoyGydg5nksIqSqWFPUe0FSvRMvYf5KkY3AUkL10jj6lbtAd55HU/s1600/IMG_0346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vxyYrMWCkZWe5yvs9HYpVnlWJ3UhreTcrIeuRaDA5P5w-tUG6p4_5xUsie-K6pVFHO6otfsdCA25U3mXJdrJbSrfoyGydg5nksIqSqWFPUe0FSvRMvYf5KkY3AUkL10jj6lbtAd55HU/s320/IMG_0346.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My mother in-law was speechless seeing the high skyscrapers. We parked the car few blocks away from the Willis Tower and we walked down the streets towards it. At last, reached the 103 floor in a minute, my in-laws were so happy, to see the breath taking view of the city. The city looked full of lights, as if somebody sprinkled thousands of the lights from above. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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After seeing this spectacular view, the very first thing she told me was "You both enjoy the life here many more years and come India later" She couldn't believe that we were in 103rd floor. After few minutes, I took them to the glass balcony, extending 4 feet out from the main building, giving an illusion as if we are in the mid air 1353 feet above from the ground level. They were so thrilled to see the city from the mid air. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEied11-HBfB49NnN5gW9ObRQlApBziKrxuxrOpWfZv3NofhY5EkMhhJ_Ep3Gd9FcJZae1wY0g9CLoMkcfFS4MVGtQSWfn0-xDxmW8uvH_6uKcbVNdJ-TEDgGG6YZWY6h6reIeSjbaXLPho/s1600/IMG_0373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEied11-HBfB49NnN5gW9ObRQlApBziKrxuxrOpWfZv3NofhY5EkMhhJ_Ep3Gd9FcJZae1wY0g9CLoMkcfFS4MVGtQSWfn0-xDxmW8uvH_6uKcbVNdJ-TEDgGG6YZWY6h6reIeSjbaXLPho/s320/IMG_0373.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8KZnr1_-UlQ2KrGB2T0L6rlOz6bxMtP2AFiRkLhe5IcZUD7ozSvoEqH3uZ2D8jGY3m8-oYp1tauu1emjzSkJNXiyQGxl4m9XtDU4hxEDQcpNtf6ILuMhGAKSOxwftqyLwbbWC-HRFxo/s1600/IMG_0399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8KZnr1_-UlQ2KrGB2T0L6rlOz6bxMtP2AFiRkLhe5IcZUD7ozSvoEqH3uZ2D8jGY3m8-oYp1tauu1emjzSkJNXiyQGxl4m9XtDU4hxEDQcpNtf6ILuMhGAKSOxwftqyLwbbWC-HRFxo/s320/IMG_0399.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After spending an hours time in the Willis Tower we started back to home.</div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-6925614026440400412010-08-26T19:41:00.000-05:002010-08-26T19:41:57.203-05:00Varalakshmi Pooja and Avani AvittamLast Friday, we celebrated Varalakshmi pooja here in Chicago. This is the first pooja after my wedding, last year I did Varalakshmi Pooja but didn't have Amman face with me. This time, my in-laws brought all the things required for the Nombu and Avani Avittam.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HnaQ7OPb2PExiXHx2cGhKPokY46AJmdqycPrcnXWBVmCehoOEv4a0rmp-FRvO_4m7voligVpcrG7_4TIEAU5y2JcI6t-RHyjRcqKjR9BaEay0oZ5VFJ-RsY3rR6Ovq_hDfWAhLnGhbU/s1600/IMG_0229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HnaQ7OPb2PExiXHx2cGhKPokY46AJmdqycPrcnXWBVmCehoOEv4a0rmp-FRvO_4m7voligVpcrG7_4TIEAU5y2JcI6t-RHyjRcqKjR9BaEay0oZ5VFJ-RsY3rR6Ovq_hDfWAhLnGhbU/s320/IMG_0229.JPG" /></a></div>At my home, we all like this Pooja a lot. Maybe because this marks the start of the festival season.<br />
My sister and Mom make Garlands for Devi using all kind of flowers. Also they will stitch 'Jadai' with flowers, specially with Thazham poo for Amman. My sister's kolams would light up our home. My active part in all these things was very minimal, I don't like to spoil their good work.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here me and my mother in-law did everything. Though I missed my home a little, still everything was good. We did the pooja in a grand way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhaysYklhXB7bl0IeSUkm6o_Ze4ZA2XWKJoouzYV7h1-MkzI0YTLTshXfrkd5KdleFt9jXca4P8FASb-97bZf9YYqfvfdfzbqwnLLy5DI-D_4vRLyUrrBVE-0igjA_LRHcy9mmU3FLEM/s1600/pooja.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhaysYklhXB7bl0IeSUkm6o_Ze4ZA2XWKJoouzYV7h1-MkzI0YTLTshXfrkd5KdleFt9jXca4P8FASb-97bZf9YYqfvfdfzbqwnLLy5DI-D_4vRLyUrrBVE-0igjA_LRHcy9mmU3FLEM/s320/pooja.bmp" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmamR_oaqLL3AI0e5UjNtdC1VbwVRTBR8JnsGHFr36Pw6ZUXhdmrMEX-4Du3NMgWgVe4TcmpAkxqJeCs2bXnl9JPLkYn0h9flPGI0ZKu-qaQDQrXs5MiacyZH92Cd3poOHzHHjMnfE3uw/s1600/pooja2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmamR_oaqLL3AI0e5UjNtdC1VbwVRTBR8JnsGHFr36Pw6ZUXhdmrMEX-4Du3NMgWgVe4TcmpAkxqJeCs2bXnl9JPLkYn0h9flPGI0ZKu-qaQDQrXs5MiacyZH92Cd3poOHzHHjMnfE3uw/s320/pooja2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzeMs2VVoOX4_QqqQP3z5JpN-bJ_R_K8oqby34YeBnlqqjDfEynsXWg4P7yyfiWt8M8-EOkyVP8Q1UqIIdOibbc21JRIGZcptf2VV1PEXxGk23dxnSsY6xDNNeoT82sp7E8VInFRXquE/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzeMs2VVoOX4_QqqQP3z5JpN-bJ_R_K8oqby34YeBnlqqjDfEynsXWg4P7yyfiWt8M8-EOkyVP8Q1UqIIdOibbc21JRIGZcptf2VV1PEXxGk23dxnSsY6xDNNeoT82sp7E8VInFRXquE/s320/IMG_0236.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Didn't miss out anything for Prasadam. Initially I struggled a little to complete this whole menu, after a while by Swamiji's blessing and Devi's Grace everything turned out well. In the evening we invited some of our neighbours to take Thambulam.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On Tuesday, we celebrated Avani Avittam also. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xQL39s91NnqTRZhyphenhyphenkFph3y9uTWwRhsb-1iQq5Kt4lVj8OJv0LbnLUTFPyIWD-IHBdF0PwUF0kdFYKFF-ApmWM6h0UTMbH1seJDUeS6DFP_Xk5kghiylDENDWnTpZu9X_-ALn-cofouE/s1600/IMG_0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xQL39s91NnqTRZhyphenhyphenkFph3y9uTWwRhsb-1iQq5Kt4lVj8OJv0LbnLUTFPyIWD-IHBdF0PwUF0kdFYKFF-ApmWM6h0UTMbH1seJDUeS6DFP_Xk5kghiylDENDWnTpZu9X_-ALn-cofouE/s320/IMG_0269.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My husband's friend Sudharshan also joined us. My father in-law recited the slogam and they both followed him, since both were in hurry to go office, they both misspelled the slogams. It was hilarious to see both. They both were like school kiddos, copied each other actions. Somehow they managed and hurried to office.</div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-72914382915809554252010-08-16T00:04:00.001-05:002010-08-26T14:21:21.779-05:00Month of FunFor the past one month I am enjoying a lot with my in-laws. Daily cooking and eating a lot :)) If I step on a weighing machine hope the pointer will show the extreme point in its scale.<br />
In my earlier post I have been telling you the places which I visited along with my in-laws. This is also a continuation of it. <br />
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One Saturday we went to Lake Geneva, a small resort town in Wisconsin, exactly an hours drive from our place. The day before the picnic, I did my all time favorite oats cookies for the trip. Luckily, the weather was on our side and it was a nice sunny day. After going around the town a couple of times we managed to find a parking near a park. After having our lunch in the car, we went to lake shore for a Boat ride.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My in-laws enjoyed every moment. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffK_Zllbxa0W17DXBcwMD81qc_PqJqiJ_DkqEGb_7FvgMbF9pgpXjY3PV-V3qikrrlwM47OTlnW1PVbJrgVUncfxJ4C5k3w2Tpf3ivz86miav8HexTP9d3aCcq4J4hZi3Kd-aIDhhv3s/s1600/IMG_1745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffK_Zllbxa0W17DXBcwMD81qc_PqJqiJ_DkqEGb_7FvgMbF9pgpXjY3PV-V3qikrrlwM47OTlnW1PVbJrgVUncfxJ4C5k3w2Tpf3ivz86miav8HexTP9d3aCcq4J4hZi3Kd-aIDhhv3s/s320/IMG_1745.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_S_FqryePCfQunrqVppFROIwEpF8ogm_6sKVRHOIUbnj62yven0ixWnXztEHylbTDkwkO-hjBgXY5pYiO3LHA_iHFUdcYk887q8eSIgXPc7afwXqDFsNG5XHhMrBJtNfgp8_c3tgdp4/s1600/IMG_1748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_S_FqryePCfQunrqVppFROIwEpF8ogm_6sKVRHOIUbnj62yven0ixWnXztEHylbTDkwkO-hjBgXY5pYiO3LHA_iHFUdcYk887q8eSIgXPc7afwXqDFsNG5XHhMrBJtNfgp8_c3tgdp4/s320/IMG_1748.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>After an hour boat ride, we both played a while in the park and started back to home. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On Sunday, we went to a park nearby our place, called Busse Woods forest preserve. A surprise awaited their for them. We took them for a short hike in one of the park's hiking trails. My mother in-law </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgHHcZSz9g9npQ-AkWd9HRUAmefSGh1NLkqQLVmIsXBNRSU7laCtKJldY86BsWxbujyTbaC1477kAhkIyUlggldhmg-_SUNJ5POiWHJ8qVoUTjxP6IdwyvWXhuappqAmW7fjS1zcAx0A/s1600/IMG_1764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgHHcZSz9g9npQ-AkWd9HRUAmefSGh1NLkqQLVmIsXBNRSU7laCtKJldY86BsWxbujyTbaC1477kAhkIyUlggldhmg-_SUNJ5POiWHJ8qVoUTjxP6IdwyvWXhuappqAmW7fjS1zcAx0A/s320/IMG_1764.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1todtksYKWFAVQMbkukZQAWTSbqiXs1dhWnWabC2MojOGszUTxDrwUgMJ1M4jdo8ca3rvZLVVXXMInMVwX4A8AHvPQpJugFc2qJ5LM0RVehcgVcXUujAspnde16Jf7x3I31aA0GkJUs/s1600/IMG_1767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1todtksYKWFAVQMbkukZQAWTSbqiXs1dhWnWabC2MojOGszUTxDrwUgMJ1M4jdo8ca3rvZLVVXXMInMVwX4A8AHvPQpJugFc2qJ5LM0RVehcgVcXUujAspnde16Jf7x3I31aA0GkJUs/s320/IMG_1767.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>As you can see below in the photo the trail runs through some pretty dense woods. It took some convincing to get my mother in-law on to the trails<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UTMseE_KFv2rabYMgfwszjl7cK4hw3HbwfWfdTZvc_3n_BPCliZyxW2-79lmsndLctQL_9YAesHB-cfP3OHC-sEGRA_j0_WyuHEM0UbkMTi985W9Q7YFLpDUHQFZqymGPtdCXDYwy0c/s1600/IMG_1773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UTMseE_KFv2rabYMgfwszjl7cK4hw3HbwfWfdTZvc_3n_BPCliZyxW2-79lmsndLctQL_9YAesHB-cfP3OHC-sEGRA_j0_WyuHEM0UbkMTi985W9Q7YFLpDUHQFZqymGPtdCXDYwy0c/s320/IMG_1773.JPG" /></a></div>More things are there to share with you all. Will meet you in my next post.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-25619801168182541482010-08-05T16:45:00.002-05:002010-08-05T16:50:49.797-05:00Days with my inlaws<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">From the day my in-laws landed in Chicago, me and my husband trying our best to keep them engaged and entertained. Making them not to feel bored or to miss any reality shows which featuring almost in all channels now a days. <br />
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Daily we go to a lake near by our place for a walk, couple of days we enjoyed a moon lite walk also. They are enjoying a noise less, pollution less, fresh air here. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih-w5WNu1Qq5oKcPA28uEDYTqyM2noEjEGehhf8CALhBwctOREpSZ9Xkf56iy6RTtQqjdDPRRp400ulcfDdQ19l5fJDM4QzB11yNNzXhjh2EDsk0RVsd9K8AbUZf0atkmchOXyWHty1s/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih-w5WNu1Qq5oKcPA28uEDYTqyM2noEjEGehhf8CALhBwctOREpSZ9Xkf56iy6RTtQqjdDPRRp400ulcfDdQ19l5fJDM4QzB11yNNzXhjh2EDsk0RVsd9K8AbUZf0atkmchOXyWHty1s/s320/011.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>First weekend, we took them to a Balaji temple in Lemont, which is 50 miles away from our place. We planned our drive to the temple in such a way that we just touch the Downtown loop. They were so happy and amazed to see the sky lines. Since I always like Sears tower, I was overwhelmed and started telling many incidents we enjoyed near the tower and all places. Shhhh.... secret, we are planning to take them for 102nd Floor in sears tower, we didn't tell them yet.<br />
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Sears tower in the background, A nice click from my father in-law. <br />
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One evening we took them to another beautiful small lake. Along with them we enjoyed a superb sunset in the lake front.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFXCKWIvzjVT_4CJrkCL3Tn5TaCi7USdkgWqC9E2Iy4oNT0AgiwChsyGjWG8SDTkmmRVLmxUoEqoqcdREKV3pDdNWgYQipUpUdIlx1U-WOgA3WVsfbzmBsJucwv-o9M7q6rAN8KRGl31g/s1600/041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFXCKWIvzjVT_4CJrkCL3Tn5TaCi7USdkgWqC9E2Iy4oNT0AgiwChsyGjWG8SDTkmmRVLmxUoEqoqcdREKV3pDdNWgYQipUpUdIlx1U-WOgA3WVsfbzmBsJucwv-o9M7q6rAN8KRGl31g/s320/041.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLRW7qhd6u0iEy6Qom_8zDtwCH8xkJYBe6GU6OXdhitsX7lKtLToTwmJ6pSGg1TWPWYhrKStw64pIs9En_e_QFON8AbSjSuL4c1TC2JAJ5x55Yua9RaGyknyFI5X0LcR2nI-YnM5IqOI/s1600/049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLRW7qhd6u0iEy6Qom_8zDtwCH8xkJYBe6GU6OXdhitsX7lKtLToTwmJ6pSGg1TWPWYhrKStw64pIs9En_e_QFON8AbSjSuL4c1TC2JAJ5x55Yua9RaGyknyFI5X0LcR2nI-YnM5IqOI/s320/049.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Another weekend, Guru poornima day, we all went to Chinmaya mission and attended a Pooja and went to a temple.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDrrUCfqjrNu7BpADeyMepeNXK-O8DwkyKUY8KKkYEavmveScHtg4Xpxomp6JHFXq68TumsKIMWZrdYq-Fl7I_Tq93PqORjpknnt4L33YOX_JYpAlqTlVv3yC7CvDdKEgDdIz5dxem_g/s1600/065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDrrUCfqjrNu7BpADeyMepeNXK-O8DwkyKUY8KKkYEavmveScHtg4Xpxomp6JHFXq68TumsKIMWZrdYq-Fl7I_Tq93PqORjpknnt4L33YOX_JYpAlqTlVv3yC7CvDdKEgDdIz5dxem_g/s320/065.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Apart from the outing in the evening and weekends, we are having a good time at home in the day time. Daily we all watch Mahabaratham in YouTube. We talk about our <a href="http://funanddreams.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-birthyday-to-swamiji.html">Swamiji </a>and His preachings.<br />
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Also I am cooking different new dishes at home and entertaining them with healthy and tasty foods. Want to know what I am doing ?, pls visit <a href="http://preethibhojan.blogspot.com/">Preethibhojan</a> where I am updating all the new recipes which I am trying and surprising my in-laws.<br />
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We are not taking only to the temples in the weekend, will update you more in my nest post.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-81489809984903947462010-08-01T14:43:00.000-05:002010-08-01T14:43:31.149-05:00Summer Holidays - First long weekend tripI didn't update this for quite long time... Fact is, I was not busy but my Laptop was very busy. Now we bought one more Laptop at home for our in-laws :)) I am using the new one. LOL !!!<br />
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Let me brief you about our third day trip and finish this looooooooooooong story. Even I am also feeling bit bored to write so obviously you people also think the same. Third Day, we went to Pittsburgh.<br />
First went to the famous Venkateshwara Temple, as you all know it is one of the earliest temples built in US. After having good darshanam, had nice prasadam there, Pulisadam, Thayir sadam, Pongal, Sambar etc... <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNvvo9mcj6z02xC4MQv-QzsrjjFgRGqqPvHoHijc5hfbMVlV_5UmoFxlX_pswWTNoFUcKDuGzfJLkpKfhYd6xm5ucKrAj0vtRNnGcS0K0r_GUmEY84RibjeR1VEJjBB8SLGOgcPfwuBI/s1600/IMG_1004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNvvo9mcj6z02xC4MQv-QzsrjjFgRGqqPvHoHijc5hfbMVlV_5UmoFxlX_pswWTNoFUcKDuGzfJLkpKfhYd6xm5ucKrAj0vtRNnGcS0K0r_GUmEY84RibjeR1VEJjBB8SLGOgcPfwuBI/s320/IMG_1004.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L_HcHqpvPpRZECypTWKnmrxRTuZ-bTsrxCY9YSE-qCiDoNCc1I6LwGsLjKALJFYF7A2S2zNSt7i8OjGGRA0RxV8Ptr7IFz0eJ7wSdXsustPERZCcQ4S3xqSRU0rrfFCnRfXv57529qM/s1600/DSCI0124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L_HcHqpvPpRZECypTWKnmrxRTuZ-bTsrxCY9YSE-qCiDoNCc1I6LwGsLjKALJFYF7A2S2zNSt7i8OjGGRA0RxV8Ptr7IFz0eJ7wSdXsustPERZCcQ4S3xqSRU0rrfFCnRfXv57529qM/s320/DSCI0124.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">From there, we went to another downtown and Enjoyed the famous Duquesne Incline.</div><blockquote>The Duquesne Incline is a inclined plane railroad, or funicular, located near Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood and scaling Mt. Washington. It was completed in 1877 and is 800 ft long, 400 ft in height, and is inclined at a 30 degree angle. It is an unusual gauge.</blockquote><blockquote>Originally steam powered, the Duquesne Incline was built to carry cargo up and down Mt. Washington in the late 1800s. It later carried passengers, particularly Mt. Washington residents who were tired of walking up footpaths to the top. Inclines were then being built all over Mt. Washington (<em><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duquesne_Incline">From Wikipedia</a></span></em>)</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge43udt4j-SRE8Yv0ZS-RtuO7E73h-gHY56wkeK31DINnVE_imrl5j3Mc4F2YAJvTmvFOItd3RAg1ln1nmXysUNaLtgdALtvHlNIInVDbmJPHIjyIud3Sx73wA0hDvWsZLQrq9r957Bjo/s1600/DSCI0136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge43udt4j-SRE8Yv0ZS-RtuO7E73h-gHY56wkeK31DINnVE_imrl5j3Mc4F2YAJvTmvFOItd3RAg1ln1nmXysUNaLtgdALtvHlNIInVDbmJPHIjyIud3Sx73wA0hDvWsZLQrq9r957Bjo/s320/DSCI0136.JPG" /></a></div>Thats all... Our trip ended nicely. Around 11 AM CST we started from there and reached Chicago at night 10'clock. On our way back, varuna bagavan started to pour without a break. So we took a break for around 45 min from the rain on the highway itself. Almost everybody pulled off to the shoulder.Still the drive was enjoyable and we reached safely, happily.Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-13817205740168962212010-07-17T22:53:00.000-05:002010-07-17T22:53:29.621-05:00Summer Holidays - First long weekend tripAfter a very long break I am continuing my long day trip...<br />
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Past couple of weeks myself and Karthik are so busy... Went to many shops in search of furniture and some kutti, kutti things for our home. Spent many nights in booking the flight tickets.<br />
Do you like to know the reason, why ?<br />
Its because my in-laws are in Chicago. After a great compulsion from our end, they accepted to come, that too on a condition. Only in summer as you all know winter is so bad here, specially in Chicago. They safely arrived day before yesterday and still recovering from jet lag :)) <br />
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OK, let we go back to our trip. After having a very good time in Hershey's we went to a Hotel in Lancaster, PA. Its a pathetic hotel we ever stayed. Poor thing is its run by our people. No words to explain about that hotel. Nothing was good... stained chairs, bed with full of dust, a small frozen fridge, I am not joking the whole fridge was frozen and looked so fishy. Fact is we payed twice the normal amount for that room. It was a very bad experience in the whole trip. Since there is no other go we stayed there without touching anything.<br />
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Next day morning we rushed out from there and enjoyed a beautiful drive, it was very pleasant. It made us to forget about the nightmare at the hotel. On our way to Philadelphia we went to Dutch farmland, Lancaster Amish county. <br />
<blockquote>The farmlands of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country are among the most productive in the nation. But many of the farmers here are different from most Americans; different by choice. These people trace their heritage back hundreds of years, and yet, despite all the time that has passed and the many changes that have taken place in society, they still live and work much as their forefathers did. Their families and their farms are their top priorities, second only to God. </blockquote><blockquote>Our Amish neighbors have been employing horse-drawn power since the days when horsepower had a whole different meaning! In comparison to our fast-paced society, the simpler, family-centered. The Amish have long preferred farming as a way of life. They feel their lifestyle and their families can best be maintained in a rural environment.While they do not permit the use of tractors in their fields, these old order Amish groups do use modern farm equipment pulled by teams of horses or mules.</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>The Amish are generally private people and often find all the attention and curiosity about their lifestyle disturbing. They believe that the taking of photographs where someone is recognizable is forbidden by the Biblical prohibition against making any 'graven image'. (<a href="http://www.800padutch.com/amish.shtml"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><strong>From amish website</strong></em></span></a>)</blockquote>The whole county was looking green, full farmland. If we cross a farm, atleast we can see minimum 15 horses, herd of grazing cows, 10 sheep, some cock and hens in there backyard of a small house. And the house will be midst of a big land.<br />
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<blockquote><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-dtMA_HhLKMXMiqJZ8d_IyL9XIpSy5-mfdg8LLIbqorWRiQdtSlynaRvqxliXsJolnKSL_icMAysbWaD_cLnGB8noukdy62pNep87tDp1XvMLabMUMlR0jau1tmt8pmznlLQmdmJlOxM/s1600/IMG_0834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-dtMA_HhLKMXMiqJZ8d_IyL9XIpSy5-mfdg8LLIbqorWRiQdtSlynaRvqxliXsJolnKSL_icMAysbWaD_cLnGB8noukdy62pNep87tDp1XvMLabMUMlR0jau1tmt8pmznlLQmdmJlOxM/s320/IMG_0834.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCuC1bOizSCXy8t_dQHGtP7OsfT4-0lDKBr7uh46ehVYS7MlQDvTGgwltzSJ39iAAAmEyp8iY1I8T4Dp6CN7tzYdG8SY5ZC76JNYGwAeP20DOjx8_hjPaC9I58Vg8Ik5xCeiLvh64abk/s1600/IMG_0843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCuC1bOizSCXy8t_dQHGtP7OsfT4-0lDKBr7uh46ehVYS7MlQDvTGgwltzSJ39iAAAmEyp8iY1I8T4Dp6CN7tzYdG8SY5ZC76JNYGwAeP20DOjx8_hjPaC9I58Vg8Ik5xCeiLvh64abk/s320/IMG_0843.JPG" /></a></div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Amish people use Buggies, a cart driven by a Horse to travel. We saw so many buggies going on the road. Without knowing our self we respected them and didn't took any pictures. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We pulled our car near a stream and had our brunch under a big tree. Felt as if we were in Tanjore farm field. The whole area was calm, clean, green. Just fantastic.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After few hours journey we reached Philadelphia. Went to all historic places like Declaration of Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin's house, first Congress Hall, Liberty bell and remembered 'National Treasure' movie. Crossed the Franklin bridge that links Pennsylvania with New Jersey. The highlight was the ride around town in a horse drawn carriage under the hot sun.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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Philadelphia, very small town. Since it was a first long weekend the whole place flooded with many people from different countries. Since we could not stand the heat we started early and went to a place called 'Valley Forge' a forest preserve park. This is the same place where George Washington stayed along with his army in Winter during the Revolutionary War period.<br />
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Had our lunch cum dinner in the forest, relaxed ourself for some minutes in the nice breezy forest and started our drive back. <br />
Successfully 2 days ran off...Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-25860838374299038522010-07-09T19:57:00.002-05:002010-07-09T20:11:37.124-05:00Weekend Hikes - Fort Sheridan, Half Day parkA couple of week ago, me and my husband went for hiking trial.<br />
Hurray, back on track !<br />
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Saturday --It was nice sunny day. We both woke up early morning 9 o' clock and planned to go for a walk. Went to a forest preserve park, few miles away from our place. The place is called 'Halfday preserve'. <br />
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Its one of the wonderful place which we saw near our place. We both walked in the midst of tall dense trees, sun rays were peeking in between the leaves and branches. On top of it, the trail path had many short curves on its way. The scenery was beautiful. It looked like a picture painting on the wall with wonderful colors.<br />
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Though the temperature was 82 + Fahrenheit we didn't felt the heat inside the forest. But lots and lots of mosquitoes. Unfortunately we didn't have any mosquito repellent, so some of them took our blood samples.<br />
I Forgot to take the camera, so photos are missing. Wish I will go once again and take the pictures.<br />
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Sunday evening we went to Fort Sheridan, it was former army base which was established in 1800 and was officially closed in 1993. <br />
When we started my husband didn't tell me much about the geography of this place, as usual he was talking the history only. Once we parked the car I saw a nice view and started jumping and running. Wait wait let me show you what i saw there.<br />
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Tell me who will not excited to go to beach :) This place has a small 0.75 mile beach<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Enjoyed a lot :) After clicking some nice photos I put the camera in my pocket, within a second it fell into the water : ( Oh yeah, its a sad part. Luckily nothing big damage occured to my camera. Somehow managed and took few more clicks. <br />
Apart from the beach this place also have hiking trails. On our way we saw the old parade ground, fort and a big bird's nest, etc.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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We both had a great time. Enjoyed the weekend nicely :) <br />
Share your experience with me... ByePreetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-46543493163890780122010-07-02T00:51:00.000-05:002010-07-02T00:51:37.067-05:00Summer Holidays -- First long weekend tripAfter having our lunch in a parking lot, we started to go to a sweet place. When we decided to go PA, this is the first place which everybody agreed without any second thought. I was so excited to see this place, so took the front seat with my camera ready. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJnYX1nDMXiDTsRtiN-DK34RhBYDCfh8TAK106UI5FotW2AR55m8IgdH43XUm7tcwWWOo8_IH1idjJH8iAcKntoNTH-QUbIMSafCIAtnhPHsNrDvX-5j2j2CR4yUrtVYl0HbX8jX7JeQ/s1600/IMG_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJnYX1nDMXiDTsRtiN-DK34RhBYDCfh8TAK106UI5FotW2AR55m8IgdH43XUm7tcwWWOo8_IH1idjJH8iAcKntoNTH-QUbIMSafCIAtnhPHsNrDvX-5j2j2CR4yUrtVYl0HbX8jX7JeQ/s320/IMG_0791.JPG" /></a></div>Yes, Hershey's Chocolate World. <br />
Hershey's is the largest and the oldest chocolate company in US. This company was founded in 1894,by Milton S. Hershey. Did you know Milton S. Hershey purchased his first chocolate making machinery at Chicago's World's Fair.<br />
<blockquote>Hershey's Chocolate World was built as a replacement of the Hershey chocolate plant tour. This tour was discontinued as it was no longer able to handle the large numbers of visitors every year. (<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>From Wikipedia)</em></span></blockquote><br />
Though its not the actual factory, we will not miss anything. Initially, I felt bit disappointed and wanted to go back to our room. Everything changed when we stepped in to the chocolate world omnimover, its a kind of a trolley moving on to a fixed rail. Once we get into the trolley, it starts moving and takes us inside the chocolate world, where we can see all the process involved in making chocolates. Right from the coco been arrival to the factory till the packaging and shipping. It was fun, the puppet cow will narrates all the process with a nice background song. Even if I had visited the actual chocolate factory I would have not enjoyed this much.<br />
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Once we were out from the chocolate tour, I directly headed to shopping. Wanted to buy loads of chocolate but only bought 2 small box, since we were travelling in hot sun I didn't buy much. Even these chocolates melted next day itself. But took many photos in the chocolate world, between the aisle.<br />
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These are only a part of the shopping complex. After having a big Chocolate Ice cream with mini chocolate topping, we waved a big bye to the chocolate world and started from Hershey's to a hotel in Lancaster, PA<br />
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</div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-80921744448097664642010-06-25T16:40:00.000-05:002010-06-25T16:40:57.043-05:00Creative WorkSome more creative work<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Paper crafts, easy way to add personal touch to our home. Put all your imaginations on the color paper, cut it paste it do as you like. Let me show some of mine.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><em>Paper Plant</em></strong>, rain or shine this plant will stay fresh for ever.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKluMftWG0pdm4tzWCljtmjuNtxK3IIj5uI4x6GVV9lq1wko5vAAjIcyZYHBUl3dCnBmaqnWLLi0iGKENbgi5sWr_DQofyTK2NJdi-_oKnH_rtEpX7hmZWBCLyYMGw8AKbhXcUImfAzIc/s1600/IMG_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKluMftWG0pdm4tzWCljtmjuNtxK3IIj5uI4x6GVV9lq1wko5vAAjIcyZYHBUl3dCnBmaqnWLLi0iGKENbgi5sWr_DQofyTK2NJdi-_oKnH_rtEpX7hmZWBCLyYMGw8AKbhXcUImfAzIc/s320/IMG_0504.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Colorful star shaped <strong><em>wall hanging</em></strong>. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><strong><em>Colorful sunflower</em></strong> on my door, to welcome all :)) Specially to welcome my in-laws, planning to visit US next month. <br />
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</div>Having lots more color paper, many more are still to come. Will keep you posted.<br />
I got all the inspiration from Martha Stewart site. if you want some, check this URL : <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/">http://www.marthastewart.com/</a><br />
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Bye bye !!!Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-2048971163131023082010-06-22T19:16:00.003-05:002010-06-29T13:49:26.556-05:00Summer Holidays - First Long weekend tripWe are still driving and few miles away from the great historic place. On our way we crossed a nice 2 mile long tunnel. The lights in the tunnel were so dramatic that it felt as if we were in the middle of a 'Batman' or 'Men in Black' movie. We all were so thrilled to drive in. <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6bj7_xXN7q3MAUF9CD8Fu5GsHPN12eTBv2-VosQZsVjdFpZaAmby8477__-1m_Zgk21wtMBF4_eSUtrO0NCbIqO94OmnrDYi_0qaFHOhSaIvWAynxmMe8WAYxvK3o_Lkut6hp8dyeWc/s1600/MVI_0656_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6bj7_xXN7q3MAUF9CD8Fu5GsHPN12eTBv2-VosQZsVjdFpZaAmby8477__-1m_Zgk21wtMBF4_eSUtrO0NCbIqO94OmnrDYi_0qaFHOhSaIvWAynxmMe8WAYxvK3o_Lkut6hp8dyeWc/s320/MVI_0656_0001.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJ0uQXeMIvOF2uWU5quXiKDLNlF2SwQA00oWGkACdae1CiZppxEzkKN1Xm2dZlHoLaqexiZbT0EaFgqHbuBg8G0X5MtT64rnhNi6JeukyL-fYW0Xvx13dGZFxeJRyRlSqg6eg2P6Rgd0/s1600/Chaya_Chaya_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJ0uQXeMIvOF2uWU5quXiKDLNlF2SwQA00oWGkACdae1CiZppxEzkKN1Xm2dZlHoLaqexiZbT0EaFgqHbuBg8G0X5MtT64rnhNi6JeukyL-fYW0Xvx13dGZFxeJRyRlSqg6eg2P6Rgd0/s320/Chaya_Chaya_0001.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In fact, to watch the full video you can click this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzPboz-x6wo"><em><strong>Youtube</strong></em></a> link :)) Enjoy !</div>Sudharshun and Thani took the front seat and me and Karthik shared the back seat. As soon as we were out of the tunnel we took an exit and started driving in 'Lincoln Highway'. Let me tell something about the great Lincoln Highway.<br />
<blockquote style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The <strong><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Highway#Mapping">Lincoln Highway</a></em></strong> was the first road across the United States of America. Actively promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway originally spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California.</blockquote><blockquote>The first officially recorded length of the entire Lincoln Highway was 3389 miles (5454 km) in 1913. Over the years, the road was improved and numerous realignments were made, and by 1924 the highway had been shortened to 3142 miles (5056 km). Counting the original route and all of the subsequent realignments, there is a grand total of 5869 miles (9445 km). <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">(From Wikipedia)</span></em></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qIJ7WRB-Z0IL64E6GZ7v82npW7UOmaxIfqFP309AIIdWU1CLkUxBwmaKQgqoFpb9ui3zSOOPLM0f9uM6D-GivOE7gfwhpe07OG0RiATSPxmow9_QzaOZ0zQuhIyXIF6pneeIt40t-kw/s1600/Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qIJ7WRB-Z0IL64E6GZ7v82npW7UOmaxIfqFP309AIIdWU1CLkUxBwmaKQgqoFpb9ui3zSOOPLM0f9uM6D-GivOE7gfwhpe07OG0RiATSPxmow9_QzaOZ0zQuhIyXIF6pneeIt40t-kw/s400/Map.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This highway is called 'US Route 30' in PA. This one was so different compared to all we come across earlier. Its a one lane road, had sudden ups and downs, more sharp short curves. Also had very less or no shoulders. Karthik forced Sudharshun to take over the back seat and he drove the car, because we all felt little scared. Absolutely not because of Sudharshun Driving, the road was like that. <br />
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I really cant explain that in words, once you drive in that you all can understand what I am telling. Though we were little scared we enjoyed the scenic view around us. <br />
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</div>At last, by 1.00 pm we reached the Great historic battle field in Gettysburg. This was the most important battle field and was a turning point in the US Civil War. The battle was fought for 3 days starting from July 1, 1863. The causalities were horrible, around 8000 killed and 36000 wounded or missing.<br />
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US government painstakingly restored the whole battle field to the way it looked during those fateful July days. States which contributed troops for this battle have erected individual memorials for their regiments who served in the battle.<br />
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We spent around 3 hours in this place, Sudharshun and Karthik were so excited they both were talking about all the events happened here. They both like History a lot. After seeing this battle field we went and saw a huge painting called "Gettysburg Cyclorama"<br />
<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote> The painting is the work of French artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. It depicts "Pickett's Charge", the failed infantry assault that was the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The painting is a cyclorama, a type of 360° cylindrical painting.original painting was 22 feet (6.7 m) high and 279 feet (85 m) in circumference. The version that hangs in Gettysburg, a recreation of the original, is 27 feet (8.2 m) high and 359 feet (109 m) in circumference,[1] although that version has lost some of its size due to the ravages of time. Its original size is estimated at 42 feet (13 m) high and 365 feet (111 m) in circumference. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>(From Wikipedia</em></span>) </blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was so shocked to see that painting. It doesn't looked like a painting at all to me. It was looking so real like a 3D picture. When we were planning this trip, Karthik was telling me about this painting but it was much bigger and breathtaking than what I imagined.<br />
Just posting some photos, these are only a small part of the big cyclorama painting</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vU8j4PNXUpw2SfEDHD43J77NhtjFnvDazxsIGeffNMGdlxkDpC3Noydz2WkbyCC0G7FsEepQH5rwl2Vgs-UFJanBX58AIGA-T078DmPh8e1kdizVKUnOTL6XOMjtBDvqal6fK6LvpRI/s1600/IMG_0710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vU8j4PNXUpw2SfEDHD43J77NhtjFnvDazxsIGeffNMGdlxkDpC3Noydz2WkbyCC0G7FsEepQH5rwl2Vgs-UFJanBX58AIGA-T078DmPh8e1kdizVKUnOTL6XOMjtBDvqal6fK6LvpRI/s320/IMG_0710.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>It is fantastic isn't it ! Oh, I enjoyed it...<br />
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Its 4.00 pm we all were hungry, couldn't find any place to sit and eat. So drove out few miles away from the battle field pulled over near a Wendy's parking lot, opened our bag and had our lunch in the car itself. It was a different experience for us, 4 people eating inside a car, where all the foods are to be served from the box and nothing was ready to eat.<br />
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If you get a chance to pass that place, don't miss the US 30 route and the Cyclorama painting. Those were the highlights of our day. <br />
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Hm, from there we went to sweet, yummy delicious place. I m not kidding. Will tell about this in my next post. Bye !!!Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-77952555223171390692010-06-15T15:26:00.002-05:002010-06-15T15:34:59.117-05:00Summer Holidays -- First long weekend tripFriday morning, my hubby, Karthik went to office and promised to come early. Sudharshun, good boy didn't go to office at all and one more friend, also joining us in the trip. His name is Thani and this was his first long trip in US. I was busy in lot of preparation. Do you want to know what I prepared for this trip, pls check <a href="http://preethibhojan.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-long-trip-and-foodie-bag.html"><em><strong>here</strong></em></a>. By 3.00 pm we all started. For the first time Karthik and myself sat in the back. Yes, Sudharshun was driving the car.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We were struck in heavy traffic for the first two hours. Karthik knew this before, so he said he will drive after taking first break. Poor Sudharshun. Once we crossed Chicago, the traffic was normal. Our first stay point is Youngstown in Ohio, 7.30hrs drive from our place. this is as per the Google, Map prediction. But for us it will differ because we will take some breaks in between. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AosKYa-gERuPZb2kLvgY4ClQnTRz5oPG4OEwTsxsgJwuZrouFRzx4OkLf65VDc1_221QhLU2i6hhxSjGX8-J38htvYBfCukSGxV5KUIfk2D5GEnRuhImNLE5KxcDts5Nh9c-VUA2gy0/s1600/IMG_0547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AosKYa-gERuPZb2kLvgY4ClQnTRz5oPG4OEwTsxsgJwuZrouFRzx4OkLf65VDc1_221QhLU2i6hhxSjGX8-J38htvYBfCukSGxV5KUIfk2D5GEnRuhImNLE5KxcDts5Nh9c-VUA2gy0/s320/IMG_0547.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7WB_d3lej1hZpPV6aE5fZtdk8H3Wk0Y0AZIc47lQytWI0ia9hDLOopK3rMP4iHl2SV8ZNWzUQOb3JAeASmkMwCkLvYoGTLniixVI4tedoGjxfY55L-AKEYpypzHCWYhvQM19I4aXoYk/s1600/IMG_0549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7WB_d3lej1hZpPV6aE5fZtdk8H3Wk0Y0AZIc47lQytWI0ia9hDLOopK3rMP4iHl2SV8ZNWzUQOb3JAeASmkMwCkLvYoGTLniixVI4tedoGjxfY55L-AKEYpypzHCWYhvQM19I4aXoYk/s320/IMG_0549.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We stopped in Ohio, turnpike service plaza for dinner.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>It looks so tempting isn't it !!! But we didn't enjoy much here, because lot of mosquito's, since we sat in an open area. After the mosquito bite dinner, got our energy back and started our journey again. We like to drive a lot in night time rather than day light. After 3 hours we reached the Hotel and slept nicely.<br />
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Saturday Morning, we planned to start from Youngstown at 6.30 am. Since we wanted to go for a early morning drive hearing 'Rudram" (slogam) in the background, to see the misty, foggy dark sky dawning into a clear, bright, blue sky . Unfortunately, everybody except me woke up very late (as always), so we started at 8 o' clock only. I thought we missed that morning drive :( God heard us and gave a big surprise !!!<br />
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</div>We were speechless and felt extremely happy. Its almost 9.00 am and we saw misty cloud all over. I started clicking everything. Once we entered Pennsylvania turnpike I thought we were in the midst of forest and mountains. Wherever you turn, you can see green all the way. <br />
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</div>See its looking as if somebody sketched the whole place with green and blues. I loved it !!!<br />
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In my next post I will say where we were heading and what historic piece we saw... BYE BYEPreetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-86033074643277162242010-06-09T13:41:00.003-05:002010-06-09T13:53:25.386-05:00Summer Holidays -- First long weekend tripAfter our winter trip to Washington D.C, we didn't go any other long trip. We were waiting for our first summer weekend, May month end for a big trip. We have been planning so many days ahead for our Summer trip. We shortlisted many places...<br />
<ol><li>North Dakota</li>
<li>Texas</li>
<li>Circumventing lake Michigan </li>
<li>Green bay in Wisconsin .... List was going on and on !!!</li>
</ol>At last our friend (Hope you all know, Sudharshun) suggested <em><strong>'Pennsylvania'</strong></em> (called PA) and we all accepted it. From next day, Me and my Husband were browsing a lot and lot to shortlist the places where to go and what to do in PA. My goodness PA is such a big state and we find it difficult to finalise the places. <br />
My Husband and his friend love History a lot... They both wanted to go all the historical Battle field, museums, anything related to history. I hate History, mainly Museums :(( Somehow we finalised the places.<br />
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A week before we booked all the hotels and were waiting like kids for the weekend to come :))<br />
Forgot to tell you, booking hotel. Oh, its such a pain. Have to check for good locality near the Highway, near to our next destination, the hotel should have all basic things, must be cheap, Internet should be fast, etc...This time we spent so many nights in search of hotel to get a good deal.<br />
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Now-a-days, I prepare a big list before we start off to any trip. This I am doing after my marriage only, before that my Amma, sister, and my Manni will take care of everything. (Oh, I m missing them). Here everything will ends in me, to avoid the 11th hour tension and to be little perfect I prepared the full list about the dresses we wear, things we carry like camera, I-pod, chargers, extra batteries, Printout of the hotel confirmation, Toiletry items, so many little things. <br />
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This time my Hubby was also very good. He took the maps of all the places. Also prepared a full schedule of our 3 days trip. We were planning to cover the whole PA state. Hope you can understand what I am saying from the below map. If not, please write to me.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKA7Wt8yXhI0CEbsdSGOWfmZRZumZcmt3Evj-oMqiqkvhQeFEhPBTL7giDObatBMm1Ym-Rtvtsi7_Sr3DDdEjxbtomYNKgnZ9noFWkA5HcVI29ydW41fLnGv_0pywaOBPhGci7M7ZQ5SM/s1600/Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKA7Wt8yXhI0CEbsdSGOWfmZRZumZcmt3Evj-oMqiqkvhQeFEhPBTL7giDObatBMm1Ym-Rtvtsi7_Sr3DDdEjxbtomYNKgnZ9noFWkA5HcVI29ydW41fLnGv_0pywaOBPhGci7M7ZQ5SM/s400/Map.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Here ends the introduction chapter, I will tell you more about our trip in the coming chapters.<br />
Till then wait for me :)<br />
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Bye !!!Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-76966153889495018472010-06-02T14:54:00.001-05:002010-06-02T14:55:24.783-05:00Weekend Hikes -- Chain Of LakesSummer Season வந்தாலும் வந்தது, நாங்க நல்லா நடக்க (ஊர் சுத்த) ஆரம்பிச்சிட்டோம். ரெண்டு வாரம் முன்னாடி Chain of Lakes -ன்னு ஒரு இடத்துக்கு (park) போனோம். As the name says, இந்த இடத்த சுத்தி ஏழு Lake இருக்கு. இந்த எல்லா lake-யும் Fox river-ன்னு ஒரு ஆறு connect பண்றது.<br />
இந்த Map பார்த்தா உங்களுக்கு புரியும் <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">இந்த இடத்துல நிறைய Lake இருக்கறதால நிறைய Boat shops இருந்துத்து. Boat மேல பறக்கறது பார்க்க அழகா இருக்குல்ல!!! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7FFMV84tKEavugfiQUxEmzbSsUcZOQWE1MAyuzhmsDwFg4ZKNMdR639m3wKvf4oJB2eilWg4T-YuGfPPYCAOp7H6UgC9XHnXsmEKpI6K2Zb2SDLekH7YQNzSSda2fWW1_R_A7kAk1-Y/s320/IMG_0371.JPG" /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">நாங்க பார்த்த மத்த இடத்தை விட இந்த Chain of lakes, Park ரொம்ப different-ஆ இருந்துத்து. திடிருன்னு ஒரு இடத்ல அடர்த்தியா மரம், கொஞ்சம் நடந்தா பக்கத்ல sudden-ஆ planes. தூரத்தல பார்த்தா அழகான River, Mind blowing scenery .</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdl-ktTXWLEwRf9yQdwx_nnQAEw0scijg1eApbzWyzfPgUrv9vu99x2Znj3LwjQg_RjisaMj4eFDrsNGnsgE29s-YqCHIh_flWPkrUiLmOqN6Ga9HAFUdBWsIkACOWhcCeD-xd6zH9ePU/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdl-ktTXWLEwRf9yQdwx_nnQAEw0scijg1eApbzWyzfPgUrv9vu99x2Znj3LwjQg_RjisaMj4eFDrsNGnsgE29s-YqCHIh_flWPkrUiLmOqN6Ga9HAFUdBWsIkACOWhcCeD-xd6zH9ePU/s320/IMG_0390.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWMnB1ZqC4CV_03kIX7A0QbpyS7fHPcGv3JefJM6-KBwbD-VODKM5xM-Tsl1VzTKbmWIf94QZg38pQpOWBP3TB0d3hu6g2avMxF5mMkHNqKSRw8NfshFZmvQoCH4Haaw6WDjUgWLmucM/s1600/IMG_0382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWMnB1ZqC4CV_03kIX7A0QbpyS7fHPcGv3JefJM6-KBwbD-VODKM5xM-Tsl1VzTKbmWIf94QZg38pQpOWBP3TB0d3hu6g2avMxF5mMkHNqKSRw8NfshFZmvQoCH4Haaw6WDjUgWLmucM/s320/IMG_0382.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MghU16oUR3GOzYa4Xl4UVX312yo-5HZnK2H1ZGdjMor1nBpQZvy2bFTVVUxwi9FDTHmNlISJzHs45eAE9VX4wfLR1Qxl9PvczjIDJcIKidiaXKQGizGEWM9u5-_Ea-RvJJ_f7EV-nII/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MghU16oUR3GOzYa4Xl4UVX312yo-5HZnK2H1ZGdjMor1nBpQZvy2bFTVVUxwi9FDTHmNlISJzHs45eAE9VX4wfLR1Qxl9PvczjIDJcIKidiaXKQGizGEWM9u5-_Ea-RvJJ_f7EV-nII/s320/IMG_0386.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoR_m8QZvN1iEcgSTP77HxQZbrZaSNHLilvW5jgwcN21LOmmthVg9Rq0vCUeLGPlJi6BGHcTeYm7sWYlOAZaZub8wF89hrXQdZGad91tTQ64MhVkJF76a0S3N0AjxZ_tcHHbj2WZseqY/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoR_m8QZvN1iEcgSTP77HxQZbrZaSNHLilvW5jgwcN21LOmmthVg9Rq0vCUeLGPlJi6BGHcTeYm7sWYlOAZaZub8wF89hrXQdZGad91tTQ64MhVkJF76a0S3N0AjxZ_tcHHbj2WZseqY/s320/IMG_0395.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhe0x8FARFKxXLleG0VMDIFT8Ib-bZc4SRhyphenhyphengP4p9R2hbn_tCqmV7h4HC_AEr7JcLfBHihzZA-prcqfxMmSFDo4LCcFwT7Avc8drPf3rd_4QYo3F1umfid1Gcbuhi0wL6ym6GFyjtUV4/s1600/IMG_0397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhe0x8FARFKxXLleG0VMDIFT8Ib-bZc4SRhyphenhyphengP4p9R2hbn_tCqmV7h4HC_AEr7JcLfBHihzZA-prcqfxMmSFDo4LCcFwT7Avc8drPf3rd_4QYo3F1umfid1Gcbuhi0wL6ym6GFyjtUV4/s320/IMG_0397.JPG" /></a></div>இந்த இடத்ல என்னோட 'Paper plant' செயர்துக்கு குச்சி தேடி தேடி கடைசில எடுக்கவேயில்லை. நல்லா ஒரு 4 மைல் நடந்துட்டு இங்கேருந்து கிளம்பிட்டோம்.<br />
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</div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-31161313497217628392010-05-20T19:05:00.001-05:002010-05-20T19:07:03.792-05:00Bournvita Milk ShakeThis is one of my all time favorite.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSZvGytiDUl7EwcsXoiYJJgIWLC0awRU4HX1-kvGytGNGoTiCHWir2MUPXfX8woPCPYuDr_tdMhY29XTsO7sR83wLdMFssiQkU16JcVlGwKTNL9c6gSPV6wks7-l_vKpcXjwm-a5Wzb8/s1600/IMG_0431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSZvGytiDUl7EwcsXoiYJJgIWLC0awRU4HX1-kvGytGNGoTiCHWir2MUPXfX8woPCPYuDr_tdMhY29XTsO7sR83wLdMFssiQkU16JcVlGwKTNL9c6gSPV6wks7-l_vKpcXjwm-a5Wzb8/s320/IMG_0431.JPG" /></a></div><br />
I will do this more often at home, Shhhh...Its secret, because When I was young, I don't like to drink hot Bournvita daily in the morning. So I will let it cool in room temperature for about an hour and drink; otherwise I will keep in freezer for some minutes and drink. Many years later, I started to put same Bornvita in the mixer and whisk it and drink.<br />
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I am a Bournvita Girl :)<br />
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<u><em>Ingredient :</em></u><br />
*** Milk – 2 cups<br />
*** Bournvita – 4 tbsp<br />
*** Sugar – 3 tbsp<br />
*** Vanilla Ice cream – 2 (Optional)<br />
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<u><em>Method :</em></u> <br />
There is no much steps in this Milk shake at all. Just add all the Ingredient in the blender and give a whisk. If you are adding Ice cream add only half of it and reserve some for topping before serving.<br />
No one can go wrong in this. <br />
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A perfect chocolate Milk shake for the good summer.<br />
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I know Bournvita is not available in all places, so it can be very well replaced with coco powder, drinking chocolate, any coco related product. Adjust sweet in your milk shake according to your taste.<br />
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I am sending this to my great friend for the event <a href="http://divya-dilse.blogspot.com/2010/05/show-me-your-smoothie.html"><strong><em>'Show me your smoothie'</em></strong></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX0mfrJ28ACKtOWkEqt7nYDo8MGulTgWXzFw7nPOq6PxH-y25aU4bCQNuBgfK8x1amzdWXHKxD4AlZ-nUV-oimp8vORmz7dcInErSNlb4LxubHUqkEKgoev07li4YyujwLLu4MoniWLI/s1600/IMG_0432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX0mfrJ28ACKtOWkEqt7nYDo8MGulTgWXzFw7nPOq6PxH-y25aU4bCQNuBgfK8x1amzdWXHKxD4AlZ-nUV-oimp8vORmz7dcInErSNlb4LxubHUqkEKgoev07li4YyujwLLu4MoniWLI/s320/IMG_0432.JPG" /></a></div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-66850288045814933662010-05-19T13:03:00.001-05:002010-05-19T22:30:37.111-05:00Weekend Hikes - Starved Rock State park<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Food Mela முடிச்ச அடுத்த நாள் நாங்க Starved Rock State park-க்கு போனோம். என்னதான் நான் பயங்கர tired -ஆ இருந்தாலும் (முன்னாள் சமைச்ச tiredness) இங்க போறர்துக்கு உடனே ஊம் சொன்னேன். Oh, come On, 6 மாசத்துக்கு அப்புறம் இப்பதான் வெளியே போறேன் :))</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLKjhmC0hb3hkAx_I03NdOAtKx4GhsG0Qqg0LiGmawvn6jm3wx4ooM8lbkQ7VzQKSQVkj_cte5cSGHArnypT_MLpWAOJSQvUOpWw0gEnZ0JrLXeEkeXlu29eaoJ3P9yf6BaopVMlTZzs/s1600/IMG_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLKjhmC0hb3hkAx_I03NdOAtKx4GhsG0Qqg0LiGmawvn6jm3wx4ooM8lbkQ7VzQKSQVkj_cte5cSGHArnypT_MLpWAOJSQvUOpWw0gEnZ0JrLXeEkeXlu29eaoJ3P9yf6BaopVMlTZzs/s320/IMG_0073.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksWmnHzBpRpWLVWAvOubd6xsFBCJun_8v780MWQSqhq5kEizmb1nMZEhrocdkkBCM7PaQDGe5d5s_bpr6PP30aF5XJKPMHeWNwp-0rS6QuqAoDrHIzSlm_XuHdh4KD8qnZWmDENUR0-w/s1600/IMG_0075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksWmnHzBpRpWLVWAvOubd6xsFBCJun_8v780MWQSqhq5kEizmb1nMZEhrocdkkBCM7PaQDGe5d5s_bpr6PP30aF5XJKPMHeWNwp-0rS6QuqAoDrHIzSlm_XuHdh4KD8qnZWmDENUR0-w/s320/IMG_0075.JPG" tt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CQXXDgph69joN8ir3Vaw1ctbOwmc1boZYq_k3ARKuwOgqKICb0e5qvPGShbtblyirFFMUA-WCcr6tAtT96UJKPbO28WrOxkeCAVwN0OBCtKMdK3BOprKuLrGtFOVFgEHePUeb49sStU/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CQXXDgph69joN8ir3Vaw1ctbOwmc1boZYq_k3ARKuwOgqKICb0e5qvPGShbtblyirFFMUA-WCcr6tAtT96UJKPbO28WrOxkeCAVwN0OBCtKMdK3BOprKuLrGtFOVFgEHePUeb49sStU/s320/IMG_0077.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">இத பார்த்தா நம்ம ஊர்ல ஒரு பெரிய காடுன்னு சொல்லுவா, அவ்ளோ பெரிசு, 2630 acres.இதுல நிறைய Hiking Trails, Water falls, Canyon எல்லாம் இருக்கு. இன்னொரு அழகான விஷயம் இந்த park, Illinois River கரைல இருக்கு. சரி வாங்க எல்லோருக்கும் இந்த இடத்தை காட்டறேன். </div><br />
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ஊ... இந்த மாதிரி செடிய பார்த்தா தொடக்கூடாது. <br />
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நாங்க முதல்ல Starved rock-க்கு போனோம். இந்த Rock-க்கு மேலே தான் முதல் முதல்ல French ஒரு Fort கட்டினாங்க. இப்போ அந்த Fort இல்லை, ஆனா இங்கேருந்து பார்த்தா Illinois River அது மேல கட்டிருக்க பெரிய Dam -மும் தெரியும். <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnG9CPHn0B7izw1VOwLPa5PvyHXWd3wsGYyzfEA6QM5LZnXL4tX8PW1XVcpDfFicPWcNFTE5_QrHMOCnWl86s8d-BvVXwrbEb8YPPdHCtInlmC_ZuEHg6p5NSv35pODiubpV4fHQI0aY/s1600/IMG_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnG9CPHn0B7izw1VOwLPa5PvyHXWd3wsGYyzfEA6QM5LZnXL4tX8PW1XVcpDfFicPWcNFTE5_QrHMOCnWl86s8d-BvVXwrbEb8YPPdHCtInlmC_ZuEHg6p5NSv35pODiubpV4fHQI0aY/s320/IMG_0089.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-RoiozFL5VOtVXtMgv9aNc41H2VaEZUTfqQsf1DVWw1ITuA7cz5ZvBYLEg00GPB-RUGFbpeX9P073yEU2Qk_CQadi6ac6DUFnbLtes0Jwk569cG99Qj3eyBPnzH5d7_FWg0xam3MJ8A/s1600/IMG_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-RoiozFL5VOtVXtMgv9aNc41H2VaEZUTfqQsf1DVWw1ITuA7cz5ZvBYLEg00GPB-RUGFbpeX9P073yEU2Qk_CQadi6ac6DUFnbLtes0Jwk569cG99Qj3eyBPnzH5d7_FWg0xam3MJ8A/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>அங்கேருந்து நாங்க நடந்தோம் நடந்தோம் நடந்து இன்னொரு cliff மேல ஏறினோம்.<br />
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இம்... ஒரு வழியா ஏறிட்டோம். இங்கேருந்தும் top view அழகாயிருக்கு, மொத்தம் காடா தெரியுது. இந்த பாறைலேருந்து பார்த்தா 'Starved Rock' தெரியும். இந்த இடத்துல 8000 BC -ல Native Americans இருந்தாங்க.<br />
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அங்கேருந்து இன்னொரு சூப்பரான எடுத்ததுக்கு போனோம். அந்த அடர்ந்த காட்ல ஒரு ஒத்தடி பாதைல நாங்க மட்டும் நடந்து போனோம். I am so excited :) பயங்கர Cinematic, Romantic -அ இருந்துத்து <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsURFepT8Xvw2WV5qa760UmCdQZavDKM-XTT2XvY1QVxw61uvkMtFQPjw4-TDCZz4KAvoZWEVlF8pnlJpifE4GDQ-KHgzsI37fXK2wtN67O_QC8yFbq2_OOO4YaYdKn8iy-lrelnZC70g/s1600/IMG_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsURFepT8Xvw2WV5qa760UmCdQZavDKM-XTT2XvY1QVxw61uvkMtFQPjw4-TDCZz4KAvoZWEVlF8pnlJpifE4GDQ-KHgzsI37fXK2wtN67O_QC8yFbq2_OOO4YaYdKn8iy-lrelnZC70g/s320/IMG_0190.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZDX6Yyvhsg8GLwm8Ha7kS8P5rc51pL2OxwVC3rQ9OlLm2pfiM8F-rFR2QC_krNdYpjNSnb13aIx6d00bNQ3x6-fCfT8ibcJyPHI895s6zF5BW-IiomxGaQqAQMAZcGlkJmSOGfQfvso/s1600/IMG_0191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZDX6Yyvhsg8GLwm8Ha7kS8P5rc51pL2OxwVC3rQ9OlLm2pfiM8F-rFR2QC_krNdYpjNSnb13aIx6d00bNQ3x6-fCfT8ibcJyPHI895s6zF5BW-IiomxGaQqAQMAZcGlkJmSOGfQfvso/s320/IMG_0191.JPG" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7CmoqZVDn5n1BtfpI8gBCMhMTtr7dui4KukoWl1Tb-lMFXEYO1J-4ifl0x0HGi0j2Q9dXXObQxAQ9ca7Jbyv2XspHmCzrtf2lBR6KGUPL8hyphenhyphenLUBLBTuRC2Xp1An4znmpB5yVkJl3yME/s1600/IMG_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7CmoqZVDn5n1BtfpI8gBCMhMTtr7dui4KukoWl1Tb-lMFXEYO1J-4ifl0x0HGi0j2Q9dXXObQxAQ9ca7Jbyv2XspHmCzrtf2lBR6KGUPL8hyphenhyphenLUBLBTuRC2Xp1An4znmpB5yVkJl3yME/s320/IMG_0199.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
இந்த சின்ன Stream -ல தான் நடந்து போகணும். போனா என்ன வரும் ???நீங்களே பாருங்க No words to describe it ! Its French Canyon<br />
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ரொம்ப ரொம்ப அழகா இருந்துத்து... சில பல photos எடுந்துண்டு பொறுமையா கிளம்பி வெளியே வந்தோம். வெளிய வரர்சே என்னை யாரோ குப்டா, யாருன்னு பார்த்தா என் cousin. கிட்ட கிட்ட அவளை பார்த்து ஆறு, ஏழு வருஷம் ஆயிருக்கும். <br />
கொஞ்ச நேரம் (நிமிஷம்) அவக்கிட்ட பேசிட்டு, Illinois river கரைல உட்கார்ந்து நல்ல தயிர்சாதம் சாப்ட்டு வீட்டுக்கு கிளம்பிட்டோம் <br />
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One more Hiking Trail... நல்லா enjoy பண்ணினோம்Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-40284478657960673612010-05-12T17:07:00.000-05:002010-05-12T17:07:49.015-05:00Creative work<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After my Marriage (like all girls saying) my whole life changed. Ha,ha,ha... Its true. Even life changes for Men, but they will not admit to each other or to us. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Since I m in US with H4 Visa, I can't go and work. I am having lots and lots of free time. So slowly started to cook different dishes, this story you all know. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Apart from cooking, I started more creative work at home. This is giving peace to my mind and also adds beauty to my room. Want to see what i m doing, here it is ....</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcY3GIXWuz-rSKriH384NM84-HraRyRH7IBe4TvUr0N6WqZgH8T3FHBOaAgh-I1jLWR48cYvD1fiTcoXC1RNAwDGU2eI-Nd5Zxdan9Ivqu5gkJfBsdhVtEa628xtURhZ0MmTNoHrCJ4s/s1600/Vathistand4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcY3GIXWuz-rSKriH384NM84-HraRyRH7IBe4TvUr0N6WqZgH8T3FHBOaAgh-I1jLWR48cYvD1fiTcoXC1RNAwDGU2eI-Nd5Zxdan9Ivqu5gkJfBsdhVtEa628xtURhZ0MmTNoHrCJ4s/s200/Vathistand4.JPG" width="200" wt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7vezU_rYUEG3kN_r75DdX4e843jWUOU8Rl2v6fi1ruiey6Ue-bAjErgGObXnMuUg5O9a7jT7uUrvSrvmFd-fqaV2N38Mo7hkaoayPMn-U5cJZF5PpgOkES30NVV3WMAGiXicnV2W5kM/s1600/Vathistand3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7vezU_rYUEG3kN_r75DdX4e843jWUOU8Rl2v6fi1ruiey6Ue-bAjErgGObXnMuUg5O9a7jT7uUrvSrvmFd-fqaV2N38Mo7hkaoayPMn-U5cJZF5PpgOkES30NVV3WMAGiXicnV2W5kM/s200/Vathistand3.JPG" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJ-TBtJOLWTvOhzEXaBk2Eh40vJ3RaxJ9VxWFyFyWpy853Fth8-pLN4nEh863e2FTsUCsOC1r8dXu1PiY87V1hhMr3Dh6QYzPDYCvYiywo9J9rz6bXjmEEQtw8UYeMftNhDOY8YPv1Y8/s1600/Vathistand5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJ-TBtJOLWTvOhzEXaBk2Eh40vJ3RaxJ9VxWFyFyWpy853Fth8-pLN4nEh863e2FTsUCsOC1r8dXu1PiY87V1hhMr3Dh6QYzPDYCvYiywo9J9rz6bXjmEEQtw8UYeMftNhDOY8YPv1Y8/s200/Vathistand5.JPG" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div>Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-10348193431528034442010-05-03T16:15:00.001-05:002010-05-03T16:18:01.948-05:00Food MelaLast Friday, we conducted one more <a href="http://funanddreams.blogspot.com/2010/03/food-mela-for-cause.html">Food Mela</a> as a fund rising program for a charitable organization called 'Sivanjali Trust'. It is in India that runs free Women and Child care centers in Coimbatore and Chennai. Coimbatore center is undergoing a major expansion now, they are building a big hospital for Mother care unit with all modern equipments.<br />
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To know more about them pls visit <a href="http://shivanjali.in/">http://shivanjali.in/</a> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMjY57LZL_7VzYv_KUjp_M57pz5NhALyR355thO7jg93W-0IeGStzGtpIxDPYIPOiO7dXcudsm3Eyzr1cfg3MUyq9dxT-NK8ioQeeOEdAxnwGoUNusbffjomk6lVzhLVMzIJjfUdhhHA/s1600/mother+and+child+health+centre+-+2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMjY57LZL_7VzYv_KUjp_M57pz5NhALyR355thO7jg93W-0IeGStzGtpIxDPYIPOiO7dXcudsm3Eyzr1cfg3MUyq9dxT-NK8ioQeeOEdAxnwGoUNusbffjomk6lVzhLVMzIJjfUdhhHA/s320/mother+and+child+health+centre+-+2010.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
To support them, we organized this food mela. Since its a dinner party, I cooked differently from last time.<br />
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Here is the menu :) <br />
<ul><li>Spinach Pizza</li>
<li>Vegetable Spring rolls</li>
<li>Coconut Rice</li>
<li>Aviyal</li>
<li>Potato with Peas fry</li>
<li> Curd Rice</li>
<li>Carrot Halwa</li>
</ul>In between the tight schedule (cooking) I managed to take pictures of the food, which i missed in last food mela.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQutdskD8gAUQHp22GKGmLsTcGmIhf-HwZcUw0hOubCzBSY5zqYKJTyM8Uhjsy8NSH5Djo5zemahW8B_vM09xuIyoFq2oANeeNX1uliZ9ANCAkJOCcXtoW_eyW-psL6HVsIuJ5c4FF4U/s1600/IMG_0054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQutdskD8gAUQHp22GKGmLsTcGmIhf-HwZcUw0hOubCzBSY5zqYKJTyM8Uhjsy8NSH5Djo5zemahW8B_vM09xuIyoFq2oANeeNX1uliZ9ANCAkJOCcXtoW_eyW-psL6HVsIuJ5c4FF4U/s320/IMG_0054.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
We have invited around 12 members this time.Everybody enjoyed the food. After the dinner we all played Wii games and had a great time.<br />
This time also everybody generously contributed.<br />
We are very thankful to all who supported us.<br />
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My sincere thanks to all for your support. This is my 50 th Post and also going to complete an year :))<br />
Sounds funny no :))) Ha,ha,ha...Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-37380413305432995792010-04-27T11:36:00.007-05:002010-05-19T22:31:25.130-05:00Weekend Hikes - Indiana Dunesபோன வாரம் நாங்க Indiana Dunes national lake shore-க்கு போயிருந்தோம். இது Michigan Lake-ல இருக்குற ஒரு குட்டி beach. சும்மா ஒரு 25 மைல் தான் !!! ரொம்ப அழகா இருந்துத்து. அந்த full stretch-க்கும் பக்கத்துல அழகான நிறைய குட்டி குட்டி parks, Trails எல்லாம் இருக்கு. நீங்க பார்க்கறது Google Map picture<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHOZPbZpA5tvLhq1gkqfaqKRPi6PKgmLgJZG6-44BAAVr7y1S_6mQMBMbFA_vMZ9wAD0y0I0n1An8MacIIG3y4ONOvfiKIZW2oH5h8VIKNzdEuaJ9Jq6fG10hGdAFZn6HJUUqXGolv-A/s1600/IMG_4224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHOZPbZpA5tvLhq1gkqfaqKRPi6PKgmLgJZG6-44BAAVr7y1S_6mQMBMbFA_vMZ9wAD0y0I0n1An8MacIIG3y4ONOvfiKIZW2oH5h8VIKNzdEuaJ9Jq6fG10hGdAFZn6HJUUqXGolv-A/s320/IMG_4224.JPG" width="320" wt="true" /></a><br />
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நல்லா சாப்பாடு பண்ணி எடுத்துண்டு ஒரு 12.00மணிக்கு கிளம்பினோம். வழில கொஞ்சம் ரூட்-அ சொதப்பினோம், ஆனாலும் ஒரு ரெண்டு மணி நேரத்துல போய் சேர்ந்துட்டோம். இங்க எல்லா ஊர்லயும் 'Visitor's Center' சூப்பரா இருக்கும். நிறைய brochures வெச்சிருப்பா, இருந்தும் நமக்கு guide பண்ண நிறைய பேரு இருப்பா. ' India ' இந்த விஷயத்துல ரொம்ப improve ஆகணும் :((<br />
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எங்களுக்கு இங்க visitor center போன பிறகு ரொம்ப confuse ஆயிடுத்து. எத போறர்து எத விடறது அவ்ளோ இருக்கு. <br />
எனக்கு Dunes-னா மணல் மேடுன்னு தெரியும், அதுல இங்க என்ன அப்படி விசெஷம்ன்னு தெரிஞ்சிக்க ரொம்ப ஆசையா, exciting -ஆ இருந்துத்து. First, 'Mt Baldy'-ன்னு ஒரு Trial- க்கு போனோம். <br />
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இங்க tallest Dune - 125 feet இருக்கு, நாங்க எடுத்த broucher-ல trail ஒரு 0.7 miles -ன்னு போட்டு இருந்துத்து. நாங்க சரின்னு கார்லேருந்து இரங்கி நடக்க ஆரம்பிச்சோம் <br />
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முதல் கொஞ்ச தூரம் நல்லா இருந்துத்து, மேல போக போக கொஞ்சம் கஷ்ட பட்டு நடந்தோம். அந்த மணல்ல நடக்க முடியலை. அதுவும் மேல போகர்ச்சே நாம ஒரு அடி வெச்சா, ஒரு அடி சருக்கர்த்து !!!அப்படி மேல என்ன இருக்கு, பேசாம அப்படியே திரும்பிடலாம்னு கூட யோசிச்சோம். <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8UHMfFvdCNOoE6hMDH53NATsLdixe2riJJsTASq0HzYYjKqSsELI9DHYmVIosj7-pcNg-DGXZ09VR6jZRRZhwNCa_aWg3ZIaiZdkZc9N3pWkRJ9VtBacKzvwrcBBitUYV2rJKpgZT7o/s1600/IMG_4230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8UHMfFvdCNOoE6hMDH53NATsLdixe2riJJsTASq0HzYYjKqSsELI9DHYmVIosj7-pcNg-DGXZ09VR6jZRRZhwNCa_aWg3ZIaiZdkZc9N3pWkRJ9VtBacKzvwrcBBitUYV2rJKpgZT7o/s320/IMG_4230.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">ஆனாலும் விடலை, மேல அப்படி என்ன இருக்குன்னு பார்க்க நான் மணலை கொஞ்சம் ஓடி போனேன், இன்னும் கொஞ்ச தூரம் ஏறிட்டேன். அய்யோ நான் பார்கர்த்து கனவா இல்ல நிஜமானே தெரியலை. நடந்து வந்த வலியெல்லாம் அப்படியே காணாம போயிடுத்து. நான் சந்தோஷத்துல குதிக்க ஆரம்பிச்சிடேன். </div><br />
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</div>அந்த கடலோட நீலம், வானத்தோட நீலம் ரொம்ப, ரொம்ப அழகா இருந்துத்து. இவ்வளவு பெரிய கடல் (ஏறி) இருக்குற சுவடோ, ஆரவாரமோ நாங்க நடக்க ஆரம்பிச்சபோது தெரியவேயில்லை. அதனால இன்னும் பயங்கர சந்தோஷம். நான் நல்லா enjoy பண்ணினேன். ஓடிண்டு, குதிச்சிண்டு இருந்தேன்.<br />
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தூரத்துல Chicago Skylines <br />
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மேலேர்ந்து அப்படியே இறங்கி beach -க்கு போனோம். நல்ல பெரிய பெரிய அலை அடிசிண்டு இருந்துத்து.<br />
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மனசே இல்லாம இங்கேருந்து கிளம்பி இன்னொரு இடத்துக்கு போனோம்.அதுவும் இதே lake shore- ல இருக்குற இன்னொரு beach- West beach. இங்கேயும் ஒரு 6 mile -க்கு Trail. வழில பெரிய பெரிய Steel Factory பார்த்தோம், அதுல ஒன்னு நம்மோட Mittal steel factory.<br />
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நல்லா சாப்ட்டு beach-க்கு போனோம். நிறைய நடந்தோம். நான் மணல் கோபுரம் கட்டினேன் :)) <br />
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மணி ஆறு ஆயிடுத்து அதனால அப்படியே இங்கேருந்தும் மனசே இல்லாம கிளம்பிடோம். இன்னொரு தடவை வரர்துக்கு plan பண்ணிருக்கோம். <br />
Let See !!!Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-23124685191643869722010-04-21T13:37:00.001-05:002010-05-19T22:24:41.325-05:00Cardigan storyCouple of weeks ago my Husband took me to downtown to get me a cardigan. <br />
Very Sweet of him !!!<br />
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God, thats an interesting story, we went to many shops to buy a nice cardigan matching to my lavender color Benetton tee. Unfortunately nothing was good, till now I didn't buy anything :(( <br />
I am frustrated and decided not to wear that top till I buy one (This resolution is for very short period. Ha,ha,ha...waiting for a good cardigan)<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Even though I didn't get what I want, My hubby bought a nice, Fanta coloured 'burn out effect' top. Also we got a chance to have a glimpse of "Macy's Flower Show". It was fantastic. The whole shop was looking colorful and created a festive mood. It was like a welcome party for the Spring season. I was very happy to see the flowers after 6 months of Snow.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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When we are heading to the Metra station we saw a huge crowd standing with cameras outside the 'Ford Theater'. Big curiosity mounted up within us, we also took out our camera and waited for the VIP to come. After waiting in the mild chill weather for 30 min, first couple arrived in a big black color Limo.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0mp6G9qViP82vMO8pJBfgC1jPlhpXCYJqHNqtjtoW4NC8_PMDxqbFL6EIVSiOWX05uP6R6FztdB0fd93-StH-IQdSvmIc98ktuljAcPRf7Z15pvPYXiekQMC4KObe2ZPv0-f1BO5l2Y/s1600/IMG_4169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0mp6G9qViP82vMO8pJBfgC1jPlhpXCYJqHNqtjtoW4NC8_PMDxqbFL6EIVSiOWX05uP6R6FztdB0fd93-StH-IQdSvmIc98ktuljAcPRf7Z15pvPYXiekQMC4KObe2ZPv0-f1BO5l2Y/s320/IMG_4169.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
After few more minutes another VIP, Star of the show arrived in a big black SUV. <br />
Tan dadan taadaan ...... (Background music) He is none other than 'Elton John ' <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVbodvqEIHmvSoH8zlWoZSRk3yrxz5q3NZyc7gJlTmOMfyMI19fmiZxWiCG_bN61AXQLyIp2ZfOhKXU6vG_XsGWp9CE9mAyZd5GFqjk3z52LwGr9V2HHYjCMBSKLH1heV1_eSVZ7veus/s1600/IMG_4173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVbodvqEIHmvSoH8zlWoZSRk3yrxz5q3NZyc7gJlTmOMfyMI19fmiZxWiCG_bN61AXQLyIp2ZfOhKXU6vG_XsGWp9CE9mAyZd5GFqjk3z52LwGr9V2HHYjCMBSKLH1heV1_eSVZ7veus/s320/IMG_4173.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Everybody was shouting, cheering . A moment I felt i m not missing Chennai for these kind of things. I tried hard to capture his face, he was so busy so went inside the theater. <br />
Hope he will meet us after fixing up an appointment with us... :))))Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7713360765814181034.post-57855780378798504722010-04-15T12:41:00.003-05:002010-04-19T11:10:32.194-05:00Happy Birthyday to SwamijiLast week we celebrated our beloved Swamiji's Birthday.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAXLfQvYoBTvecxrqQysJrENJg71Yhyc9bjMJ3itVScg7wkKVZkJrMd592DRMYQq7OfAzkk_3zyhzXLxtMMesN9uZtJzvl3vPkDB4ujBzlbHBbjfsICyqHoV9c7WBJbWFZzL_aM56OlI/s1600/5SS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAXLfQvYoBTvecxrqQysJrENJg71Yhyc9bjMJ3itVScg7wkKVZkJrMd592DRMYQq7OfAzkk_3zyhzXLxtMMesN9uZtJzvl3vPkDB4ujBzlbHBbjfsICyqHoV9c7WBJbWFZzL_aM56OlI/s400/5SS.jpg" width="262" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Having a Guru in our life is really a Great Blessing from the God. Swami Shanthananda Saraswathi was born on 7th April 1934. His approach was all-embracing and his ideology simple<br />
<blockquote>"Follow any path, religion or doctrine, but believe in it sincerely, because the sincerity of your belief will illuminate and guide you to the ultimate common goal - GOD " He taught the universal message found in all religions and scriptious; - Love for God and Service to Mankind.</blockquote>(above quote from Annalakshmi website : <a href="http://annalakshmichennai.com/Ourstorypage.htm">http://annalakshmichennai.com/Ourstorypage.htm</a>)<br />
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This year in Johor Bahru, Malasyia, they all celebrated His birthday as a three day function. Though we didn't attend the function we all received His Blessings <br />
Hai Om !Preetha Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05938197585000285125noreply@blogger.com0