tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59780646011515600122011-07-14T01:09:00.280+05:30The chetankjain BlogChetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-80467778501412987372011-07-13T22:56:00.000+05:302011-07-13T22:56:35.011+05:302011-07-13T22:56:35.011+05:30Creating a dev blogOk some of my friends might crib about this, but I've done it again. More changes to my blog structure!<br />
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First it was on Wordpress, then I found that creating a custom domain was much cheaper with Google. 10 USD @ Google for 1 year vs. 25 USD @ Wordpress. So I got myself a custom domain <a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/">www.chetankjain.net</a>. Another advantage of using Google was that I would get all related services like GMail, GTalk, Blogger, Picasa, Bookmarks, Tasks and so on at one place. Of course access to Google Apps is also there. And from what I read, Google+ will also be made available soon. So my first move and <a href="http://blog.chetankjain.net/">http://blog.chetankjain.net</a> was created. I eventually shut down the Wordpress site.<br />
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Then I started to blog both general and technical stuff in the same blog. At the rate I was blogging, I got quite a few people telling me to separate them. Some were only into tech stuff and some didn't care a pence for the tech. And thus today <a href="http://dev.chetankjain.net/">http://dev.chetankjain.net</a> was finally created. I have now moved all tech posts to the latter. So kindly bear with all these changes, and if you had bookmarks/feeds/subscriptions, please visit my new blog and register again. General content will continue to be posted to http://blog.chetankjain.net. But all tech stuff will now move to the dev blog.<br />
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You will also note that AdSense has been enabled on my sites and blogs. If you find it too much of a bother, you could always use the Chrome Ad Blocker extension and block these ads, the pages would load faster. There you go, I just got approved to AdSense and I'm telling people how to block ads on my site in their browser.<br />
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Finally, happy reading and keep those suggestions, comments and feedback pouring in ...<br />
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ps: Work on Day 3 of my cross country is in progress and shall be posted this weekend.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-8046777850141298737?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-73735233098569494372011-07-08T08:00:00.010+05:302011-07-08T20:24:46.554+05:302011-07-08T20:24:46.554+05:30US Cross Country-2: Oklahoma City and the National Memorial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
Here is part 3 of my 16 day adventure, driving 8700+ miles solo cross country across the entire width of the US and back. Read Part 2 here: <a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/2011/07/us-cross-country-1-natural-bridge-and.html"><b>US Cross Country-1: A natural bridge and gaining confidence </b></a><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Day 2:Sun 2003-Jun-22</b></div><br />
</div><div>Woke up early and grabbed some breakfast. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee">Nashville</a> is famous for its NASCAR track amongst many other things. It is also the capital city of Tennessee. But sight seeing here wasn't in my plan, so I just drove out of the city. This would be one recurring theme in my entire journey. A lot of great places that I chose to skip due to lack of time. One would probably need a full year to see all the places to do any sort of justice. But today was another day of long drive. So no stoppages. Destination Oklahoma City, which was almost 676 miles (1088 km) and 11 hours away. I continued on I-40, west bound.</div><div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7kFKpjNo8gY/ThDMweWdRSI/AAAAAAAAALo/xdY1I56cjSo/s1600/day2-Pyramid+Arena-Memphis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7kFKpjNo8gY/ThDMweWdRSI/AAAAAAAAALo/xdY1I56cjSo/s320/day2-Pyramid+Arena-Memphis.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Top of The Pyramid Arena</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Soon I crossed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_River"> R. Tennessee</a>, the first of the great rivers.This is a tributary of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River">Ohio River</a>. I headed towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis,_Tennessee">Memphis</a>, which is right on the banks of R.Mississippi. The Memphis skyline is pretty impressive and so are its buildings. I had not researched in depth on Memphis because I knew I'd be just passing by. So I was not ready for what I saw next. Straight out of nowhere, I came across the world's 6th largest pyramid, the 321 ft high glass structure called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Arena">The Pyramid Arena</a> (see with proper photos). It took me by such a surprise and I was so shocked at its size and architecture that I didn't even realize that I should take a snap of it. My half attempt in the last minute missed the building completely and I managed to get only the top portion. But the sight of it is forever etched in my mind.<br />
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</div><div></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HuhB3QlaVz0/ThDNQ_0cuXI/AAAAAAAAALs/CfkE9LnfQBk/s1600/day2-Hernando-de-Soto-Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HuhB3QlaVz0/ThDNQ_0cuXI/AAAAAAAAALs/CfkE9LnfQBk/s320/day2-Hernando-de-Soto-Bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Top of the Hernando de Soto Bridge</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>After Memphis it was the crossing of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River">R.Mississippi</a>. It was a milestone for me personally. As a kid I was introduced to the Mississippi and Missouri in 6th grade, the 2 greatest rivers in N. America. I always felt an awe when I heard those names. Some sort of mystique. And today here I was, crossing it. This river is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length">4th longest river</a> in the world and is 3902 miles (6275 km) long. The longest river, Nile, is only about 375 km longer than the Mississippi. The Mississippi irrigates almost 3 million sq km of land, which is the fifth highest in the world. The bridge built across it on the I40 is called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_Bridge">Hernando de Soto Bridge</a>, it is almost 6km long and is awesome. I later heard that one should see the lighting on it at night. Supposed to be break taking. But something I was not blessed to see. Another tragedy happened when I tried to snap it with my camera. You will find much better snaps in wikipedia. I just drove on across it and thus entered the state of Arkansas.<br />
</div><div>Arkansas is not a very big state. I passed the capital city <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock,_Arkansas">Little Rock</a> without stopping. I practiced taking snaps while driving. I couldn't afford more mess ups. I knew I had screwed up the previous snaps, taken in the point and shoot mode with my eyes on the road. I soon mastered the art of bringing the camera to my eye while driving and taking the snap. All this without taking eyes off the road. Then I got more adventurous. I managed to pull out my binoculars from the backpack in rear seat and brought it to my eyes. I almost hit the brakes on reflex. The 50x zoom made me think I'm going to hit the car in the front and its bumper was almost on mine. Enough shock treatment for the day. Luckily the gap between cars was quite far enough, so no damage done. The snap below was taken just before my binocular stunt. Now I focused on driving. Driving properly I mean. And then I noticed the flowers. They were all over the place, on each side of the road, the whole place was painted yellow. I had seen such snaps in National Geographic, but this was for real. I still smile at the thought.</div><div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-etQORdTIFPc/ThDOWEMNcsI/AAAAAAAAALw/7S47DfuBIVM/s1600/day2-Flowers-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-etQORdTIFPc/ThDOWEMNcsI/AAAAAAAAALw/7S47DfuBIVM/s640/day2-Flowers-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Flowers by the side of I-40</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irENeJ4WCtw/ThDQGj7R6iI/AAAAAAAAAMM/lUHyfA9USPc/s1600/day2-FortSmith-view2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irENeJ4WCtw/ThDQGj7R6iI/AAAAAAAAAMM/lUHyfA9USPc/s640/day2-FortSmith-view2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Fort Smith</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xLrwBK8tslc/ThDVcG6PkyI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ZK7BgJhKvWY/s1600/day2-FortSmith-Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xLrwBK8tslc/ThDVcG6PkyI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ZK7BgJhKvWY/s640/day2-FortSmith-Church.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Fort Smith - A Church</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9lyG6MLTJI/ThDRSyoLadI/AAAAAAAAAMU/-hJdyZlVv9c/s1600/day2-FortSmith-Thecourt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9lyG6MLTJI/ThDRSyoLadI/AAAAAAAAAMU/-hJdyZlVv9c/s320/day2-FortSmith-Thecourt.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Fort Smith - The court room</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Then I was almost at the border of the state, and took the exit to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Smith,_Arkansas">Fort Smith</a>. I had read about the Museum here and so gave it a quick visit. The Museum was mostly about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears">Trails of Tears</a>, the pain, suffering and massacre suffered by Native American Indians at the hands of the US government. About how they were repeatedly promised their own land and cheated out of it. They were all driven (mostly at gun point) and false treaties from one place to another. Finally a section of Oklahoma was given to them and that is where they were forced to settle. Imagine, an entire nation of people and a great civilization herded to one small area. The fort here lies on this trail of exodus and has been converted to a Museum today. Inside, I could see the court room, the prisons and various artifacts belonging to that age. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5lTBtWrofg/ThDQdD3UrII/AAAAAAAAAMQ/qPSstzP04Ks/s1600/day2-FortSmith-Museum-Trails+of+Tears2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B5lTBtWrofg/ThDQdD3UrII/AAAAAAAAAMQ/qPSstzP04Ks/s320/day2-FortSmith-Museum-Trails+of+Tears2.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Trails of Tears</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I walked out of the museum feeling sad about the injustice done to the Native Indians. You could feel the pain and suffering just by strolling through the collections. Then I took a break to stroll in the park next to the building and this path led me to the banks of R. Arkansas. Spent a few lonely minutes there, deep in thought. I was the only one in the park or by the river. Like one usually does, I decided to taste some water, drank one gulp and walked back towards my car. A few steps later I saw a board, <i>"Do not drink water from the river. Has high mineral content". </i>Gulp! Its been 8 years since, nothing has happened. So guess its okay. Soon I was back on I-40 and thus existed the state of Arkansas.<br />
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Oklahoma state was next. For whatever reasons, the condition of I-40 was horrible throughout the state of OK. I almost thought that the Native Americans who mainly settled in OK, were being given a raw deal to this day. But later I learned that a new road renovation project was on the cards. I drove through more farms on either side and also over the bridge built over Lake Eufaula. The lake was huge and I couldn't even see the other end. I drove on towards Oklahoma city, directly into the sunset. One of the many wonderful sunsets I would get to see driving westward.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cex6nY27Gxk/ThDUSIOSkQI/AAAAAAAAAMY/FUORQmz2Gok/s1600/day2-OK+City-In+memory-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cex6nY27Gxk/ThDUSIOSkQI/AAAAAAAAAMY/FUORQmz2Gok/s320/day2-OK+City-In+memory-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Tributes for the loved ones</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was dark when I reached <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City">Oklahoma City</a>, the state capital. Post dinner and having checked into another Motel 6, I headed to see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_National_Memorial">National Memorial</a>. Before 9/11, this place was witness to the most horrific bombing attack in the US. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing">Do read the details here</a>. Over 168 dead and 680 wounded. There was a day care with small children in the building causing many toddler deaths. Today the building with a gaping hole is preserved as is, and the place around it has been converted to a park and a National Memorial with lots of lights that are switched on every single night. Many items of tribute are found lined all over the place. It was another solemn moment in the day for me. What could have been the state of a person's mind to cause such a senseless horror. The photos of the dead, smiling at me from their happier days is a moment that I will carry with me all my life. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoRxLaqE8_Q/ThDUTHTcoFI/AAAAAAAAAMc/FppeZ7Wi0nc/s1600/day2-OK+City-monument-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoRxLaqE8_Q/ThDUTHTcoFI/AAAAAAAAAMc/FppeZ7Wi0nc/s640/day2-OK+City-monument-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Oklahoma City National Memorial</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I hit bed once back at the motel. Tomorrow would be the longest drive of the trip, destination Arizona.<br />
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<b>Photos:</b></div><div><br />
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/thechetankjainphotos/Day2USCrossCountry">The complete set of photos from day 2</a>. <br />
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<div style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Route Map:</b></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iln8E0QKNA4/Tg-aaphrisI/AAAAAAAAAJA/hDVCKcGVlc0/s1600/Day2Route.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iln8E0QKNA4/Tg-aaphrisI/AAAAAAAAAJA/hDVCKcGVlc0/s640/Day2Route.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Route Map - end of day 2</b></span></td></tr>
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<b>Statistics:</b><br />
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<tr><th>Day</th><th>Date</th><th>Map</th><th>Place</th><th>Time hh:mm</th><th>km</th><th>miles</th><th>States</th></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Start</td><td>A</td><td>Maple Shade, NJ</td><td>00:00</td><td><br />
</td><td></td><td><br />
</td></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>0</td><td>Fri, 20-Jun-2003</td><td>B</td><td>Falls Church, VA</td><td>03:00</td><td>259</td><td>161</td><td>NJ, DE, VA</td></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>Sat, 21-Jun-2003</td><td>C</td><td>Nashville, TN</td><td>11:00</td><td>1067</td><td>663</td><td>VA, TN</td></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>2</td><td>Sun, 22-Jun-2003</td><td>D</td><td>Oklahoma City, OK</td><td>11:00</td><td>1088</td><td>676</td><td>TN, AK, OK</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><b>Trip Total</b></td><td><b>25:00</b></td><td><b>2414</b></td><td><b>1500</b></td><td><b>6</b></td></tr>
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Read the next part, day 3 of the 16 day solo trip: <b>US Cross Country-3: Reaching Arizona </b><i>Coming soon</i>...</div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-7373523309856949437?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-42693649738076510762011-07-03T03:24:00.010+05:302011-07-08T17:25:04.999+05:302011-07-08T17:25:04.999+05:30US Cross Country-1: A natural bridge and gaining confidence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Here is part 2 of my 16 day adventure, driving 8700+ miles solo cross country across the entire width of the US and back. Read Part 1 here: <a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/2011/05/us-cross-country-0-saga-begins.html"><b>US Cross Country-0: The saga begins</b></a><br />
<div><div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Day 1:Sat 2003-Jun-21</b></div><br />
</div><div>In spite of the jitters, I did start off again, having collected my wallet and anything else that I could have possibly forgotten. There was nothing else forgotten. I hit Route I-66W in a few minutes and drove away into the west. The saga had just restarted.<br />
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I just love I-66W. Have traveled it tens of times.Once you cross the first few "populated" miles to the west of Falls Church, and as you go further away from the Washington DC metro area, you begin to see what greenery means. Many a time, you see wild deer passing by next and sometimes even across the Interstate. Always a lovely sight! I-66W takes you straight to the Appalachian mountains and there are many wonderful scenic routes all over the place. The <a href="http://www.nps.gov/shen/photosmultimedia/Scenic.htm">Skyline drive</a> (do see the photos) is one such route. I've probably driven through this route at least 10 times during my stay in US. Many times I went alone. Such is its beauty. It was very tempting to take the Skyline again, but I had to cover a long distance, so stuck with the Interstate. And I didn't want deviations!<br />
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After about 1 hour, and like 62 miles, I hit I-81S. This route runs in parallel to the Appalachians. The mountains accompany you on one side all through this route. Now it gets even more pristine. With such pleasant view all around, I could feel myself calm down quite a bit. Nothing soothes like mother nature. How true!<br />
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There were no planned stops other than for lunch. Lunch would be at any of those rest areas that are all over the Interstates. So I went on southward. Now the speed limit was 75mph and I stuck to less than 90mph. There was a time when I used to hit 120-125mph (almost 200kmph), but over time, I had matured. Some might say I got older. Well, whatever! Anyways, as I drove along, I saw this huge ad, about "the" natural bridge. Well, well! I had totally missed this place in my planning. Imagine, not even like 3 hours into the drive and I was already tempted to deviate from the "plan". I have a software development and management background you see :P<br />
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I, in fact, had never seen such a natural formation in my entire life. So a quick check on the map, I plotted the deviation, and it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to zip in and out -- I thought. So I took exit 180 from I81-S and a few miles later, I came to a parking lot and a visitor's center with no sign of any natural bridge. I check around and find that I have to trek for almost 20 minutes to reach the spot. Should I go back? Now I'd be spending almost 2 hours here, and totally unscheduled. So finally, I had solid proof on my estimation skills too. Darn! And I knew I had a 11 hour to cover that day (apart from this deviation). Well let me just do it. I finally decided. This would be the first of many deviations that I would take. Decisions on the fly. These tiny things, when I look back today, actually made the trip even more memorable.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then I walked like mad. Other visitors were calmly strolling the path towards the natural bride, enjoying the scenic route and I was almost running. The Cedar Creek (this is a small tributary of River James) was flowing in full, right next to the path and the whole area is in a thick forest, full of trees. But I did not stop to enjoy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcskP3VfU5A/Tg-IqTxLXEI/AAAAAAAAAIk/dUuHKxW34mA/s1600/R.+Cedar+Creek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcskP3VfU5A/Tg-IqTxLXEI/AAAAAAAAAIk/dUuHKxW34mA/s640/R.+Cedar+Creek.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Trek by the side of R. Cedar Creek </b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MlCvi_hrOAY/Tg-I5rC1_9I/AAAAAAAAAIo/sSpLUFKCvCU/s1600/Rapids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MlCvi_hrOAY/Tg-I5rC1_9I/AAAAAAAAAIo/sSpLUFKCvCU/s640/Rapids.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dancing River</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div> <br />
En-route, I paused to read about the bridge and discovered that this was a sacred place of worship for the native American tribes centuries ago. A couple of huts have been recreated, and I found a handful of people enacting the life and times of those days. It was like time travel to the 15th century. But I did not stop for long.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0L0gh456X64/Tg-JjPhloMI/AAAAAAAAAIs/llyJK6ZLvxc/s1600/An_Indian_Village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0L0gh456X64/Tg-JjPhloMI/AAAAAAAAAIs/llyJK6ZLvxc/s640/An_Indian_Village.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Time travel into an Indian Village</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Brm_EJdce4/Tg-J13GP7TI/AAAAAAAAAIw/m5m9fDvJW0c/s1600/Cooking_IndianStyle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Brm_EJdce4/Tg-J13GP7TI/AAAAAAAAAIw/m5m9fDvJW0c/s640/Cooking_IndianStyle.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Lifestyle of the natives - cooking</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>Finally after about a mile and a half trek, I saw it.<br />
</div><div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MdTq_NTgqOk/Tg-GtQQuW5I/AAAAAAAAAIc/GcOhWn6434M/s1600/TheNaturalBridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MdTq_NTgqOk/Tg-GtQQuW5I/AAAAAAAAAIc/GcOhWn6434M/s640/TheNaturalBridge.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Natural Bride, VA</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jwekHzaQpa4/Tg-HWorWKtI/AAAAAAAAAIg/bmJ2MYFC_zw/s1600/BridgeTop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jwekHzaQpa4/Tg-HWorWKtI/AAAAAAAAAIg/bmJ2MYFC_zw/s640/BridgeTop.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Span of the Bridge - with R-11 on top</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div></div><div><div><br />
It was truly majestic! The creek had carved out a tunnel in the mountain. Over centuries, the whole floor had sunk.What is left behind is a huge arch with a span of about 95ft, at a height of 215ft. And there is a road (R-11) on top of this bridge and I could even see some vehicles ply on it. I was told that I had just driven over the bridge to reach the place. Just awesome! You can read all about it in wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_%28Virginia%29">Natural Bridge, VA</a>. I spent just a few minutes and had to rush back, again almost half running to the amusement of the other visitors. I was not looking at them, but I could make out.<br />
<br />
I was soon back on I-81S and headed out of Virginia into Tennessee. Passed through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke,_Virginia">Roanke, VA</a> and then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville,_Tennessee">Knoxville, TN</a>. I-81S had now merged into I-40W. It would be I-40W that would take me all across the country till the west. Then I headed towards Nashville, my final destination for day 1. I had snacks a plenty in the car, breakfast bars, energy bars, energy drinks, what not! Finally late in the evening, I managed to drive into the Motel-6 (30 USD a night) at Nashville. I had booked in advance. I had booked in advance for all the 15 nights. I had charted out the whole route, the places to see, the time it took to reach, how much time I should spend in each place, where to sleep, everything was planned. I also had planned at least 8-10 hours of rest everyday. It was the most majestic plan I had ever done in my life. It took me a month of preparation. But how wrong I was, I would soon discover.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Dinner was at a nearby joint. A refreshing hot shower for the aching limbs. I had passed the first test. 11 hours of drive, 1 hour of trek. I had done it! This was totally do-able. I knew that I could do it all the way. I was grinning when I went to sleep. Maybe I'll try another day or two and if things get unbearable, head back. But I knew I would not give up. There was no need to give up!<br />
<br />
<b>Photos:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://photos.chetankjain.net/NaturalBridgeRCedarCreekVirginia">The complete album of Natural Bridge</a>. <br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Route Map:</b></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nfzj2TEJSug/Tg84q2MnljI/AAAAAAAAAII/7Gm76bElRdQ/s1600/Day1Route.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nfzj2TEJSug/Tg84q2MnljI/AAAAAAAAAII/7Gm76bElRdQ/s640/Day1Route.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Route Map - end of day 1</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
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<div><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Statistics:</b><br />
<b> </b></div><br />
<br />
<table id="ussaga"><tbody>
<tr><th>Day</th><th>Date</th><th>Map</th><th>Place</th><th>Time hh:mm</th><th>km</th><th>miles</th><th>States</th></tr>
<tr><td><br />
</td><td>Start</td><td>A</td><td>Maple Shade, NJ</td><td>00:00</td><td><br />
</td><td><br />
</td><td></td></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>0</td><td>Fri, 20-Jun-2003</td><td>B</td><td>Falls Church, VA</td><td>03:00</td><td>259</td><td>161</td><td>NJ, DE, VA</td></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>Sat, 21-Jun-2003</td><td>C</td><td>Nashville, TN</td><td>11:00</td><td>1067</td><td>663</td><td>VA, TN</td></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td><br />
</td><td><br />
</td><td><br />
</td><td><b>Trip Total</b></td><td><b>14:00</b></td><td><b>1326</b></td><td><b>824</b></td><td><b>4</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
Read the next part, day 2 of the 16 day solo trip: <b><a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/2011/07/us-cross-country-2-oklahoma-city-and.html">US Cross Country-2: Oklahoma City and the National Memorial</a></b><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-4269364973807651076?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-89407191286505877892011-05-24T15:48:00.001+05:302011-07-01T14:06:05.998+05:302011-07-01T14:06:05.998+05:30A healthier me!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Once a person hits 35 years, abusing ones own body borders on being dangerous to suicidal. The excess fat accumulated starts taking its toll on the over burdened heart and something finally gives in. A recent sudden death of a colleague due to a massive heart attack was an eye opener. The person had no prior medical history, and just collapsed in his parking lot. And my visit to a physician was another strict reminder that I better act now or face the consequences. <br />
<br />
I discovered myself pushing down poor earth with all of my 86 kg (190 pounds). A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index">body mass index</a> of over 30 - my all time high! Why wikipedia even dared to call me a "Class I Obese". <br />
<br />
What? Obese! Me?<br />
<br />
Grrrr ... that was it! I had postponed it enough. To add salt, pepper and chillies to my wound, my doc declared that I had to soon cut down at least 20 kg (45 pounds) for long term benefit or face a sure tragedy in the short term. Damn, he was hell bent on convincing me that I won't survive to see the return of Halley's comet in 2061. Now I can't take anything or anyone come between me and my <a href="http://chetankjain.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/my-bucket-list/">bucket list</a>! So I had to get my act together. <br />
<br />
I worked out a plan and today after 3 months, I weigh 72 kg (158 pounds) with just 6 kg (13 pounds) more to go. Not bad yeah? 14 kg (30 pounds) lost in 3 months and without joining any gym or "slimming center". So what did I do? Here is my three step zero cost mantra and believe me its quite easy and very practical! All it needs is a little dedication.<br />
<br />
Step 1. Do not take in anything bad<br />
Step 2. Remove the existing bad<br />
Step 3. Take in the good<br />
<br />
That's it, plain and simple. Anything plain and simple always works!<br />
<br />
<b>Step 1. Do not take in anything bad:</b><br />
Junk food man. Cut the junk food. Stop eating sweets and oily stuff. It means no chaats, no pizzas, cheese, desserts ... I think you get the point and trust me temptation is what rules the human race! Luckily I never had the smoking or boozing habits. Many might disagree on the latter being called bad. Some might curse me for that statement too. Well this is my blog and you have to agree with me when I say that it is bad.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Remove the existing bad: </b><br />
Loose the fat man. Just loose it. Walk walk walk. I walked between 3km to 5km every single day. Brisk walk. It should soon wake up your long lost sweat glands and all the junk slowly goes out. You can feel it soon - a real good feeling all over. You just feel clean. Doc had said I'm too heavy to take up jogging, might injure my knees. But now I'm in the jogging range and ain't that good.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Take in the good:</b><br />
Healthy stuff man. The healthy stuff. Not very tasty to start with. But trust me, you'll soon develop a taste for this and actually start liking it. So just increase your intake of high fiber food, fruits and vegetables. I have zero fat cereals every morning now. And for my kind of "in front of the laptop screen all day and night, including dreams" lifestyle, I take a bit less food than what I used to do earlier. I must say I reduced my food intake by 25%.<br />
<br />
So that's it! Three pillars of a healthier me ... and my recent visit to see the doc went quite well. Both of us were actually smiling at how slim I look. Not bad yeah? *grin*<br />
<br />
So to conclude, what is left to be done is, I should quickly reduce the last few kg of fat. And of course stop staying up so late every night! Get at least 7-8 hours sleep. Umm the latter will be tougher. It's well past 1:30 am now and I better hit the sack.<br />
<br />
So what do you think? Send me your thoughts, your trials and your success stories on becoming a healthier person. I'd love to hear more ideas and practical things in leading a healthy life ...</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-8940719128650587789?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-48518253530366791822011-05-02T22:28:00.083+05:302011-07-05T01:21:48.442+05:302011-07-05T01:21:48.442+05:30US Cross Country-0: The Saga Begins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Here is the part 1 of my 16 day adventure driving 8700+ miles solo, cross country across the entire width of US and back.<br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Day 0:Fri 2003-Jun-20</b></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>One hour into the journey, the clock read 9:30am and I already had butterflies in my stomach. Maybe I should turn back. It was definitely a fool's venture. What on earth was I thinking? I was going back to India in a couple of months for good and why did I need this now? So much money I might waste if I don't complete it. All those advance motel reservations. Everyone who was supposed to come with me had backed out. It was four of us who initially planned this adventure. We'd drive in my car, pool the expenses, reach the Golden Gate in California the west coast and then drive back all the way to the east coast. It sounded so much fun then. But now here I was alone, driving and already bored! All friends had bailed out, and I couldn't blame anyone, each had his own personal reason and I knew they meant it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>My ex-manager Lam Nyugen had earlier mentioned that 4 of his school friends had tried driving from the east to west and back. One of them had dropped out sick by the time they reached the west coast. Couple more bailed out and flew back during the return journey and the valiant car owner now left alone couldn't take it anymore and shipped his car from Chicago and flew back to east coast. It had taken days for them to recover from their mis-venture. And here I was all alone trying what seemed to be the craziest thing I could come up with. I always doubted myself, I knew I had this perfect ability to get into bigger and bigger mess everytime I tried some stunt. I'm all alone, not even listening to some song that my CD player was playing, only could hear the pleasant hum of my Honda Civic EX 2 door coupe. So much for company, driving on R66.</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="1: Driving on R66" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_QD6Y_ibxh4E/TZ4FTu-NEXI/AAAAAAAACdo/AoiVBCCZIVw/s912/route-66.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="600" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Driving alone on R66</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div></div><br />
The previous day I was still all pumped up. With full 2 weeks vacation granted graciously by my manager Paul Sigwart at CNT, Lumberton, New Jersey. I packed a suitcase full of clothes, my laptop, some 20 rolls of Kodak 200 films and lot of dry food and snacks (getting veg food deep inside the heart of US wasn't going to be easy). I had spent over a month planning this 16 day trip. The route was chalked and the motels reserved all along from east to west and back. It took me a couple of weeks just to arrive at an optimal route covering maximum number of places that I wanted to see. Then calculate the distances, the time that it could take to reach the next place, the time I should spend at each place of interest, so on and so forth and so many things. It was probably the best project plan I have ever made to date. Even got my car "fully" serviced, and withdrew about $1000 cash to carry with me. Where would one find a First Union ATM in middle of New Mexico? Rand McNally's <a href="http://store.randmcnally.com/road-atlas.html"><b>The Road Atlas</b></a> was a life saver. I mastered the art of driving into the unknown just equipped with this Atlas and boldly go where no Indian had gone before... well almost :)<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Convincing my parents far away in India was a totally different matter. First it was "Mom, anyways I'm returning to India for good in a couple of months, I want to see the country". Then it was "the four of us are flying to west and back". Soon the version turned to "we can't see much if we fly and it will be too costly, so we are driving. We will take turns don't worry!" (yeah right!) Finally it was "I'm doing it alone, don't worry if I can't make it I'll just turn back. I'll call you daily mom. Come on you know you can trust me!". Slow poison they say, my folks didn't even notice how I had maneuvered them to agree to this. Maybe they noticed, but they let me take my flight of fancy. I had known a couple of weeks in advance that I might have to do it alone, but they came to know only the previous night. And all the bookings were of course made, so I couldn't bail out anyway I told them. And yes parental permission matters most to us Indians, even in this 21st century :)</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Ram and Reshma - best couple you will ever find" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_QD6Y_ibxh4E/TZ4FQRReIFI/AAAAAAAACdk/xA4u8uW08mk/s912/ram-reshma.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="600" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ram and Reshma - best couple you'll ever find</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div></div><div><br />
So I had left the previous evening, from Maple Shade, New Jersey and drove to Falls Church, VA from where I would kick off my drive. On the way crossed both the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake bay and could see the endless Atlantic waters on my east. Now had to just cross the continent and see the Pacific on the other side. I reached Falls Church in Washington Metro area and met my dear friends, Ram and Reshma. Had dinner with them and they bid me bye with their best wishes. I also borrowed Ram's camera for the trip. The night was spent in Niranjan's house.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Day 1:Sat 2003-Jun-21</b></div><div><br />
</div>Morning at last and I took off at 8:30am sharp. Just 5 mins into the drive and I hit the panic button. My wallet with all of the $1000 is missing! Frantic phone calls and then I trace it abandoned on Niranjan's coffee table. I head back and find him waiting at the parking lot with my wallet, grinning from ear to ear. "Go easy dude" says he. A bad start? A bad omen? Tut tut, I'm not superstitious. Maybe I should just get on with it. I wave him bye and restart my journey. Take 2 already?</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="A grinning Niranan with my wallet" height="600" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_QD6Y_ibxh4E/TZ4FMwG26MI/AAAAAAAACd0/WylRqJVtHIc/s640/niranjan-with-wallet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A grinning Niranjan with my wallet</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div><br />
</div><div>All these thoughts come back to me, the butterflies in my stomach feels more like a tornado now. I've not even covered 60 miles and thousands more to go. I give myself an ultimatum, I will drive today till night fall and if I can't make it, I'll spend the night at Nashville, Tennessee, where I had the first night booking and then head back to home in the morning. So about 660 miles (~1062km) and 10 hrs journey one way. To hell with what the world thinks! To hell with the world! I had driven non stop about 7.5 hrs earlier from Falls Church to Westford near Boston, MA, which was about 453 miles (729km) on official duty and knew that driving one full day was OK. Driving 16 days and all alone and into the wilderness and having to cover over 8000+ miles 2 way, and into the heart of US was a totally different ball game. I was shuddering!</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<b>Route Map:</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O-9f9CG5S0E/Tg9gDr-PVNI/AAAAAAAAAIM/8RuxneEsR7Q/s1600/Day0Route.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O-9f9CG5S0E/Tg9gDr-PVNI/AAAAAAAAAIM/8RuxneEsR7Q/s640/Day0Route.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Route Map - end of day 0</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<b></b><br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Statistics:</b><br />
<b> </b></div><table id="ussaga"><tbody>
<tr><th>Day</th><th>Date</th><th>Map</th><th>Place</th><th>Time hh:mm</th><th>km</th><th>miles</th><th>States</th></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Start</td><td>A</td><td>Maple Shade, NJ</td><td>00:00</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>0</td><td>Fri, 20-Jun-2003</td><td>B</td><td>Falls Church, VA</td><td>03:00</td><td>259</td><td>161</td><td>NJ, DE, VA</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><b>Trip Total</b></td><td><b>03:00</b></td><td><b>259</b></td><td><b>161</b></td><td><b>3</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
Read the next part, day 1 of the 16 day solo trip: <b><a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/2011/07/us-cross-country-1-natural-bridge-and.html">US Cross Country-1: A Natural Bridge and Gaining Confidence</a></b><i></i><br />
</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-4851825353036679182?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5978064601151560012.post-43336608511930403292011-05-02T22:24:00.005+05:302011-07-02T16:40:46.335+05:302011-07-02T16:40:46.335+05:30My Bucket List<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">My first blog post! Yes after all these years I too got a free blog site and so let me start off with my bucket list. Yes the same one referred to in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/">this</a> wonderful movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. "A bucket list! But why?", one might rightfully ask. Ah! but this is where I get my motivation from. There have been crazy things that I've done, and there will always be crazy things that I will do. And that is where I get my motivation from.<br />
<br />
Now the motivation part. Is it true one could get motivated just reflecting back on one's own achievements? Oh Yes! Definitely yes! I'd say. You should just try it. Why don't you list down all the things that you've done, however crazy some of those things might be. Feel that sense of pride somewhere deep down? Feel like trying out that one thing you always wanted to do but somehow never go to. Well looking at this list always works for me.<br />
<br />
I still remember the goosebumps I got driving alone down <a href="http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.death-valley.html">The Death Valley</a>. Ah one could do this for eternity. If death were to strike me then, it was a life well lived!<br />
<br />
Well so much for dramatics, here goes ... my very own bucket list :)<br />
<br />
<b>What I've done:</b><br />
1. See Tsunami effect (Murudeshwar beach 26/12/2004)<br />
2. <a href="http://www.chetankjain.net/2011/05/us-cross-country-0-saga-begins.html">Solo cross country to and fro across the US</a> (~8700 miles in 16 days in 2003)<br />
3. Pilot a plane - 2 seater Cessna<br />
4. Drive a car @ 200 kmph<br />
5. White water rafting - level 4 rapid @ <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/chetankjain/RaftingBarapoleRiver#">Barapole</a>, Coorg<br />
6. Dive underwater in a <a href="http://www.blue-safari.com/photos/index_eng.htm">submarine</a><br />
7. See a real sunken ship<br />
8. See the largest living being on earth - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Sherman_%28tree%29">General Sherman Tree</a><br />
9. Ice skiing<br />
10. See an extinct volcano - seen 2: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trou_aux_Cerfs">Trou Aux Cerfs, Mauritius</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Crater">Sunset Crater, AZ, US</a><br />
11. See a meteor crater - <a href="http://www.meteorcrater.com/Photo-Gallery">Arizona meteor crater</a><br />
12. <a href="http://mauritiusattractions.com/parasailing-p-123.html">Para-sailing</a><br />
13. Shoot from a double barrel shotgun<br />
14. Drive a water speed bike<br />
15. Drive a speed boat<br />
16. Helicopter ride and saw <a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_QD6Y_ibxh4E/TZ2G8cqzmBI/AAAAAAAACTI/1Ls2hW4Nn5I/19.JPG">Niagara</a> from the top<br />
17. Try my skills @ archery<br />
18. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/chetankjain/TadiandamolPeak#">Trek through a rain forest</a><br />
19. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/chetankjain/IrpuFalls#">Bathe in a waterfall</a><br />
20. Reached the 2nd highest peak in S. India (Doddabetta Ooty, 2637m)<br />
21. Climbed the 5th highest peak in S. India (Tadiandamol Coorg, 1748m)<br />
22. Reached the base of Jog Falls (253m) highest waterfall in S. Asia<br />
23. Reached the base of Yosemite Falls (739m) 6th highest in world, highest in N. America<br />
24. Explore caves<br />
25. Own a Farm<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>What I'm doing:</b><br />
1. Build my house (Oct 2011)<br />
2. Cut down weight from 86kg to 65kg (Oct 2011)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>What I will do</b><br />
1. Run a marathon<br />
2. Sky dive<br />
3. Bungee Jump<br />
4. Learn to swim and swim across a river<br />
5. A himalayan trek<br />
6. Scuba dive<br />
7. Drive a car at 300 kmph<br />
8. Rappelling<br />
9. See a whale<br />
10. Touch a dolphin<br />
11. Travel in a bullet train<br />
12. See a live volcano<br />
13. Cross the Sahara Desert<br />
14. Visit the 7 continents, touch the 5 oceans<br />
DONE (4): Asia, N. America, Europe, Africa TODO(3): S.America, Australia, Antartica<br />
DONE (3): Indian, Atlantic, Pacific TODO(2): Arctic, Antartic<br />
15. Drive round the world<br />
16. Drive around the golden quadrilateral in India<br />
17. Drive on the highest motorable road in world - Kardung La<br />
18. Drive on top of the great wall of china<br />
19. Sail round the world<br />
20. Balloon ride<br />
21. Go in a luxury Cruise<br />
22. Snorkel<br />
23. Rock climbing<br />
24. Para Glide<br />
25. Under sea walk<br />
26. Water skiing<br />
27. Deep dive with a DPV<br />
28. Drive a 1000+ cc bike<br />
29. Kayaking<br />
30. See an Aurora Borealis<br />
31. Trek across a desert<br />
32. Buy a real good camera<br />
33. Watch a live Opera<br />
34. Watch a space shuttle/rocket launch<br />
35. Watch Halley's comet (in 2061), missed it in 1986 :(<br />
36. Climb Mt. Everest<br />
37. Reach the north and south poles<br />
38. See earth from space/above atmosphere<br />
39. Buy a 300mm Telescope (Dec 2016)<br />
40. Build a farm house</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5978064601151560012-4333660851193040329?l=www.chetankjain.net' alt='' /></div>Chetan K Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986213722051740039noreply@blogger.com0