The awesome Niagara Falls.

                             There isn't much that hasn't been said about the awesome Niagara Falls, one of Mother Nature's most impressive extravaganzas.The entire drive along the side of the lake from Detroit to Niagara Falls was simply exotic with the amazingly beautiful green vegetation on either sides of the highway.The mighty Niagara Falls can be said to be  the "Queen of the Waterfalls" by us, who have enjoyed the beauty of  our princesses like the falls of Courtallam,Pavanasam and even the wild Meenmutty Falls of Wayanad,rightly to be called the "prince', accessible after a dangerous trekking of 1 km.The two tours "the Maid of the Mist" and "The cave of the Winds" take us close to the waters of the grand spectacle.The colourful parks,the pathways, the beautiful tulips and the nearby city of Buffalo have lots to offer to the lovers of Nature.A whole day must be the least to enjoy the city of the Niagara Falls with the colourful illuminations at night.Unfortunately,with other plans for the next day, only 3 hrs. could be spent by us in Niagara ,devoting 13 hrs.for the drive up and down,for a distance of 614 kms. + 614 kms.A big thanks to my brother,not only for driving akka and anni from Chennai to Tirunelveli and back,the same day ,taking a day off from work but also letting his ears open without any option to the conversation between two ladies( back in India,we never get such time),which we proudly proclaimed to keep him alert behind the wheel.

                       The Niagara Falls of the US side is pretty much closer to Pittsburgh than to Detroit.Let me end this post with this story,may be useful to a few, to update things frequently.My original plan was to visit the Niagara of the Canadian side for more than one reason.First of all,it is close to Detroit,my brother's place,secondly my school mate and close friend lives in Waterloo, just a 100 miles away from the Niagara of the Canadian side and above all the immense joy of visiting one more country.Canadian visa could be obtained by surrendering the passport in person and collecting it after 3 hours at the Canadian Embassy,Detroit.The confidence of this facility made us never to bother about the official website,other than checking the requirements for the visa.To our shock and dismay, 3 weeks before my departure to Pittsburgh and Detroit,we came to know that the "same day visa service" has been withheld from March 13, due to some reasons.It was too late to send my passport by post for the Canadian visa and also alter my travel plans,scheduled well in advance.Not checking the website earlier along with the booking of the flight tickets made my daughter regret and amma's missing the prospect of visiting,yet an other country made my son more miserable than me. Kaikku ettiyadhu,vaikku ettavillai! Many a slip between the cup and the lip.

The Maid of the mist

                                                       

The Rainbow bridge connecting Cananda and USA

                                                                          

Canada on the other side of the Niagara

                                                 

The Cave of the Winds

                                                

Detroit, the legacy of Henry Ford

                                             The indelible impressions made by the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, the Henry Ford Museum, The Greenfield Village and the echoing of my Social Studies teacher's words," Girls, Detroit is known as the automobile city" made me give Detroit, this title, though I don't know if I'm right.Anyhow, the name that comes to one's memory, with Detroit, is Henry Ford


                                           The Ford Rouge Factory Tour was really exciting and interesting.The factory is in Dearborn and the tickets have to be bought in the premises of the Ford Museum.We were taken in the Ford bus to the factory, a few miles away.Inside the final assembling unit of the Ford trucks,it was very thrilling to see from elevated walkways up, the vehicles sliding one after the other in the moving assembly lines and stopping at the required points for the doors,moon roofs,steering wheels,wind shield screens etc. to be fitted up.The robots moving their arms and fitting the windshield screen was the greatest attraction with no thoughts of moving away from that point.Panel screens and the staff explaining the process make the tour more valuable.

                                         From the the observation deck on the top floor,we can enjoy the largest green,living roof of the world,an environmental innovation and protection.Documentaries illustrating the history of the world famous industrialist and how he realised his dream were screened in the legacy theatre.Another wonderful feature of the tour was the colourful array of the Ford vehicles from the earliest to the latest.

                                       Henry Ford Museum is,yet, an innovative vision of the great auto maker's interest in taking the inspiring past, the stories of the men and women who have changed the world ,to guide the posterity.All the sections like Agriculture,Heroes of the Sky, Automobiles in America, With Liberty and Justice for All etc. have some significant  exhibits and events that revolutionised the lives of men.

                                      To cite a few notable exhibits are the Bus,in which Rosa Parks declined to give up her seat to a white,sparking a great civil rights  movement,the camp bed used by the first President George Washington, the earlier air crafts,tractors,locomotives, the chair in which Lincoln was shot dead and the cars used by the various Presidents including the limousine in which John F.Kennedy was assassinated. As a scholar of English Literature, I was thrilled to see the desk used by Mark Twain, the famous American writer of the evergreen children's classic, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the furniture used by the great essayist Edgar Allan Poe.A whole day or at the least half a day must be reserved to cherish the memories of the past under a single roof of 12 acres.

                             The Greenfield village is another great contribution of Ford,to depict how the Americans lived and worked, with independent buildings to demonstrate the crafts like pottery,printing,glass making etc.There are also the relocated homes of some eminent personalities like Thomas Alva Edison, a contemporary and a close aide of Ford ,the Wright brothers,Noah Webster,the great American who compiled the  dictionary and many other homes from the times, the country was founded to the present day, in a vast area of 200 acres.Greenfield Village is a great attraction to enjoy with the family in Detroit.


                           My sister in law from Chennai and myself had a very good time with my brother,his wife and the kids.Both my brother and sister in law kept off from their work in turn, to take us around their city.We enjoyed the Tamil,spoken with an American accent of English by the kids,a piano recital by my nephew and the Carnatic tunes of my niece.There was also a delicious dinner hosted by one of our relatives,settled there.

                              The supreme delight of my visit to Detroit was, it turned out to be a great reunion of three friends,one a US citizen, another a Canadian Citizen and the third an Indian citizen but all the proud products of the great St.Ignatius Convent HSS,Palayamkottai.




                                         
      
                                    

Pittsburgh,beyond my imagination

                                     Pittsburgh,  like any other city of US, is  a developed city with a downtown full of sky scrappers, a city of malls and the usual chain of stores and the seat of the renowned Venkatesa Perumal Temple.This was the image conceived by my "small brain" prior to my visit to the city.Far beyond my imagination,the scenic beauty of the city at the confluence of the two rivers,Allegheny and Monongahela to form the Ohio river with the back ground of the elegant and towering concrete structures is a wonderful sight. The beautiful view of the city,the three rivers, the golden triangle and the high rising buildings, all flooded in the night lights from Mt. Washington is rightly said to be one of the most beautiful vistas in US.This glorious sight should never be missed by those who drive by car to Niagara as it is only a 4 1/2 hrs. drive from there, if they are lucky enough to be blessed by the "god of Time."
                              The university of Pittsburgh looks like a"garden town within a city." The Cathedral of Learning, the second tallest educational building in the world with 42 storeys is a historic land mark.It has something unique to the the visitors.The Nationality Classrooms, as the name implies located in 2 or 3 floors of this cathedral, recreates the furniture, the podium and the black board of some of the countries of the world along with the arts and craft,the interesting and impressive characteristics of  the respective nations.
                           The Venkateswara Temple located on a small hill,surrounded by a lush green, beautiful vegetation and accessible after a few U turns brings back memories of our Ezhumalayan.Last week one of our Iyengar family friends,living nearby us said ,during their visit to Niagara for a couple of days by flight, they could spend only a few hours enjoying the falls while much of the time was taken away by their drive to the temple and back to Buffalo,the city of their stay near Niagara.Such is the power of this Lord Venkateswara with Thayar and Andal.Close to this temple is the Hindu Jain Temple housing all deities under one roof,promoting world peace and harmony.
                       Yet,one more temple on the way, is the Shridi Saibaba Temple in a calm and serene atmosphere.My niece, at whose invitation,I visited Pittsburgh, was brought up in Mylapore,near the Shridi Saibaba Temple.Baba, I believe, has blessed his ardent devotee to live in a city 1000 of miles away, yet to worship her favourite Baba and her husband's family deity, Sri venkateswara frequently.Thanks to her,her husband, my sister in law and the sweet little prince for making my stay comfortable and delightful.The Carnegie Science Centre, Museum, zoo, places worthy to be visited but missed as I could stay only for two days.The third day, my sister in law and myself left for Detroit paying a fare of 1 $ each for a distance of 350 miles still in a comfortable double decker mega bus,with the joy of getting an opportunity to travel in the public transport.

The overwhelming Overland Park

                               Interestingly,some years back, at the time of the marriage proposal for my daughter with the groom employed in the state of Kansas,I have to satisfy myself only with a paragraph of information about the state of Kansas from the World Book Encyclopedia as I was not a tech. savvy.Today,volumes can be written and spoken after my visit.

                          The state of Kansas,fondly nicknamed" The Sunflower State" and "The Breadbasket of America", mostly unknown outside the continent of America is located exactly in the centre of US.Home to many national parks,the state offers visitors plenty of natural recreation areas. With its close proximity to Kansas City,the city of Overland Park has shown tremendous development in the last few decades to be the second populous city in the state of Kansas.

                        The lovers of nature can have a blissful time in the 300 acres Arboretum and Botanical Gardens with its age old trees, lake,beautiful flowers in full bloom during summer and much more.To add to it are the other numerous parks,theatres,soccer complexes,golf clubs etc. for recreation.

                      The Oak Park Mall caters to the needs of the people going for shopping in the true sense and a paradise during week ends to those indulging in window shopping.The branches of the chain of stores like JC Penny, Sam's Club, Walmart,Kohl's,Costco,Home Depot,Bed Bath and Beyond,Hobby and Lobby,Michael's,Babies'Rus , some Indian groceries, the chain of restaurants,drive thru' banks, well equipped hospitals and all commercial establishments within a radius of less than 3 miles make life easy and interesting in this city. Only the Hindu Temple at Shawnee Mission is a 20 min.drive but all the deities of various sects are kind enough to bless us under the same roof.


                     Coming to business,Overland Park is the world headquarters of Sprint Nextel,the largest employer in the city with a work force of a little less than 20,000.Earlier known as  Sprint,when construction began in 1997,the Sprint campus was the largest corporate project under way in North America.With its own zip code, a clock tower, a 3000 seat  outdoor amphitheater,four major fountains and 6000 trees, all in 240 acres,Sprint has created a city within a city.


                  "Corporate Woods",the name sounds musical and as the name suggests, is a large corporate complex housing many corporate offices and retail shops amidst the green and lovely woods with different variety of trees and an infinite number of colourful flowers. A 50 acre recreation area adorned with picnic tables,jogging trails,a fountain,meandering streams and an abundance of wild life,all dedicated to green space.Corporate Woods,a beautiful visual in my memory canvas, is a land mark in the city.


                    The zoo in the neighbouring Kansas City has lots of attraction for the children as well as adults.My favourite and frequently visited place is the county library,well equipped with  books on all subjects,audio books,DVDs, etc. with "hold" and renewal facilities online.


                    The Overland Park Farmers' Market can be visited for the fresh vegetables,greens,fruits etc.Giving a chance to interact with the vendors behind the produce " from the seeds to the market for sale" it promotes community development, educating the residents about buying locally and eating seasonally.


                     A drive of 30 min. takes us to the wonderful university town,Lawrence,the seat of the 150 years old, Kansas University with nearly 30,000 students on roll in the three campuses.Some of the public schools in the blue valley educational districts are said to be the best in the nation.


                 No wonder, consecutively ,the city of Overland Park deserves a place among the top ten cities in US for the people to live,according to CNN Money Magazine.
                                                              

Impressions and information

                                     " The click of a mouse can give countless pages of information on any thing in a few seconds.What is the purpose behind the efforts of sharing the impressions of my travels,other than being an offshoot from the tree of my passion for reading and of late,writing.",mused I.

                                      Still a life time is too short to go through the contents of the net.Only impressions created by reading,listening or watching the TV about the success of a person,popularity of a film or a book or the importance of a place induce us to collect more information from the web site.

                                      At this juncture a cousin of me, a globe trotter, on a pleasure trip to US told me,he had to collect some information only from acquaintances before embarking on the journey, despite being a tech. savvy.He is also interested in sharing his travel experiences to be useful to some."Time is a great constraint in browsing the net unless we are impressed by the gist of something." said he.His persuasion made me go ahead with the idea of blogging about the impressions of my travel.

Indoor forest,incredible but wonderful

                                           United they swim!
                                           

                                          What is their quest?

                                              Sea anemones

                                           Wonderful divers!

 

                                      Blue! Are they all "boys"?

                                    What a plethora of colours!
 

                                     Our Royal Bengal Tigers.
                                     Home, away from home

                                 Lied Jungle, the indoor rain forest

                              The scarlet macaws of the Lied Jungle

               

             Indoor stadiums are known but indoor forest................Yes, "Lied Jungle", the huge,green and beautiful indoor rain forest,unknown and unseen by me earlier, was the star attraction in the Henry Doorly Zoo,one of the well known zoos in US and the premier tourist destination in Omaha,the largest city in the state of Nebraska.This lovely concrete jungle is populated with the fauna and flora,characteristic of the rain forest such as the howler monkeys,leopards and the exotic birds.

            A similar attraction of the zoo is the "Desert Doom",world's largest indoor desert and the IMAX theatre.Sadly,they had to be sacrificed for want of time.Butterfly Pavilion is the home of charming,colourful butterflies and distinguished insects.We enjoyed the sweet looking jellyfish,coral reef,sea turtles,lion fish,puffin,sharks,sea anemones,the lovely penguins etc. in the aquarium.Our forefathers, the  apes,monkeys,gorillas,chimpanzees and camels,zebras,polar bears,big cats,peacock,orangutans and some others are the notable exhibits in the zoo.

                 
              Located at a distance of 200 miles and a 3 hrs.30 mins.drive from our place, Overland Park,this sprawling zoo of 130 acres, getting updated periodically is worth spending a whole day,of course, for the adults also!

The blissful moments

                      God's gift was delivered to us in the Overland Park Regional Medical Center.It was an unprecedented and unforgettable experience when the" on call" gynaecologist Dr.Magi H.Smith an efficient doctor with a rich experience of nearly 25 years not only attended the patient but also enquired about our other needs and she personally helped us .

                      The next morning my daughter's gynaecologist Dr.Megan Nicolas,being held up with some other emergency case,Dr.Crystal Newby, a young and smart doctor became divine on bringing our bundle of joy safe and secure into this world.It was one of the ecstatic and blissful moments of life.These doctors,the nurses,the paediatrician and the other personnel introducing themselves by shaking hands with my son in law and saying "hello" to us on meeting us for the first time gave me a pleasant surprise.

                       All consultations with prior appointments and the patients waiting behind the closed doors,either for consulting or diagnosing and the inpatients with their attendants inside the room,the multi storied  hospital looked very calm. A few people were seen in the lift ,the corridors and the reception but  the hospital staff in the lounge of each floor.

The wonderful snowfall

                               Winter is said to be a great challenge; of course,it is.Yet is that winter with the awesome snowfall,not one of the wonderful phases of Nature?Viewing the silvery rain ,that too for the first time ,was a joyous experience.I saluted my "to be born grand son" for giving me this golden opportunity of visiting his place during peak winter.The house seemed to be surrounded by an ocean of snow with a coating of silver,every where,on the plants,trees,roofs,garden furniture etc. etc.

                              Schools and offices remained closed on Feb. 1 and 2 ; the news channel reported it to be the worst in the last decade.Chicago,the epicentre of the snowstorm,received a record breaking, 13.6 inches of snow.More than a thousand flights were cancelled at the airport.Just exactly by a week(earlier there was a plan to start on Feb. 1), God had saved me from a great adventure.

                            Amidst the rejoicing of the beauty of the snow,staying indoors,a worry also cropped up in my mind."How to get out of the house,if my daughter starts getting labour pains,in case, 20 days,ahead of the due date ?."In such adverse weather conditions,the services of the ambulance could be availed,I was told.

                            During that season,in the course of a talk over telephone with my friend who lives  in Canada for more than three decades,naturally a Canadian Citizen,I asked ,how normal life would be affected in winter.Pat came the spontaneous answer,"Hai,Ponni,even,if we just start thinking about the snow,the economy of Canada has to come to a standstill."What a prudence and acceptance!

　                  Do not give up when it is winter for you will miss the promise of spring,
                                  the beauty of summer and the fulfillment of autumn.

                    ( Picture taken through the front glass door of my daughter's house )