Delaware Water Gap

Time: May 23-25 2009

Place: Delaware Water Gap

Company: Wife

Album: Click here

Highlights:

Day 1: Left Marlborough in own Honda Civic at 7.30 am. First break at 10.30 am as we entered NY state on I-84W. Weather was overcast and gloomy but nice drive. Entered PA at about noon time and went to visitor center. Got the local maps and decided on all the places to see and when.

Decided on Lake Wallenpaupack as first destination. On the way, saw a big yard sale! Took items necessary for the house! Reached LW at 2 pm. Since it was drizzling, decided against the cruise and instead had lunch and just sat on the bench in front of the massive lake and enjoyed the serenity. The rain and the chill added everything but gloominess!

Then drove towards the Delaware water gap national recreation area. First visit was towards Raymondskill Falls. It is an amazing falls with two views: one from the top and one from the bottom. Nice wooden steps for easy accessibility.

Then drove towards Dingman’s Falls. This is even better. The Falls cascades from a huge height and here too we have two view points: one from the top and one at the bottom. Again, nice wooden steps for easy accessibility. For this, we also had to walk in the woods for about 10 mins.

Then headed towards Knights Inn at Bartonsville which was about 10 miles away from DWGNRA. Was exhausted after all the adventure. Had dinner at MacDonalds and retired.

Day 2: Woke up at 8 and took Rt 611 which winds through the Delaware Water Gap. It is a scenic road with multiple view points such as Resort View Point, Island view Point and Water Gap view point. At the end of this road, we also have a pedestrian bridge which spans across the Delaware river and one side of the bridge is Pennsylvania and the other side is New Jersey.

After that we went up Mt Tammany by trails. It is about half an hour’s hike up the hills and thick woods but it is worth the effort. The view at the top is breath taking. It gives the entire view of the Delaware Water Gap.

Then we went to Kittatinny Visitor Center. The river is touchable from here and we spent a nice time idling and having snacks. Nice pleasant picnic spot.

At 1, headed towards Bushkill Falls. Due to heavy traffic jam at Marshall’s Creek, we reached Bushkill Falls by 2.30 pm and entered the trail at 3 pm. Bushkill Falls has 4 trails. 1 is easiest. 2 is so-so. 3rd is long and 4th is longest. We customized it to our needs and took the one between 3rd and 4th. It was raining heavily but we enjoyed as we had umbrella. There were almost 5 falls within this nature spot and all falls are retained as-is. All around the falls are wooden bridges and steps to enable customers for scintillating views of the falls from each angle. It is rightly called the Niagara of Pennsylvania. Lots and lots of Indians in Bushkill Falls. I guess the word ‘Niagara’ kind of attracts lot of Indians!!

We hiked for about 1.5 hrs within the BF region and saw almost all falls. We had something to munch and then headed back to the hotel. Had supper at Dunkins and retired.

Day 3: Got up late. Had breakfast at 10. Left Bartonsville at 10.30. Lost the way slightly. Our first stop was at 1.30 when we entered Connecticut. Took half an hour’s lunch break at the rest area. Reached Marlborough at 5 pm.

Pittsburgh

Time: May 9 2009
Place: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Company: Wife
Highlights:
Left office on Friday at 5 pm with friend. Picked up wife from home and went to Southborough station. At 6 pm, caught the commuter rail to Boston. Had supper at Boston South Station. Took Lucky Star bus to New York at 9 pm. Reached New York by 1 am. Took subway to Times Square. Spent some time at Times Square. My wife could be the only lady in the world who was in Times Square on a midnight in a saree!!

Spent 1 hour waiting for the bus to Pittsburgh at Port Authority. Caught the Greyhound bus to Pittsburgh at 3.15 am. Had the last two seats. Bus went via Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Reached destination at 1 pm. Met brother at the destination at same time. Went to SV Temple. Lost route twice. Lost almost two hours. Went in every possible tunnel in Pittsburgh twice! Finally reached the temple. Grabbed a quick bite at the Udipi restaurant. Bid adieu to bro, took his car and started driving back. Drove for about 4 hrs till I couldnt stand it any more. Lodged in at comfort inn. Next day had continental breakfast, and drove from 9 am to 7 pm to reach Marlborough. Lost routes again twice! Had also a flat tyre on the freeway 40 miles prior to destination. Waited for AAA to fix it and also got myself a brand new tyre at the nearest exit. Pretty nice drive and not at all exhausting!

USA

Time: May 1 2009
Place: Marlborough, MA, USA
Company: Wife
Highlights: BA118 from Bangalore to London, 4 hrs transit in London (Terminal 5 is huge!) and BA215 to Boston. Feels good to have known this place. Made my way around easily. Havent forgotten much in 2.5 years...