Travel Chitchat

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” 

― Lao Tzu

Remember those hazards of standing in a long queue from the early morning and buying tickets for the tours our parents used to do. Sometimes we too accompany them to experience the pathetic inert conditions and made our parents' life miserable at that point of time by continuously nagging about how long we had to stand there. And if we were at home the excitement used to keep on fueling inside the heart and the glance was fixed on the door to see whether our parents returned with a happy smile on their face to declare "YES we got the tickets" or not. 

Buying tickets, planning a vacation was then all hand written and used to be done manually. We either rush straight to the stations, airports, bus depots or to the agents to make it bit easier. But many used to avoid the agents to save the little money what the agents would charge extra. First fill up a form to buy a ticket for bus, train or flights, and then do the payment in cash. But now, the days are gone when we have to stand in queues for booking train/bus or even Flight tickets. This is the advance era where day by day we are blessed with all the easy mode of communications. And when travel is concern you just have to sit in front of a desk top with an internet connection, click a button, fill up the mandatory requirement and here your travel booking is done. The online booking system has made life too easy and less time consuming.

Fly with an airline was quite a fancy in previous days. To avoid the exorbitant price of the flight tickets, people used to travel by train or bus. And on the contrary the rail routes and services where quite good on those old days. Now people feel more secure to fly rather than travelling on land. So the present scenario depicts the first preference to travel by flights and then choose the second option going by train. People have learnt to save their precious time too and therefore getting prone towards choosing the option to fly with the different airlines. The catchiest present situation is, Airline tickets have become very cheap too. You can buy directly from the respected airlines or go for the different travel booking sites which will not only help one to find the flight tickets in cheap rates, it will also provide all other information and booking options about hotels, car rentals etc. In one search on the net it will give you numerous options to visit the online travel industry.

 The online booking sites are always flooded with many attractive deals and budget tour package programs. And the best part of an online booking site is that it will give the detail of what the cheapest flight offers are going on. The scoring punch line of Air Arabia 'Pay Less, Fly More' does the just to explain about the online travel industry. This is what they provide. Once you are accustomed with this service you will become addicted to it. Sometimes people do have some different and negative notes on this too. But the famous and reputed online booking sites are always reliable and handy with their utmost comfortable services. Even airlines like Air Asia offers the cheapest deal to travel. Now we are more tend towards wrapping ourselves in the comfort zone and our advanced society speedily developing to give us the utmost felicities which we avail without wasting much time. We have learnt to value our time and the money too. The pleasure of vacation demands the conveniences, where time and money can be spent economically and this is what the tourism industry is providing us. Cheers to the online travel industry for making the world of tourism so easy.

The Glimpses of Laguna Beach- Out & About

The other day our tour minds destined us to Laguna Beach. We never thought that we were having such an alluring sight to view only in the 15mnts driving distance from our home. It caught my attention when one of the Orange County magazines awarded it as the best Editor's Choice Beach.

Laguna Beach, located in the southern Orange County, California, is mainly famous as a sea-side resort and artist community. You will just get moved by seeing the wonderful art Exhibitions lined around the beach. We spent a great time in strolling along the boardwalk on the main beach, walking the scenic overlooks of the Heisler Park and wandering through the shops and galleries in the downtown. Around the Beach you will have exiting trails to hike. Your long exploration may bump you into some adventurous caves. You can get a wonderful panoramic view of the whole city and the beach from some countless peaks accessible by the innumerable local hiking trails or you may spend hours mesmerized by the amazing diversity of the beauty of the marine life that surrounds the Laguna Beach. Here are some snaps to enjoy:

Just think how lucky they are, where the brains are getting intoxicated by the three S- Sound, Sight & Smell of the incredible Pacific Ocean.



Here is a proof where animals also cherish the beauty of the nature.



I was quite disappointed not to find a single sea-shell. But the seaweeds really enchanted me by their wild beauty.

Don't miss the creative Car- a proof that Laguna Beach knows to appreciate the artists.

Front of the Artistic Car.

One of my favourites. I wish to be there holding the other hand of my daughter, not behind the lenses and somebody is taking a natural family picture for us. The yacht is the dream may be someday come true.





Due to the cloudy sky we missed the colours of the setting sun. Anyway the cloudy sky also showed how much beautiful it looks and also powerful when it covers the sun.



The snaps are off the Simplicity Photography Challenge: Out & About

A Scary Detour Transformed To A Jaunt

Now a day it has become a necessity to go for a quotidian outing in every Saturday. And why not!! This time we are staying in such a place, if you buckle up yourself and drive for few miles east, west, south or north, you will be in some jaunty places. We have the Disney Parks in 20mnts driving distance, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Sea world and Los Angeles in an hour or so driving distance. One could certainly imagine that when so many magnificent places are located around why one should not indulge him/herself to get spoilt in every weekend. So it is an indeterminate excogitation that every Saturday is the One-day tour day. Even it’s my pleasure to wake up early in the morning, prepare and pack the breakfast, lunch and snacks for the sashay. Our 3 year old would get ready in no time, pack her bag and prove her the most obedient girl of the world only for that day. And my hubby, who loves to sleep for late hours in the non-working days, would never get irritated to wake up early when a long drive or a tour is concerned. We spend the whole week deciding which place we are going to visit the coming Saturday and that gives us a great alleviation from our tiring days. Whether we go or not, plans are always geared up. Anyway now let me come to the fact for why I am here today.

Last Saturday we decided to visit San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is an hour driving distance from Irvine, where we stay right now. That day we started our journey little bit late when the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. When we reached the highway I-5 South, we got stuck in the sphere of huge traffic. The traffic was moving very slow. We were moving at 10-20ml/hr where the speed limit was 70ml/hr. It is rarely seen a traffic jam in the highways unless and until some mishap has taken place. But this time by god’s grace nothing ominous has happened. It’s just a rush of huge traffic. Everybody had come out in the same hour to take the advantage of the magnificent weather. None to blame. My daughter started growling as she never likes from her birth, the car moves slow. We were just wishing the traffic should get clear soon, our GPS indicated to take a detour due the severe traffic ahead. We got energised to get a way out from this traffic maze. We decided to detour, though we have to drive 30mints more than an hour. So we have taken HWY 74 (Ortega Hwy) towards Grand Avenue.

From the plain land we suddenly got in to the hilly road. There were only two lanes one for each direction. And in between the two lanes there were hardly a gap of a foot. The hilly curves were too sheer and made me scream in every turn. All the menacing thoughts started to crawl down my mind and I kept on muttering to my husband “Go Slow” just like the holy words. I was promising myself from the next time onwards I am not going to take any detour. We almost crossed two hills and suddenly we confronted to this majestic site.

We parked our car in a view point. We were not able to believe our eyes what we were watching. The heavenly beauty of the place filled out mind with a queer tranquilization. Our heart tried to inhale all the invigorated fresh air of the place. The spellbinding view whipped away all the fear and scare I was nurturing till of the route. We were feeling like to stand there for eternity. But our daughter’s call, who felt asleep when the car started to gear the speed, woke up us from this mesmerising horizon.

We again started our journey through the hilly road for 15mnts or so. But this time I forgot to panic. Both my husband and I kept on discussing about the unforgettable site we witnessed just before and thanking the GPS. That day we spent our whole day with an amazing beam of energy. The detour surely proved to us a bliss.

Information on Lake Elsinore:-

The lake we cherished from the hill top is Lake Elsinore. Little bit information is provided below.

“Lake Elsinore, originally Laguna Grande, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California and is situated at the lowest point within the 750 square mile San Jacinto Watershed at the terminus of the San Jacinto River, where its headwaters are found on the western slopes of San Jacinto Peak with its North Fork, and Lake Hemet with its South Fork. Lake levels are healthy at 1,244 feet (above sea level) with a volume of 30,000 acre•ft (37,000 dam³)[3] that often fluctuate, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant. At 1,255 feet, the lake would spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest along I-15, which feeds Temescal Creek, which dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of the City of Corona. It then flows to Orange County, out to the Pacific Ocean just south of Huntington State Beach.

Lake Elsinore is bordered by the Elsinore Mountains to the west, which are a part of the larger Santa Ana Mountain Range, and receive snowfall a few days each year. Included in the Santa Ana Mountains is the Cleveland National Forest and El Cariso. Lake Elsinore is a part of the Temecula Valley and northern portions are also considered part of Temescal Canyon.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Elsinore,_California)

Lake Attraction:

“Lake Elsinore is ideal for motor boating, jet skiiing, waterskiing, wake boarding, kayaking and fishing. It boasts public beaches with picnic and shade features, plenty of safe easy-access parking, a three mile levee for hiking, nature watching and fishing (some areas restricted), and a tournament channel for professional ski instruction and club and pro competitions.”

Get more information HERE.

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