Category: Traveling

Summer in Minnesota

I had an unplanned trip to Minnesota last Sunday. I am so glad that I decided to go despite of all the things I have to take care of before I leave for home. It was a short trip so I made sure that I got the best of it. Last time I was there it wasn`t much of an adventure because of the gruesome winter weather and I was there for a whole month (December 2008–January 2009). I never saw snow before so I was overjoy to step and play with snow for the first time. It wasn`t at all like what I imagined because I ended up staying at home for almost the whole time. The snow was pretty but I really couldn`t stand the cold weather. My friends were trying to scare me off by saying I might get frostbite hahaha… And also I kept hearing about the awesome lakes but they`re all frozen. So this time I did my homework, researching about the lakes that were located in Minneapolis.

Minnesota is really different in summer. The weather is extremely hot. It hit 100 degrees when I was there. I wasn`t really prepared for it, since San Francisco pretty much has the coolest summer. But I got to visit many places this time. Even though I didn`t stop for many lakes as I hoped for, I did pass many of them within 3 days. I should say I love Lake Harriet! I was staying at the fishing dock and it was a really peaceful moment. People were so friendly there. There`s always an exchange of “hello” from strangers everywhere I went. It made my stay in Minnesota very pleasant. It was indeed a perfect getaway before returning to Indonesia.

{Some pictures were taken with my Canon T2i and some with La Sardina}

Over the Rainbow

To be honest, I wasn`t as excited to go to Niagara Falls as I was to Yosemite. I thought it would just be another waterfalls. I was wrong. Before we got to see the waterfalls, we went to the imax theatre to watch the history, legends, and myth of the falls. The story itself was informative, but the execution was pretty bad. I learned all about Lelawala and the incident of Dianne and Roger in 1960. That story made me really alert and cautious when I was standing on the brink of the upper falls.

I was in awe when I finally saw Niagara Falls. It`s really magnificent, and at night it felt magical when the different colors of light hit the water. Unfortunately when I was there, the sun set at 9 pm and we couldn`t stay for long. We went back next day in the morning, and the falls looked different from when it was at night. When the light hit the water, it was grand, majestic in every way but in the morning it looked really peaceful. The rainbow was so pretty and close, it was as if it`s within the reach of the hands.We circled the lower falls with the Maid of the Mist Boat. It was such a fun ride that I wanted to go on it again. We went in to the heart of the falls, and of course the wind and water got us really wet. Lucky that they gave out the blue raincoat before we stepped into the deck. Such a unique experience!

I definitely want to go back to Niagara Falls! It is to put it simply, breathtaking!

Yosemite (Part 2)

Mirror Lake would be my favorite place of the park. I was so lucky to have come during the spring time because in the summer and fall the lake is dry and winter it`s frozen. It`s just so peaceful and the scenery was breathtaking. The temperature was perfect, warm but not too hot. People were biking along the trail and children running around the lake. When I look at the pictures, they still put a smile on my face. I can understand why Ansel Adams dedicated his life preserving the wilderness.

No matter how sophisticated you may be, a huge granite mountain cannot be denied-it speaks in silence to the very core of your being. (Retrospect: Nineteen-Thirty-One)

We continued on the journey to the valley. And on the way we spotted the deers just standing there, unafraid of anything. I was too late to change my lens and we had to move on.

I visited the Ansel Adams` gallery. It`s not that big, but close enough to give a glimpse of his world. I bought a book of his, and read all the letters he actively sent to the government.

at Curry Village on the way back to San Francisco. The last day and it was raining, the perfect time to end our trip. 

Yosemite (part 1)

I want to take this chance to thank each and every one of you for dropping by. Thanks for all the support. It really means a lot to me and I appreciate it.

I just got back from Yosemite (it was a super last-minute trip) for three days. I had a blast. It`s my second time visiting the park, but the first one was just a passing-through. This time I had a road trip with a friend of mine, and the thing about driving is that you can stop whenever and wherever you want. So I got to have a rather intimate experience within the area. Unfortunately the trip was mostly spent on the road and reading the map trying to figure out where to go next. I still hope I can go back there someday and see the coming of the sunrise.

We are quite the heavy packers. We stopped at Wawona Hotel, I love the white wooden chair. The place just looked so cozy.Bridalveil (beautiful waterfall)