Samarth’s Travel Page

The First Trip of US of A.

After buying the car in a span of 3 days, the insurance, registration, the safety inspection etc etc etc was done within a day and on the 18th of dec, I was off – – for the first road trip in the US of A.

Reached Tulsa on the 18th of Dec. was there for a couple of days. 24th of Dec, we left for Gokhale’s place – Kingsville, Texas. It was great drive from Tulsa to Austin, where we took a halt in the youth hostel. The interstate I-35 is one hell of a route. Driving on this route for around 9 hours was just gr88888. Austin night – nothing to eat, it was the day b4 christmas. All shops closed, all eateries closed. This made us roam around for food for an hour in Austin. But then, when everything fails, there is always Denny’s. Went there, had a hearty dinner on Chicken Fajita skillet. It is so good that Manasi has started eating Chicken at least. That was precisely the reason why she did not face any problem throughout the trip. One always gets chicken everywhere. She has had soo much of chicken in this trip, that she probably has never had in her lifetime.

So there we were, the next day, off to Kingsville. This was going to be a drive of around 5 hrs. Left at 11 am, the checkout time for Youth Hostel. The interstate I-35 joins I-37 to go further down south. This was an even better road. Greenery on both the sides and the smooth travel – it was damn good. The car on cruise control at the speed around 80 miles per hour (around 125kms per hr.), the Dil Chahta Hai CD blasting, and manasi by the side, what else do you want?????????????? Singing and chatting all the way, reached Kingsville at around 3.30 pm. Had not had anything during the travel, and were fortunate that Gokhale had prepared Alu Matar – WOW, the lunch was too good……….. went to Corpus Christi, the HOT SPOT nearby. But by the time we reached, everything had closed down. So, sat on the side of the beach for some time, had a hearty talk with Gokhale, with the soft cool breeze on our faces, it was such a good atmosphere. Went home, planned for the next week’s trip and slept off.

Next Day – The official day assigned to visit Corpus Christi. Went to BEST BUY to buy a camera for the trip. Gokhale bought the camera on his credit card. We were going to return the camera after the trip ended. Most of the shops have this policy out here. So, we now had an AMAZING Nikon N-65 with a 28-80mm lens, along with 4 rolls of 400 ASA. Now, the actual photography of the trip started. Went to the USS Lexington, the WW-II ship, which the Americans have turned into a War Museum. The efforts they take to preserve their history could be seen at every point during our trip. Did some TP near the ship, took some snaps, and then went to have Indian Cuisine at TANDOOR. It was pathetic; the way the owner was treating Indians. He got the bill on our table when we were having our lunch. While going, I made it a point to have a good talk with him and remind him of the ways Indians are supposed to behave. That it’s not a Bloody McDonald’s, where you pay first and then have your food. That Indians are famous for good hospitality. And that his behavior certainly did fit the norms of the Indian Hospitality. Now, we had planned to go to South Padre island, and its Mustang Beach. The road to this island is thru a patch where u have sea on both the sides of the road. It was very beautiful. This Mustang beach extended to – god knows how many miles – we were driving on the beach for around 15 minutes and it was never ending. Manasi grabbed the opportunity to drive the car on the beach. Being an automatic transmission, it was not at all a problem for her. So, all the way up to the entry of the beach, manasi had the controls. From there on, went home, ordered Pizza, had bought beer and coke on way, so it was gala time with the pepperoni pizza and our good old Budweiser. Now, U all SHOULD READ THIS!! Gokhale showed us a movie on a video cassette – It was Sholay – u must be thinking , whats new in Sholay??????????????? A BIG NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Sholay is different, – This is the Sholay of USA – – u know, in this Gabbar Singh ACTUALLY DIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of us have seen sholay N no of times and we all remember the police coming and warning the thakur of not taking the law in his hands by killing Gabbar. But, in this movie, the thakur kills gabbar and then dharmendra (viru) and the thakur actually sob in each other’s arms for around 2 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the movie ends……………. It was shocking to see such a big difference, a totally different ending of the movie. Gokhale said he even has a plan of copying the movie and sending it to mumbai, to the director of sholay, and ask him what this shit is all about…………………………..After a full meal and a good “different sholay”, slept off as we had to leave for Galveston the next day, early morning.

This early morning started at 9.30 a m. The start of Manasi’s trip in the back seat of the car is a photograph in one of the albums. Last night, in spite of bidding for quite some time, did not find a good hotel room on priceline.com , so decided to go in and check out when we reach. But it darkened by the time we reached Galveston. So, finally started looking out for the Youth Hostel in Galveston. We did not know it had been incorporated in a motel. After searching for around 2 hours, we finally got a place to stay. It was on the beach. That very night, Manasi clicked our photo with the same coloured trackpant and t-shirt, sitting back to back. Actually, it was manasi’s t-shirt, which i was wearing, and as u can see i am hardly fitting in that. Next day, went to the railway museum of Galveston. Many of the photographs in the albums are in the museum of Galveston. We walked thru around 4 small theatres, which had shows explaining the westward expansion of the United States, and Galveston’s role in it.
This was a strategically located port and was very functional from the trade point of view. B4 Texas was made a part of US; Galveston was the capital of Texas. Enjoyed a lot at the museum. The photographs in the luxury suites of the trains show how lavishly the officers of the Railway service used to travel. It had a conference room, a dining room etc etc in the train. They were very advanced even in the mid 1800’s. The photos with me and gokhale sitting besides plaster of paris models depicts how the models were created. It was said that real people were made to pose for the sculptors, with a thin layer of plaster of paris on them. That is why they look SOO real and lively. Moved on to have lunch and then to the beach. The beach was great. It was so cold up there in Rolla and Tulsa, but in Texas, we were roaming around in shorts and t-shirts. That way, we could afford to go into the sea. We were in the sea almost for 2 complete hours. Seeing us, a lot of people joined later. Clicked a lot of snaps, which are there in the albums. Then as per the plan, went to Moody Gardens. This is a real big complex, where you have a lot of things to do. There were two glass pyramids in which they had created the typical environment of a tropical green forest and another of the same kind. There was an aquarium, IMAX theatres . Now, these theatres are giant ones with a screen of 80 ft by 80 ft. in dimensions. We saw a movie on the true story of mailing services in Argentina. A pilot used to deliver mail by flying across mountains. This was a 3-D movie and so, we were flying the plane with the pilot, we were with him when he was in a storm, going down in a crash etc etc etc. it was simply great to c such a movie on this giant a screen. It is indeed true that one day is not enough for seeing what this entire place offered. We were running short on time, as we had booked a motel from priceline. So, we had to leave Galveston that day and reach Houston, because if we did not, we would have wasted our money – our credit card had already got charged for the booking at Houston. The drive was not all that far. It was only an hour or so. The motel had all the channels on the TV. Again, Papa John’s pizza was ordered at the doorstep, and we were hogging away at the pizza and the soda, while watching the movie. The photo in which manasi and I are there with the papa john’s is the same motel. Chatted for a while, and then that was the end of a long day.

Next day – Destination Houston.
Houston is so big that everything is impossible to see in one day. So, we decided upon going in for the Johnson Space center (NASA), Houston. It is one of the research plus training centers for the astronauts going on the space missions. A particular section of the space center has been converted into an interactive tour for the tourists. There were movies on the space missions taken up by the US so far, then there was this robot (a photograph is there), who guided us thru a show on the history of American Space programs. There was another IMAX screen there. Got a chance to see the building of the international space station. This space station is being built with the coordination of 16 different countries. Got a chance to see the development of the space recovery vehicle (SRV) being used to bring up to 7 astronauts from space. A video was shown on the manner in which these astronauts would be coming back to Planet Earth after the mission gets completed. It took us the complete day to see the space center. We had no booking in san Antonio for the night. This was the night of 29th of Dec. We had planned to spend the whole of 30th and 31st of Dec. in San Antonio. We searched for a good motel, which could be cheap as well. But each one of them was very expensive. They were quoting in the range of $45-$50 per night. Besides, there was this game the next day, which had attracted a lot of people to San Antonio. Manasi, sleeping on the rear seat, 12.30 am, we were on the lookout for a nice place. We had almost decided to spend the night in the car in one of those rest areas by the interstate. A lot of people do the same to save on money, which goes into lodging. There was this motel, by the name of Relay Station Motel. Went to check out our luck out there. There was this Gujarati guy at the reception. After a long chat about our universities, our courses, the places we belong to in India, and a whole lot of other topics, somehow, he got impressed. This guy gave us a room for the 2 nights, 29th and 30th night for an unbelievable price of $46. He was extraordinarily generous on us. We were really lucky to have found this guy in the midst of a crisis situation.
So, god was with us that night. Next day, as usual, got up late, went to the Indian restaurant for a buffet. Generally, out here in the US, u have the buffet system in the afternoon, which in fact saves a lot of money. Because if you plan to have a ordered meal according to menu, the bill goes up to around $40-50. Otherwise the buffet per person is between $6-$7. This place was one hell of a place. The owner was indeed very much concerned about his customers. While taking a sumptuous amount of chicken tikka masala, had a word with the tandooriya over there. “Saasriyakaal jee, kii haal chaal hai?” this “not-getting-that much-of-an-importance” guy enthusiastically replied – “ Change hai, tussi dasso”. Similar conversations made both of us feel at home for a moment, were glad that we met a fellow Indian to speak to. This guy was so happy that he did not let me take naan from there and said – “saab, tussi baitho, main tainu asli makhni naan table te wich la ke dewanga, aisa hai, garam garam naan khane ka maja hi kuch aur hota hai, hai na?” So, there was this one plate full of garam garam makhni naan (butter naan), on our table . Otherwise, the naan served at the buffet were normal ones. This was great. Seeing the naan in front of us, everybody’s appetite increased a bit. Gokhale and manasi also joined me in another round of the buffet. The lunch ended on an extremely good note of “chawal kii kheer and mango custard”. Aur, obviously, bahar jaate hue, saunf was provided for good digestion. U all must be thinking that why is he emphasizing so much on the food in the trip. It is actually inexplicable. When u get to see things like naan and tandoori chicken once in 4/5 months , u are so very happy that u just cant resist urself from explaining all the details of the food. My friends in the US would understand this situation better. Automatically, venue for the next day’s lunch was fixed. The gr8 India Palace. We were indeed going to make the most of it. Gokhale and I were so full that while walking on the river walk that afternoon, we were almost sleeping.

This river walk in San Antonio is a proper cobbled road along a small river that runs through the downtown area of this place. This river walk is the hot spot for the 31st Dec. this walk is all lighted up and has all sorts of outdoor restaurants on the side. One sits on those chairs laid down by the river, and has lunch or dinner. The cuisines vary from Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, continental and some other types. Loads of people, restaurants, eat outs, pubs, bakeries, shops, malls and enthusiasm. The photographs of the river walk are in the albums. We could see the Alamo, all lighted up. This historical tower has an interesting piece of history associated with it. It is said that only a few people from this side of the Alamo (a fort), fought the invaders and saved the town of San Antonio. So, the Alamo is the main strongpoint that saved this town from invaders. That night, after roaming around the whole place, went to the top floor (11th) of Hyatt, on the river walk. It was indeed beautiful from there. Went to the motel and slept off. There was absolutely no need for a dinner. Whenever we have lunch at any Indian restaurant out here in the US (which is usually a buffet), we make it a point that we directly have the lunch the next day. So, the next day was the last day of the trip, 31st of Dec. Gokhale’s friends from Arlington joined us and all of us were heading towards our lunch destination. Again, had a good meal, went back to the motel and slept for around 3 hrs. This was because I had to start my drive at around 3am the next day, immediately after the New Year starts, and reach Rolla, 900 miles away. It was going to be a 15 hr drive. Called up my roommates from Austin. They had come to Austin to drop one of my other roommates, who changed his university after the 1st semester. These 5 guys arrived in a luxurious mercury sedan, which they had rented out on the 28th. Then the party time started. After searching for a parking space for around 45 minutes, parked our vehicles in the lot for a fee of $10. Went to the river walk, and sat down to see the live performance of these 5 hot babes dancing to the tunes of Latino music. This stage was on the other side of the river, approx. 15 ft. away. So, from this side of the river, saw them perform. The tunes were so catchy that rohit, a friend of Manish’s, went and joined them from this side of the river. Had a nice time, and started our walk besides the river. There was this Irish pub, a place where a lot of people were partying their hearts out. Tried to enter, but in US, they ask for identifications at the entry of all pubs. A driving license is enough but everybody did not have one. So, dropped the idea, and went on. Doing TP was fun. Clicking photos here and there, we moved on. There was this bridge on the river, where a lot of people had gathered for the 12 am spectacle. Joined them. The fireworks started. The 2001 on the distant tower turned to 2002. Fireworks everywhere, and everybody shouting their hearts out. Kapil and Rohit started our usual desi seeti, with both the fingers in their mouth. The amrus were so bloody amazed at what these guys were doing. These buggers went on continuously for around 15 minutes. Then it became irritating. So, one of us made them stop. That was the end of the whole show. Went back to the parking. Drove back to the motel. Dropped gokhale. He was going to go back with his friends to Kingsville. These guys had the plan of reaching Austin, dropping Vinayak, who was going to stay over there, going to Wichita, dropping Kapil, and then coming to St. Louis. I said I would be directly making it to Tulsa (10 hrs), and would be taking a halt over there. But, madam slept off happily, tucked herself away in a comforter on the back seat of the car. Now, I was all alone. Got so damn bored that decided to take a halt at Austin with these guys only. So, went to Vinayak’s apartment in Austin, slept for 5 hrs, and 9.30 am, the final return journey started. Reached Tulsa at around 5.30 or 6 in the evening. Took a break of an hour from driving, and headed for Rolla.
11.45 pm – we reach Rolla. I recorded the miles. I had driven 900 odd miles that day itself, and a whopping 3500 miles in a span of 13 days. I had to reach Rolla on the 1st as my Teaching Assistantship workshop was starting on the 2nd (8.30 am). Had to get up early. This workshop went on till 9 pm. Then after that, had to go and pick up these three guys from St. Louis, as they had returned the car and Greyhound costed them around $83 to come back to Rolla.

So, there were we, both of us at 1502, N. Pine Street, 2 extremely seasoned drivers. Manish had driven a total of around 2400 miles in 5 days.

The trip ended. The car gave us no problems throughout the trip. It was an amazing performance from her side. Manasi performed both the roles very well – that of a navigator, with maps in hand, and that of an accountant for the complete trip (Remember daddy and mamma, chaitanya and myself were the accountants for the complete Kerala trip down south.)
It was one hell of an experience. I did everything possible to satisfy my passion for driving. Unfortunately, it hasn’t still died down.
So, more trips to come, more driving, more places to see, more people to meet, more experiences to take, more to learn from them, more to learn in life (I go by – “there is no better learning experience than traveling”)………………..the cycle will go on till we are enthusiastic as well as curious about learning.
I just wish this enthusiasm never dies……………………………………….