I am guess that there's a strong bond between the three of us - winters, air planes and I. My vacation this Christmas turned out to be a sequel to my first visit to the United States back in Jan 2007 only more benign this time :). If I were to use one word for all that happened in these 9 days it would be - Serendipity !
19 December, Friday
Flight CO152 lands at the Liberty International Airport, Newark but it was way past an hour before I got to get out of the plane. Yeah I know what your question is and here's the answer - The ground below was covered with at least an inch of ice and the ground crew was finding it hard to move the ramp towards the door of the airplane. Safety you know! I guess Santa decided to shower some snow (storm) as he flew over Newark ;o)
My connecting flight to DC was cancelled. Well, I could not be more happy. Ok ok... I am answering that - My original plan was to travel to Newark on Monday coz I figured my uncle and aunt in DC would be busy with office work. It also worked because Thauseef's final exam would be over by then. That meant 4-5 hours of travel each way to meet Thauseef and Sanjay (friends from high school).
Now you know why that smile on face ;) Well the good news was - Bhai's exam got postponed. And so I got to spend the night at Thauseef's place; meet Sanjay after 8 years; meet Bhai's friends from Punjab; playing Bhabbbbi (a card game) while mixing from Long Island to an exotic Margarita to Mangolain MotherFucxx (that's the name really !) to RC and so on; chatting with Thauseef while he played the guitar for me and quitely going to bed while soft rock music filled the air. I was flying to DC the next morning.
20 December, Saturday ~~~~~> 23 December, Wednesday
The 2 years long wait finally ended - met Jitu uncle, Roopal aunt and their little one Kanish ! Reaching home I was welcomed by garma-garam Aaloo parathes.. mmmm... and uncle's teekha green chutney.... uffff.. mann it sure did redefine the word 'HOT' for moi. Had a very peaceful sleep that night... like the kind you get on the first day of a long vacation.
I woke up to a steaming cup of mast 'masala Chai'. Refreshing ! In the next couple days that followed Goddess Annapurna showered her blessings in the form of uncle and aunt's cooking - pani puri, thin crust hand-tossed pizza, bean-garden salad, hot upma, traditional rajasthani gatte sabji, garama-garam roti and dal chawal. And since we are talking about food here, lemme not forget the best Falafel uncle got me at the Amsterdam Falafel Shop located at the 18th St NW, DC. People planning on visiting better not miss this. I was also enlightened on a new style of eating Tangerines with cilantro-mint chutney and lemon juice - a Jitu uncle creation. That, my dear readers, was by far the best food I came across in this entire trip. Ask me and I'll be happy to pass on the wisdom ;)
The next 3 days were spent going around DC and seeing its spectacular monuments; visiting The Museum of Art and the Air & Space Museum respectively. From the little experience, I can now say that anyone visiting DC should plan for at least a week to be able to see at least half of its museums which are not only world-class but surprisingly generous in that there are no admission fees to visit any of its museums.
Click to see pictures:
National Mall
Museum of Arts
Air & Space Museum
These 3 days also allowed me to get to know uncle and aunt better and get a closer look at the life of two individuals after marriage (which I too will come across in a couple years I guess). Playing with Kanish filled in for the time I missed Guddu and Pari (my nephew and niece). He's a real cute kid. Muah :)
A Christmas party was planned for 24th eve which incidentally was the day I'd fly to Anchorage. So the evening before I left, all of us got together and decorated the home and clicked a dozen pictures of Kanish and family.
Home Away From Home
24 December, Wednesday
The time is 6:25 AM. Waiting at the DCA - National Airport, I am devising a strategy as I picture this in my mind - "In 20 mins, I'll be flying to Cleveland. I better rush to catch my connecting flight to Seattle which would leave in 40 mins of my arrival at Cleveland..."
Now you see dear Santa had a differing agenda which you shall discover shortly. And so I came to know in the next 5 mins. An announcement was made indicating that the ground at the Cleveland airport was covered with about 2 inches of ice and no flight would be landing in or taking off from there. Great !!! Santa strikes again. Fingers crossed I hoped that by the time I make it to Cleveland, my connecting flight stayed. Only after 2 hours did we finally leave for Cleveland while I mentally prepared myself for his next surprise.
Reaching Cleveland, my fingers still crossed, I bolt for the Customer Service center of Continental Airlines only to be greeted by an agent who very politely informs me that my connecting flight to Seattle has already left. Wow !!! Now don't you agree with what I said a little while ago about winters, planes and I. See! You can't 'not believe' me now.
Now the part about Santa's differing agenda. After waiting in queue for about an hour I finally get to a Continental representative who is to help me look for alternative routes to Seattle. For a moment I was saddened when I was told that all flights to Seattle for the day were booked and the earliest I could reach there was only the next day. Damn! This also meant my connecting flight to Anchorage for that day was missed as well. But pay attention to those words dear reader - 'for a moment...'. Yes, coz the next moment I was all excited in my heart. I know exactly the question that's popped up in your head and the answer is I would reach Seattle the next morning but not via Cleveland... it would be via Vegas !!! Yippiee !!!!!!!!!!! And so I got yet another gift from Santa - An overnight stay in Vegas - the City of Lights, the entertainment Capital of the World.
Two hours later I am aboard a flight and by 3:00 PM I have already travelled across the breath of this country to fly from the East coast to the West arriving in Las Vegas.
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Uncle dearest, as always, helped me in time to book a hotel for the night. After checking into the hotel and freshening up, I decided to head out on 'The Strip' (the stretch of road where you'll find the biggest casinos). "But wait a min...', I heard my stomach complain. Poor guy had nothing interesting to feast upon since morning. Not to let down my tummy dearest, I walked to this desi restaurant - India Oven.
While I relished eating my meal, my eyes wandered off to this gentleman across my table, who very gently and carefully decorated his Samosa with 'green' chutney. I could not help but ask how he was enjoying his Samosa. 10 mins later I was sitting with Dan and his wife Errin who were vacationing in Vegas. Another 20 mins later I was with them in their truck driving to The Venetian. We spent time together visiting these architectural marvels moving from one casino to the other on the Strip. How I spent that night in Vegas, you can see for yourself - Vegas
After about 1:00 AM the couple and I parted ways. I spent the next couple hours touring other casinos; loosing money and clicking photographs and until I got so tired that I did not wanna see any more casinos. It was a long walk back to the hotel. Slept for a couple hours and got ready to leave. I hear a silent prayer in my mind - 'Please no more more surprises !"
25 December, Thursday
But that wouldn't fit into the equation devised by Santa rite? Why ? Well here's Y - My flight from Vegas to Seattle was delayed. By now, I had lost it. I was already deciding if I missed the flight to Anchorage, I am simply calling off my trip and returning home. 30 mins later I can see the clouds below me.
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Its Christmas Day and I am running frantically towards gate B11 to board flight CO1581 from Seattle to Anchorage which would take off in dot 10 mins, with my mind racing ahead to imagine what's next? I swear, this was the fastest I ran in my life from the moment the doors to my flight from Vegas opened on the grounds of Seattle.
9 mins and 29 secs later - Phew! Relief! I get to catch a breather. As I stand in front of Gate B11, I am thankful to dear Santa. My flight to Anchorage had not left yet. A delay again! Turned out to be good for me just as everything else that's happened in this trip. I had just enough time to grab a cafe mocha and a muffin before I sat back on the seat, closing my eyes to see once again the most beautiful place I've been on Earth - Anchorage, Alaska.
25 December, Thursday ~~~~~~> 27 December, Saturday
Walking towards the Baggage Claims area, I could smell the familiar scent of the Alaskan air. Climbing down the stairs, I spot Mike standing in a corner in his beige jacket and black woolen cap. As I walk to him and extend my hands to shake, I am surprised as he welcomes me with a warm and tight hug. I was overjoyed. I was happy.
Riding in the car with Mike, memories from 2 years ago came back alive as we began hitting each other with wit. After checking into the hotel and freshening up, we headed for Mike's home. I was visiting their home for the very first time.
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As I closed the door behind me, I find Gabriel leaping towards me. Gaby is their dog, a real sweet pet :) I walked to the kitchen area and found myself giving a warm hug to Debbie. I had waited for months to see her. She seemed tired and stressed.
Over the Christmas dinner we had together, I enjoyed the war of wits between James and Matthew, their sons with Mike and Debbie stepping into the game occasionally.
We then set out to decorate the Christmas Tree. My joy knew no bounds when I came to know they had saved the Christmas Tree decoration until I came bcoz its a family thing and so it could not begin without me. Decorating the tree was fun, and I was amazed by the fact that Debbie had saved decorations from past Christmases - decorations dating back to Mike and Debbie's first Christmas after marriage, when James and Matthew were born, stuff their grandparents had made and so on. Suddenly I found the entire affair of decorating the tree so interesting. It was beautiful... very special.
I then got to open my Christmas presents - a nice and soft woolen cap, a pair of warm gloves (a very thoughtful gift given the temperature outside -20 degree C), a cool wind chime with Alaska inscribed on it, a Barnes & Nobles gift card and a beautiful little box of chocolates. I was all smiling.
And here are the Christmas Gifts I had got for them. It makes me smile when I think of how I have left a souvenir decoration hanging on their tree for future Christmases.
Halfway through the decorations, I decided to take a break and the next thing I know I fell asleep. A little later Mike drove me back to the hotel.
There's one thing I ought to mention about the rides in the car. Whenever Mike and I are riding the car together, we've got a third companion - Music. This time around it was even more special. This time Mike was playing his own recorded songs and those sung by his vocal teacher - Peggy Monaghan. I was immediately hooked to 2 of Mike's songs Peggy had sung - 'Here I am' and 'Waste My Time'. Her voice - soft, soothing and captivating. A beautiful voice. I had him play these songs over and over :)
The next day Mike and I went to the Open Mic at Phlyis's Cafe. Here's a song that Mike performed - 'Here I Am'.
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Over the next two days, Mike and I spent time visiting his new office in Downtown, revisiting the 5th Avenue mall where we used to have our lunch, and meeting up with Craig Fisher (friend and colleague with whom Mike and I had worked together on a project couple years back) over a cup of coffee. Debbie was busy with cleaning up the home and completing the decorations at home. I had cooked some corn soup on the last day of my stay there and while I am not sure about the rest, Matthew seemed to like it ;).
Click here:
Christmas in Anchorage
In all I flew about 7000 miles in this vacation covering travelling in all 4 directions - Newark & DC (East); Vegas (West), Anchorage (North) and back home to Houston (South). I am glad I was able to make this trip to meet Mike and Debbie before I left for India and what better time than Christmas. With the trip completed I am happy, just as Mike and Debbie were, to have been together once again. This will be Christmas to remember. Thank you Santa. :)
