Cherry Picking! a small quick post

Since the summer '11 started in California, I was hearing a lot about Çherry Picking from family and friends. Then started my research, this time just by asking friends. So after many email-threads and discussions we decided to go for it. Nikhil-Ashlesha, from our DkD (Desh ki Dhadkan) friends group also joined us.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning (19th June) after the tasty group dinner at Sarvana Bhavan, when we left for Brentwood CA, north of Sunnyvale. 

from Sunnyvale >> Brentwood >> Livermore >>Sunnyvale

First thing we noticed outside the Cherry Farm was the crowd of cars in parking 

and beautiful views opposite the farm.

we The Cherry Pickers!

first picked cherries

empty bucket, to collect  cherries

boys posing with Cherries

(they didn't pick, just posed! great work done by we two girlies)

Gaurav posing, see I am actually picking behind him

Nikhil posing

good work by me *smiles*

love this pic!

beautiful big farm

going up high for fresh cherries!

almost 10 pounds of cherries! yayy!

After picking loads of Cherries, we headed back to Sunnyvale but stopped planned to stop by at the Livermore Hindu Temple!

beautiful Livermore temple

look at queue for that day's 'prasaad' i.e. lemon rice and curd rice

trust me both were delicious

finally we were back home by the evening, waiting for next summer!

note: there was no dramatic twist in this a day's trip! *wink*

Clear Lake, CA

If you want have fun and relax with friends, you don't need to plan so much. Just look around your city and find a perfect weekend getaway. In mid-September 2010, we chose Clear Lake for a relaxing weekends with friends. With over 100 miles of shoreline, Clear Lake is one of the largest, naturally occurring freshwater lake in California. There are simple things which can make your vacation exactly how you want to, like Lakes. 

After a lot of planning, discussions and different lists, finally came the Friday evening when we all left homes and took I-80 towards north of California. It was about 3 to 3.5hrs drive through plains and mountains. Clear Lake is in north of Napa Valley. Although it was all dark outside, but still we could feel the different locations, like Winery when crossed Napa, sweet cold wind while in Lake Country and scary zig-zak mountain roads while crossing hills. And above all was our irritating GPS, which repeats just one line, "GPS singal lost" and I had to read and guide Gaurav about the route while driving. We were five couples and three singles and all reached around same time. We had pre-booked a vacation home on the lake and the owner was nice to lite up the bonfire to welcome us.

the warm bonfire waiting for us

relaxing after drive, others checking out the house!

after settling down, we started with loud music and dance 

followed by cake cutting and birthday bumps to one of our friends!

then late-night Gaurav and other guys found this mask to scare us. 

Believe me, when they knocked at our room door with the mask late night, 

I simple jumped over the bed! I was really silly to get scared with this ;)

it was a beautiful morning by the lake

the day started with light breakfast on the lake.

gave some breakfast to the ducks there!

relaxing and chit-chats

we had a lot of modes of entertainment, and Uno was big hit there!

Kayak in the evening, followed by...

...evening snacks, bar-be-que and hookah

next morning guys cooked Maggi for all, 

although they took more than an hour to cook 2 minutes noodle 

but it was for sure tasty, since then they are Maggi Doodles

all relaxing after lunch

we call the group, 'Desh Ki Dhadkan'

We left Clear Lake on Sunday noon. Took a snack break at Vicks, Berkeley, and back to our homes after a beautiful relaxing weekend!

Jaipur, the Pink city!

It was summer of 2009 and our submission was just next week. And then our faculty announced about this educational cum FUN trip to Jaipur. 

JAIPUR,  popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of Rajasthan, India. 

Jaipur has a number of forts and monuments like Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Jal Mahal, Rambagh Palace, Central Museum with numerous temples and beautiful garden. Jaipur is rich in Art & Craft, Culture, Cuisines and Festivals. 

The trip came out the way we imagined. Beautiful road trip on NH8 from New Delhi to Jaipur, amazing hotel with a roof top pool for fun, visit to local Print Factory, lots and lots of shopping at Jauhri Bazaar & Bapu Market, exploring the magnificent Amber Fort in scorching heat and last but not the least beautiful evening at Chokhi Dhani. This was a beautiful experience with some of the beautiful friends.

NH8

the Bus Fun

view of the city from our hotel room, Royal Orchids

Fun at hotel

shopping FUN

Hawa Mahal

story of Amber Fort

kalakaari in Amber Fort

Chokhi Dhani

the Welcome note at Chokhi Dhani

                         

folk dance at Chokhi Dhani

Chokhi Dhani fun

Jal Mahal

raam raam sa, 

padhaaro maare des

BRAZIL...dhoom machale in Talli-Land

BRAZIL,  world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 190 million people. Powdery white-sand beaches, lined with palm trees and fronting beautiful blue Atlantic Ocean. Brazil offers amazing sights of waterfalls, red-rock canyons, and crystal-clear rivers, all just a small part of the natural beauty. The most famous attraction there is Amazon Rain Forest with outstanding wildlife and adventures like kayaking, rafting, trekking, snorkeling, surfing and more.

Gaurav and his friends chose this adventurous place for their 2008 year end vacation, fun and party. "dream aroused from my geography lesson in class 8th to see the mighty amazon and the rain forest which us determined to feel the mystery land..." says Gaurav. They covered Manaus, Amazon Rain Forest, Rio De Janeiro and Iguazu Falls.

Architecture

Friends & Fun

Food, it included Crocodile as well..!!

On the way and In Amazon

New Year's Eve in Brazil

Fun in Forest

and the famous Jump!

Beautiful Sights

Colorful Nature

the great Fall