A road trip to remember

Me and my best friend M decided impromptu to drive to Utah over the weekend. We packed our bags and left on Friday, driving 700 miles through California, Nevada, Arizona and into Utah. Friday went off in just driving, and we reached Hurricane at 10 in the night. My main job on the trip was to be the DJ and keep the driver awake, i think i did a pretty good job of navigating considering i slept only half an hour over the whole drive :-).
Saturday morning we drove through the beautiful red canyon state to Zion. We hiked up Angels Landing, which truly stands for its name, a place where Angels land. It took us 2 hrs to reach Scouts Point which stands tall 1100 feet over the canyon floor. While hiking we saw some Fall colors in the Canyon along the Virgin River. The views were fantastic from this trail. From Scout's point, we could see the gigantic Canyon carved by the assiduous Virgin River. The skies were clear, and there was mild fragrant breeze, perfect heaven. From Scouts , i attempted to go 0.4 miles up to reach the end point of the trail. However, there were unprotected vertical dropoffs, i could just go 0.1 mile up from there when i was almost trembling from the treacherous cliff 10 feet long and 3 feet wide with 1000 feet drop on both sides, and just chains to hang on to. I had to retreat from there :-(. Still, the views were completely phenomenal from Scouts, and we headed back down.
From Zion, we drove to Vegas and spent the night there. Wynn had an exceptional buffet, and we walked on the strip for a while before crashing after a long and exhaustive day. Sunday morning, we went and strolled inside Stratosphere, before heading back home. I-15 became one of my favorite highways after CA-97 on Crater Lake trip. I-15 meanders through the canyons in Utah, then the rocky Arizona , followed by the deserts in Nevada. It felt like paradise driving through this beautiful road.
Overall a weekend well spent in nice company , with nice food and in beautiful places.

The play of weather

The weather started transforming a week or so back. From bright sunny, hot days to foggy mornings, tender sunlight in the afternoon and chilly evenings. With the weather changing, i feel a whole new potpourri of feelings, energy and emotions storming my mind and heart. I must say, i do enjoy this bittersweet change in the weather of my mind & soul. As its a bittersweet feeling, i have things I love and hate about this beautiful Fall, because it refreshes a lot of beautiful & uneasy memories from the past.
I love this weather as it reminds me of the foggy Delhi mornings, and warm afternoons, when me and my mom would amble down to the market. Me and my brother M would sit on the rooftop while Mom would get a colorful plate of winter Salad to relish.
I love the sip of hot steaming ginger tea complemented with Pakoras on a rainy day, and just watching television adds with M. It reminds me how far I am from home and my family, and makes me nostalgic. The falling of leaves bring the memories of the flying cotton meshes from the huge cotton tree in my school. Not just Delhi, this weather also brings another place very close to my heart, alive in my mind. It takes me to the chilly dull evenings when i used to walk on Monroe Street to the campus. And the weekends, spent in the Library, looking out of the window of Wendt while studying. Ofcourse, the basement lab , where each semester was a different project and thus a different memory.
I can write infinite words about the past, but in a nutshell, just go out and let the weather do its play on you. It will take you across a huge ocean of bittersweet feelings, if you leave your senses open and offer your mind and heart as an empty slate.