The Boston Duck Tour

Boy ! Too many things, too little time!! I seem to hardly have time to write about anything nowadays. Anyhow, here's my earnest effort to try catching up with the latest stuff. Last week, Mahi & I were in Boston, attending Focus 2007, Sierra Atlantic's mid-year sales conference. We were put up at the Marriot, in Norwood - pretty close to our office there.

As part of the recreational activity, we all went out on the Boston Duck Tour. At the outset, let me assure you that it was in no way related to any ducks or birds. The Duck which is actually the DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was originally designed inside General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

Duck tours are generally very liberally spiced with humor, and ours was no less. Our driver was Seargent Meatball, and he had a Hawaiian hula skirt around him, over his clothing. He kept rattling off details about all the places that we visited as part of the tour, and had several anecdotes about each.

The duration of the tour is 90 minutes, in which he took the DUKW through several key landmarks in Boston, including the place which had the infamous Boston Tea Party. Towards the end, he drove into the Charles river, and then continued the tour from there. It's at this time that one also get a chance at navigating the DUKW. A couple of our colleagues did try their hand at it, and it was a whole lot of fun!!

Our 5 mile walk

Well it's been a while since I updated, and we have been busy. In fact to an extent, Mahi & I have created a sort of reputation in office. We are officially labelled as people who love to go out, explore, be adventurous and generally have a great time. It's kind of reached a stage, where people ask us as to whether we plan to do Mission Peak over the weekend......again!!

Anyhow, a week or two back, we did the 5 mile walk near Garin Park. This was a really nice walk / trek. Unlike the Mission peak trek, where there is a complete lack of shade, this path takes you through wooded areas, over hills, across streams and creeks too. The 6 of us - Anil, Smitha, Joel (their cute little 2 year old son), Dennis (Anil's neighbour), Mahi and I took part in this. We were also joined by Vikas, Kiran and Vamsee (3 of our colleagues). Dennis was the resident pro here, as he and his wife Dana have been over this umpteen number of times.

Garin park is a part of the East Bay Parks association. The Visitor Center displays artifacts from the ranching and farming history of the Hayward area. There is a blacksmith shop, a tool shop and several ranching-related displays to explore. They also have an interesting collection of antique farm machinery outside the barn, which used to be horse driven - though is rusted now. Inside the park, they also have about 200 different varieties of antique apples. I really couldn't figure out the concept of antique apples, but that's what they are. In the months of September, they have apple picking activities as well as apple tasting activities too for the public.

The park also has a pond inside call the Jordan Pond. It's pier was constructed in 1987 by Park District crews using materials provided through the generosity of the Hayward, South Hayward and Mt. Eden Lions Clubs. the Jordan Pond is inhabited by largemouth bass, bluegill and sunfish. The Park District also plants channel catfish in the pond once or twice a year.

The attached map has the major trails marked out. To give you an idea, we started in the bottom left at the Tamarack Entrance, then moved up on the Meyer's Trail, cross the Meyer's Ranch, diverted left onto the Dry Creek Trail, went across the Jordan Pond, across the 4 picnic areas (Cattlemens, Pioneer, Buttonwood, Ranch Side), looped around, went out on the main road across that house icon, then back onto the orange trail, joined up with the High Ridge trail, all the way back to the Tamarack Entrance.....whew!!!

Our trip to Monterey Bay

This is going to be one long post - you have been warned!!!!

On Saturday, the three of us - Aditya, Mahi & I decided to drive down to Monterey Bay. In a way, it was one of the longest drives that we have done in the US - about 100 miles each way - a total of 3 hours up and down.

Monterey Bay is located south of San Francisco, and is sort of a semicircular shape. It is home to many species of marine mammals, including sea otters, harbor seals, and bottlenose dolphins; as well as being on the migratory path of Gray and Humpback Whales and a breeding site for elephant seals. Many species of fish, mollusks such as abalone and squid, birds, and sea turtles also live in the bay. Several varieties of kelp grow in the bay, some becoming as tall as small trees, forming what is known as a kelp forest.

The prime tourist attraction here is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is located in a former sardine cannery and a former brewery on Cannery Row in Monterey and is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It has an annual attendance of 1.8 million and holds 35,000 plants and animals representing 623 species.

Among the aquarium's numerous exhibits, two are of particular note. The centerpiece of the near shore wing is a 33-foot (10-m) high tank for viewing California coastal marine life. This tank was the first in the world to simulate tidal currents on a large scale, enabling the aquarium to keep live California Giant Kelp (water movement is a necessary precondition for keeping Giant Kelp, which absorbs nutrients from surrounding water and requires turbidity).

The second exhibit of note is a one million gallon tank in the Outer Bay Wing which features the world's largest single paned window (crafted by a Japanese company, the window is actually 4 panes seamlessly glued together through a proprietary process). Besides the above-mentioned million-gallon tank, another of the exhibits included a school of 3000 anchovies (a fish that was once the foundation of Monterey's economy), swimming against the endless current of a toroidal tank.

We had a great time watching all the different exhibits. We also got to see the feeding of the penguins, where 18 different penguins are individually fed by two of the personnel. What is amazing is that if while feeding, one of of the penguins happened to drop it's fish, no other penguin would grab it up. Each penguin is able to identify it's own fish. Each penguin too is tagged with a clip on it's flipper, and that's how the staff are able to maintain a record of their diet.

Incidentally, in the 33 foot tank, which is also known as the kelp forest tank, we also saw the Mahi fish - and you can be sure - Mahi was thrilled to see and hear about it!!! We also saw several different types of jellyfish, including a type which emitted rainbow colored lights. We also saw a type of fish called the sunfish. The largest one that they had weighed approximately 800 pounds - over 360 kilograms.

All in all, the trip to the aquarium was really well worth it. After that we stopped for breakfast, and treated ourselves to an all American breakfast - eggs, muffins, etc.

We then proceeded towards the Fisherman's Wharf, which had a lot of stores to look through, a replica of the customs office from 1859 and a whole lot of seafood. This is where once can pick up tickets to go on whale watching trips. Ideally these trips are about 2 to 3 hours, and one goes a good number of miles away from the shore to see whales. We didn't indulge in this as we had just had breakfast, and the last thing you would want to do after having food would be to go on choppy waters!!!

We then proceeded towards the famous 17-mile drive. This is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. Entry into Pebble Beach costs US$9.00 per automobile.

The road runs adjacent to beaches and up into the coastal hills, providing scenic viewpoints. There are numerous turnouts along the road to stop, take pictures, or get out and stroll along the ocean or among the trees. Each visitor receives a small map that points out some of the more scenic spots.

There are many spectacular view points along the route; Bird Rock seems to always be covered with pelicans and other birds, seals and sea lions. Seal Rock Picnic Area is a beach area with a view of Bird Rock. Fanshell Overlook attracts harbor seals and is closed during harbor seal pupping season April 1 to June 1. Cypress Point Lookout provides a great view of the dramatic Pacific coastline along with an idea of the view enjoyed by some of the gated mansions along the route. Probably the most famous tree in the United States, The Lone Cypress has clung to its rocky perch for over 250 years and serves as the symbol of Pebble Beach Company—the developer of the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach and the Del Monte Forest.

Just outside the lower Pacific Grove gate to the gated community of Pebble Beach is Pacific Grove's Sunset Drive (which becomes Ocean View Boulevard), which follows Pacific Grove's scenic coastline and is called by some the "poor man's 17-Mile Drive."

Pebble Beach has seven public and private 18-hole golf courses. Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, and Spyglass Hill are owned by the Pebble Beach Company and are all public courses. The other four courses in the town are Poppy Hills which is public, the private Cypress Point Club, and the private Monterey Peninsula Country Club's two courses, the Dunes Course and the Shore Course. Several of these courses are widely celebrated, especially Pebble Beach Golf Links, which is the most famous course in the Western United States, and the only course which has even beaten Pine Valley Golf Club to top spot in Golf Digest's biennial list of America's 100 greatest courses.

Aditya was very keen and excited to be at Pebble Beach Golf Links, so we snapped up a couple of pictures of him with the Pebble Beach Golf Links logo in the background.

We finally wrapped up by evening about 4 pm , I guess, and then drove back home. All in all a good trip.

Our jaunt in San Francisco

On Sunday, Mahi & I made a trip to downtown San Francisco. As she was keen to travel by the B.A.R.T (Bay Area Rapid Transport) the local metro rail, we drove down to the local BART station, parked our car and took the BART. It's about a good 40 minute ride, with the train actually travelling underwater in the tunnel under the bay. Your ears tend to receive the kind of pressure that you would get in a flight. We got down at Embarcadero station, and then decided to walk to Pier 39 - one the the major tourist hot spots.It was a good 30 minute walk - starting from Pier 1 to Pier 39. While walking we chanced opon this strange tree which had one truck, but two tops!!!

Pier 39 has over 110 stores, 14 restaurants and a whole lot of fun activities. Our first stop was at the Aquarium of the Bay. There one can see all the different types of fish that can be found in the bay including the sharks too!! We also saw the clown fish and others too from the film - Nemo. Inside the aquarium, one also gets to walk through a clear plexi-tube, with the fish swimming overhead. All in all a really nice experience.












Post that, we then checked out Turbo Ride. This is a 3D/4D ride, where people are strapped onto seats (with seat belts), have 3D glasses on, and then go on a ride of their lifetimes. Similar to a 3D setup, except for the fact, that the seats rock and roll in sync to the picture. There are primarily 3 rides here - Dino Island II, the Haunted Mine Ride and the Extreme Log Ride. Of the three of them, the Dino Island II was the easiest, while the Extreme Log Ride really rocked and rolled !!!

Pier 39 is also home to a lot of street performers. We chanced upon one of them - a gentleman by the name of Mitch Barret. He was really funny and had a great sense of humor. In fact one of his acts included balancing on a rope while juggling inflammable rods!!

Another attraction here, is the San Francisco carousel. Handcrafted in Italy, and meticulously hand painted,it depicts famous landmarks such as the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz island, California sea lions etc.It has about 1800 twinkling lights and is pretty impressive.

By this time, it was really cold at the Pier, owing tot he wind chill factor and the proximity to the bay - so we grabbed a quick cup of hot chocolate and headed back to the BART station, and subsequently home.


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