Frontiers of Flight Museum - Dallas, Texas

Last weekend I had an opportunity to visit the Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas. The museum is a treasure trove of information, exhibits, models and simulations. There are several different metal birds, right from 1920s and 30s, an era known as "Golden age of Flight". On display are award winning aircraft including the Culver Dart, Regulus II, Tiger Moth, Learjet 24D, and several others. The museum set inside a giant hanger in the precincts of the Dallas Love Field Airport is a visual delight of colorful planes. Recent models of fighter jets are also on display.

I was on duty so I couldn't really enjoy all the exhibits on display but I tried to capture as many of them as possible in my mobile phone. I was particularly impressed by the way the flights were kept on display within the hanger, some were parked on the ground while others were suspended from the roof as if they were in mid-flight performing aerobatics for the benefit for museum visitors.

Of course like all things American there is a marketing twist to the entire place. Apart from educating visitors the museum generates revenue through ticket sales ($3-8 depending on age), selling collectibles (made in china), books, toys, and souvenirs in the store. There is a children play area where kids can get into bounce houses resembling flight cockpits, air traffic control towers, etc. Of course there are private corporations that have sponsored the museum. This in my opinion is an expression of the corporation's promoter's love for their country and the pride they have about their people. I wish Indian corporations would get into sponsoring and creating such institutions in the country.

Internet Humor....

Here are few cartoons that came to me as a forwarded e-mail. They show how internet is dominating our lives and that everything seems to center around the computer and the world wide web... enjoy..

Skateboarding Dog

This dog was featured in today's morning news and I found the video on youtube... Most adults humans would find skateboarding daunting and scary, but not this canine. The four-legged creature has mastered the art of skateboarding with elan....

Sailing Across the Lewisville

Yesterday I got the opportunity to sail a boat with two new friends. These two gentlemen are retired and trying to pursue their hobbies more frequently now. I just tagged along with them on the big boat and it was a pretty good learning experience both in terms of sailing and otherwise. For one thing sailing with modern sailboats is not so tough, everything is fixed right and so long as you know what you are doing one can sail pretty efficiently. There is no need for brute force to tie down the mast or sails, there is no need for special technique because things have been made easy by smart inventors of these boats and accessories.

Well we set sail from one of the few FREE docks/ boat ramps on Lewisville Lake's shoreline and bounced across the waters for sometime before we were able to catch some strong winds and hit the high waters. The boat moves pretty fast if the wind is right and it often gets scary too. Since it was my first experience sailing a modern water craft, I was all eyes and ears to learn the intricacies of what is to be done.

There were occasions when the wind dropped and we just drifted along without being able to move. And then while crossing under a bridge I thought our mast almost touched the underside of the concrete structure, but luckily we passed without an incident.

Overall the day was great for sailing and I have a brand new experience to talk about now.

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Back in DFW

Well... it was a fantastic and rejuvenating vacation in India. There has been so many changes in my home town. For one thing the city has been renamed to Bengaluru from Bangalore, this gives it a strong local flavor which is obviously resented by immigrants who have made the city their home and continue to dominate over the locals. But hey! who cares... it is the locals who decide what to call their city... Anyway there has been quite a radical change in the state of roads in the city and generally in most places I visited... Mysore, Nanjangud, Kanakapura, etc. It was nice to catch up with old friends and family after a gap of over 2 years and thankfully nobody had forgotten me.

Now that I am back to where I officially belong I gotta get back to work and school doing what I am supposed to do. Will continue to blog about the numerous things happening in my life and what I feel about the happenings in the world...

Nanjangud Vistas

Continuing my post of visiting Nanjangud I couldn't upload all the pictures. So here are some more pictures of the location... both indoor and outdoor shots. Some of the pictures may be a little blurred.

My trip to Nanjangud

The first week of my holiday in Bengaluru I visited Mysore and Nanjangud with parents and extended family members. The trip was a pilgrimage for my father who had promised to visit the ancient Shiva temple here. The trip was quite eventful with several things happening including problems with the vehicle and a major stomach upset after I returned home.

Mysore city Road

We started off at 8 am in the morning from home and after some family visits in Mysore we reached Nanjangud finally at 4.30 pm just in time for the temple opening. I was visiting Nanjangud after 12 years and the place offered quite a few surprises to me. For one thing the roads around the temple have been cleaned up and some aesthetic hedge plants have been planted along the medians. The town used to be a dusty, grimy place, but today it is a clean and neat location which evokes devotion.

Street scene in downtown Mysore

The temple is currently undergoing renovation and hence there are some areas inside the shrine that are not so impressive. Here are some pictures of my visit to the temple town.

View of the Entrance to Nanjangud temple

A view of the pillars that support the entrance to the Nanjangud temple

Attractive temple frescoes

Sculptures inside the temple

Some road pictures of Bengaluru

I have finally found a place where I can download pictures from the camera and upload them onto my blog. Here are a few road images of a renovated Bengaluru...

In Bangalore... after a short trip.....

It has been a week since I am back in good old Bengaluru... the city has grown by leaps and bounds as usual. I took a short trip to Nanjangud, a small pilgrimage town less than 200 km from here and it was a different experience altogether.

The journey was pretty swift on smooth and newly widened roads and what totally caught me by surprise was the amount of infrastructure development that has taken place in Nanjangud. I remember visiting the city more than a decade ago and it was a crumbling little village struggling to handle the increasing tourist/ pilgrim traffic. Today it is a swank tourist town with smooth concrete roads, vast open spaces, neat riverside areas for worshippers, devotees who wish to take a holy dip, and even fishermen. The temple itself is undergoing renovation right now and the part of it that is complete is simply superb. Going by this testimony I am sure the temple will be transformed into a wonderful tourist/ devotional/ pilgrim center once the renovation is complete.

I will conclude with a hope that I will be able to visit the temple again once the renovation is complete.

Blogging from Bengaluru.....

I am finally back in Namma Bengaluru... after a long break of over two and a half years. I had heard only of the new problems and issues that the city was facing during these two years. Boy were they totally biased... you bet.... I took a spin around the city today in an auto and was surprised at the numerous good things that have happened to the city. The first thing is the notorious Bangalore traffic... and my experience is that yes the bottlenecks and chaos continue to reign the city but overall there is about 30-40 percent improvement in the road quality and general traffic speed.
That is something better than nothing. People who complain will do so even if they are given roads like airport runways... but believe me guys don't complain about Bangalore traffic or roads. I am quite certain you will notice the change once you land up here.
The ride is not totally smooth... but not as chaotic as before either. There has been great improvements in some stretches of roads while other roads have gone worse due to development works.
My verdict is that Bangalore has changed for the better... better roads, faster traffic, less snarls...

Mineral Wells invites me to visit again!!!

It has been over 3 weeks since I visited Mineral Wells State Park, but the memories of its vast green acres continues to haunt me. The rugged rock formations, myriad flora and fauna, vast lake and interesting landscapes beckon me to return and explore further.
This is something I like about the US where every natural area is developed, maintained and aggressively marketed so that it generates enough revenue to pay for all the investment. This way natural habitat and a beautiful location is saved, and the people have a space to get away. I hope this kind of mindset descends into the heads of every single individual in the world so that the quickly shrinking green cover may be saved from further destruction.
Here are some of the pictures that I have not posted earlier.

Liberty Fest, Farmers Branch

Today was the second day of the annual three-day Liberty Fest held at Farmers Branch, Texas. I came to know about the fest through some posters and decided to participate. Today's highlights were an outdoor expo which featured a lot of recreational vehicle marketers, two artificial outdoor rock climbing walls, a micro-mini petting zoo with all the farm animals, such as chicken, rabbits, pigs, calf, and a llama. These animals are so common in small towns and some areas of Indian cities but very very rare in US cities. The only place American-born children get to see live animals other than dogs, cats and fish.
My favorite section of the event was of course the car and motorcycle show featuring a wide array of metal steeds and monsters. I have personally almost given up the hope of ever riding a motorcycle again, but when I see a beautiful set of wheels I can't help but take a closer look and oogle at it.
Anyway enough of my chatter... here are some pictures of the Liberty fest.

More Pictures of Mineral Wells

I haven't shared all the pictures of our recent trip to Mineral Wells State Park, TX. This park is one of the closest locations where one can see some kind of hilly terrain, and rocks that can be climbed. The park is beautiful right now and with weather not having heated up too much the colorful flowers, insects, and other flora and fauna make it a great place to visit.

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Mineral Wells State Park Visit

Sunday was pretty eventful, visited one more state park in the vast state of Texas and this time it was closer home... about 100 miles south west. The park is named after the city of Mineral Wells which was a thriving spa, health resort, town famous for its fresh water resources. At its peak the town's water was known to cure all human diseases and people traveled to this little town to spend few weeks rejuvenating themselves. Well that was probably more than a century ago. Today the town is just another small town in Texas with a large ranching community and tourism that the State park draws. Well this is the closest location from DFW metro area for rock climbing, some hill hiking and of course swimming and wildlife watching.
Here are some pictures of the location and I will post further about what we did in the state park soon.

Mineral Wells Trading Post... the only store on the state park

Lake Mineral Wells - vast waterbody

GPS Mapping Achieved!!!

Something I have been wanting to do since several months I achieved today finally... not because I bought some new fancy gadget... but because of some serious thought and working persistently on my computer. Here is a trail route I mapped from home to the library and back and of course we drove across this route. Tomorrow onwards I will try to log cycling trails, travel routes, etc..

Shelby Mustang Show in Plano

Recently the Legacy Texas Bank organized a vintage car rally to showcase their top-management's Shelby Mustang cars and other vehicles. I couldn't attend the show due to school commitments but I did manage to get a few pictures... here they are...

Heart of the Shelby Mustang

Cute high performance car...

White Rock Lake - Quiet Aqua Forte

One thing I love about Texas is the way lakes, creeks, and to a certain extent green areas are protected and allowed to thrive. This is possible partly because of the low density of population and vast land area which the early European Colonizers found virtually free to occupy. The conquest of early settlers, hard work of their offspring are being enjoyed by this generation of native born Americans as well as newly arrive immigrants like myself.

This past weekend I participated in a free Kayaking event organized by one of the leading adventure sports gear marketers REI. They offered a free experience to wannabe kayak owners, canoe enthusiasts, and fishermen who would possibly want to own their boat. Even though I belong to the enthusiast category who may not buy a Kayak or any other watercraft in the immediate or near future I still wanted to enjoy a day on the water free.

So there we went to the lake and used some of the equipment provided by REI such as Kayaks, life jacket or in America it is Assisted Flotation Device and had a great time. Here are some pictures.

Still Water Kayaking @ White Rock Lake, Dallas

Yesterday we went Kayaking at the White Rock Lake, Dallas. It was a free marketing event organized by REI, the adventure & outdoor sports gear store. There were all kinds of kayaks and all visitors were allowed to get into them and try their hand at it. Being mildly windy it was a little challenging to kayak in the area, but nevertheless it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures...

Vistas of India-Homa

Vistas of Lost Lake and Surroundings

Continuing my report on the short but eventful visit to Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, India-homa, I would simply say that our hike turned into a mini adventure after I coaxed everyone into climbing down the rock face into the depths of the valley rather than follow the trail that snaked around the hills to form a natural slope. Once down at the water level we crossed the shallow stream via a trail of rocky outcrops and started retracing our steps around the lost lake.

Here are some pictures:

View of the waterfalls from the base of the hill

The world is full of insensitive people who will litter even the most pristine natural spots.....

Sweeping view of the valley and rock face we just descended

Tooth Fairy..... somewhat entertaining...

For lack of nothing else to do on Friday evening we decided to go to a movie at the dollar theater in Plano. The intent was to watch a Jackie Chan movie, but there was none playing at a night show. So we decided to watch The Tooth Fairy instead. This is a fairly entertaining kids movie... apart from a few minutes of fantastic ice skating and a some comedy frames there is nothing much worth watching in this movie.

The story traces the life of an aging ice hockey star who is named the tooth fairy because he knocks out teeth of his opponents. His girlfriend has two kids, the daughter just loses one of her teeth and the mother tells the story of tooth fairy. The protagonist tries to tell her the truth in a rude manner to the chagrin of the mother. The son doesn't like this guy because he is rude, and sarcastic.

The story moves on to fairyland when the player gets called to do some community service and then after some seriously boring drama and some funny scenes the movie ends with a soulful transformation of the protagonist. I definitely wouldn't pay the regular theater ticket to watch this movie....