Author: taprobane@me.com

Our Trip To Arizona – Day Four

Flagstaff, AZ to Sedona AZ via Meteor Crater AZ.

By Simran Jayasinghe

Map of our travels on day 4
Map of our travels on day 4 from Flagstaff to Sedona, AZ, with a stop at the Meteor Crater.

We woke up at the Hilton Garden Inn, Flagstaff. And guess what? It was snowing! We were really excited about the snow because we haven’t seen snow falling before.  We went outside and enjoyed the falling snow for a little before we had breakfast. Then, we packed our bags and got in the van to head to our next destination, Sedona AZ. On the way to Sedona, we decided to take a detour and go to the Meteor Crater.  From flagstaff we took interstate 40 east towards Winslow and followed directions to the Meteor Crater.

The Meteor Crater

At the Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ.
At the Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ. (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

The Meteor Crater is the worlds best reserved meteor impact site in the world.   The impact happened about 50,000 years ago. It is one mile wide, and more than 550 feet deep. In winter, it can get very windy, but even though on normal days it isn’t that windy, it’s good to be prepared.

We went on a Guided Rim Trail Tour. The guide was really knowledgable and gave us a lot of interesting facts about the crater and its discovery.  You can see directly into the crater when you are in the rim trail and the hike was a lot of fun.  On the hike we also got to see some cool rocks including the Pulverized Coconino Sandstone.  The wind was quite strong.  We were scared thinking that our little sister would be blown away. Later we heard that there were wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour! We had fun even though the wind was strong.

On our way back from the Meteor Crater to Sedona, we went on this wonderful drive from Flagstaff to Sedona, on the Oak Creek Canyon Road (highway 89A south). Highway 89A has several sharp turns, and at first, our mom wasn’t too excited about the road, because she doesn’t exactly like windy roads, but pretty soon, the surroundings made her forget about the winding road, and she was oohing and aahing all the way. Actually, most of us did too.  On either side of the road there were towering mountains, the trees were covered in snow, and there was a creek running beside the road.  The landscape just captures you and it is really majestic. It is just indescribable.

We checked in to the Days Inn in Sedona.  It was raining and there was a lot of fog.  The rooms at the Days Inn were big, but they needed some updating.  The room looked old and the carpets looked like they needed some cleaning.  One of the heaters in one of the rooms did not work, and we had to ask the front desk to come and replace a couple of light bulbs.  We gave this Days Inn two stars.

 

Click here to learn more about the Meteor Crater.

Our Trip To Arizona – Day Three

Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ

By Simran Jayasinghe

We woke up, at the Hilton Garden Inn, in Flagstaff hoping that it would snow, but, unfortunately it didn’t. We got dressed and went down to have breakfast offered by the hotel. And when they said  ‘breakfast’ they meant it! There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, potatoes, biscuits with gravy, french toast, waffles, and cereal. They had various types of fruit, including, strawberries, blueberries, peaches (sliced and peeled), cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapefruit (cut in half). They also had whip cream to top the fruit. You might be wondering, if such a delicious breakfast could possibly be free. Well, it wasn’t. This breakfast was $10 per adult and $8 for children (under 12).

Map of our travels on day 3 from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, AZ
Map of our travels on day 3 from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, AZ

After breakfast we picked up some jackets scarfs, gloves, and hats. We headed out of Flagstaff to visit the Grand Canyon. We drove on Arizona route 180 (north) and joined route 64 (north) at Valle. This was a nice scenic drive which took us through both the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests. There was snow on the ground, and it looked like a winter wonderland. On the way, we stopped at the Nordic ski center, but we decided to try this out next time because we did not have much time.  The drive from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon took about an hour and a half.

On the way to the Grand Canyon
On the way to the Grand Canyon (route 180 N, Image by the Jayasinghe family).

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon National Park is in Northern Arizona. There are Visitor Centers on both the North and South Rims. The North Rim is closed in the Winter.  The Visitor Center at the south rim is open 24 hours every day of the week. This is also the most visited part of the Canyon.  Getting into the Grand Canyon parking lot took us a long time. There is a fee to enter the Park. The fee is $30 per car. We bought our pass at a gas station in Valle hoping it would make it faster for us to get into the park, but, it didn’t help. All the lines were full of cars. There were five lanes. We thought that they should have had a lane for people that had passes, a separate lane for people who were paying with a credit card, and a separate lane for people paying with cash. We also thought that the signs should be bigger and easier to read.

At Mather Point at the Grand Canyon, sipping a hot chocolate (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
At Mather Point at the Grand Canyon, sipping a hot chocolate (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

It was pretty cold at the Grand Canyon, so we were thankful that we had brought our jackets. We watched a 20 minute video about the Grand Canyon at the Visitor Center. Before going to Mather Point Overlook on the South Rim to look at the Grand Canyon. We went to the Bright Angel Bicycle Rental and Café (next to the Visitor Center) to get something to eat. We got a hot chocolate to share and a croissant each. Then we went to Mather Point which is a short walk away from the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. We walked a little bit on the rim trail to see different parts of the Canyon, and finally went to the Grand Canyon Park Store to get some souvenirs.

The Grand Canyon is 18 miles across (at it’s widest), 1 mile deep, and 277 river miles long. The Grand Canyon was carved out from the Colorado Plateau by the Colorado river five or six million years ago. The Grand Canyon is considered a very young Canyon.

Click here for more information on the Grand Canyon.

The Lowell Observatory

The Pluto Telescope (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
In front of the Pluto Telescope (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

On the way back from the Canyon to Flagstaff we went to the Lowell Observatory with hopes of stargazing. The Observatory is in Flagstaff situated on a hill to make it easier to observe the stars.  The Observatory is famous for discovering Pluto, but scientists at the observatory have also discovered the rings of Uranus, the atmosphere on Pluto, as well as accurate orbits of Pluto’s two new moons.

The Solar System walk (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
The Solar System walk at the Lowell Observatory (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

On the day we visited they had set up the Clark Telescope to look at the moon. We saw the moon clearly, but by the time our mom and dad tried to look at it the clouds rolled in an covered it up. Then, we headed to the Pluto telescope and learned all about how Pluto was discovered. We went on the Solar System Walk (one of two small walks at the Observatory), and we went a little off the trail to play in the snow. In some places, the snow was at least six inches deep. We had a short snowball fight, and then we headed back to the hotel room.

Click here for more information on the Lowell Observatory.

 

 

Our Trip to Arizona – Day Two

Lake Havasu City, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff Map
Map of our travels on day 2 from Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff.

Day two of our trip was sunny, but cool.  We were driving to Flagstaff, but we stopped to see the London Bridge in Lake Havasu first. The London Bridge was less than a mile away from the Days in where we stayed the night.

 

 

 

The London Bridge

The London Bridge
The London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

The London Bridge is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The bridge originally spanned the River Thames in London, and was designed by engineer John Rennie in 1831. It was Rennie’s last project, and was finished by his son. The bridge was made for horse drawn carriages and was not strong enough for cars of the 20th century.  They needed a new bridge that was strong enough for cars to cross and the old London Bridge was put on auction. It was sold to Robert P. McCulloch who was the founder of Lake Havasu City. McCulloch bought the bridge to help bring more visitors to Lake Havasu. The London Bridge was disassembled, transported to Lake Havasu City by ship, and then reassembled in 1968. Each block of stone was numbered sothat putting it back together would be easier. The reconstruction was completed in 1971.

The Shoppes at London Bridge.
The Shoppes at London Bridge (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

We looked around the world famous “London Bridge Shoppes”. There were several restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops. We went to the Visitor Center where they have some photographs of the bridge being reassembled.

Seeing snow for the first time.
SNOW! Seeing real snow for the first time (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

After visiting the London Bridge we headed off to Flagstaff.  We took AZ highway 95 North and joined interstate 40 heading west at Kingman.  As we approached Flagstaff, we saw snow! It was so beautiful that we had to stop.  This was a highlight since we were seeing real snow for the very first time.  We made dad exit the freeway so we could play in the snow.  The air was really cold, but that didn’t matter at all! When we got to Flagstaff, we were ecstatic to see that the city had gotten at least 6 inches of snow! We stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn. The room was very comfortable and clean.  There were two beds, a desk, and a nice, roomy  bathroom.  The hotel itself was elegant with a fireplace in the lobby which was decorated for the season including a christmas tree.  The hotel had an indoor pool and hot tub right next to the lobby.  We rated the Hilton Garden Inn at Flagstaff a 4 out of five stars.

Our Trip to Arizona – Day One

San Marcos, CA to Lake Havasu City, AZ

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Map of Day One of our travels.
Map of our travels on day one. (A) – San Marcos, CA. (B) – Desert View Tower on In Ko Pah Road, in Jacumba, CA. (C) – Imperial Sand Dunes at the Gordons Well Road Exit. (D) – Quartzite, AZ. (E) – Lake Havasu City, AZ.

We were out of bed by 2:45 a.m. We were up so early because of a two week trip to Arizona, to celebrate our birthdays. We were so excited, we couldn’t sleep. Unfortunately, our mom sent us back to bed. We woke up again at about 4:00 a.m, and got ready for the 5-6 hour drive to Lake Havasu City, the first stop in our trip.

Our goal was to leave the house at 5:00 a.m. Instead, we finally left at 6:15 a.m. It took us a long time to get everything packed.  There were seven of us, five in our family, and grandparents.   We took the Interstate 15 South to Interstate 8 East.  Our first stop was at a Travel Center near Campo, California, where we bought a refreshing hot chocolate and some delicious roasted peanuts.

After doing a few jumping jacks to stretch our legs, we hopped back in the van and continued on the Interstate 8 east, until we arrived at the Desert View Tower and Boulder Park, in Jacumba, California (B on map, desertviewtower.com).

Desert View Tower
Desert View Tower in Jacumba, CA (In Ko Pah Road on I8-E).

We got to see through a telescope in the Desert View Tower, ($6.50 per person to climb the tower), and then climbed through a rock maze at the Boulder Park.

Animal carvings in the boulder park at Desert View Tower.
Animal carvings in the boulder park at Desert View Tower (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

There were a number of animals carved out of stone. Part of the rock maze was so narrow, our mom nearly got stuck!

Climbing the rock maze in the boulder park at the Desert View Tower.
Climbing the rock maze in the boulder park at the Desert View Tower (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
Imperial Sand Dunes (Gordons Well Road Exit on the I8-E).
Imperial Sand Dunes (Gordons Well Road Exit on the I8-E). (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

After the Desert View Tower we headed east on interstate 8.  Our next stop was at the Imperial Sand Dunes just before we crossed into Arizona (C on map).  We did not spend much time at the dunes.  Apparently these dunes were formed from sands of an old lake called Lake Cahuilla.  The Dunes are about 40 miles long and 5 miles wide, and they are moving south eastwards at the rate of about 12 inches every 100 years.  We got back on to interstate 8 east, and just past Yuma, Arizona, got on to Arizona highway 95 going north.

After some more driving, we stopped in Quartzsite, AZ (D on map) to stretch our legs, get some gas for the van, and to buy some Doritos, and Cheetos.  We finally arrived in Lake Havasu City at about 4 in the afternoon, and checked in at the Day’s Inn.

Although the Days Inn was not the prettiest, the rooms were clean and fairly comfortable.   The rooms had two beds, a microwave and a refrigerator.  There was a hot tub and a small pool at this location. The room came with free breakfast.  After we settled in we went and soaked in the hot tub for 15 minutes before we had dinner.  We came up with a five-star rating system, and we gave the Day’s Inn  three stars.

Onny’s Thai- A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

If you’re looking for a good Thai restaurant in San Marcos, Onny’s Thai is the restaurant for you. It is located on the corner of San Marcos Blvd and Rancho Santa Fe Rd. It’s a bit small, but it is beautifully decorated with a Thai theme. We went to have dinner at this restaurant about two weeks ago. We were seated at a nice table at the back. Behind our table, there was a television showing pictures of sceneries from Thailand and was playing music. Onny’s Thai only serves lunch and dinner.

Flaming pot of soup.
The delicious Tom Yum soup in the flaming pot (image by the Jayasinghe family).

For appetizers, we shared two orders of pot stickers. We also had Tom Yum soup with chicken, which was served in a pot that was shaped like a ring with a chimney-like hole in the middle. In the hole in the middle was a flame (the picture shows what it looked like). For our main meal, we had yellow curry with chicken, white rice, thai fried rice with chicken, and Pad Gra Pow with chicken. Pad Gra Pow is a dish of stir-fried bell peppers, onions, thai basil, green beans, and chili garlic sauce. All of our selections were extremely delicious. To drink we all had water, except for our father, who had Thai beer. In addition to Thai beer, Onny’s thai also serves wine, soda, and Thai tea. We all enjoyed our food, which tasted delicious.
The owners of this restaurant are Onny and Bill Eitel. The owners themselves work at the restaurant, since they don’t have many employees. Mr. Eitel even came up to us and asked if we wanted a spice rack!
Onny’s Thai is a great place to sit and enjoy a wonderful thai meal!

Check out Onny’s Thai’s website.

The Cheesecake Factory – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

Thick creamy chocolate cheesecake with gooey marshmallow dip on the side with whip cream. That is what comes to mind when I think of  The Cheesecake Factory. About a month ago, my grandparents wanted to take us out to dinner to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory. This particular Cheesecake factory, was, at the NorthCounty Fair Mall in Escondido,  200 E. Via Rancho Parkway Suite 370 Escondido, CA 92025 US.

We went on a Saturday, and usually it is so busy, that there is about a two hour wait. But this time, we got lucky! We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.  We were seated at a comfortable booth situated in a corner. It was in a half circle, and right above where our heads rested, there were mirrored panels all around.  When we were seated our server bought couple baskets of warm bread with some butter. The bread was so good!  Just remember not to eat too much bread or you will spoil your main course.

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Yummy food! (image by the Jayasinghe family)

For the main course my dad and my grandpa both got orders of the cheeseburger, and salad with a vinaigrette.  My mother and grandmother both got orders of the chicken enchiladas, which they claimed to be very good. My twin sister, Kiran, and I, both got the kids quesadilla which tasted excellent. Kiran had chocolate milk with her quesadilla and I had lemonade with my quesadilla. My little sister, Svara, got the kids spaghetti and meatballs with apple juice.  The quesadilla, and the spaghetti with meatballs, we ordered from the kids menu, weren’t too small or too big.  If you don’t like quesadilla or spaghetti then the kids menu had some other good choices too.

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Delicious Cheesecake! (image by the Jayasinghe family)

For dessert, we of course had to have their cheesecake. They are famous for their cheesecake, and they have 50 different types of cheesecakes! Svara, got the lemon meringue cheesecake. I got the Toasted Marshmallow S’mores cheesecake. Kiran got the Hershey’s chocolate bar cheesecake. Svara did not like her lemon meringue cheesecake. She thought it was too lemony. It was a lemon meringue cake with whip cream on the side and little shreds of lemon peel  and some mint leaves adorning it. The cheesecake had a little bit of melted marshmallow on the side. My Toasted Marshmallow S’mores was a chocolate mousse cake with a rich chocolate frosting, which was very thick, and a dollop of whip cream on one corner of the plate. The cake had a couple of graham crackers sitting on the rich chocolate frosting carpet, that covered the top of the cheesecake slice. There was also melted marshmallow dip covering the rest of the plate to eat with the rich chocolate cake. Kiran had the Chocolate Hershey bar Cheesecake and loved it. It was a very rich chocolate cake with huge chocolate chips in the cake itself, and a squirt of whip cream in one corner of the plate. It also had thick, creamy, chocolate sauce dribbled in a zigzag pattern all across the plate.  All three of us enjoyed trying out each others choices of cheesecake.  For dessert at the Cheesecake factory, you don’t have to have cheesecake. Although they are famous for their cheesecake they also have ice cream on their menu.

I certainly loved our visit to The Cheesecake Factory and will not forget it for a long time.