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08/03/10

2009 in Pictures - July

After a gap of almost 2 months I am getting back to posting the rest of 2009 In Pictures now... This time around lets see how July was in 2009... It was full of loads of excitement, summers had arrived, festivals were on the charts, flowers were blooming, and traveling to new places was planned...

Let's go to July 2009 then!!!! Enjoy! (pssst...this post has a lot of photographs... be patient while scrolling down! I would not like it if you miss some pictures!)


July started with a flight to Atlanta! Aditya was there from India on a project and I felt this was just the right opportunity to fly down south and enjoy some mountains. I was really excited because this was the first time I was going to see mountains in the US... Did I say I love mountains? I do!!!

Smokies! here I come!

Reached Atlanta late in the evening and the Sun Gods were still waiting to welcome me at the airport!

Adi was driving a Pontiac G6! and I had another reason to celebrate because of this fact! I had been trying to rent out a G6 for a long time now, and it happened when I was least expecting :) lovely!

The GPS I was carrying was giving a lot of trouble, it used to get lost, or take us to places where we not really were going to! but we still managed to drive all the way to Smokies with some help from the road signs! Figured that if you keep your eyes, open you might not need a GPS afterall!

The first pit stop was creekside after we crossed the small town of Cherokee in the state of North Carolina! Amazing beautiful road, covered with greenest of green trees, with a small creek flowing next to the road! Perfect mood for an amazing drive!

And needless to say there were a whole lot of bikers enjoying the warm weather on their Harleys on that road!



Below is the east side view from Chingman's dome, the highest point in the Smokies... Its an artificially built cement view point to give visitors a 360 degree view of the Smokies. I can only imagine how crowded it would get if it was India, more because of the smalltime shopkeepers, of which all I missed was a Chai-Wala... Sigh!


The western view has the state boundary of NC and Tennessee, like you see in the picture below...


The access to Clingman's Dome below!



And finally the beautiful Smokies!!!! Pictures can capture only a part of how beautiful these were... but to be honest, nothing in this world is as beautiful as the Himalayas!!! Call be prejudiced! but that's how it is! simple!



It was the 4th of July when I was in Atlanta and all towns, big or small on our way had fireworks going on... We drove past two, but decided to stop at the third one and enjoy the show...
And did not do much the other two days I was in Atlanta... the most eventful thing being, that I saw Transformers2 on IMAX (huge is an understatement for that screen) and ICE Age 3 back to back!



Back in Milwaukee, it was time for Festivals and Fairs...

Bestille Days and Great Circus Parade were scheduled over the next few weeks... This is when staying in the heart of downtown, and next to the lake was making more sense than anything else :)

Bastille days is a 4 day french festival which is celebrated every year in Milwaukee downtown at the Cathedral Square lawns! Perfect time to enjoy some exotic wine and food... Me being a vegetarian and a non-wine drinker, made myself happy with elaborate helpings of Egyptian Rice, Greek salads and fresh lemonade while walking around and enjoying some brilliant music performances in the evenings!

The photographs below are a mix of Great Circus Parade and Bastille Days!




Beautiful father son combo :) Saw many dads wearing the same stuff as their boys! sweet!



Family planning is something that has not been introduced to some in the US I guess...


And I am sure this horse's mom had an affair with some Dalmatian!


Fairs and festivals are one place where I see some family values being displayed in the US... most of my time otherwise was spent noticing the teenagers and youth, which did not seem to be moving in any direction but everywhere! It was a very nice refreshing change to see families together at these festivals... but it was mostly kids and parents, or old people.. the young guns were not many in number around these... Considered boring I guess, by them!


There was an actual circus happening too! and it was really interesting to see how kids in the US react to Camels and Elephants :P


India still means something very different when it comes to Circus.. check out the face and India... I would love to look for someone who looks like this in India now :)


Another good thing about social gathering's in the US is that people of all age (minus the ones I mentioned) fully enjoy themselves!!! They drink, they dance, they laugh!!! it was fun to observe!!










My favorite couple in the US... Deepali and Gaurav...


My parking lot and collectibles I acquired over time...

Bindiya had handed over Ganeshji to me when I went to UK for the first time in 2007... they have been with me since! I am sure he is enjoying the mid-western weather in summers!





And the month ended with an absolutely brilliant and mind boggling sky show at Lake Front...



The adrenaline rush when a jet flies just about 100 ft above your head is indescribable... How kids cry after that is a different story altogether!


So that's how July of 2009 was... Did you read anything or just saw the pictures?

11 comments:

  1. Behetareen!

    and yes...i read every bit of it..kyuki pics ko download hone mey time lag raha tha :)

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  2. wonderful...u really had spent some nice time there.

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  3. I liked the feel of this post.
    Pictures mein, I like the view from the top, and some of the sky shots are absolutely brilliant! And that one which looks like a water colours wala painting is sooo pretty!! :)

    Waise, picture no. 10, the peaks wala frame, is the daily evening view here. Felt like it was taken from my campus. :)

    Ab August!!

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  4. Oh oh, that old uncle on that cycle thingi is too cool!!

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  5. Good..
    I wonder, how u remember all the details still!!
    Well I read every bit of it..Iam sure, everyone else also did..This was a fun post, a change specially after months,when I had completely forgotten about your 2009 posts!!

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  6. Awesome pictures par sab padha maine :)

    Great Circus Parade and Bastille Day celebration look FUN...ek dum mast :)

    tell me something, woh chappal ka color red & white hain kya?

    LOL @ horse's mom had an affair with some Dalmatian!


    aur Vishali ki tarah main bhi hairan hoon ki aapko saare details yaad hain. Kamaal ki yaadaash hai!

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  7. Yup, read thru it all. Remember most of the pictures and the account from before when they first made their appearance on CKD! :D

    It is Clingmans Dome or Chingmans??

    I specifically remember the "recording shuru"..."patake/fireworks khatam" video! That was hilarious! :D

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  8. My bad, I read it all wrong. My eyes playing tricks on me! It is Clingmans! :)

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  9. Could not read a word Prashant.. that's how arresting your photography is .. WTG

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  10. @ Isha…
    chalo kisi bahane se hi sahi :)

    @ Varun
    thanks!

    I did have a great time back in the US!

    @ Richa
    thanks!

    dekho bah, mountains in the US are not a big deal seriously, but i am totally jealous of you to have such a view every morning!!! ugh!!!!

    August! soon!

    @ Vaishali
    yea… i do remember a lot of them :)

    there are more 2009 posts coming up! abhor to aadha saal baaki hai :)

    @ Swati
    thanks!!!
    yea.. that slippers are red and white…

    Thanks!

    @ Jas
    yea… you've seen them before :)

    wo video pata nahin kahan hai yaar! mast incident hai wo :)

    @ Chandan
    :) hehehe.. thanks Di!

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