WW: A Short Visit to US Capitol

 A Short Visit to US Capitol, Washington D.C.

It was a bit of 'mixed' day in terms of weather, a few hours of hot, sunny day, followed by rain.

All pictures are happily taken with iPhone 7.

Join  us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have linking up :)

Clear Blue Sky of Boston

Enjoying one fine afternoon at the Public Garden, Boston

Say hi to George :)

Join us on Skywatch Friday and  enjoy sky snaps from different corners of the world

Spring Break 2016: Yosemite National Park - adventures continued

"Mama, where are we heading today? I love to see the wild deers again." 
Obi was smiling from ear to ear  in our rented car.
"Yeaaah mama...I also want to see the misty fall we saw yesterday, Ma. I think I saw the rainbow on the sky," she added enthusiastically.
That morning, we got ready for another adventure in Yosemite National Park, the fourth US National Park we visited during our spring break.

*****

It's almost the beginning of winter but I just realized that my drafts are still filled with snaps and stories from our last Spring Break.

I hope you don't mind me sharing more from our trip to Yosemite National Park. As I have previously shared, my family and I just can't get enough of all those beautiful parks around the US. And Spring 2016 marks our first trip to these fantastic places.

Ready to hear more about Yosemite National Park? 

Read more: Spring Break 2016: Yosemite National Park

Obviously, three days in Yosemite National Park is not enough.
Not enough!
But I am glad we made it!

And on the second day, we managed to visit more corners in this vast, yet beautiful Valley. Before heading further, we just stopped at the Spring. Crystal water spring indeed! We stopped because we saw people flocking here previously. 

We spent so much time around the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.
As usual, we grabbed some souvenirs, stamped our passport to the National parks, fetched some food and visited the museum as well. 

We also had wonderful lunch at the famous hotel here, the Majestic Yosemite Hotel.
Since the first time we stepped into it, we were awed by its classic and elegant grandeur.
Beautiful!

while waiting for our lunch..

Built in the 1920s, this hotel surely has its charms. Let alone the breathtaking views of Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point that you can see from here.

feels so homey.

We had our typical American lunch with salad, burger and fries, but the ambience of this historical place was different, especially as we have so many beautiful handwoven fabrics of the Ahwahnee hanged on the wall. We truly enjoyed it.

We also learnt more about the history of this magnificent valley at the museum, including about the native Ahwahnee Indians who used to dwell here.
I have shared it before here - the Indian Village of Ahwahnee

Just like the other part of this National Park, everything you see is breathtaking

Words can not describe the overwhelming feeling you have as you see all this natural beauty in your surroundings.

No wonder Yosemite National Park has been designated as the World Heritage Site. Named as a national park since 1890, Yosemite National Park is indeed the gem of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. That's why the famous Yosemite photographer and lifelong conservationist, Ansel Adams, stayed here for quite sometimes and prepared his magnificent collection.

Finally, on our last day in Yosemite, we went to the beaches around the area. 

Yes, the beaches.

We don't really have the ocean here but the river banks around are beautiful as well.

The water was so clear and fresh.

We managed to stop at Cathedral Beach, overlooking the Cathedral Spire, and Sentinel Beach, near the Three Brothers peaks.

Those are nice names, right. I guess I comes from the Indian time and they preserve it up until now.

trees at Cathedral Beach.

Hid behind trees, the banks of Merced River provide lovely spots for picnics.

We stayed for awhile and Bo et Obi enjoyed playing with the water, although it was quite cold at that time.

picture timeee :)

And you know what...we were super lucky that as the last day we were here, the route to Glacier Point was open.

Yaaaaay...

We finally got a chance to see the high point of Yosemite that is famous for its breathtaking sceneries. The weather was getting warmer and the street was safe enough to be reopen after winter time.

I promise you, I will be back with more photos and stories from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park.

This is just one of the photos we took during our trip :).

Till the next post :)

Exploring San Fransisco, California

"I left my heart in San Fransisco..."
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climbe halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care..."

Saya asyik bersenandung lagu hits jaman jadul yang dipopulerkan Tony Bennet ini, sementara Rudi tengah berkonsentrasi mengendarai kendaraan sewa kami menyusuri .

Yuuup...saat itu kami sekeluarga sedang menikmati San Fransisco.
Sebenarnya perjalanan ini kami lakukan saat Spring Break bulan Mei lalu, and guess what,  I haven't shared our stories here :).

This wonderful city by the bay has been widely famous for its impeccable beauty.
Bo et Obi as well as my hubby and I really enjoyed our 3-day stay in this beautiful city. If you read the previous stories of our little spring break adventures, we have been flying to Las Vegas and driving up to San Fransisco, after spending some days in Page, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and later San Fransisco.

Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman Wharf, Pier 39, AT&T Park are only a few famous landmarks San Fransisco has. 

Saat kami tiba dari Death Valley, kemacetan  San Fransisco menyambut kami berempat. Karena lapar, kami sepakat untuk early lunch di Sausalito, salah satu kawasan elegan by the bay yang cantik, tapi tidak terlalu dipenuhi dengan turis.

At Salito's, kami menikmati aneka seafood dan roti khas SF yang enaaak banget untukku 😘.
Setelah perjalanan panjang kurang lebih 5 jam dari Death Valley menuju San Fransisco, rasanya apa saja memang jadi enak LoL.

Selesai santap siang, kami pun langsung menuju the icon of the city.
Apalagi kalau bukan si Jembatan Merah, Golden Gate Bridge.
Sebenarnya ini sudah kali kedua saya mampir ke kota cantik ini, namun baru pertama dengan komposisi keluarga kecilku. Yuuup...the Frakarsas is here :).

So, we strolled around the Golden Gate and truly enjoyed the scenery. The kids got super excited looking at this magnificent structure. Meskipun angin kencang, tapi pemandangan dari atas jembatan memang cantik sekali. Menyusuri jalan setapak di Marin Headlands scenic overlook, saya dan keluarga menikmati Golden Gate dari sisi lain. Sesi foto tiada henti judulnya :).

Selesai menikmati Golden Gate, waktunya beralih menyusuri downtown San Fransisco yang terkenal dengan cable car-nya. Tau kan cable car? semacam kereta dengan gerbong pendek di atas rel yang biasanya melintasi bagian kota tertentu .

Dan pengalaman naik cable car juga seru banget lho :). Sepintas memang ngeri-ngeri sedap karena tempat duduknya yang terbatas dan mostly harus bergelantungan sementara cable car-nya asyik menuruni city center San Fransisco yang berbukit-bukit. Asyik deeeh pokoknya :). Bo et Obi got so excited with the ride as well.

Done with the cable car, Udi took us to the most crooked street in the world alias jalan paling berkelok di San Fransisco as well as the Fisherman Wharf yang memang selalu rama dengan pengunjung dan turis. Di sini, kami menikmati New England Clam Chowder soup yang asli enak bangeeeet :). Plus beli banyak oleh-oleh tentunya.

Tidak jauh dari sini, kami pun asyik mengeksplorasi Pier 39 yang juga menjadi salah satu tempat favorit para turis. Pier 39 terkenal dengan kumpulan singa laut yang ramai dengan suara khasnya. Seru deh..karena mereka asyik berjemur menikmati matahari San Fransisco yang hangat sambil mengeluarkan suara 'nyanyian' khas singa laut yang lumayan keras. 
Oh yes..they are loud :). Again, Bo et Obi were so excited to see them.

Di kejauhan, kita bisa melihat Alcatraz atau The Rock, salah satu (bekas) penjara terkenal di Amerika dan bahkan dunia. Sayang kami tidak punya cukup waktu untuk mengunjungi temat ini langsung. I guess we need to go back here again :)

Selain itu, sebenarnya kami menghabiskan waktu di Muir Woods yang menjadi salah satu Taman Nasional di AS. Nanti saya share di post berikutnya yaaaa.

Saat memutuskan untuk terbang dari New York ke Las Vegas, dan kembali ke New York via San Fransisco, saya mengingatkan diri sendiri untuk mengambil asuransi perjalanan. Ini penting lho. Karena kita tidak pernah tau apa yang akan terjadi saat kita melakukan perjalanan, apalagi yang lumayan jauh seperti ini. Saya selalu memastikan ada perlindungan yang memadai saat melakukan perjalanan, baik jauh maupun dekat, termasuk untuk keluarga dan anak-anak. Dengan perbandingan asuransi perjalanan, kita pun tau apa saja yang bisa didapat dengan paket yang kita ambil.

Selain penting karena banyak keperluan yang tercover di dalamnya, memiliki asuransi perjalanan juga memberi ketenangan batin buat saya yang sering melakukan perjalanan dinas ke berbagai pelosok dunia dengan perjalanan yang cukup panjang dengan segala resikonya. Pernah suatu ketika, saya harus sidang di Jenewa dan karena pesawat yang saya tumpangi delayed dari Jakarta, maka saya harus lari-lari di Singapura karena mengejar pesawat yang akan membawa saya ke Amsterdam, sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke Jenewa, Swiss. Walhasil, koper saya pun tertinggal dengan cantiknya. Saat mendarat di Amsterdam, saya yang sudah diwanti-wanti bahwa koper tidak terbawa dari Singapura, terbantu dengan penggantian uang untuk baju sementara sambil menunggu koper tiba. Lumayaaaan lho :).. Dan ini semua ditanggung asuransi perjalanan.

Penting juga untuk kita melakukan perbandingan asuransi perjalanan supaya mendapat asuransi yang baik dengan cakupan perlindungan yang sesuai dengan keperluan kita. Dengan menggunakan website yang tepat, salah satunya futuready.com. Ada yang sudah pernah cek situs ini? Futuready adalah situ yang khusus dibuat untuk membantu kita mempersiapkan masa depan, terutama perencanaan dan jaminan keuangan dan kesehatan
Dengan segala kemudahannya, pasti banyak manfaat yang kita dapat, termasuk asuransi perjalanan terbaik pun bisa kita miliki.

Alhamdulillah, perjalanan Spring Break kami menyusuri sisi Barat Amerika Serikat kami berjalan lancar. Can't wait to explore more of this beautiful country.
See you on my next story :)

Spring Break 2016: Yosemite National Park

As our eyes first set in this magnificent valley, I could only whisper all my gratitude to the Almighty.  For this tranquility, for this peaceful beauty.

Welcome to Yosemite National Park

I know it's already summer here, but I still have some stories to share from our last spring's adventures. Here's Spring Break 2016: Yosemite National Park chapter.

****

"Mama, where are we heading?" asked Bo in the car that day.

"Yosemite, Bang" I replied.
"Hmm..what's that again ma?
"Y-o-s-e-m-i-t-e.." I said 

"Oooh cool.. Like the one we saw on TV!" 

"So what are going to see here ma?" Added Obi.

My hubby and I just smiled and said," You'll see, kiddos, you'll see..."

Obviously, we just couldn't wait to see this world-wide famous National Park.

****

7 AM.

Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley, California.

Yes, we're here, in the California Republic.

The alarm screamed its heart out at 7 AM dot.

"Wakey, wakey, kiddos. We gotta move, El Capitan is waiting" I gently tapped Bo et Obi. 
"And we will see that great sand dunes nearby before heading to Yosemite," 
I know it was early and we were on spring break (a.k.a vacation ;)), but with the bathroom fun rituals (bubble bath session, enjoying the hot tub) and delicious breakfasts waiting for us, even 7 AM is considered late.

The kids had a great sleep after spending some times under the sun in the driest part in the US, the Death Valley. We stayed quite late down there, until sunset. And by the time we arrived at the Stovepipe Wells, we were all washed out.

Mesquita Sand Dune at the Stovepipe Walls..

After a brief morning walk at the Sand dunes, we were driving straight to Yosemite National Park. Wuhuuuu...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

What intrigued us in the first place is how you pronounce the name of this famous park.

I know...it might sound silly for you.

But for a non-native English speakers like us, you'll be surprise to hear the way we said it :).

Of course the correct way of saying it is (/joʊˈsɛmᵻti/ yoh-sem-it-ee) as I copy paste it from wikipedia.

But anyway, we still have tons of questions in our head when we first prepared our journey last spring.

Where is it? How do we go there?

What can we do there? How long do we have to stay there?

Where are we going to stay? How about the food?

And the questions seemed to continue on and on and on, until the day we actually went there.

We have zero knowledge of Yosemite National Park when we first heard about it. 

But as if the faith has been sealed for us, our itchy feet brought us to this lovely place on earth.

We drove around 4.5 hours from Death Valley, but we stopped for quite some times in Oakhurst as we had a little problem with our rent car. All was okay after we visited the car center and had our tyre checked. Apparently, after super hot days in the Death Valley, the car tyres and brakes were a bit compromised. It was worrying because the route we took was hilly and curvy. Good working brakes were definitely needed. Good thing it was handled swiftly, although we arrived a bit late in Mariposa, where we stayed for the first 2 nights in Yosemite. We managed to visit the Park but it was 8 PM already so it was all dark. 

And the view along the way was awesome. How can you complained over super blue sky, green lush trees and hills.

We pretty much enjoyed it.

We stayed at the Yosemite Miners Inn Motel, around 1 hour from the gate of Yosemite National Park. It was a lovely motel and Mariposa was a lovely place indeed. A perfect gateway to the Park.

Early morning, we were so ready to visit this infamous national park. After a hearty breakfast, we smoothly got in with our membership card which was bought in Grand Canyon.
With our America the beautiful card, we paid USD 80 for a full-year free entrance to the all US National Parks all over the country for a family of four like us and/or with other 3 adults.
What a steal!

Surely there are abundant things you can do in this beautiful place. 
Hiking, driving along the scenic routes, rock climbing, biking, camping, tracking, bear and bird watching and so many more. Initially, we wanted to see and try everything.
Somehow, with limited time we have, we really had to choose where to go. We highlighted the landmarks and some friendly tracks for us and the kids. Being outdoor is our favorite, but traveling with kids require further consideration,

On the first day, we drove through El Portal Road and headed to meet El Capitan and the Three Brothers. In case you were wondering, those are the names of granites rocks which dominantly adorned the Valley View. 

Meet El Capitan...

We hiked to the Bridalveil Fall as well. It was only 30 minutes walk from the parking spot near El Capitan area.
And just as beautiful as its name, the Fall is mesmerizing. 
It felt so fresh to walk on the ground like this.

Bridalveil bridge from a far..

We drove and walked around the Valley to enjoy the spectacular view right in front of our eyes. Wherever you look, you won't stop admiring the irrevocable beauty nature can bring. 
As much as I enjoyed the sceneries, I couldn't stop taking pictures here and there.

meet El Capitan

On the way to the Yosemite Village, we stopped at several places.
From Valley View to the  Yosemite Village, you can see El Capitan with its horse tail fall and ribbon fall, as well as the Three Brothers and the Cathedral Rocks. 

the Valley seen from the Vista Point

Heading south, you will see the  Sentinel Falls as well as Columbia Rock, which is not far from the majestic  Yosemite Falls, the upper and lower parts. 

The Falls is easily accessible from the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center as well as from the Sentinel Bridge. There is a path that you can follow if you want to walk along the trail and get closer to the Falls. But both Falls look fantastic from a far.

Yosemite Falls

While enjoying this beautiful area, we were just sitting in one of the valleys, simply doing nothing but sitting on the grass, deeply inhaling the fresh air, and giggling around. Obviously we took tons of pictures and videos, so we spent sometimes waiting for our GoPro to do its magic and recorded some of those time lapse videos.
I didn't mind waiting, as the scenery is wonderful and we got lucky that some wild animals joining our leisure time there.

And finally, we stopped at the famous Tunnel View.
I have no further explanation but leave it to your judgement in these photos.
No wonder people are flocking in this very spot to witness what Mother Nature presents.

the 4 of us...

We spent three days in this one of the world's natural wonders.
And I have to admit, even three days are not enough.
Sometimes we just got confused which rock or falls that we were seeing as there are so many of them. But whatever it is, it's beautiful beyond words.

I don't think my story and photos do justice to the real beauty of this place.
Nevertheless, I have to go back with more stories and photos (for sure) about our 2nd and 3rd day here at the Park.

Have you visited this place or other national Park as well?

How do you like it?

Check out more stories and photos in my Steller :)

Spring Break 2016: Deeper Underground at the Lower Antelope Canyon

Good morning from Page, Arizona.

And welcome to the Navajoland.

Shall we continue our journey here :)?

Page is indeed a beautiful city.

I am glad my hubby insisted on staying here as our gateway to the Grand Canyon. 

So many interesting spots to see and enjoy.

Before that, we have considered other cities as well, including those closer to Grand Canyon or on our way to Death Valley.

As I have shared before in Spring Break 2016: the Quest of the Horseshoe Bend and the Missing Antelope, we spent a half day taking the Lower Antelope Canyon tour. 

It takes around 30 minutes drive to Lower Antelope Canyon from our hotel at Best Western Plus Lake Powell, Page. 

The typical landscape of the area is desert, but underneath is another world indeed. Never crossed our minds that beautiful, one-of-a-kind rocks constellation is waiting down there.

The desert..

So early morning, we went to the Lower Antelope Canyon. There are two tour operators here and we chose Ken's tour.

I read in Trip Advisor that they are well recommended.

It's also better if you reserve before coming in. They assigned a group of approximately 15-20 people every 15 minutes. And the list is filled up fast.

We came at 9.15 but got a slot for 10 AM. There are 2 types of tours, genera one and the photographer one. We took the general one because the photographer tour filled up already. Unless we wanted to come back later that day. There are a few things we have to consider before chosing those tours, as you can see in my picture below.

No selfie stick :)

The fee is $20 per adult, and kids 7 years and older is $12. 

Oh, in front of the gate, we also paid our contribution to the Navajo tribe, which can be used for the whole day in other part of the Navajoland, like Upper Antelope Canyon. I think it was $8 per adult and $4 for kids

So we waited for a while at the cafetaria and browsed around the souvenir shop 
(as always :)).

while waiting for the tour..

For sure you can not take a self-guided tour here. 
We were wondering about that and once we were at Lower Antelope Canyon we know why we have to take the guided tour.

This canyon is amazingly located underneath the ground. 

Yuuup.

Underground.

You have to take stairs, many of them. 

Some of them are very steep.

But no need to worry as it is indeed safe to do so.

Take it as a little effort we have to make before we can witness the fantastic sandstones, curves, turns and magically curved and sculptured by the wind and water for thousands of years. 

Not to mention that this area was recently flooded. Therefore, it's rather dangerous for you to go down there alone or with someone who is not familiar with the area.

watchout...

Our tour guide, John, was very nice and patience as well. 

our guide, John...

He explained a lot about the story of the canyon and the names of the rocks. 

one corner..

We saw the lion's head, the lady, the Indian chief.. Complete with his headdress. 

the chief....

And soooo many other incredible shapes, forms and colors.

what do you think it looks like?

Here are some more photos in a collage. I have tons of them but I know it will be too heavy for the blog :).

So when you happen to be in Page or the neighborhood, don't miss the Lower Antelope Canyon. Truly a great experience for us, and for you as well.

Check out more of my stories at #Steller :)