Family trip to the East Coast

I have family visiting from India so I foresee a lot of fun travel in the future. The first of our trips was to the east coast. We covered Niagara, New York city and Washington DC over a period of 7 days.

Selfie in the flight

Since it was their first time in the US, we covered all the tourist spots and highlights of each city.

Maid of the mist and Cave of the winds in Niagara.

Maid of the mist

Niagara falls

Cave of the winds

Statue of liberty, One world observatory, Empire state building, Central park, Grand central terminal, Wallstreet, Brooklyn bridge were spots we covered in NYC.

Empire State Building

Grand Central

One World Observatory

Cruise to Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

We barely had 24 hours in DC so that limited us to seeing the White House, Lincoln Memorial, US Capitol and Washington Monument. It was a super sunny day which drained our energy and walking the distance between each of these monuments made it even worse. Towards the end, we resorted to using Uber! The only place we could enter was the Lincoln memorial and the rest of them were merely photo ops. Since I wasn't too keen about American history, I didn't spend time learning more about the monuments and so I don't have anything to write about them :)

The White House

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

US Capitol

We were visiting most of these places for the second time so the excitement wasn't there. The only exception being the Niagara falls which invoked the same sense of awe as my first visit.

Mt Hamilton

My latest trip took me to Mt Hamilton in Santa Clara which overlooks the Silicon Valley. On top of the mountain stands the Lick Observatory.

The Lick Observatory

We were a group of 7 who met at a Subway parking lot in San Jose. Packing a sandwich for lunch, we headed on our way. Driving along Highway 130, our first stop was the Grant Lake. To stretch our legs & to get a better view of the lake, we walked along the small trail for about a 100 meters which was a pleasant walk. I hear there is a much longer trail with an elevation of over a 1000 feet which gives a very nice view of the lake but we did not go on that trail.

The Grant lake

Continuing on Mt Hamilton road which is a 19 mile windy road we saw many bikers and motorcyclists enjoying the drive. It is said that the road has as many as 365 curves! One cannot drive faster that 25mph. The scenery along the way is beautiful. Since we went just at the beginning of spring, there was greenery everywhere. The road is usually closed when it snows at the top.

View from the top of Mt Hamilton

After a 45 minute drive, we reached the Lick Observatory-the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory that houses the 36 inch telescope. There is a small museum inside the observatory with various images and a few artifacts. Since I wasn't too keen on it, I just took a quick glance through it. There are washrooms, a gift store and a nice open air space picnic area where we ate our lunch.

Picnic area behind the Lick Observatory

36 inch telescope at the Lick Observatory

One of our group members who is very familiar with the area gave us interesting historical information about the place. Back in the day, when the observatory was being built, horse and mule driven carriages were used to carry stones from the bottom of the hill to the top. In order for the animals to be able to walk the steep hill, the roads had have a low steep grade. Hence the windy and sinuous road. He also pointed out  an area near the Grant lake which had the brick kiln for the observatory. Another story he shared was of the plane that crashed into the main building of the observatory during 1939. Luckily there was no fire or damage to the telescope and the staff was not in the building as they were attending a conference elsewhere.

I loved this spontaneous trip with a group of lovely people.

Galaxy, Nebula & Star Cluster Viewing

I volunteer at a non profit called Bay Area Older Adults which conducts informative, stimulating and interesting workshops, lectures and fun activities for older adults in the Bay Area. I recently attended one such event which was open to volunteers and absolutely loved it. It was Galaxy, Nebula and Star Viewing. 

16 inch telescope-Foothill College Observatory

At 5.30pm, we gathered at the Foothill College Observatory located in Los Altos. The observatory has a semicircular dome and a 16 inch computer-controlled solar telescope. 

Foothill College Observatory dome

Telescope

Our host for the day was Rick Baldridge, a senior engineer who works for companies that design and build satellites and spacecraft systems. He is also a member of the Peninsula Astronomical Society. He enthusiastically shared very interesting information about the galaxies, stars and space in general. 

Rick showing views on the computer

We watched the planets Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter. We also saw the double star Epsilon Aries, the Orion nebula, the Crab nebula and the Alcyone star from the Pleiades open cluster. Most of these celestial bodies appeared as tiny shining dots in the space. It was amazing to note that these objects which I was viewing were located hundred and thousands of light years away. Since this was my first experience, I was overwhelmed and intrigued by the technology and information that we have about space. There are similar sessions conducted every Friday and Saturday which are free and open to the public. It is a humbling and informative session and I highly recommend it.

What: Galaxy, Nebula and Star Viewing
Where: 12345 El Monte Rd, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
When: Friday 9pm-11pm and Saturday 10am-noon
Cost: Free

(P.S. Apologies for the poor picture quality. They were clicked on my cell phone in the dark.)