Ontonagan,Upper Peninsula

Lake of Clouds view point Porcupine Mountains,Ontonagan Upper Peninsula

Porcupine Mountains:

The Porcupine Mountains is a vacation spot on the south shore of Lake Superior.The Porcupine Mountains offers hiking trails,mountain bike trails,cross-country ski trails and wildlife viewing.The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is located on the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula.The Park has 60,000 acres and encompasses the largest tract of old-growth timber in the Midwest.

We visited the Lake of the clouds view point, it was awesome we hiked for 4 miles up the mountains.It was a little cold but manageable,hike was awesome and the trail ran up the mountains beside the lake.We stopped at various scenic spots on the way.We got to see an eagle and it was splendid as we were much higher that the flight of the eagle.Pradheep photographed and videotaped the eagle.We returned to the starting point.

We stopped at the lake Superior lake shore which was more like a sea shore.

New York city Jul '09

Times Square

Brooklyn bridge(left) New York Central(right)

New York, one of the most populous city in the United States.New York has influence on world finance,fashion,commerce and entertainment.New York city lies in the state of New York.It is where the United Nations is headquartered.New York city constitutes of five borough's,the Borough of Bronx (Bronx county),the Borough of Brooklyn (Kings county),the Borough of Manhattan (New York county),the Borough of Queens(Queens county),the borough of Staten Island (Richmond county).

We took a walk on the Brooklyn bridge, i was amazed at how huge the bridge was,later learned that Brooklyn bridge was constructed in 1883 and it was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was constructed.

We had a look at Manhattan,i realised how busy New York can be during a weekday when we travelled by the subway trains.Had a look at Grand Central Terminal and was amazed how well equipped and luxurious the terminal was !!! It was a sight to see.

Ellis island(top) Liberty Island(bottom)

We also visited the liberty island where the Statue of Liberty is stationed.The Statue of Liberty was a gifted by France to the U.S. in the year 1888.The gift symbolises freedom and democracy.We also got to see Ellis Island,which has the National museum of immigration, i remememberd God Father movie the part where Vito Corleone (as a child) immigrates from Italy to the U.S.

We also got to take a stroll on Wall street, where the US stock exchange is headquartered.We saw the place the twin towers were stationed,nothing remained now!!! I remembered the incident that shook the world!!!

I was impressed by how fashionable the people of New York were, fashion prevailed right from the middle class to the elite.Oh yes New York serves as the fashion capital after Paris and Milan !!!!I recollected Mumbai! which was India's fashion capital !!! I thought New York resembled Mumbai in many ways!! The space constraint, the not so clean roads,the skyscrapers,the eateries on the streets,the subways......I was reminded of Mumbai because I had seen it before New York!!!!

Well i realised whoever visits US should visit New York to have a feel of how different New York is from the rest of the US!!!

Upper Peninsula of MIchigan

Photo courtesy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/28601488@N05/3764533384/

We drove all the way from home,Auburn Hills crossed the Mackinaw bridge which is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere after, The Great Belt Bridge in Halsskov-Sprogoe,Denmark and Akashi Kaiko Bridge in Japan.We got to see, Lake Huron on the right side of the bridge and Lake Michigan on the left side of the bridge.The lakes were vast like oceans.Got a peek of the Mackinaw island,had our lunch on the way and drove all the up to the Ontanogan.My first impression of Upper Peninsula was that it was a noman's land.Finally we reached the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,commonly called as U.P. U.P. is the land above the Macjinaw bridge linking the two peninsulas.It is bound by Lake Superior in the North,St Mary's river on the east,Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on the South and Wisconsin on the west.U.P is also known as the Yoopers land(derived from the U.P'ers).It was already dark when we reached so we hardly saw how the place looked.I drove for 4 hours and the sunlight was blindling me as we were driving west and it was already time for the sun to set.

Mackinaw bridge