First Gear

I would have liked to start this blog with 'Finally it happened' too.
But yesterday I was speaking with a friend from Duluth who interpreted the above in a way I did not.

I wouldn't blame anyone for emphatically stating "Yes, I can drive anywhere" after he successfully drove down the whole Tilak and Laxmi Road at 9:30 am on a weekday by car.(I would also say he is a fool to take his car on this road at this time unless he is testing his driving skills!)

I was in the same league until I landed at SFO and found it difficult to change my default actions.Everything which was to the left side becomes right here and vice versa. The above sentence means that in the earlier stages the wiper used to clean my windshield everytime I wanted to turn.A couple of driving tests in the parking , lot of navigation courses and a quick lesson on traffic etiquettes which are quite contrary to the etiquettes of Tilak Road rickshaw drivers ; I was set to drive.

We were on the way to Yosemite National Park and I finally got my hands on the steering wheel at CA 140 W which is marked as 'a scenic route'.Friends who were worried about their life (I was at the steering for the first time) turned their focus to their cameras.Amit,Mitu and other photographers -You should be here with your gadgets.

The route had the Merced river forcing itself through the white rocks by the side all the time.The huge , imposing mountains of Yosemite providing the classy backdrop and the weather was just right.The tress had green , yellow ,orange and colours I hadn't known of.The light rains send out the aroma of the land.It aint different from the aroma in India.

Then we parked and decided to take a trail to Verner Falls which is a 3-mile trail and takes you to a 1000ft elevation.The Verner falls further takes you to Neveda falls which further take you to Half Dome which is 4,800ft. We didn't do all of that:)

As we came down to the parking lot , I put on the ignition and relaised that the batteries had drained off.Thanks to left-right confusion I never realised when I put the headlights on.Other than basic necessities , I have realised that you cant live in the US without a Cellphone , Mapquest , Computer Access and Insurance. I had effectively used all of the above except for Insurance - Insurance Vasuli finally took place at Yosemite.

Not only we saved 46.5$ from our pocket , but also got a free ride in a towing truck along with gentle giant Ruud.While the car battery was getting charged up , I decide to take advantage of the cool calm composure my friends have maintained condoning my silly mistake.I asked Ruud if I could have a snap with him and the vehicles.
Gentle Gaints are kind people.