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An Epic Dubai Vacation!

April 11, 2019 by Prem Leave a Comment

Traveling to the Middle East, I never expected to say that Dubai was probably the safest and cleanest city I’ve ever been to and there was more amazing things to see and do here than anywhere else I’ve ever traveled to. Here is a short highlight video that really shows off the trip:

4/1/19

We had a long day of flying connecting through Amsterdam and arrived at our AirBnB at 2:00am.
The first thing I did was checkout the view which was incredible!!! Seeing the Burj Khalifa at night is a jaw dropping site!

The next morning, I got up just after sunrise again to check out this view. During the day, you could even better appreciate the 30 acre lake they created at the foot of the tower.

After waking up, we walked over to a grocery store 5 minutes away and got some food to stock our refrigerator. It was then time to go for a walk and check out the area which of course led to some more images of the Burj Khalifa.

We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t actually go inside the tower unless we paid a lot of money to take an elevator to the viewing platform at the top.
We then walked around the Dubai Mall which had all sorts of interesting artwork and sculptures.

We were fighting a bit of jet lag so we went back to our apartment to relax for the afternoon, let the boys swim, etc.
During the day, it gets really hot and there aren’t a lot of people out, but at night, it’s hopping and was way busier!
We walked back to the mall to have dinner and watch the water show which starts at 6:00pm and runs every half hour.

At night, we went back up to our room and watched the water show from our balcony.

4/2/19
The next day we drove out to Abu Dhabi in the morning to check out the Grand Mosque which is absolutely breathtaking architecture.

Later that evening, I did some more images from our balcony at the apartment and then we headed back out to the mall and to see the water show again. This time we took one of the boat rides around the lake to really experience it up close.

4/3/19
Today we were transferring to another airBnB. Before checkout, went to the Miracle Garden which was a jaw dropping display of flowers.

In the afternoon, we made our way over to our second AirBnB which was right on the Jumeirah Beach Marina.
We went for our walk around the area, had dinner, and walked back along the beach at night.

4/4/19
This morning we went over to the beach which was an interesting experience. There were some women that were covered head to toe for their beach wear and right next to them would be a woman in a thong bikini.
And there were also camels…so that was different!

This evening we did a dessert safari trip. It had it’s pros and cons but it was definitely a unique and fun experience which included dune bashing in a 4×4 vehicle, quad biking in the sand, along with dinner and some shows including belly dancing and fire spinning.

4/5/19
Today we went to the Wild Wadi water park which was a great time. It was not nearly as crowded as we had expected. It was a small park and probably overpriced for what it was but we had a great time and it had amazing views of the Burj Al Arab which is another beautiful piece of architecture.

In the evening we went to Jumeirah Public Beach which was absolutely insanely crowded.
I had the chance to do some beautiful pics of the changing light with the Burj Al Arab.
The boys played soccer on the beach with some other kids.
After that we went to Souk Madinat Jumeirah which is an indoor/outdoor mall with lots of shopping and restaurants. It reminded a little bit of the San Antonio river walk. We had a wonderful Italian dinner with a warm breeze on the terrace. We talked a bit with our waiter who was from Uzbekistan. He said that the 95 degree days right now are perfect but in summer it will be 125 degrees. Ugh!!

4/6/19

This morning we went to the aquarium in Atlantis. It was enjoyable but very small compared to the Bahamas counterpart.

In the evening we went to Global Village which is a 364 acre park that represents different cultures from all over the world. It’s a melting pot of cultures in an open air mall blended with a theme park.
Each section of the globe included shopping and food from that region. There was a large carnival section, a stage where every 15 minutes they had dance performances from different countries, a live stunt show and so much more.
It was truly unique!!

4/7/19
Today was departure day and it was be a long day. Our flight wasn’t until 12:40am so we needed to occupy 14.5 hours. The boys took advantage of the pool with a late checkout time.

After that, we headed to the Emirates Mall and visited Ski Dubai. This was probably the only regret that I had from the trip because it was really expensive and since the boys hadn’t skied before, they would not have been able to pass the ski test required to actually go on the slope so there wasn’t much for us to do there. We still had fun on the toboggans and tubes and stuff.

In the evening we went to the Dubai Glow Garden which was the largest in the world. It was really pretty and fun to walk around at night. From there…off to the airport!!

On our way home, we had a long layover in Amsterdam so we decided to explore the city. Shortly after sunrise, we walked around downtown to see all the canals. We also made a stop at the home of the famous Anne Frank which was a great history lesson for the boys. One of my favorite things to see was all the bikes! BIKES EVERYWHERE!!

Next we took an Uber to go visit the Kuekenhof Tulip gardens which were blooming. Unfortunately we only had about half an hour left so it was WAY too short!!

We then went back to the airport and flew home to Detroit.

Family Trip to Las Vegas and San Diego

January 22, 2019 by Prem Leave a Comment

At the end of Christmas break this year we took a family trip out to Las Vegas and San Diego to explore a different part of the country.
Based on our flight times, we had 5 full days which was perfect for what we wanted to do.

12/30/18

We had a smooth flight to Vegas and arrived after dark so after getting our rental car we drove up the strip to enjoy the lights and colors.
After that we had dinner and then checked into our hotel for the night.

12/31/18

We started the morning with a drive out to Hoover Dam which is always an impressive site. It was too early for any of the tours so we just got to enjoy the area together.

Next, we drove to the Mojave National Preserve through a fresh snow storm which was really pretty to see the lifting clouds over the mountains.

Next we drove to the Kelso Dunes where the kids could run around and have fun.

With the government shut down, the bathroom and garbage situation was pretty bad. There was a group of hikers in a pick up truck that came and emptied out all the trash which was really neat to see.

Kelso Dunes are 45 sq miles of sand and 600 ft tall which is pretty impressive!

Next, it was on to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree is a really beautiful dessert park.

The boys did rock scrambling near Skull Rock and LOVED it there. We then went for a nice short hike around Hidden Valley.

1/1/19

First thing in the morning, we drove to the Salton Sea. We were surprised just how dumpy the area was. Lots of garbage and abandoned buildings with graffiti everywhere.

We then went up into the mountains to the old mining town of Julian. It was straight up winter there. There was ice everywhere which made walking around the town a bit treacherous. We really struggled to get the car out of our parking spot which was parallel parked on an icy hill…yikes!!

After that we drove down to sunny San Diego. I was shocked at how cheap the hotels are here. I was expecting everything to be super expensive but we are staying at the Hilton for $100 per night with a beautiful view of the Coronado bridge.
Our first adventure in San Diego was to explore the USS Midway. It’s pretty amazing that this ship was still in service in the early 90s. One of the best parts about it is that they have lots of vets on board who give talks about different parts of the ship.

1/2/19
Today we had some perfect weather and decided to spend the day out at the San Diego zoo which is one of the best zoos in the world.
The animals were out and about and it was fantastic!

That evening, we went over to the coast to catch the sunset at the Sunset Cliffs. A wonderful finish to a wonderful day.

1/3/19
Today we had to drive back to Vegas. On our way back, we stopped off at the Calico ghost town which was pretty cool to see. It was restored back to its original condition and very neat to see all the old buildings and train and mining stuff.

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We arrived at the Palazzo Hotel mid-afternoon. The Palazzo is attached and connected to the Venetian so it was fun to just walk around and see the beautiful architecture and design.

We spent a few hours out, then got a break and headed out again at night to see the buildings all lit up at night. Ceasar’s Palace, The Bellagio Fountains, Paris…all amazing!

1/4/19
This morning we started the day exploring the Neon Museum.
It was pretty neat to see but it was much smaller than I expected. There were basically two small rows of signs and you could walk through it in just a couple minutes so paying $85 for the family to go through was a bit much.
After that we headed over to Fremont st and had a walk around and some lunch. Then we went to Circus Circus to catch the quick Ladderman show.

This afternoon we went to the Forum shops at Caesar’s Palace. Absolutely amazing design and architecture and some fantastic photography galleries.
We caught the Atlantis show at the end. That was super cheesy but fun for the kids.

Earlier this year, Cheridy and I had gone to the actual Trevi Fountain in Rome so it was neat to compare the two.

Our last night in Vegas, we saw La Reve at the Wynn hotel.
That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
The physical abilities of the performers is mind blowing but what is equally amazing is the engineering that went into it. The moving platforms that made the pool go from 1” down to a pool deep enough to dive from 60’ up was crazy. I’m not even sure how many different pieces there were but it was a lot. The lights, the fountains, the acrobatics and aerobatics were mesmerizing.
The theater was also incredible. With only 13 rows of seats in a circle, everyone got an amazing view. We paid a premium for our seats to be in the back row which also included tv screens which gave us behind the scenes views for the prep work before the show along with many different camera angles that showed us what was happening from up in the rafters down under water. It was really neat to see how the scuba team was assisting the performers from underwater.
I had never heard of La Reve and some of the other cirque shows we looked at were sold out so we are very thankful to have been able to do that.

1/5/19
We flew home and had an uneventful flight back. Desert, mountains, ocean, and cities, it was a packed 5 days!!

Colorado 2018 – Family Trip

July 27, 2018 by Prem Leave a Comment

This past June, our family flew to Denver and then did a road trip around Colorado. I wanted to share all the pictures and locations in case it helps anyone else plan a family trip to Colorado.
About 80% of these were taken with my iphone 7+ and then my favorite scenes were shot with a Fuji XT-2.

Day 1
We took an early flight into Denver, rented a minivan, picked up a cooler, some ice, and some food and then hit the road for Estes Park.
By the time we got there, found our hotel, etc. it was time for dinner and then we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park to enjoy the evening in the mountains.

We drove part way up the main mountain road for some nice views and then came back to Moraine Park where there were lots of deer and elk roaming around.
It was the most amazing weather this evening. 75 degrees and a soft breeze. It was perfect weather for elk watching. We must’ve seen at least 50.
3 of them ran across the road right in front of our car.

Day 2
Woke up at 5:00am, headed into Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike to Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. Passed a bunch of elk on the way. We were done with our hike at 10:00am and as we were leaving, the parking lot was filled with hundreds of cars. Perfect timing for us!!

In the afternoon, we crossed the the Rockies on trail ridge road. Check out the big bull elk we saw at the end of this photo set.

Next, we ended up on the west side of the park by Grand Lake and did the short walk to Adams falls.

In the evening, we drove up to the top of Mt Evans to catch the sunset at 14,000 feet. It didn’t disappoint. It was cold but gorgeous!!
We even got to see 6 mountain goats including a couple of babies.
We were right by the bathrooms at the top and they were right there. They were a bit too close for comfort but it was still really cool
If you are deciding between Mt. Evans and Pike’s Peak, I would strongly recommend Mt. Evans because you dont’ have to pay the $45 toll and you don’t have to worry about when it opens and closes.

Day 3
We drove up over Loveland pass then through Keystone and then on to Breckenridge.

In Breckenridge, the boys got to practice panning for gold, then they had their first gondola ride up to peak 8 where they have the Epic Discovery Adventure Park. The first adventure was the alpine sleds. We took the ski lift up even further which Reid was not a fan of. When we got on the ski lift it was 75 and sunny. By the time we got to the top 15 minutes later, it was raining and they closed the sled run. We had to wait for jeeps to drive everyone back down the mountain.

By the time we got down, the rain stopped so they did a giant maze, then some mini golf and by then the sun was out so we did the alpine sleds a couple times. We all had a blast!

Next we drove to Aspen and spent the evening at Maroon Bells which is the most photographed spot in America!

Aspen was crazy expensive so we stayed in the neighboring town of snowmass that was 1/3 the price of Aspen. Our hotel neighbor had a motorcycle which just had to be used for a photo.

Day 4
We drove out to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was very rainy but still led to some incredible views.

We then drove out to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The drive with the storms was really cool and when it was time to play in the sand, the skies cleared up and the kids had a blast rolling down the sand hills and wrestling.
It was definitely the most photogenic spot on our trip due to the amazing evening light.

Day 5

This morning we did a high ropes course just outside of Salida. Mayz and Reid were both a bit scared at first but by the end, they wanted to do more!

Who would have thunk that our cheapest hotel of the trip would be a 4* Marriott with an indoor/outdoor pool. Not bad for $95. Thanks Hotwire!
We had a nice evening stroll in Garden of the Gods.

After dinner we went for a short walk around Garden of the Gods. What an amazing place to have in the middle of a city like C-Springs!

Day 6

Today we started the day going way above the clouds up to the top of Pikes Peak at 14k+ feet. Personally I found it to be super expensive and overly touristy. I guess I shouldn’t complain since we were also tourists, but Mt. Evans was much nicer.
However, it was a rainy day in Colorado Springs so with the low rain clouds, we were able to get WAY above the clouds up on Pike’s Peak.

Next we headed back down and did a tour of the Cave of the Winds. It was really cool learning about how the caves were formed.

Next we had a great lunch with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jay who live in Colorado Springs.

From there it was on to Denver where we went to the Capitol building and then a quick visit to Mile high stadium but there were no tours left in the day so we didn’t get to go in to the stadium.

Day 7

Last night from our hotel, we had a beautiful sunset and this morning, these boys were champs with a 3:45am wakeup.
They held up pretty good today!!
Now it’s Home Sweet Home!!

Reynosa, Mexico Mission Trip

January 12, 2018 by Prem Leave a Comment

This past Christmas, our family had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico to build a small home for a family in need.
Here is a quick highlight video that summarizes our trip:

Our family met up with a group of 16 other people from a church in Kansas and headed down to Texas where we crossed the border into Reynosa, Mexico.
There, we met up with a much larger group of another 160 people made up of various teams from around the country. This was all organized by an amazing orginazation called Strategic Alliance (www.StrategicAlliance.org). The founders, Roland and Carolyn, have been going to Reynosa for 25 years. They’ve built up relationships in the community and go there to help build houses in this extremely poor part of the world. The community we got to serve has a large infrastructure built up around the nearby garbage dump where people scavange most of what they own. Most shelters are build from old pieces of plywood, bricks, tires, tarps, anything they could find.
The houses that are getting built would be considered sheds in America but to them, they are huge upgrades. They are 12’x20′ wood walls built onto a concrete slab. They have windows, a door, a loft, and a metal roof.
When we arrived on site, the foundation had already been poured and there was a pile of lumber, metal, and screws for us to work with.
The materials had to be counted to make sure we had what we needed and then separated for what parts would be used for trim, walls, studs, roof purlins, etc.
It was then moved to an area where a team could start painting. Unfortunately it was misty rain and cold all day so the paint was not drying properly and with the muddy ground, the freshly painted pieces got dirty very quickly.
By the end of the first day, we were able to get one of the walls put up.

The hotel that we were staying at was much nicer than we were expecting. Other than not having hot water, it was actually a very comfortable room. Their cafeteria provided our meals and drinks and we were well taken care of to make sure nobody would get sick from eating or drinking the wrong thing.
The hotel was a 20 minute drive from the worksite so on some of the days that were really long, some of the people could bring some of the younger kids back to the hotel to rest/relax. The kids all helped out with painting and stuff and they also were able to play with some of the local kids down there. The only problem was that every day we were there, it was cold and rainy so many of the kids didn’t come out in that unusual weather. After we left, it was back up in the 70s and 80s.

By the end of day 2, we had all the walls up.

By day three we got most of the roof and loft done and then the 4th day we had to finish the house, decorate it, and hand over the keys.

After lunch, all the teams walked through the area leading to the dump and the dump itself where lots of people live and we handed out rice, beans, and tangerines to all the locals. It was an amazing experience. This little house that we built will be a home for grandma Marisella and her husband Saul along with potentially 13 other people (kids and grand kids). I hope that it helped all the kids to realize just how blessed we are to live where we live and have the opportunities that we do.

If you are interested in going on a trip here, we will probably be going back over Thanksgiving with a group from the Detroit area so please reach out if you are interested. To learn more, you can check out StrategicAlliance.org

1500 Mile Family Vacation Road Trip around California

June 6, 2017 by Prem Leave a Comment

In May of this year, our family headed out to California to hit some of the main natural attractions.

5/20/17

We flew into Los Angeles, rented a minivan and hit the road. We arrived very late at night and by the time we got our rental car it was already close to 1:00am.
I was trying to find a hotel with breakfast included and all the places I called were booked. Finally I found a place and got us a room.
Unfortunately it was a total dump. The hotel was gross and the “free breakfast” was literally peanut butter and jelly served out of a cooler in the parking lot…yikes!

5/21/17
The next day we drove the 4-5 hours to Sequoia National Park and enjoyed the mountain vistas and the gigantic/beautiful trees. Some of these trees are mind blowing because they are so huge!!

I love this tree that has been lying on the ground for the last 100 years. At one point, a family even lived inside this tree.

This helps give a size perspective on how big these things are!

Next, we headed over to the neighboring park of King’s Canyon. The gorge off the side of the road is beautiful.

One of our stops was Grizzly Falls. The wind was blowing like crazy and with the gushing waterfall and all the spray coming of the falls, it felt like we were in a hurricane.

Some areas of King’s Canyon really remind me of driving through the alps.

Near the end of the King’s Canyon road, we found this pretty little waterfall. I had never been to King’s Canyon, so I was expecting that the end of the road was going to lead to a vista point but it didn’t. It just ended in a small loop that turns you around the other way.

As we were leaving the park, the sun was setting which created some really pretty views with the mountain backdrop.

Looking back east, I love seeing the winding mountain road leading into the park.

We ended up driving about halfway to Yosemite and spent the night.

5/22/17
The next morning we drove into Yosemite National Park. Yosemite has always been one of my favorite places but the infrastructure there is just not able to handle the crowds. It took 45 minutes to get into the park waiting in line at the entrance. Once in the park, there was an hour long traffic jam. It then took us half an hour to find a parking spot. By the time we found parking, it was time for lunch. We wanted to go do a short hike. We waited 15 minutes for the shuttle to come, then the shuttle which was taking us about 3 miles took 45 minutes due to all the traffic jams. We did a really nice 1.5 hour hike to Vernal Falls. On the way back, we waited one hour for a shuttle with enough room for the 5 of us, then the 3 mile ride too another 1.25 hours to get back to the Lodge. In other words, it took us almost 6 hours of driving/waiting to do a 1.5 hour hike.
It’s beautiful, but the traffic, crowds, and waiting were exhausting. I will only go back if it’s off-season.

This photo was taken on the trail to Bridal Veil Falls.

Tunnel View is one of my favorite viewpoints in the world. The waterfalls and unique landscape are mesmerizing.

Here is a quick photo from the mist trail at Vernal Falls

In the evening when the park started to empty out, we drove up to Glacier Point to watch the sunset and that was definitely one of the highlights of Yosemite.

Here is a pretty shot of the side of halfdome being lit up by the sun.

From this view you can see Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls way down in the valley.

On our drive back into the valley, we had some beautiful sunset views.

5/23/17

This morning, Kole and I woke up at 5:00am to go do photos around the valley at sunrise. We found a few really pretty spots along the river and then went back to Tunnel View.

We then met back up with everyone else and spent a little time exploring the valley before doing a short walk to lower Yosemite falls.

Next, we drove out to San Francisco. Driving through the central valley in California, it was 102 degrees. 45 minutes later, in San Francisco, it was 65 degrees.
We stopped for dinner at pier 39 which was a fun place to explore. The boys loved the Sea Lions.

Next, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts.

We hoped to see a sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin headlands, but that whole area was shrouded in clouds and fog. We stayed at the Mirage hotel by the zoo.

5/24/17
The next morning, sunrise was cloudy. We planned to drive up to Twin Peaks for a view of the city, but that was also covered in fog. We drove out to Baker Beach. The boys played around on the beach and we enjoyed the nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

After that, we drove around city and stopped at the famoun Lombard street and then moved on to the Painted Ladies where we had a picnic lunch.

Our plan was to drive all the way down highway 1, but most of highway 1 was closed for mudslides. We were able to drive about 20 miles of the 100 miles before the road was closed and we had to turn around. It was very cloudy.

We stayed the nigh at the El Castell hotel in seaside. They had a cheap price, decent room, good enough breakfast and a heated pool so the kids had a blast.

5/25/17
The next morning, I started to feel really sick so we had a slow morning. Cheridy and the boys went and had some pool time while I stayed in bed in the room.
Since Highway 1 was closed, we had to drive back inland to make our way south. We stopped at the famous Hearst Castle and did a tour.

5/26/17
Todaywe made our way out back out to the coast and stopped off in Malibu, Santa Monica to explore the Pier, and then Venice Beach.

After that we got to meet up with cousin Caleb who lives in the West Hollywood area and he took us up to the Griffith Observatory and then we had a fun dinner at a Korean barbeque place near his apartment.