9/01/2013
Today was pretty intense and fun. I woke up at 3:15 am to go to Lake George. My friend and her group of friends were going to pick me up at 4 and I was very worried I wouldn’t hear the alarm go off. That is probably why I woke up even before the alarm. They were a bit late and that gave me some time to chant and by 4:40 am, we were all in 2 cars all set to leave. It was a group of 10, every person but me a Gujarati. As is common with all of us, we tend to go off in out mother tongue and forget about the only person who does not understand a thing. After a bit of interrupting conversations and asking them to speak in Hindi, a coffee break, a couple of hours of sleep, we had completed our 3 hour drive to our first stop, Potterville. I was insanely happy about the name though it has nothing to do with the Harry Potter series, which I am quite a big fan of.
Potterville has an underground river and some pretty neat waterfalls. It also is famous for the rocks and massive natural rock bridge. It has some of the oldest rocks in North America, and has the entrance to the largest marble cave. The place is impeccably designed and maintained to have easily trek-able hiking trails, beautifully displayed geological specimen and an ample amount of benches and swings. Below is a picture I clicked of the natural rock bridge.
The best part about road-trips with Indian families is that we carry a whole lot of food, and Gujaratis in particular carry entire meals. One of Viral’s friends had come with his wife and her family. Aunty had made Handwa ( a snack akin to a spicy cake) for everyone and had bought soda, hot tea in flasks and special food for two members of the group that were fasting. So once we were done with the trek, we sat on a picnic bench and devoured all the yum food she had.
Our next stop was Lake George. Viral and I had been wanting to para sail there and we soon found a place to do it. It was so much fun, it has to be the most relaxing of all the adventure sports! The view from atop was breathtaking. I would really love to do this with Aditya one day and then I’m gonna carry a camera up and click photos from up there. We then had some snacks from a restaurant close by and made our way back home by 6 pm. Back home by 10 pm, it was really an amazing day barring the language barrier I faced. Para sailing is amazing, just is!
With that and lots of love!
The Reluctant Practitioner 