Father’s Day trip to Wakulla SpringsSunday, June 21, 2009; 12:00 to 3:30 PMWakulla Springs, Wakulla, FLToday VTS, PKB, and I went out to Wakulla Springs State Park to enjoy the Wakulla Springs. The park is about 21 miles from Tallahassee, FL and takes about 40 minutes to drive. We picked up some swim goggles for VTS and headed to the park. It was a really a hot day. The water level in the spring has also receded a bit.We arrived after paying the entrance fee of $4 (four US dollars) around 12:50 PM and headed to the spring. There the two of them swam for about 1 1/2 hours and by 2:30 PM they were ready to head home.I also needed to pick my car after repair. We arrived home by 3:30 PM and headed to the repair shop. We have plans for dinner tonight.
Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Father’s Day trip to Wakulla Springs
Sunday, June 21st, 2009Indian Tsunami 2004 Anniversary
Friday, December 26th, 20084th Anniversary of Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tallahassee, FL, USA
In 2004 the seawater has come almost 1 kilometer inland (picture taken on 12/27/04 ~ 2 PM IST; almost 1day and 4 hours after the tsunami hit Vedaraniam)
In 2004 the seawater has sumerged huts 1 1/2 kilometers inland (picture taken on 12/27/04 ~ 1:30 PM IST; almost 1day and 4 hours after the tsunami hit Vedaraniam)
This morning (in the United States, but it was four years ago the same time, in India) was just as cloudy and muggy here in Tallahassee as was in Vedaraniam on Sunday, December 26, 2004. Around 9:15 AM IST the skies went bit darker, house flies started to land in larger numbers (despite the fact it was middle of winter), the power went out suddenly (not a surprise) as we were having showers to get ready for our impending visit to Nattu Mada Mariamman Temple. Sweet pongal and regular lentil pongal were already prepared for the offering to the Godess.
All the siblings from our family had gathered on the day. We had abondanded the plan to visit to the beaches (What a God’s gift to our family!!) since during the previous weeks it had rained plenty and as Vedaraniam, Agasthiampalli, and Kodiakarai. And our soil swampy with lots of clay content made it unattractive for the kids and adults to the enjoy the beaches.
About 1/2 hour we heard in the TV News that there were some mild tremors in Chennai city. Just then we started to hear crowd noise on the streets and there was big commotion with people running on the streets shouting, “the sea is coming”, “the sea is coming (kadal varuthu, kadal varuthu). Thus started the day that will take several people in my town of Vedaraniam.I spent several minutes today thinking about how lucky we were and prayed for those who perished on that fateful day.
New used-car Hyundai Sonata
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008Get a new used-car
Hyundai Sonata V6
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008
Visit Gujarathi Samaj Hindu Temple
Sunday, October 5th, 2008
Attending IUCr 2008 at Osaka
Sunday, August 24th, 2008IUCr 2008 Conference
21st Congress of the International Union of Crystallography
OICC, Osaka, Japan
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I picked-up my registration at the counter for the IUCr 2008 Conference at the Grand Cube Osaka (aka Osaka International Convention Center) and picked up my bag and headed straight to the mini symposium. I attended several mini symposium in the macromolecular section in the morning. I ran into couple of my former colleagues and spoke with them, had coffee and late lunch with them.
In the afternoon session I attended two talks at the macromolecular section and two at the powder diffraction section. There were couple of more I wanted to attend but they were at the same time slot and so I had to miss them.
I also attended the Bruker-AXS Lunch-on session
Travel Logs and Blogs
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008New Travel Log and Blog
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tallahassee, FL
I started to update the new sub-domain in our main website www.somasundaram.us. The sub-domain name, travels.somasundaram.us was registered a while ago but I started to add contents to it.
I had started another blog in Blogger mostly about our travels. I started to blog more here too. The name of the new blog is: t-somasundaram.blogspot.com
Saturday-at-the-Sea Summer Camp
Monday, July 7th, 2008Saturday-at-the-Sea Summer Camp
Monday-Friday, July 7, 2008
Tallahassee, FL 32306
Today was the first day of the Saturday-at-the-Sea (SATS) Summer Camp for VTS. There were 12 other people who went to the camp. The camp is for a whole week and will end with a presentation to public about the camper’s project. Each project will have three or four people in it.
The day started out with some rain but VTS says the rest of the day went very well indeed. They all are looking for the rest of the days at the camp.
Visit Haley Park, Knoxville, TN
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
Trip to Madras Crocodile Bank and Kovalam Beach
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008Crocodile Bank and Kovalam Beach
ECR Road, Chennai, India
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Karan, Nivi, Vivek and I visited the Madras (Chennai) Crocodile Bank and near by Kovalam Beach. We spent about an hour at the Bank watching hundreds of muggers (salt water crocodiles), Ganges gharials, American alligators, and caymans.
Then we went to Kovalam Beach and played there for half hour before heading home to Tambaram
Incessant late monsoon rains in Chennai
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007Non-stop rain in Chennai and Tamilnadu
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
East Tambaram, Chennai 600 059
Starting on late Monday night it has been raining non-stop in Chennai and surroundings. A low-pressure system that has developed in the Bay of Bengal is moving slowly through Tamil Nadu. This stalled system has produced close to 8 inches of rain in various part of Tamil nadu. In the city normal life has been disrupted. The rain at times heavy has made traffic of cars, trains, and buses very difficult.
Our plans in Chennai are also affected. We couldn’t do most of the outside activities. However, the plight of even less fortunate is bad. Many of them have to live in cold and wet places with no recourse to dry living conditions. Schools have been canceled. Businesses are also affected as most stay home to avoid the problem of navigating flooded streets and highways.
The fishermen have been advised not to go into the seas so as to avoid high winds and rough seas.