Wow.. more than a year has passed since I posted here and a lot has happened during this year. My last post was in October 2007 and I just cannot believe that we are already at the end of 2008. During the later part of 2007, we were busy finishing up our research in order to graduate. We defended our dissertation in November. Finally, my husband and I graduated together with Ph.D. degrees in December 2007. The university made it very special by hooding both of us together on stage. It was an absolutely joyous time with my parents and family. We also made a trip to southern California, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon with my parents who were visiting us to celebrate this occasion. Immediately after graduation, our challenging days of "the move" began. We flew to Washington, DC to finalize an apartment. We spent a couple of days looking around and were absolutely overwhelmed with the cost of living and rental prices. After intense searching, we finalized an apartment in northern Virginia, about 15 miles away from downtown DC. We flew back to Texas and started packing. We spent a week packing and shipping off everything including one of our car. After that we spent a day handing over the old apartment, bidding farewell to friends and to Dallas. We had spent 6 years there and had really enjoyed living there. Hence, it was not easy to leave. Just before leaving Dallas, we made one last trip to the Dallas Museum of Art which had been on our list of things-to-do for a very long time. We spent an afternoon there and then started our 1300 mile drive to DC.
We drove for a week stopping at different cities on our way, sightseeing and spending time exploring them. We drove through the state of Arkansas and then into Tennessee. Our first stop was in Memphis, Tennessee. We spent the night there and in the morning explored Memphis downtown. We visited the Memphis Pyramid Arena (20000 seat arena) and clicked some pictures. We strolled on the banks of the Mississippi river for some time and then continued our journey.
Memphis, Tennessee
Our next stop was at the foothill of the "Great Smoky Mountains", in the city of Sevierville. We relaxed there for the night and drove into the mountains the next day. We spent all day going around Smoky Mountain National Park. We started out by driving through the Cades Cove loop road, a 11 mile drive through a valley that is surrounded by mountains. It was an absolutely beautiful sight and we also got to see some wildlife. We then drove through Newfound gap, saw the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee on these mountains, and then drove south all the way towards Cherokee to Oconaluftee Visitor Center. We saw the barn at the mountain farm museum, spent some time strolling in the valley and viewing the historic buildings there.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park
We then drove back to Gatlinburg, the city at the northern end of the national park. We took the sky lift (rope way chair) to a man-made ski resort. We didn't have time for skiing but went around the area and the sky lift in itself was great fun. Once we reached the top of the mountain we got to see the cities of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg from the top. The sun had set and it was starting to get dark. We got to see a beautiful view from there. We came back to Gatlinburg and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The city was nicely lit up with lot of activity as it was Christmas day. We spent an hour strolling the streets, eating ice-cream and clicking pictures. We stayed in Gatlinburg that night. We woke up late the next day, spent a few more hours in the morning in Gatlinburg and the Smoky's.
Gatlinburg, at foothills of Smoky Mountains
By afternoon, we resumed our drive. Our next stop was in Bristol, Tennessee. It was a city on the Interstate 81 to Virginia. We relaxed in Bristol and next morning continued driving. We took a small diversion and drove through the scenic "Blue Ridge Parkway" which is listed as one of "America's Byways". We drove for a couple of hours on this scenic route and thoroughly enjoyed nature. We made stops at various vista points. After sunset, we got back onto the interstate and reached Herndon, Virginia (our friend's home, where we were going to camp for a day before moving into our new apartment) that night which was our final destination. The 1300 mile drive finally came to an end. It was a memorable drive and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Soon we were into year 2008. The month of January, we were pretty much settling down in our new apartment, new job, and in the new city. The remaining year just flew by and here we are ready to welcome another new year. We did a number of interesting and different things during the year. Hopefully I will find time to write about them soon.
We drove for a week stopping at different cities on our way, sightseeing and spending time exploring them. We drove through the state of Arkansas and then into Tennessee. Our first stop was in Memphis, Tennessee. We spent the night there and in the morning explored Memphis downtown. We visited the Memphis Pyramid Arena (20000 seat arena) and clicked some pictures. We strolled on the banks of the Mississippi river for some time and then continued our journey.
Memphis, Tennessee
Our next stop was at the foothill of the "Great Smoky Mountains", in the city of Sevierville. We relaxed there for the night and drove into the mountains the next day. We spent all day going around Smoky Mountain National Park. We started out by driving through the Cades Cove loop road, a 11 mile drive through a valley that is surrounded by mountains. It was an absolutely beautiful sight and we also got to see some wildlife. We then drove through Newfound gap, saw the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee on these mountains, and then drove south all the way towards Cherokee to Oconaluftee Visitor Center. We saw the barn at the mountain farm museum, spent some time strolling in the valley and viewing the historic buildings there.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park
We then drove back to Gatlinburg, the city at the northern end of the national park. We took the sky lift (rope way chair) to a man-made ski resort. We didn't have time for skiing but went around the area and the sky lift in itself was great fun. Once we reached the top of the mountain we got to see the cities of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg from the top. The sun had set and it was starting to get dark. We got to see a beautiful view from there. We came back to Gatlinburg and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The city was nicely lit up with lot of activity as it was Christmas day. We spent an hour strolling the streets, eating ice-cream and clicking pictures. We stayed in Gatlinburg that night. We woke up late the next day, spent a few more hours in the morning in Gatlinburg and the Smoky's.
Gatlinburg, at foothills of Smoky Mountains
By afternoon, we resumed our drive. Our next stop was in Bristol, Tennessee. It was a city on the Interstate 81 to Virginia. We relaxed in Bristol and next morning continued driving. We took a small diversion and drove through the scenic "Blue Ridge Parkway" which is listed as one of "America's Byways". We drove for a couple of hours on this scenic route and thoroughly enjoyed nature. We made stops at various vista points. After sunset, we got back onto the interstate and reached Herndon, Virginia (our friend's home, where we were going to camp for a day before moving into our new apartment) that night which was our final destination. The 1300 mile drive finally came to an end. It was a memorable drive and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Soon we were into year 2008. The month of January, we were pretty much settling down in our new apartment, new job, and in the new city. The remaining year just flew by and here we are ready to welcome another new year. We did a number of interesting and different things during the year. Hopefully I will find time to write about them soon.
