Two short summer holidays

Went on two short holidays recently. Very refreshing and fun, as always, short as they may be. With the intensity of the summer classes and my paper writing, it's great to just get away now and then. Of course, noting that I have just a few weeks left in this country, I just had to seize every opportunity to travel locally.

My first trip was to Arizona, the Grand Canyon State (and also very very hot state, literally), with a few other guys. Needless to say, the highlight of the trip was the visit to Grand Canyon. What do I make of the landscape? simply awesome. There is really a reason why it is a natural wonder of the world.








We also visited Sedona, "red rock country", a little bit south of Grand Canyon. The temperature there was higher, about 40 deg C, and the low humidity made the place feel a bit like a giant oven. However, the magnificence of the scenery was enough to cool down most of the heat.








The four of us, with our jeep.


My other trip was within Michigan itself; namely to Frankenmuth, a German-flavoured town about 1 hour's drive away, north of Ann Arbor, and to Grand Rapids, Michigan's second largest city on the western part of the lower peninsular (about 2 hours drive from Ann Arbor). Took in some of the sights and a bit of history in both places, though the feelings that resulted from the visits were somewhat different.

Frankenmuth was the place where some German immigrants first arrived in Michigan, hence the German name of the town. While the small history museum was rather lovely to visit, and some of the architecture there was also quite quaint, the place in general gave me a rather touristy feel --- not always the best thing for me.







Visited the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, and what a brilliant history lesson I had. The late former president is a very much celebrated person at my university but I did not know much about his life and his work, until the very enlightening visit to this museum. An amazing man, with a legacy that is truly remarkable. I remember being awed when I visited the JFK Presidential Museum in Boston last year, and this museum is just as excellent.







Looks like these may be my last two holidays here in the States before I return home. Still a long list of places here that I want to visit, but I suppose they will have to wait till a (hopefully not so) later time....

Back to summer term work!