Great Salt Lake and Crossing to San Francisco

Friday morning. Another day of adventure. Our next destination was San Francisco. It would be another 12 hours drive. We left Best Western around 10.30 a.m. We took the I-80 West highway. It meant we would left Utah, crossed Nevada desert and enter California through Reno. A few miles into the highway, we made a short stop at Exit 104. That was the entrance to view the Great Salt Lake.
The lake is the saltiest in the world after the Dead Sea. As a result, no fishes can survive in the lake. We can only find shrimps there. Too bad for dear hubby. Hehe...I could practically see his brain working out the times to spend if he decided to fish there. It was quite smelly too..the lake I mean. It had some kind of sulfur odor to it. Not sure what it actually was.

After about half an hour, we left the Great Salt Lake and continued our way to San Francisco. Along the way (still in Utah) we could see some factories. I assume those are the salt factories??

The salt area was so huge! When dear hubby researched for the ski area, he looked at the satellite photos. He saw a big white spot in Utah, so he assumed that was the snow. That's how he decided to take us here. But now he thinks that was actually the Great Salt Lake and the dried salt area. Thank goodness Utah turned out to be the most perfect ski spot in America. Hehe..
And so we headed to San Francisco. Crossed over the Nevada desert, and again...the most spectacular, breathtaking views. Since we couldn't go faster than 75 m.p.h anyway, we took our own sweet time. I was glad that the kids were behaving very well. We played in the car, made some jokes, exchanged some laughter, sang some nursery rhymes (Intsy Wincy Spider being their favorite rhyme and yeah, my little princess Hannah has memorized some other rhymes such as Humpty Dumpty, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had A Little Lamp..I think for a 2 year old, she is amazing....Ummi loves you so much, Hannah!), popped up some quizzes and guessing games. That long drive was one of the best memories forever stamped in my heart :)

We reached San Francisco at about 9.30 p.m. Oh, we booked a room at the Heritage Marina hotel. But when I called to check in, they said they're over booked. I knew they were some kind of scam. I read the bad review of the hotel but dear hubby insisted to book it because of the low rate but good location. Grrr....looked around and luckily managed to get a room at Travelodge At The Bay. It turned out to be perfect. Only a few minutes walking distance from the Fisherman's Wharf which is a great tourist sport. Our adventure in San Francisco will be in another entry. Hmmm...tomorrow perhaps? If I'm still in the mood to blog. ;)

Our Snow Adventure in Salt Lake City

As I've mentioned before, we went to Salt Lake City, Utah during the long Thanksgiving weekends. We started out from Torrance around 9 a.m. (so much for early start, haihhh). It was a long drive, about 12 hours. We passed through a few states. From California, crossing over to Nevada, Arizona, and then Utah. We had a surprise when we reached Las Vegas. It was raining!!! Not the cats and dogs type, but a really heavy downpour. Dear hubby said it was a record as it has not rained in Nevada for years.

Passing Las Vegas, I can't help but thinking of A-Tom. I was secretly wishing somehow A-Tom will magically come up to our car. You know, just like the movie 'Toy Story' where the toys found their way to their owner? Hehe..pathetic...pathetic... :-P

Anyway, as the days are short, (night by 4p.m.), there's not much to be seen when we reached Arizona. I so wish it was still bright. I could see lines of canyons and rock mountains. Tried as I might to squint my eyes, I still couldn't get a good look. We reached Salt Lake City around 9.30 p.m. (that was 10.30 p.m. Utah time, 1 hour difference from California) and checked in at Best Western Inn. As the kids has had a long nap during the trip, I had to stay up with them. Around 12.30 a.m I managed to get them to sleep, with the promise of a trip to play with snow. So around 7 a.m., Adik Hannah was already up and about, getting ready for her new adventure.

Unknown to us, we were actually very near to the most famous ski spots in Utah. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Utah is well-know for her ski resorts. There's Alta, Brighton, Solitude, Brian Head, Sundance etc etc. We were near to Cottonwood Canyon where Brighton Ski Resort is located. So off we went. It was quite a mountain to climb. We took our time, admiring the scenery as we went up. The view was breathtaking. Definitely not to be find anywhere in Malaysia (ye la kan....dah namanya negara tropika, mana ada snow, haiyaa..). I'll let you see a few snaps.

And then, we spotted the snow.

We decided to make a quick stop. The kids really wanted to touch the snow. (Termasuk la umminya jugak...haha..tak ngaku la pulak)

Then we went further up.
We reached Solitude Ski Resort first. We decided to have a look.

Then, we decided to go further up! Yeah..to Brighton Ski Resort. It was at the end of the road...the furthest you can go at Cottonwood Canyon.

We went to the ski area and snapped some pictures. I wish we could have gone skiing. Unfortunately we didn't know how, and I didn't want any of us to end up in broken bones. There's a ski school over there, but it cost quite a bomb. Furthermore, we didn't have enough equipments: the snowboards, the ski, the shoes etc etc. Sure we can rent them, but again it will cost another bomb. As this is considered a budget trip, we had to make the best of what we could have lah.
We spent about 20 minutes there. We were actually at the foot of the ski slopes. We didn't want to get knocked up by the skiers. So dear hubby and I decided that we would take the kids to the camp site where we could have some privacy and where it was safer for the kids to goof around.

We spent about half an hour playing in the snow. Then, the kids got too cold. So we said goodbyes to 'Diego', our snowman, and made the trip down the mountain. Along the way, we made a few stops at some creeks. I could't help but admiring the scenery. It was really, really, be-au-ti-ful! Amazing! Fabulous! Indahnya alam ciptaan Tuhan. I felt really blessed to be given the chance to witness the spectacular view. Alhamdulilah, my kids got their chance to experience this in their young age. I had to wait 33 years before I could feel what snow is like! Alhamdulillah...thanks to Rapiscan System who had sponsored our tickets here. Hehehehe.....

Then it was time for lunch. But since it was Thanksgiving, all the restaurants were closed. Even McD! We had to go to Walmart and grabbed some frozen meals. Thank goodness there's a microwave oven in our room. Dear hubby and I planned to go out to the city at night. But we ended up sleeping in the evening and woke up around 7 p.m. By that time the enthusiasm to explore Salt Lake City had already faded away, plus Harith was glued to the tube, watching Spongebob so we decided to pass. And it was freezing. Didn't want the kids to catch the cold so we ended up lazying around in the hotel room. Went to sleep early, getting ready for yet another day of adventure.

Abang and Adik go on adventure!

On Sunday, 17/08/08, we took the 12.15 p.m. flight from Senai. It was the kids' second time on flight. The first time when we took them to Kuching about a year and a half ago. Naturally, they were excited about it. They knew they were going to US, but they had no idea how long the trip would be.


Abang and Adik in Senai Airport


Off we go!

We reached KLIA about 45 minutes later. Immediately took the tramp to the international terminal. Since Harith is gaga about train, obviously he was so excited about it. Hehe..


In the tramp

Then we had our lunch at the Golden Lounge, since dear hubby is a Gold Enrich Club member. Goodie..free lunch..haha..but the food was so and so laa..(takde la best sangatt!! haiyaa..nasib baik free, hehe)


Abang and Adik had Mee Soup (their favourite!)

At 2.45 p.m. we boarded MH094, to Los Angeles.


Yey yey yey! We're going on a jumbo jet! (that's what they call big plane, hehe..)


Hannah, settling down.


Transit in Taipei (4 hours had passed, another 12.5 hours to go *sigh*)


Getting ready for bed. Hannah didn't spend a long time on the "bed", hehe..she slept on my lap the whole night through.

After almost 17 hours from KLIA, we reached Los Angeles. Abang and Adik were excited. We could already see the city from up here.



We reached LA about 7.30 p.m. LA time. But the immigration clearance took quite some time. Dear hubby had to go through some interview. Since he's always in and out of the country, they had to really know what he's actually doing in US. Doesn't help when his last name is Othman (haha..a definitely Arabic name). Me and the kids had to wait for him outside. At last, about 10.30 p.m. we walked out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, LAX.


Hannah, looking tired, but Harith, still in his cheeky mood, hehe..

Dear hubby rented a car. It's compulsory for babies to sit in their car seats over here. It would cost USD 90/week to rent a baby car-seat here, so we brought Hannah's baby car seat from Malaysia. Hannah had never wanted to sit in her car seat back in Malaysia. But she seemed to oblige when we propped her in. Maybe she was too tired to protest. Hehe..


All smiles...

10 minutes later...


Haha...my poor baby :)

She woked up about 3 a.m. in the morning. But later returned to sleep. This is how they were at 1 p.m. at noon. Hehehe...



We had to wake them up, for yet another adventure. We were moving to an apartment that the company has rented for us. So, off we go again.


Abang and Adik, in front of Exstended Stay America Hotel where we had spend the night.

We reached Willow Tree Apartment in Pasific Coast Highway about 15 minutes later. The kids had a nice, warm, bubble bath, had their lunch, and finally settling down in our new home for the next 4 months.


Abang and Adik, watching their favourite cartoon show.

I'm glad that my children have the chance to experience this. Murah rezeki.. kecik-kecik dah sampai sini. Although it won't be a long stay..most probably till the end of the year, but the exposure would be good for them. When I was their age, I didn't even know how to pronounce Los Angeles, let alone dream of coming here. Alhamdulillah...Thank you God. I'm looking forward of becoming a full time house-wife for the next 4 months. No datelines to meet, no meeting with customers, but I'll be sure to have my hands full with one super-active toddler and one non-stop talking pre-schooler. No Bibik to help with the house-hold chores, and no Ibu to help around with the kids. Yes..it would be quite a big challenge ;)