"Okay, we shall travel in my car, and I drive," Niranjan said.
They both kept their travel bags inside and headed towards the Route One South.
"Well, we need to stay at Alexandria in Virginia, before we go to Washington DC tomorrow, as per the trip plan given by the AAA," Niranjan said while he steered his car towards the right to join the Interstate I-95 South Highway.
"All right, we can reach Alexandria by evening and roam around Washington DC tomorrow before we start from there," Jennifer said.
"Okay, that's perfect," Niranjan said.
They refreshed in between their travel to Alexandria in the rest area along the I-95 highway, near Maryland. Niranjan drove about four hours to reach to the city of Alexandria from Princeton.
Niranjan checked into the Holiday Inn hotel room along with Jennifer while it was dusk. He liked the hotel room which was spacious deluxe room with many comforts. They spent their evening time walking in the nearby street and spent good time in the pub with restaurant, nestled within the Holiday Inn hotel.
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Jennifer woke up at dawn with the sweet memory of the previous night spent with Niranjan. They made love till midnight passionately while Jennifer completely surrendered herself to Niranjan. She found a true lover in Niranjan.
Later, they readied themselves and walked outside the hotel to go to the Metro station called the King Street. Niranjan drove his car till the metro station, and then they travelled to the down town Washington DC by the metro train. After travelling for about half an hour, they stepped out of the train at the Metro Centre station of Washington DC.
"Let's walk to the white house from here," Jennifer said while they passed the crowd inside the station.
"All right, let's go and see the white house first," Niranjan said. He walked along with Jennifer briskly.
They walked together on the pavement of the city streets, crossing them wherever necessary. They reached the outside premises of the white house called the Lafayette Park. Many visitors were eager to have a glance at the white house from the outside. Some visitors were taking photographs of the best possible view of the white house. Jennifer walked to the one of the gates on the rear side of the main entrance which provided the better view of the white house.
"Wow, such a wonderful architectural marvel, and is very beautiful palace like building to watch," Niranjan said. He was surprised to see the marvellous building coated with white paint.
"You know any details of the history associated with the White House building?" Niranjan asked.
"Well, it is built in 1792 to 1800, and is the oldest public building in Washington DC. It is home to the US President and a museum of the American history. It has 132 rooms in six levels and the decor includes a collection of fine and decorative arts, such as historic paintings and sculptures," Jennifer said.
Jennifer spent few minutes in the Lafayette Park with Niranjan while Niranjan clicked few photographs of the White House.
"Are you pleased to see the White House?" Jennifer asked. She had a cheerful smile on her face.
"Absolutely, and there is no doubt about it. Thank you for suggesting such a nice tourist spot," Niranjan said. He smiled delightedly.
"Okay, we next visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum which is quite interesting. We get to see hundreds of artefacts about space missions and aircrafts," Jennifer said. She stood up from the metallic chair while Niranjan sipped the water from the small water bottle.
"All right, you know the city better and you are the guide to this tour," Niranjan said. He looked at her face with a cheerful smile while Jennifer guffawed.
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Niranjan reached the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with Jennifer, and entered into the main hall of the museum. He saw the list of exhibits inside the museum and the one which attracted him first was the Apollo 11 mission related exhibit.
"Let's go to the Apollo moon landing exhibit first, it must be interesting one to see," Niranjan said.
"Okay, let's go," Jennifer said.
They walked towards the exhibit room and Niranjan was surprised to see many items related to the Apollo mission.
"Wow, look at the command module of the Apollo mission," Niranjan said. He read the details of the command module which was hung next to it.
"This command module is the living quarters for the three member crew for the lunar landing mission, and Neil Armstrong was one among them the three crew members," Niranjan said while he stared at Jennifer.
"Yeah, it was used back in July 1969 and this is one of the three total parts of the Apollo spacecraft," Jennifer said. They both read the summary details of the command module.
Later, they walked towards the pressure suit, also called the lunar spacesuits worn by the Astronauts on board the spacecraft.
"Such space suits provide life sustaining environment for the astronauts during the extra vehicular activities," Jennifer said.
"Yeah, you are correct. I had seen it before in pictures but here I see live suit used by the Astronauts," Niranjan said.
Niranjan also had a look at the stop watch for the mission control, mobile quarantine facility and biological isolation garment which were used within the spacecraft. They both read the summary of each of the exhibits and discussed about them in detail.
Later, they headed towards how things fly exhibits, which provided the basic information about the airplane and how they fly. Niranjan looked at one of the photographs which explained the four major forces which act on an airplane. It gave the detailed explanation of how the forces are balanced to make an airplane fly in the space.
They watched a show in the Planetarium nestled within the aerospace museum before walking outside towards the nearby coffee shop.
"Museum is really awe-inspiring and one can learn many things from the exhibits inside it," Niranjan said while he sipped the coffee.
"Yeah, there are many more exhibits and we looked at few of them, and by the way, Planetarium show was really excellent," Jennifer said.
"You are correct, I too liked it," Niranjan said. He finished the coffee and they decided to walk back to the Metro station to catch the train to Alexandria.
When they reached Alexandria, it was evening time and they hurried to vacate the hotel room. Niranjan settled the account at the lobby and walked outside the hotel with Jennifer. When they reached Princeton, it was late in the evening and Jennifer rushed to the New Brunswick with her Beetle by taking Route One South.
On the way back, they both had planned a trip for Niagara Falls on the next holiday event, and Jennifer agreed to accompany Niranjan for three days to Niagara Falls. Niranjan was successful again to convince Jennifer to join him to Niagara Falls which he very much desired to visit.
Chapter 23 Niagara Falls
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better - Albert Einstein
Niranjan had completed yet another milestone of his project and his project manager Frank was pleased by the good work Nira
njan had done to achieve the project success. Niranjan always tried to bring in the new ideas to the team and advised his team mates with new techniques of software development. He always helped his team mates when they were stuck with problems and errors in their application and he was quick enough to fix the error due to his enough experience which he had acquired through the hard work.
Frank suggested his team to enjoy the long week end on Independence Day, and they had decided to continue their work after the holiday weekend. The project progress was on track, conforming to the actual schedule.
Niranjan called Jennifer a day before the holiday started, and they spoke with each other for a long time over the phone. Jennifer invited Niranjan to their home at New Brunswick while Niranjan was bit hesitant in the beginning but later agreed to her earnest request. They both decided to leave for Niagara Falls in the New York state from her house.
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Niranjan dressed with suit and a dark blue tie, and looked at the mirror once to see everything is all right. He climbed down the wooden staircase to reach his Acura, and drove it towards Route One South to go to New Brunswick.
He located the house with proper landmarks, told by Jennifer and called her from his mobile before entering into the private gate.
"Hi Niranjan, where are you right now?" Jennifer asked.
"Well, I am right outside your house, near the gate entrance," Niranjan said.
"All right, please be waited, I will be there soon," Jennifer said.
Niranjan stared at the house for a minute and he saw Jennifer wearing an ivory skirt suit approaching towards him. Rosy followed her and started barking at Niranjan while Jennifer had to calm her down.
"Good morning, please come on in," Jennifer said. She smiled cheerfully while Niranjan stepped out of the car and adjusted his suit.
Niranjan stepped inside the house with Jennifer. "Wow, your house is quite beautiful, I like it."
"Yes, it is a Cape Cod house, and it was bought by my father when I was five years old,” Jennifer said.
She offered him a seat on the couch while she made herself comfortable on the recliner. Rosy stood near the entrance, wagging its tail with occasional barking with affection.
"Well, where do you manage your business activities from here?" Niranjan said. He was referring to the Coleman's bakery products preparation.
"Um... you are talking about the private kitchen, it is besides the garage, and Mom is busy in there," Jennifer said. Her face was filled with a soft smile.
Niranjan adjusted his tie. "Oh! Okay."
Meanwhile Catherine entered the hall from outside and she exchanged the greetings with Niranjan.
"Glad to meet you," Niranjan said as he bowed to Catherine.
"Well, thank you, please feel comfortable. Jennifer had told a lot about you; you work for General electric at Princeton," Catherine said, while she stood near the kitchen entrance.
"Yes, I work for General Electric since past seven months," Niranjan said.
Catherine smiled at him. “Are you feeling comfortable in the USA? Hope you are well acquainted with the life style here."
"Oh yeah, now slowly I am getting used to the new country and the atmosphere here. Jennifer had helped me in getting the driving license and buying a new car for me. She is kind and helpful enough to let me know the surrounding areas in this country," Niranjan said.
Both Niranjan and Catherine looked at Jennifer with admiration while Jennifer chuckled. “I don't think I have done a great favour," she said.
"Jennifer always kind to her friends and she helps everyone who is in need of it," Catherine said.
They all laughed cheerfully while Catherine went inside the kitchen to get a coffee for Niranjan.
Niranjan spent few minutes with Jennifer and Catherine while they had coffee together. Both Niranjan and Jennifer were advised by Catherine to drive safe while on a long journey and not to drive during the nights.
Niranjan shook his hand with Catherine before he walked out of the house with Jennifer, towards the outside gate of the Coleman's private property.
"Your mother is very courteous, and she loves you a lot," Niranjan said as he drove the car towards the state highway.
"Well, she is the main driving force of happiness in our home, and we very much owe her for her selfless dedication towards her children," Jennifer said.
"Yeah, yours is a happy family. By the way, James was not around," Niranjan said.
"He had gone to his girlfriend’s house at Coastal New Jersey".
"Okay".
"What's the trip plan to Niagara Falls? You said you had got it from the AAA," Jennifer said.
"Well, I did visit to the AAA office and they had given the detailed trip to visit Niagara Falls. We are going to stay in Rochester of New York State tonight, and tomorrow we are heading to Niagara Falls which is one hour drive from Rochester," Niranjan said.
"All right, we go according the AAA trip plan."
Niranjan steered to the right to Join US-206 North to go to Rochester of New York State.
Niranjan and Jennifer together drove for seven hours to reach the city of Rochester. It was evening time when they checked into the Marriott hotel. They both took shower to relieve from the fatigue. Niranjan ordered for sandwich snacks and coffee and relaxed in the deluxe room till the dinner time. They made intense love before heading for the dinner at the attached hotel restaurant.
Niranjan woke up early while Jennifer still lay on the bed. He took shower and was dressed with formal cloths, a beige polo t-shirt and Van Heusen dark pant. Soon after, Jennifer got ready and headed towards Niagara Falls after having the breakfast at the hotel.
Niranjan drove for about an hour to reach the suspension bridge across Niagara Falls. He was astonished to see the suspension bridge. "Wow, such a huge bridge built using complete steel material." His tone was little anxious as he drove the car on the bridge.
"Yeah, it is one of the several bridges across the Niagara River which has two decks, one for the train services," Jennifer said.
Niranjan drove the car to cross the bridge and they reached to the premises of Niagara Falls. Many tourists walked into the garden of the falls premises with jovial mood. Niranjan reached a point where he saw the river water descended from a rock and visitors taking photographs. He walked little ahead and saw the side view of Niagara Falls.
Niranjan was ecstatic and went in the middle of many tourists to watch the falls. "Wow, it's a huge volume of water, making the silvery mist everywhere."
"Look at the rainbow in the middle of the milky white mist." Jennifer was delighted to see the water fall with Niranjan.
"Yeah, it is a crystal cascade of roaring and foaming white water," Niranjan said in a raised voice amidst the sound of snarling water.
Niranjan sa
w the foamy water descending from the top and he was amazed at the width of the fall.
"The fall is quite wide and span across the entire river width, it's really amazing to see," Niranjan said.
"The water descends vertically from the height of around 150 feet and the tallest section of the fall is called the Horseshoe fall. The width of this fall is around 3000 feet," Jennifer said. She shared the vital details of Niagara Falls with Niranjan.
They spent several minutes along with tourists before Jennifer said, "Let's go to the Maid of the Mist boat tour."
"Okay, let's go," Niranjan said.
They walked back towards the Maid of the Mist boat tour premises and Niranjan bought two tickets for the tour.
"The bridge you see there is called Rainbow Bridge which connects the USA with Ontario City of Canada," Jennifer said.
"Wow, the bridge looks great, and is completely built of steel." Niranjan gazed at the bridge.
Many tourists were queued up to have the experience of Maid of the Mist Boat tour. They were given permission to board the boat in batches, and were given blue water proof souvenir poncho to wear.
Niranjan walked ahead in the queue and boarded the boat with Jennifer. The boat started from the calm part of the Niagara River, near the Rainbow Bridge.
The boat slowly moved ahead. "That is called the Bridal Veil Falls, which is the smallest of the three falls here," Jennifer said.
"Wow, it looks great from the river," Niranjan said as the boat moved ahead.
"We are reaching towards the Horseshoe falls near the Canadian side," Jennifer said.
The boat almost entered into the dense mist of spray inside the curve of the Horseshoe Falls.
Niranjan wiped the mist from his face. "Wow, I am almost wet because of the mist spray."
"Yeah, it's really cold mist, and I had a mist shower," Jennifer said in a raised tone. They both laughed delightedly.
The boat went almost near the Horseshoe Falls and took a turn to travel back to the base from where it started. They reached to the base station completing the thirty minutes tour in the Niagara River.
"Wow, its great tour to experience, my heart missed a beat when we were almost near the Horseshoe Falls." Niranjan removed the poncho.
"Yeah, it was joyful to go inside the roaring river falls," Jennifer said.
They both walked back to the Niagara Falls premises and joined the tourists to see the remaining spots.
Love is Blind Page 12