Hello lovely Hiveans !
Today I want to write about the time that I spent in the state California in 2017. I have been there for several months, from January to May. It was shortly before I married, became a father for the first time and finished my academic career. Thus it was my blast big adventures as a man without real responsibilities and the seriousness of life 😁 ... During this time I was able to fulfill several of my lifetime dreams, which I would like to document in this post here for the future. These were my visit and work at NASA, an intensive adventure in the wilderness of Yosemite National Park and the journey in the footprints of Bruce Lee, my all-time favorite martial artist.
JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratories
The motivation of the whole trip to California was actually an internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories of NASA. I always wanted to work there one day and already dedicated my whole academic career to the field of astrochemistry to that point. So one day during a long weekend in the laboratory I just dared to write a research proposal in the frame of my doctoral thesis. A few days later I received some stunning news. They really liked my proposal and my research project was accepted 😲 .. This made me so damn happy and I was was invited to conduct my research project in their laboratories in the group of my later secondary doctor father. I did not believe that I could fulfill this one of my lifetime dreams, even before I was able to complete my PhD .. yeah ! .. By the way, if you are interested, you can find a post about my PhD here : I am a Doctor of Natural Sciences now ! - This is my PhD Thesis
During my internship I was able to visit and take a closer look on the whole research facility. It was just so unbelievable ! Thereby the place I enjoyed the most there was the command center. I walked through all the different command rooms and looked at the big monitors there everywhere, which was just awesome. I cant describe the exact feeling that I had, but I felt a mixture of being super proud, feeling awesome and a deep happiness to finally reach and stand at the Center of the Universe !
Next to the command center there were other really interesting facilities to explore. One of them, that I really enjoyed was the big assembly chamber, where all satellites, rovers, telescopes an other space equipment is crafted together in a sterile environment before sent to space. Another one was the Mars Rover testing area, where the rovers were tested on various surfaces to get insights into their functionality and driving behavior. I actually saw far more, but I will stick to these in my post 😁
Yosemite National Park
During my time in California I visited quite a lot of different places, but the visit of one place especially was another lifetime dream that I was able to fulfill. It was a journey and setting up pf a Biwak in the wilderness of the Yosemite National Park. This park features some really amazing landscapes and is so beautiful that it is quite impossible to give you justified overview. But I try it with this two panorama shots here ^^
As you can see in the pictures, the Yosemite Valley, as the whole park too, were completely deserted. The reason is quite simple. It rained for a few days without a stop, it was very cold out there and a really big thunderstorm was roaming in the park during these days, which you can see in the following pictures.
There were water flooded roads, overthrown trees and gigantic puddles with lots of floating ice sheets wherever you looked .. Many told me to be crazy to venture there during such a time, but to be honest, I really enjoyed it and could finally justify a real time Biwak. It was the adventure of my life 🤣
It was a long hike, but I reached the wilderness after the first day. You can see me sitting directly in front of the sign that states the boarder into the wilderness of Yosemite, but I was already completely wet and tired at this point. Finally I could build up my tent, only with an old and aged sleeping bag, some apples, bread and nuts packed in by bag-pack .. and of course a huge a big bottle of booze against the freezing cold, hahaha 😜 .. It was an exhausting trip, but I love these feeling and in addition I was constantly compensated with awesome and unforgettable views. Especially the top of the snow-covered mountain were amazing to stand at and I had to take a selfie of that adventure achievement.
Typical American Road Trip Adventures
During my trips through the various great locations in California, I always tried my best to experience America in the most basic and essential way as possible. Doing so brought me a bit closer to the overall culture in the end. Therefore I stayed in typical motels, where I always met some interesting people with various backgrounds. I also visited typical American diners and probably had the best and biggest burgers one could imagine ^^
But the best parts of these cultural travels breaks, by far, were the countless discussions and conversations in the pubs all around. There I really learned about the country, its people and their thoughts and beliefs. And I had countless amazing drinking sessions this way 😁
The Statue of Bruce Lee in Chinatown
I am a huuuuge fan Bruce Lee and in my opinion he is the worlds greatest Martial Arts artist that has ever lived ;) .. I actually trained Kung Fu myself for 12 years, until the day that I became a father 😉 and California features a really interesting spot regarding this one of my childhood idols ;) .. not only was Los Angeles and Hollywood the place where he became famous, but you can find this statue of him in Chinatown.
I always wanted to visit this place, and having an accommodation so close to the city of Los Angeles, created the perfect opportunity to start a one-day trip to Chinatown ^^
Thank You !
Thank you very much for reading my post. I really had an awesome time in these 5 months that I spent in California and I am happy that I can document it in a lasting post, especially as I was able to fulfill 3 lifelong dreams in one fell swoop during my visit there.
I hope you got a little impression of how amazing it must have been there for me. If you ever visit this state by yourself, I suggest that you plan in a travel to Yosemite too, it is just soo beautiful there and definitely worth a visit ^^
All pictures were taken by myself, ©@adalger in California during January to May 2017
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Best wishes,
Adalger
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You're welcome @adalger 😊🌹 Nice motivation!
!discovery 15 I hope you can fulfill all your dreams friend! hugs also from discovery-it
Thanks a lot @oscurity ^^ .. I already fulfilled these .. now I am married and have a son too .. hehe .. so I already fulfilled the next one, a little family 👪 .. now I just hope for a good job, good health for all of us and an enjoyable rest of my life with my loved ones .. if this goes true, then I consider myself one of the luckiest man on earth 🌎 😁 .. I hope the same for you too and wish you the best for the future 😉
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Accomplishing things you set out to do, an emotional memory now documented, this is an amazing achievement in a short five months.
Biwak on your own during a season most would not venture in must have been a magnificent experience, the photos do tell some of the story, but as mentioned this type of moment one needs to be there in person.
Travel, no matter where it is always best to place oneself into normal situations to meet people and learn a little about the culture.
@tipu curate
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Hehe, I am so happy that I could do all this in this short time .. and I consider myself super lucky to have been able to visit the park under this weather conditions while deserted, hehe .. This was a super lucky 5 months indeed and I spent every minute of them wisely without a break of enjoyment, knowing that life would change after getting back home, considering planned marriage and children 😀
Making those months before settling down gives one some memories to reflect back to knowing they were super precious, never to be repeated.
Now new path in life, or next chapter has begun, enjoy each minute making very different memories that too will be held close to the heart.
Wow, thx alot @discovery-it .. its so nice that I was chosen by your curator-team ^^