White House-Washington D.C.

The White House
To take a tour of the White House, you have to submit your request through your Member of Congress and has to be accepted up to six months in advance and no less than 30 days in advance. They are free though!
For virtual tour click here

The White House- Home of the President of the United States. With all the pictures inside and stories from the tour, I'm sure I will learn more about the government. Too bad, I won't be able to take the tour inside this time because I didn't submit my request.

Georgia Aquarium- Atlanta, GA

The World's Largest Aquarium-there are 60 habitats!
There are five unique galleries that spotlights hundreds of species, including whale sharks, and beluga whales.


This is a tunnel at the the aquarium. You are able to see many aquatic animals very closely.

CNN Center-Atlanta, GA

The CNN Center is the world headquarters of the Cable News Network
They offer the "Tours of Inside CNN," where you can take a tour to see the control room, have a close look at technology used at CNN, overlook the newsroom in action,learn about other CNN networks.


The atrium escalator that is used to transport visitors on the CNN tour has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest freestanding (supported only at the ends) escalator in the world.


I've never been inside of a newsroom. I think touring the CNN center will give me a great time learning about how the news come to us and how the technology has developed over time.

World of Coca-Cola - Atlanta, GA

Coca-Cola was first found in Atlanta Georgia!
At the World of Coca-Cola, I'll get to taste over 60 different beverages, see many pop arts inspired by Coca-cola. They also have 4D theater: 3D visuals with other senses. Chairs are suppose to buck and jerk during the movie, and there are even water splashing and poking on the audience.






<-This fully-functioning bottling line that produces an 8 oz. glass bottle of Coca-Cola is featured at the World of Coca-Cola. Each and every guest is given one of these bottles as a souvenir at the end of the tour.

Cost

This trip will be about a week long, and I think it will cost approximately $1200~1500.
Break down:
Rental car-$413
Plane tickets-$388
Gas-$55
Food-210
Tickets to attractions, -approx.200-400 .
Both my sister and I aren’t so crazy about food, so we are most likely to just stop randomly and grab anything to eat.

So you are probably wondering.. where are we going to sleep?
In Atlanta, I have a friend who has kindly agreed to let my sister and I stay at her house. After looking around Washington D.C., we’ll go back to my cousin’s house in Fairfax, Virginia to stay at her house. Fairfax is only about 25 minutes away from Washington D.C. In New York, we also have a friend who lives a block away from the Times Square, and we’ll be staying there. In Boston we’ll stay over at my aunt’s house.

Preparing for the trip

For this trip, I’ll take basic toiletries, four days of worth clothes (because I’ll probably shop), shoes for different occasions, an umbrella (just in case), a pillow, a small blanket, bottled waters and a few snacks. I will also take my camera, laptop, and GPS. I would take lots of pictures so I can forever remember this trip, and with my laptop I will be able to update our trip as we take it. GPS is definitely needed, because my sister and I are both not so good when it comes to unfamiliar roads.
My sister likes to make CDs, so she will be making CDs for this trip. It is most likely that we’ll listen to loud, fun, entertaining music so it will help us stay awake while driving.

Summer 2010

Ever since I became a college student, my vacations and breaks have been filled with summer courses and volunteering.
This summer, I decided that I want to try something new- a road trip.

My definition of road trip is a break from one’s daily life to experience new things and encounter different people in a planned yet flexible schedule. As a matter of fact, a road trip itself is a new thing for me. I am very excited what kind of things or people I will get to see and meet during this trip.

For this trip I'll start in Austin, Texas and end in Boston, Massachusetts.I decided to make Boston as my final destination, because there are so many historic sites to see-a great way to forget about science for once. Also, I wanted to see how the East is different from Texas and I'm sure there is no better way to find it out than actually going to the East.

I will be taking this trip with my sister, who loves to travel around. After I came to Austin for college, I didn't get to spend much time with my sister who stayed with my family in El Paso. I thought this trip will not only be a great memory for both of us, but also make the sister-sister bond stronger.

Our first plan was to take this trip on a rental car and take an airplane on the way back. But because my sister and I have not driven long distance before, we decided to fly to Atlanta, Georgia first. Then we’ll rent a car and drive to Boston.