To plan the travelling schedule is the most interesting and also challenging task. It is similar to solve to linear programming problem where the goal is Maximising the number of places we can visit while under the constraits of time and cost. (This is exactly what my major is about and our success in planning the schedule made me think that maybe I am born for the job. )

We have started the planing long before we began the US work and travel application and it has been changed several times. For example, in my first draft, I wanted to take GreyHound bus crisscrossing the country from Washington D.C. to Denver, Colorado, via states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, which I later realised was Misson Impossible. And also, I planed to visit Anoop, Qinqin, Yishan, Yichen and Tram during my stay, but due to timing, I only materialised our Rhode Island trip. Slowly, we realized that no matter how good we planed, there is always the possibility of last minute change. To be able to adapt to the new circumstances and be flexible is a valuable lesson we learnt on the road.

So our final Travel Schedule looks like this:

      Leaving D.C. on 2^nd morning and literally spent the whole day on the road. Reached Niagara 10pm. Tour the area on 3^rd and took night Bus to NYC from Buffalo.

Transportation tip: http://www.infoniagara.com/transportation/tips/train.html

Niagara region Metro: http://www.nfta.com/metro/index.asp

Jul 4-7 New York City

      Arrived in NYC 7 o'clock in the morning. On the 4^th, we toured 5^th avenue, Central park, Times Square. The second day, we went to China Town, Little Italy, New York Univerisity, Soho, Greenwitch village.

We bought New York Pass for the last two days to save tickets on the various tourist attractions.

On the 6^th, we went to New York Stock Exchange and the Wall Street, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty. Joined tours to Madison Square Garden, Rodio City Music Hall and NBC TV studio in Rocherfeller Centre. At night, we went to Madame Tussauds (a museum full of wax figures for all the famous celebrities) and Empire State Building.

On the 7^th, we visited Grand Central Station and toured the United Nations in the morning. In the afternoon, we went to Carnegie Music Hall and joined a tour of Lincoln Centre. Then we visited Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum at Pier 89 and concluded our 4-day NYC tour by a 2-hour romantic sunset cruise around lower Manhattan.

P.S. Our total tickets cost in the last two days are $147 (if buy at the door) which doubles what we paid for the two-day NewYorkPass $71.1. So strongly recommeded New York Pass for people who wants to save money. Visit www.newyorkpass.com (there is links to the attractions)

Cetral Park home page: http://www.centralpark.org/

Statue of liberty home page: http://www.nps.gov/stli/

New York City Transit: http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/

New York Water Taxi: http://newyorkwatertaxi.com/

chinese coach company: http://www.2000coach.com/index.html

 Jul 8-9 Philadelphia, Univeristy of Pennsylvania and Princeton University 

On 8^th morning, we took a bus from ChinaTown in NYC and arrived in Philadelphia around 10am. In the afternoon, we joined an admission tour for high school graduates in UPen.

Student zone from Upen webpage: http://www.onebigcampus.com/html/article_student_zones.htm

Downtown attraction in Philadelphia: http://www.onebigcampus.com/html/map_downtown.htm

The next morning, we visited the Liberty Bell Center and Independence Hall, followed by a tour to Todd House - a typical middle-class house and Bishop White House - a typical upper-class residence house and Carpenter's Hall. In the afternoon, we went to Princeton University and returned to D.C. by mid night.

Independence Park:  http://www.nps.gov/inde/ detailed info: http://www.nps.gov/inde/visit.html

New Jersey Transit: http://www.njtransit.com/ for transportation info to Princeton

Princeton visitor info:  http://www.princeton.edu/main/visiting/travel/

Jul 10-14 Activities around the Capital  

On the 10^th, we went to Longwood Garden http://www.longwoodgardens.org/ (used to be industrialist Pierre S. du Pont’s private garden), watched the famous fountain show.  

On the 12^th , we visited the capital again. On our first visit in May, we have been to the Lincoln Menmoir, Menmoirs for Vietnam War, First World War and Second World War, National Gallery of Arts, The Capitol Hill and The White House.

The National Mall: http://www.nps.gov/nama/

List of attractions around W.D.C. area: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/sitelist.htm

On the 13^th, we went to the Air and Space Museum branch near Dullas Airport.

On the 14^th A visit to Georgetown University and left to Chicago in the afternoon.

Jul 15-16 Chicago 

We arrived in Chicago early morning. This part is the least studied among all the trips. We only knew we have to fly to San Francisco on 16^th 10am, so effecitvely we only have one day spent there. Though we didn’t really know what we want to do there, but it turned out to be quite a wonderful trip.

15^th morning, napped at the lakeside park of Lake Michigan to replenish our energy due to the uncomfortable night bus. Got a sneak preview of the Millenium Park before its official opening ceremony on the 16^th  (http://www.lares-lexicon.com/millenium/millenium.html ).Visited the Tourist Centre and helped by an experienced old gentleman who planned our afternoon trip. First, a boat ride along Chicago River to see its architecture history (www.ci.chi.il.us/landmarks). Then a visit to the Hanock Tower (tallest building in Chicago) for a bird’s view of the entire city. Lastly, played at the amusement park near the Dock.

Millennium park home page: http://www.millenniumpark.org/home.htm 

For the entire of 16^th, we spent on the way to San Jose. Passing Chicago Midway Airport, Las Vegas Airport and San Jose Airport in one day.

Jul 17-23 7-day-tour in California (with tour group http://intellifetravel.com/)   

17^th  Yosomite National Park (http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm)

18^th  Arrived in Las Vegas in the afternoon. Toured all the big Casinos and watched interesting shows.

19^th  Hover Dam, Great Canyon (http://www.nps.gov/grca/) and back to Las Vegas at night

20^th  We Arrived in Los Angeles in the afternoon. First went to Hollywood Boulevard and Walk of Fame. Followed by a tour of the city’s centre and Small Maxico Town. Then check in a really nice hotel near Disney World.

Walk of Fame star directory:

http://gocalifornia.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=gocalifornia&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodchamber.net%2F

21^st  Universal Studio and Hollywood again.

We both feel the time we spent in Hollywood is too short. However, our hotel is on the other side of the city, just opposite to Hollywood. It would be too costly for us to take a taxi to go there on our own. But we got to know from our tour guide that Universal Studio is just a few subway stops away from Hollywood. So we planed to spend the entire morning with the group to tour all the major attractions in Universal Studio and leave for Hollywood around 4pm and return before 8pm to catch our coach back to the Hotel. The most difficult part of the plan is to stick strictly to the time.   But with careful management, we successfully executed our plan. And our effort really paid off when we found all our favourite stars on the Walk of Fame. I think our success shows that even with a tour group, you could still have some individuality if planned well.

Universal official website:

http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/hollywood/website/index.html?__source=USMN.GNAV

22^nd Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park

DisneyLand Park official website:

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/landing?name=DisneylandParkLandingPage

Disney’s California Adventure Park

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/landing?name=DisneysCaliforniaAdventureLandingPage

23^rd Bus trip back to San Francisco      

Jul 25-27 Around San Francisco 

25^th  Stanford University   

26^th   Travel to San Franciso by regional train. First went to visitor’s centre near city centre to get relevant info. Then went to Gold Gate Bridge Park followed by Golden Gate Bridge. In late afternoon, we arrived at Fisherman’s Whart and had a real Italian seafood dinner in a resturant. Marked the end of the day with a fabulous Cable Car ride from Piers 39 back to city centre.

27^th Visited Lumba Street and China Town in the morning. Went to Berkeley in the afternoon and a tour of Oracle’s office right before we set off to Airport.