A Day at the United States Military Academy

Travel Day 3 -- Round Pond Recreation Area, USMA, West Point, NY (41.377700,-74.026700)

Today was the only "tourist" day on our trip to Maine. We spent it on the campus of the US Military Academy at West Point. We began at the visitor center walking among the impressive exhibits which explained in words and pictures what the Academy is all about. Then to a small theater showing a continuous film of clips about the place. Naturally there was a bus/walking tour. We had a choice between a one hour tour and a two hour tour. We elected the one hour, two stop tour. Our guide was a very nice lady who was asian with a substantial accent. I expected her contribution to be a canned script with canned answers to canned questions. Not so. She was very knowledgeable to the smallest detail and excited about her job and the place she is able to work -- refreshing.

West Point was a military fort before it became the site of the US Military Academy. A quick look at a map explains why. It is at a very narrow place on the Hudson River which was a major north/south waterway before and during the American Revolution. It was the perfect place for large gun emplacements to control ship traffic on the river. In fact it is so narrow that it was possible to stretch a chain from shore to shore to stop boat traffic. Once again geography shaped history.

During our brief visit, there were practically no cadets on site. We were there after graduation and before the incoming freshman arrived. Upper classmen were off on to their summer training assignments, so the campus was just about empty. We did not get to see any noon formations or parades. Nevertheless the campus is impressive.

At all of the US service academies, the chapel is a must see place. To me the chapel binds the generations of the living and dying of our military personnel together and focuses into one place the spirit of our humanity regardless of our own particular religion. The chapel speaks loud and clear "This is Hallowed Ground"

This is the Superintendents' Pew. Each silver plate contains the engraved signature of an Academy Superintendent.

I was particularly moved by the Battle Monument commemorating the civil war, remembering that leaders of both the Union and the Confederacy were graduates and classmates here. The monument contains the names of 188 officers and 2,042 men of the Regular Army who fell in the brutal Civil War. The monument has sixteen cannons in a circle facing outward with the name of a civil war battle on each one. In its great height, it reigns over the Hudson River and provides a wonderful view for those passing by on the river.

Michelle and I are both US Air Force veterans, and our son Adam is a graduate of the US Naval Academy. The traditions of all our service academies hold a special place in our hearts. It was good to spend a day at West Point.

There is more interesting history about this area and the USMA than I can begin to cover. Let's just say it was and is an important location in the establishment of our nation and in shaping many of our leaders for the two hundred plus years to follow.

I'll leave you with these few pictures and encourage you to put West Point on your list of "must see" places in your journeys across our great land.

Into the Catskills

Travel Day 2 -- Round Pond Recreation Area, USMA, West Point, NY (41.377700,-74.026700)

The parking lot in the Flying J, Brookville, PA where we spent last night was packed this morning. I felt guilty about taking up a space intended for an 18 wheeler. Breakfast at Denny's, then on the road for an almost uneventful travel day, traveling due east all day.

We finished crossing the eastern half of Pennsylvania and into the southeastern tip of New York state, finishing up at West Point, NY about 50 miles north of New York City on the banks of the Hudson River. Our statistics were: Start 0800EDT; End 1445EDT; Miles 310.6; Elapsed Time 6:45; Average Speed 46mph. I know this stuff doesn't interest anyone, but here is a convenient place for me to record this navigation trivia.

I said "almost uneventful". The campground is in the mountains -- hills by western standards. The last mile was a winding switchback from the highway up to the campground. It was a white knuckle mile with great fear of meeting an oncoming vehicle. It reminded me of the entry road to Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary except this one was paved and surrounded by forest.

Round Pond Recreation Area is located in a rocky, woody area, just three miles from the United States Military Academy. Round Pond is a clear mountaintop lake surrounded by a beach, playground, picnic areas and campsites.

Here is some background on the Catskill region from Wikipedia. The Catskill Mountains are a large area in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York. They are located approximately 100 miles north-northwest of New York City and forty miles southwest of Albany, starting just west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much or all of five counties (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster). As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700,000-acre (2,800 km2) forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.

Geologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a once-flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of, and highest-elevation portion of, the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau). Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains further north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province, and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.

Climatically, the Catskills lie within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion. The Poconos, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills under a different name. The Catskills contain more than thirty peaks above 3,500 feet and parts of six important rivers.

The Catskills are well known in American culture, both as the setting for many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings and as the favored destination for urban vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave countless young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. In addition, the Catskills have long been a haven for artists, musicians, and writers, especially in and around the towns of Woodstock and Phoenicia, New York.

Lots more information on the history and cultural impact of this region available elsewhere for those interested. Go find it and enjoy.

Again, Tell Me Where We Are Going

TO THE MARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA

I get quizical looks when I say that. So here goes. 

Start with planet Earth and zoom in on the continent of North America. Then scroll to the Atlantic Ocean side of North America. Next look around the border between the US and Canada and look at all that land stuck out in the Atlantic Ocean. Those are the Maritime Provinces ... almost. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island are called the Maritime Provinces. For some reason the province of Newfoundland/Labrador is excluded. I don't know why.

Be that as it may, our caravan will travel to New Brunswick (twice–in and out), Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland; but not Labrador.

So let's get going!