September 11, 2008

September 11, 2008

From the Mesa Verde area in southwestern Colorado, we drove west via back roads to the remote site of Hovenweep National Monument. Apparently it is not remote enough or there are plenty of nuts like me, because the parking lot is full. Hovenweep is one of many ancient Anasazi Indians ruins scattered around the Southwest. This one consists of several communities that built stone buildings atop the rims of local canyons. Aimee and I take a 2-mile hike around one of the canyons. There are only a handful of stone ruins left but it is clear they were defensive in nature, probably protecting the trickle of life-sustaining water in the canyon. The question is who were they afraid of? Themselves? Like elsewhere, the Anasazi villages were all abandoned around 1300 AD. I guess eventually the water dried up so much it wasn’t worth protecting anymore. One of the rim ruins we passed was called Twin Towers. It reminds us that today is 9-11 and makes us think about where we were on this day seven years ago.

From Hovenweep, we work our way northwest to Blanding, UT, where we visit the town’s Dinosaur Museum. Although small it is very nice, concentrating on only a few topics. One section is about dinosaur footprints. I was surprised to learn that dinosaur track fossils are very common and provide lots of information on dinosaur social behavior. They have found thousands between Denver and Texas, the site of an ancient seashore. So many that they think it used to be a dino migration route. Another section of the museum is on feathered dinosaurs and the evolution of birds from reptile ancestors. The last and most amusing is dinosaurs in film. That section brought back a lot of memories. We spend the night at an RV park two blocks away. Now that is convenient.

September 10, 2008

September 10, 2008

We got up early this morning to hike up onto the dune field of Great Sand Dune National Park. It rained some last night and that should make the climb easier. Climbing wet sand is much easier than dry. Plus I want to get up there early before other hikers make tracks on the smooth sand. After a lot of work we make it up to the top of one of the peaks. It is far from the highest. Getting to the tallest peaks would mean going downhill and uphill again and we are not ready for that much exercise. Plus we are freezing. We should have dressed warmer. It is chilly, and the fierce wind at the top is numbing. On the trip down it starts spitting rain and right after we get back in the RV it starts to pour.

We are determined to find warm dry weather! So we keep journeying west. The rumor of a drought in the West so far is baloney. We cross to the west side of this wide agricultural San Luis valley and head up into the mountains. We join up with the Rio Grande River and climb the South Fork through a beautiful canyon. We summit the high Wolf Creek Pass and descend down the San Juan River canyon. We have lunch at a scenic overlook, take a short walk to Treasure Falls, and stop for a photo of Chimney Rock National Monument. We continue west past Pagosa Springs and Durango and spend the evening at an RV park outside Mesa Verde National Park.

September 9, 2008

September 9, 2008

From Buena Vista, CO we drove south along the Arkansas River Valley over Poncha Pass and into the wide, flat, dry high-country San Luis Valley. When I think of western Colorado, I think mountains and don’t realize that Colorado has this many valleys. Eventually we turn east and I can see Great Sand Dunes National Park in the distance. At first I thought they were just oddly colored foothills of the mountain range, but they are actually mountain-sized sand dunes. This is probably one of the few National Parks that can be seen from miles away. What an oddity this park is. To have a mountain of sand next to a mountain range. You would think we were in the Sahara.

Our first stop in the park is the Visitor Center. There we watch a very mediocre film but learn that the sand pile is here because of winds that trap the sand in an elbow of the mountain range. Afterwards we head to the Dunes parking lot for an up close and personal look. Walking in sand is difficult enough when it is flat. This is work. After this brief taste, we pick out a campsite in the park and relax the rest of the day.

September 8, 2008

September 8, 2008

From Parker, CO, we headed south to Colorado Springs. There we revisited the Garden of the Gods. The Garden is a compact, city-park-sized version of Arches National Park in Utah (albeit minus the arches). They both have these magnificent red fins formed when the ancient sandstone was uplifted, then tilted sideways, and allowed to erode in sheets. We stop at several spots along the park road and walk amidst the rocks. It is a beautiful spot… if it only wasn’t cold and cloudy!

The weather report said it was warmer and sunnier to the west, so we made a sharp right turn and drove over Ute Pass to Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument. What an awesome spot! The first thing we did was hike the one-mile Petrified Trail. Before we went ten yards, we came face to face with a giant petrified tree stump still in the ground. It is an ancient redwood tree. It is the first of ten we see on this short hike. About a 100 more are still buried. We have seen several petrified “forests”, but this is the first that actually looks like a “forest”. And giant redwoods no less! Theory goes that 34 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch, a forest here was flattened by a “lahar” mudflow from an erupting volcano. The hot blast leveled and incinerated everything in its path, but the largest redwoods. The redwood tops rotted away and the stumps were buried by regular ash eruptions. Florissant has some of the largest and smallest of fossils. Besides the redwoods, the volcanic ash also entombed exquisitely preserved insects of all kinds from tarantulas to butterflies. After the hike we listen to a fascinating ranger talk. The rangers often make or break a park. When you have a great ranger, interesting history and neat science, it works and is why we go out of our way to visit National Park sites. More often than not the combo works great.

After the talk, we return to the Visitor Center for the film and a look at the fossil exhibits. Amazingly the park was almost destroyed in the 60’s to make way for a housing development. One buyer who took advantage before LBJ saved it was Walt Disney. He came and bought one of the stumps. Supposedly it adorns Frontierland in Anaheim’s Disneyland. Gotta check that out this winter!

From Florissant we continue west over mountain highlands, across a very wide and dry valley, over Trout Creek Pass to the Arkansas River valley, where we stay the night at an RV park in Buena Vista, CO.

September 7, 2008

September 7, 2008

From Fort Laramie, WY we follow the Oregon Trail to Guernsey, WY. Outside town are two remnants of pioneers passing through. Trail Ruts State Historic Site has deep parallel cuts in the rock crests. So many pioneer wagons with their iron rimmed wheels passed over this crest they gouged deep grooves into the solid rock!

Register Cliff State Historic Site is next to the North Platte River. Many of the pioneers who camped on this flat grassy spot carved their names on the adjoining sandstone cliff wall. While you can see lots of names from 150 years ago, (if you look hard), there is mostly modern graffiti.

The weather has turned decidedly colder today. That is the snowbird’s clue to head south; so we link up with I-25, bid adieu to the Overland Trails and take the highway south. The route takes us through barren ranchlands. There is not a tree or building to be seen in any direction. We pass by Wyoming’s capital, Cheyenne, cross into Colorado and roll into the Denver suburb of Parker to visit Aimee’s brother and his family. The six of us pile into our covered wagon and drive to nearby Castlewood Canyon State Park. There we do a short hike and in honor of our pioneer ancestors have a chuck wagon supper of BBQ-ed hamburgers.

September 6, 2008

September 6, 2008

Aimee and I are aghast. It rained yet again last night. We have a black cloud that just won’t leave us alone. If we go to Tucson right now, we are liable to turn desert into rain forest.

We have a long day ahead of us, so we rise early and drive the couple miles to Scott’s Bluff National Monument. One of the young park rangers offers to shuttle us up to the top of the ridge. We should have great views of the surroundings there but one side of the ridge is shrouded in fog. We opt to hike back to the Visitor Center. I am glad we do, as it is outstanding. The trail descends down one side of the butte then crosses by tunnel to the other side for the rest of the hike down. Back at the Visitor Center we watch the park film and peruse the exhibits but they are pretty weak on history. The Oregon Trail, the Pony Express and finally the Transcontinental Telegraph line all went right between the two halves of Scott’s Bluff.

From Scott’s Bluff we make a short detour north of the Oregon Trail past barren ranchlands on a sunflower lined highway to visit Agate Fossil National Monument. Here in these eroded ridges, paleontologists have uncovered a treasure trove of Miocene fossils from 19 million years ago. At that time, the grassland here resembled the Serengeti Plains of Africa. A drought occurred at a watering hole causing many of the local inhabitants to perish in the mud. Unearthed were grass-eating Rhinos and carnivorous Beardogs the size of lions. After looking at the Visitor Center exhibits, we take a hike along the Daemonelix trail. This trail is famous for giant spiral formations found in the mudstone. These rock corkscrews are the fossilized burrows of extinct prairie dog-like beavers.

Back on the Oregon Trail, we follow it to Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Fort Laramie at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers was the major fort of the west. It was initially built to protect pioneers on the Overland Trails but later became the focal point of the Plains Indian wars. Fort Laramie is a huge complex, the size and look of a modern military base. Many of the barracks and officer quarters have been restored. Superbly I might add. They could easily pass for the set of a western cavalry film. But a little too realistic for me. I would prefer that they had added some modern signage to better explain what we are looking at.

Tired after a long day, we spend the night at an RV park just outside the fort.

September 5, 2008

September 5, 2008

Well the sunflowers are frowning today. The rainy cold weather has caught up to us again. From Mormon Island we cross the smallish Platte River and follow it west through Nebraska. It rains the whole morning. The terrain is flat and full of cornfields reminding me of Illinois. Surprisingly Iowa was the more scenic state. Same cornfields, but with lots of rolling hills.

By afternoon we have outrun the wet weather again. Yeah! At the town of Ogallala, NB we depart I-80 and follow the North Platte River northwest. This is the same route that our country’s early pioneers followed on their journey west. Only they did it walking beside their oxen drawn wagon. After 600 miles of walking they would have come upon the major landmark of the trip, Chimney Rock. This distinctive needle formation can be seen for miles away and marked their one-third point. Only 1200 more miles of walking to go! Chimney Rock is now a National Historic Site. We stop at the visitor center, and watch a very good film about the pioneer trails.

A little further west we stop for the evening at a very nice RV Park in Gering, NB. Our site sits in the shadow of Scott’s Bluff, another famous rock landmark along the pioneer trail.

September 4, 2008

September 4, 2008

It rained all night and we wake to cool rainy weather. The TV weatherman says it is the remnant of Hurricane Gustav that hit Louisiana a few days ago. We spend most of the day driving west trying to outrun the rain. As if on cue, the sun pops out as we cross over the Missouri River into Nebraska. And in celebration, thousands of sunflowers along the side of the highway smile at us.

We continue along I-80 past Omaha and Nebraska’s capital, Lincoln, and spend the night at the Mormon Island Recreation Area. The park is named after the Mormon pioneers who passed by here on their journey west to Utah. They thought they were escaping persecution by settling outside the US. Unfortunately for them, Mexico soon ceded the Utah territory to the US.

September 3, 2008

September 3, 2008

Just west of us in West Branch, IA is the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. We start our tour with a walk thru the tiny two-room house where Hoover was born and then move on to his Presidential Library and Museum. The exhibits are quite well done and we spend way more time here than I had anticipated. Herbert Hoover, our 31st president, lived in Iowa until he was orphaned at the age of nine. After graduating from Stanford, he made a fortune as a mining engineer when he discovered gold in Australia. During WWI he directed charity relief efforts to feed the starving of Europe, and became internationally famous as the Great Humanitarian. He served as Secretary of Commerce during President Coolidge’s administration and led an unprecedented improvement in the American standard of living. With his help a huge percentage of Americans owned a house, car, telephone, and radio for the first time. He was considered “A Wonder Boy” and won the 1928 presidential election by a landslide. Unfortunately his long string of success ran out. The Great Depression hit with a vengeance a few months later. Bad luck for sure. He inherited a severely overheated economy ripe for the bubble to burst. Although he wisely embarked on an unprecedented federal spending spree, he counteracted the benefit by hiking taxes on the rich and tariffs on imports. His worst sin was probably communications. He failed to instill the nation with hope or take credit for his stimulus projects. By the end of his term he was being vilified by the public, and lost his re-election by a landslide.

A little further west we stop in Iowa City to see the Devonian Fossil Gorge. During the big flood of 1993, surging waters flew over the dam spillway here and exposed limestone rocks containing sea fossils from 370 million years ago. It is hard to imagine that Iowa was once under the ocean. Unfortunately this site is not too tourist friendly right now. The big flood they had this spring wiped out most of the identification markers. Nevertheless we are able to spot a few oyster and crinoid specimens in the rocks.

We spend the night at an RV park an hour west in Kellogg, IA.

September 2, 2008

September 2, 2008

We are on the road again, westward ho. We are glad and ready to be heading west toward sunny and drier weather. We liked our trip out to the northeast but we tired of the persistent rain and humid weather. We saw some nice scenery, but nothing that matches the majesty of the West. I guess we have become Westerners at heart now.

From Itasca, IL we drove west to the Iowa border, spending the night in an RV park in Tipton, IA.

August 23, 2008

August 23, 2008

When we are on the road full time, our awareness of the news suffers. The little bit we get always seems to be about the upcoming election. A little time-off lets us catch up on other news. One thing Aimee found was the collapse of Wall arch in Utah’s Arches National Park. A shame, but I am glad it didn’t happen while I was standing under it!

August 22, 2008

August 22, 2008

We have a long drive ahead of us today. But before we embark, we take a short break in Fremont, OH to see the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Hayes was a former governor of Ohio and Civil War general. He was elected president in 1876 even though he lost the popular vote. There were some ballot box irregularities in Florida and other southern states that caused the election outcome to be delayed for months. Sounds eerily familiar! It is thought he got the Presidency by making a deal with southern leaders to end Reconstruction and pull out the Army. Hayes was notably honest and worked to overturn patronage politics, something the country wanted in the wake of the scandal-tainted Grant administration. Hayes voluntarily served only one term. The museum has lots of artifacts but is not organized very well. It could use the help of the National Park System. Aimee got a two-fer today. The museum had a special quilt exhibition.

From Fremont we drive west all day, ending in Itasca, IL at Aimee’s mom’s home. Aimee and I are both in need of a long overdue vacation.

August 21, 2008

August 21, 2008

From Akron, OH we drove a bit north to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Park is long and narrow and sits on either side of the Cuyahoga River that flows north into Cleveland. The Cuyahoga became infamous in the sixties when it was so polluted it actually caught on fire, fueling the environmental movement. We drive into the park thru little towns looking for the Visitor Center. From the park map we know it is here but signs are nonexistent. Finally we park the RV and walk around till we find the right building. A ranger gives us the lowdown on the park. The centerpiece is a bike and walking path that runs along the Cuyahoga. It used to be the mule towpath for an 1831 canal that connected the Ohio River with Lake Erie. We unhitch the bikes and give it a go. The bike path is nice, relaxing, and popular. Alongside the towpath you can see the depression where the canal once ran. After a good workout we return to the RV and prepare to head on. Cuyahoga Valley was a National Recreation Area until its promotion to National Park in 2000. In my opinion it doesn’t deserve it. I think the distinction of National Park should be reserved for places of special beauty. Not for a nice suburban bike path. Oh, by the way, don’t go to this National Park for peace and quiet either. The close-knit farms lining the bike path use loud air cannons to keep the birds away from the crops.

Leaving Cuyahoga Valley we drive to Mentor, OH to visit James Garfield National Historic Site. Aimee and I like the presidential National Historic sites. They usually are very well done and give us historical tidbits that allow us to remember the presidents in order. This site doesn’t let us down. We start with a tour of this Victorian Mansion but are reminded that it was substantially enlarged after Garfield’s death to house his papers and memorabilia. Garfield was a Civil War hero and elected president in 1880. He was famous for having been born in poverty and pulling himself up with his bootstraps. Unfortunately he was assassinated by an upset office seeker and died having only served 200 days with most of it spent lingering on his deathbed.

We drive west of Cleveland and stay in a park near Milan, OH.

August 20, 2008

August 20, 2008

The morning is spent traveling across Pennsylvania into Ohio. The trip is made longer by a wrong turn that causes us to go pretty far down the Penn Turnpike till we find an exit to turn around. Wrong turns get expensive with $4 gas driving a gas-sucking motorhome. After lunch we roll into Canton, OH finding the First Ladies National Historic Site. It turns out to be a big ball of worthless fluff. They have an old house that was a former home of Mrs. William McKinley. We pass on the home tour as it is one more old house. We proceed over to the Educational Center for a two-minute guided tour of nothing. They have a tiny collection; a few dresses, a handful of presidential plates, some campaign buttons, and as a special traveling exhibit, several papier-mâché presidential pets. I figured ahead of time it was going to bore me, but even Aimee thought it useless. They don’t even have a list of all the First Ladies. A sorry excuse for a national park site.

The only redeeming benefit is we learned William McKinley was from Canton. Directions in hand we drove across town to his Memorial. It is huge and vaguely familiar, looking like a slightly smaller version of Grant’s Tomb. McKinley, former governor of Ohio was elected president in 1896. Shortly after the start of his second term, he was assassinated in Buffalo by an anarchist and succeeded by his VP, Teddy Roosevelt.

We spend the night at a park outside Akron, OH.

August 19, 2008

August 19, 2008

We spend the morning driving west across Pennsylvania. Our first stop is the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. After the opening of New York’s Erie Canal, Philadelphia rapidly lost shipping business to New York City. Pennsylvania was in a hard spot. The steep Allegheny Mountains stood in the way of them building a canal across their state. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. In response the Pennsylvanians devised a series of stationary steam engines to hoist canal boats on a rail track up and over the steep Allegheny Mountains. After watching the Visitor Center movie, we walk out to the reconstructed power plant that sat on the peak.

Our next stop is the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. Johnstown, a former steel town, sits on a flood plain at the bottom of a steep valley. Upstream in 1899 sat a resort lake held back by an old and poorly maintained dam. After a very rainy May, the dam burst channeling the floodwater down the valley straight to Johnstown. It was wiped off the map killing over 2200 people. The ceiling of the Visitor Center has a large diorama with flood debris and a survivor clinging to his roof. We watch a very moving film about the tragedy and then walk out to view the remains of the dam. In the aftermath, the millionaire owners of the resort were sued for negligence, but the court ruled that it was an Act of God. My how times have changed.

Our last stop is the Flight 93 Memorial. On September 11, 2001, after planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, a fourth plane was headed directly for our Capitol building. The forty passengers and crew of this United flight rebelled and retook the hijacked plane but not before it was crashed into this central Pennsylvania farm field. This temporary memorial consists of several rows of park benches stenciled with the victims names surrounded by lots of sentimental items left by mourners. A volunteer ranger gives a group of us a chilling review of that day’s events.

We spend the evening at a park outside Pittsburgh, PA.

August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008

Our target today is Scranton, PA and its Steamtown National Historic Site. Aimee groans as we pull in, seeing all the trains. From the Visitor Center we quickly catch up to a Ranger talk that started five minutes ago. The historic site preserves an old railroad roundhouse. The elderly volunteer docent takes us thru this huge rail maintenance yard. He talks a lot but doesn’t say much. It is very boring, probably the worst we have experienced. Aimee is groaning louder now. What it did make me realize is how complicated it is to maintain a giant steam locomotive. A lost art, now only practiced by a few people.

Finished with the tour we work our way thru the Technology Museum. It is well done with lots of videos and mockups covering all aspects of railroading. From there it is on to the History Museum. It is nice but includes too much of the local history for me. But it does reinforce how important railroads were to the growth of the US and what an integral part of the economy they were. At the peak two million people were employed by the railroads. With the advent of less labor-intensive diesel locomotives and the deregulation of the industry by President Carter, railroading is now once again a growth industry.

Besides the museum, there are plenty of trains and cars to walk thru and even a train ride. We forgo the ride, as steam locomotives are too dirty and noisy for Aimee.

From Scranton we head west and spend the evening in Bloomberg, PA.

August 17, 2008

August 17, 2008

We are away from the Big City now and its early-rise commuting requirement. In other words, we slept late today. It felt good. Late in the morning we make our way to Morristown National Historic Park. Morristown, NJ was the site of George Washington’s winter encampment on two occasions during the Revolution. Washington chose this site because it was easily defended, yet close enough to the British occupying New York City to keep an eye on them. His troops spent most of the winters trying to stay warm and fending off starvation. Any free time was used to harass British foraging parties. Although the area is picturesque, a site of winter encampment is not historically exciting to me. Nor do the movie or the drive around add anything of relevance. A few miles away in the actual town of Morristown we stop and take a guided tour of the Ford House, where George had his office. It is a little more interesting but not much.

From Morristown we head west to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The Water Gap is where the Delaware River has carved a canyon across the Appalachians. We make briefs stops at a scenic lookout and to pick up the park brochure before finishing just over the border in the Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains.

August 16, 2008

August 16, 2008

From southern New York, we wake early yet again and make our way into New Jersey stopping at Liberty State Park on the Hudson. This is the less crowded of the two ports where you can take a ferry to Ellis and Liberty Islands. The ferry’s first stop is Ellis Island, where the nation’s largest Immigration center was located. On its busiest day, it would process over 11,000 aliens. Ellis Island consists of 33 buildings but only the main receiving hall has been restored. Inside is a Museum devoted to immigration. The exhibits are extensive and very well done. We breeze thru it but would have liked to spend more time. Unfortunately, we want to see Liberty Island too and waiting for and taking the ferry wastes a lot of time. Apparently needlessly so. To my surprise, there is a small bridge spanning the 200 yards from the Jersey shore for employees. Tourists, however, are required to take the ferry. A ranger suggests government bureaucracy is preventing public use, but I suspect the losing of millions of dollars of ferry fees is the real culprit.

Seeing the large crowd now waiting to board the ferry, we end our visit at Ellis and join the line for our next stop, Liberty Island. Liberty Island was another one of the War of 1812 forts guarding New York harbor. The star-shaped fort is still there, with the addition of a monumental green copper statue of a woman atop of it. Affectionately known as the Statue of Liberty, she is a sight to behold. She is very beautiful and full of meaning for our country. She symbolizes everything good about us. Every American should see her up close at least once. No doubt she brought a tear to the eye of every immigrant who passed by on their way to Ellis Island. We walk around Liberty’s fortress base taking lots of pictures. Unfortunately that is as close as we get. The hollow statue has been closed to visitors since 9-11. The pedestal and museum is still open but with limited access. To get inside, you have to book a specific time, days or weeks before. In retrospect I was lucky to have climbed inside her on my first visit to New York in 1980.

From Liberty Island, we board the ferry back to the Jersey shore and drive west to an RV park in Flanders, NJ. Along the way we stop at the Edison National Historic Site in East Orange, NJ. Edison’s lab is closed for renovation but his home is open. We are too late for a tour so we settle for a brief walk around the exterior of this large Victorian brick house.

August 15, 2008

August 15, 2008

Who is buried in Grants Tomb? That is what we set out to find today by heading via subway to Harlem to see the General Grant Memorial. It is the largest tomb in America. I am surprised at how nice it looks. I had always read that it had been allowed to deteriorate badly. I guess the National Park System has money for maintenance now. Inside the massive round mausoleum sit two, yes two, pink granite sarcophagi containing Ulysses Grant and his wife Julia. Now you know the real answer! The tomb also contains some exhibits on Grant’s life. After Grant retired from his Presidency, he moved to New York City to live near his son, and made an unwise Wall Street investment losing his entire savings. He soon discovered he had terminal throat cancer. Hoping to provide for his family, he spent the last days of his life writing his memoirs, with Mark Twain as editor. He died a week after finishing, but the autobiography was an instant success.

From the Grant Memorial we return south to Midtown Manhattan and take a nice stroll across the southern end of Central Park. At the eastern end we are pleasantly surprised to encounter a Saint-Gaudens memorial statue of General Sherman of Civil War fame. The statue is well done but the gold leaf coating is peeling badly.

After enjoying lunch near Fifth Avenue we take the subway south to the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. TR was born in this NYC brownstone, surprisingly the only president from NYC. We get a guided tour of this 1840’s vintage property by an excellent guide who brings the history alive. The basement has an extensive biography of TR’s life along with amazing artifacts. The Roosevelts were big time pack rats to have kept all this. I now understand why TR is on Mt. Rushmore. He was truly inspirational. Born sickly and asthmatic, he exercised hard to overcome his afflictions and became an avid outdoorsman. Early in life he became famous as an adventurer, cowboy, hunter, and prolific author. In politics, as NYC Police Commissioner and NY state governor he was an ardent reformer and corruption buster. The NY Republican machine got him nominated as VP to get him out of the state. When President William McKinley was fatally shot, TR became our youngest President ever. He had unlimited energy. For example, when Congress had gone into recess, TR went to his summer home and wrote a biography of Oliver Cromwell.

This is our last day traveling into NYC proper. It has been a good visit but we are looking forward to sleeping late. Aimee and I have been pleasantly surprised how friendly the natives have been, especially in comparison to the stuffed shirts of New England. New Yorkers don’t deserve their brash reputation.

August 14, 2008

August 14, 2008

From Florida, NY we leave bright and early for the two-hour drive/commuter rail/subway journey into Manhattan. We arrive at the World Trade Center facing the hole where the Twin Towers once stood. It just looks like a big construction site now; NYC must be starting the replacement building. From the World Trade Center we walk along the Hudson riverfront past monstrous hibiscus flowers to Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan. In the center is Castle Clinton National Monument. Not wanting a repeat of the Revolution when the British easily captured New York, before the War of 1812, our young nation built a series of forts around the harbor. Castle Clinton was one of these. It used to be offshore, but when they dug the NYC subway, they used the debris to landfill Manhattan’s tip.

Just east of Battery Park is the ferry to Governors Island. We take it to attend a guided tour of this National Monument. The 90-minute walking tour is very interesting. The story starts with the initial founding of New Amsterdam by the Dutch on Governors Island in 1624. The British didn’t want a foreign colony in their midst so in 1674 they sailed in, took control, and renamed it New York. As a result Dutch settlers like the van Rosenvelts changed their name to Roosevelt. Governors Island started with a fort that later became a notorious Civil War POW camp. In the late 20th century Governors Island became the eastern headquarters for the Army and beautiful accommodations in a campus setting were built. They remain today but apparently in limbo. The National Park owns the forts, while the city and state own the barracks and houses. They are all empty yet meticulously maintained. Prime housing minutes away from Wall Street sitting vacant! I am guessing the three governments can’t decide how to share the kickbacks from renting or selling the real estate.

After returning to Manhattan we walk up Broad Street past the heavily guarded New York Stock Exchange to Wall Street and Federal Hall National Monument. This former customs house sits on the site of the Inauguration of our first president, George Washington in 1789. New York was the capital at the time.

From Wall Street we walk up Broadway to the African Burial Ground National Monument. In 1992 during excavation for a new Federal office building, a huge slave graveyard was discovered. A film in the Visitor Center highlights the fact that slavery was alive and vibrant in the north before the Revolution.

Our next journey is a walk east to the Brooklyn Bridge. This suspension bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn was a marvel of engineering in 1875. Right down the center is a bike and pedestrian path. We take it to the halfway point getting a great view of the east side and this magnificent bridge.

Our feet are getting tired so we head back to the Trade Center for our long journey back to Florida, NY.

August 13, 2008

August 13, 2008

From Fishkill, NY, we drove the half hour southwest to West Point, NY, home of the US Military Academy. Our first stop is the Visitor Center where we sign up for a one-hour bus tour of the campus. Since 9-11 the campus has been closed, (something we hear a lot!) The bus tour is nice and the narrator is very informative. We learn a lot about the demanding life of an army cadet. Our main stops are the Protestant Chapel and the Parade Ground. West Point is a beautiful campus with gray stone gothic-style buildings set on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. Back at the Visitor Center we learn about the entry process and some of the more famous graduates of the school. In my past, I have hired several West Point grads, all of outstanding quality. I have always felt our military is in good hands with West Point providing the leadership.

Behind the Visitor Center is the West Point Museum. The Museum is outstanding with sections on the history of the Academy, the history of warfare, and the history of American Wars. Definitely a place I could see again.

West Point was famous before the Academy was founded here in 1802. During the Revolutionary War, West Point was strategic in preventing the British from cutting off New England. The Hudson River makes a hilly S-curve here making it easily defended. Two forts were built here and a massive iron chain was stretched across the river to prevent British warships from passing. West Point was the coveted prize that hero-turned-traitor Benedict Arnold was going to pass to the British in 1780. Fortunately that plan was thwarted.

We spend the night in a nice park west of here in Florida, NY.

August 12, 2008

August 12, 2008

From Fishkill, NY we make the half-hour drive north to Hyde Park, once known as Millionaires Row for the estates lining the Hudson River bluffs. Two mansions are maintained by the National Park System. The first is the Home of Franklin Roosevelt National Historic Site. We take the hour-long tour of the house. We have seen lots of old mansions but this one is special because FDR left it in his will to the gov’t. It is simply decorated and looks just like it was when he last slept here.

Next door to the FDR home is his Presidential Library and Museum. It is also very interesting. FDR had a very unusual life and Presidency. He grew up an only child of very rich and doting parents. His political success was a combination of skill and lucky timing. Incredibly he became New York governor and President after coming down with a debilitating case of infantile polio at the mature age of 39. The paralysis should have killed his career aspirations. FDR went on to become president at the height of America’s worst economic time. Without his leadership we could have easily descended into anarchy, dictatorship, or communism. FDR brought hope. Lucky for me he also brought back beer with the repeal of Prohibition. Unfortunately he instituted an alphabet soup of intrusive gov’t programs. Intended to be only temporary many have lasted beyond the economic emergency. For example, over seventy years later we are still paying farmers not to plant crops. FDR’s biggest legacy is probably his success at bringing home victory during WWII. In addition to ridding the world of two terrible regimes, the war finally ended the Great Depression. I love the giant globe he used to direct the effort.

The second estate in Hyde Park is the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historical Site. A neighbor of FDR, the home was given to the gov’t after the owner couldn’t find a buyer for the property at the asking price of a mere $200,000 during the Great Depression. We take a tour of this very large residence. Like FDR’s home it is special because it also has not changed since the 30’s. But unlike the Roosevelts, the Vanderbilt meant to flaunt their wealth and it is a prime example of gilded age décor. I spent more time than I should have taking flower photos in the beautiful Italian Garden and reflecting pool.

Before leaving Hyde Park we visit the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site. There we take a short tour of this cottage that Eleanor stayed in. The “big house” belonged to FDR’s mother until her death in 1941. Eleanor did not get along with her mother-in-law and had this large but simple cottage built two miles away for her and her female "friends". There is nothing special about it and it seems more like somebody’s pet project that the NPS has gotten stuck with.

Aimee and I went through all these Hyde Park sites in whirlwind fashion. It wasn’t our choice, but like Connecticut, this area has no RV parks close. Late in the day we make our way back to Fishkill Walmart for the night.

August 11, 2008

August 11, 2008

It rained all night and into the morning. Again! Every time it looks like it is going to let up, a downpour erupts. Finally when the Internet connection went bad we packed up and headed west into Connecticut to New Haven. New Haven is the home of Yale University. Our nephew, Ryan is going to school here, but he unfortunately hasn’t returned from his summer dig in Peru. So we are on our own. We stop at the Peabody Natural History Museum. Yale is known for some of the more famous archeologists (eg Hiram Bingham of Macchu Pichu fame) and paleontologists (eg Louis Leakey). We have run across Yale several times on our trips. On more than one occasion, we have been told Yale did the initial dig, only to be told the artifacts were packed up and sent to Yale for storage. We are here to see these artifacts at the Peabody Museum. I tried to use our nephew’s name for free entry…. unsuccessfully. The Peabody is a nice museum where we could spend most of the day. Unfortunately we are at a two-hour max street meter and it is raining so that is our deadline. We focus on the dinosaur bones and the Macchu Pichu artifacts and then take ten minutes to breeze thru the rest. We will have to come back when we can stay longer. To add to our wet misery, Connecticut has almost no RV parks, so we need to keep moving. I guess CT doesn’t like our kind.

We continue west stopping at Weir Farm National Historic Site. The farm is the former summer home of artist Julian Weir. Weir was one of the first American Impressionist painters. He had seen this new style in Paris in 1877 but dismissed it as a horrifying fad. He later joined the club. We arrive late in the day only to find it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Unaware we knock on the door and the off duty ranger lets us watch the film. We didn’t give the place its due but this place seems to be a stretch for a national park. I think it is another play for a government handout.

We spend the night in Fishkill, NY where we see the new Batman film, “Dark Night”. To our surprise, it was filmed in Chicago.

August 10, 2008

August 10, 2008

We say good-bye to our home of the past week in Mansfield, MA and work our way southwest to Newport, RI. Newport was one of the early settlements of Rhode Island, a haven for people looking for religious freedom. Newport grew as a trading port. Its main export was rum distilled here from sugar and molasses shipped in from the West Indies. We learn that history in the Newport Historical Society Museum. We also take a tour of the Touro Synagogue National Historic Site. This is my first visit to a synagogue. It is small but quite beautiful and is the oldest synagogue in the US.

During the Revolution, the British occupied Newport forcing locals to evacuate. Newport never recovered and eventually tourism took hold. At the turn of the century, Newport was the social center of the gilded age. The ultra-rich all had summer homes here. We tour the largest, The Breakers, built by the Vanderbilts. It is a huge 128,000 square foot house, ornately decorated, overlooking the bay. The main hall and entry staircase are something else. Incredibly it was only occupied for six weeks during the summer social season. The only house we have seen bigger and more elegant is North Carolina’s Biltmore, another Vanderbilt mansion. Aimee is fascinated by the tour, not by the mansion, but by the Vanderbilt family. By the end she knows who married who, and how many kids, grandkids they had and their names. Amazing!

There are several more mansions owned by the local Preservation Society open for touring. We randomly choose the Rosecliff, a few doors down, and much tinier at ONLY 28,000 sq. ft. You can tell this one was built for efficient partying. Downstairs is one monster ballroom while upstairs has a dozen bedrooms. The ballroom starred in the opening scenes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie True Lies. It is a gorgeous sunny day, so from Rosecliff we stroll along the Cliff Walk following the rocky coastline back to the Breakers parking lot and the RV. We spend the evening at an RV park on the western edge of Rhode Island.