Full Circle

So the storm came during the night and it was a doozy. But we have fortunate in that we have not had to set up or take down during a downpour. About 30 minutes before we left the rain stopped and we were on the road. Within 10 minutes of being on the road we were blessed with this rainbow across the sky.

We traveled all day. Flat Nathan wandered into Vermont and back across Massachusetts before we turned south in New York again. We had come full circle in our jaunt around Maine and New England. We stayed that night in a campground in the Catskill mountains and decided to stay long enough to do some tours.

In a word … complicated

We chose to visit Hyde Park New York in the Hudson River Valley. This is a beautiful area. No wonder the rich barons of the Industrial Revolution wanted to spend time here. But we chose to visit the historical sites tied to the Roosevelts the first and second day.

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The first day we spent hours at the Roosevelt home(s). Theirs is a very complicated story about relationships between Franklin, Eleanor and Franklin’s mother. The tours we took were very well done and left me with much to think about that night. Fascinating if you like the intrigue of human behavior. The next day we spent our time at the home of Eleanor and learned more about her life and it became even more intriguing. We finished our time at the Presidential library and museum which completed our history of the Roosevelts and the era they dominated by his four terms as president. Highly recommend this library if you have interest in the WWII era at all. It is so informative. We completed our two days with a quick look at the Vanderbilt Mansion just 7 miles north of Springwood, the home of the Roosevelts.

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Duty, Honor, Country

Our third day in New York was spent touring West Point. Our guide, Frank, had been a history teacher here for many years prior and is now doing the tours. We were kept in a group and really did not get a chance to get up close to the cadets barracks or some of the other buildings. Frank shared history about how the academy came to be and some of the famous people who attended there. We also were given a quick tour through the cemetery and the chapel. We were both glad we went. We now have a bucket list item…attend an Army/Navy football game. It sounds like so much fun. Hoping to go in 2020.

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