Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Weekend Adventures

One Saturday June we drove to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area a couple of hours away. It was a totally spontaneous trip, the best kind. It is a beautiful place and always so good to leave the city and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. We did a little hike with a little swim at the end...











always the perfect way to end a hike on a hot summer day before you turn around to hike out!

This past Friday (Matt occasionally doesn't have school on Friday) we went to do another spontaneous hike at Bear Mountain about an hour away in New York. When we got there it was raining pretty good so we decided to drive ten more minutes to the Military Academy at West Point. We have been before but it is a very cool place to be, very rich with history. This time we did a bus tour and learned a lot.

On our way there we stopped and took some photos at a look out point. It was not a very good day for picture taking unfortunately.



This is the Hudson at West Point. It is a beautiful spot and an area that once had to be protected from enemies.


This is part of a huge chain that was spread across the river to stop the British ships.

This is the Mess Hall where all the soldiers eat three meals a day.

This is a Civil War Memorial.

These last two pictures are of the Cathedral where the soldiers mostly go for church services and apparently weddings. It has the largest pipe organ of any church building anywhere in the world and we got to hear it being practiced!


The bus tour was difficult with Carlee; I am sure our fellow passengers were counting themselves unlucky to have gotten on the same tour as us. We also visited the museum that showcases lots of weapons. There are soldiers all about the area in training. It is a pretty incredible place to witness and to contemplate our countries history and the price for our freedom.

5 comments:

Wendy and Spencer said...

Wow that chapel is beautiful! Looks like you guys have found some really fun things to do! Beautiful pictures as always :)

Emily said...

You take amazing pictures. I especially like the one of the mushroom :)

It looks like you found some great weekend spots.

Michelle said...

Oh my gosh, what a beautiful area!

Molly said...

Julee you have to be one of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen! Miss you all!

Doug & Deb said...

Beautiful places - beautiful child - beautiful mommy & daddy. You have it all. I love you guys.