Day 9 5/30



I did not want to get up this morning. I was all comfy under my blankets but I got up anyways because it was time for breakfast. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and headed out for our boat ride. I realized that our van rides are an adventure all on their own. On the way we discussed twitter and how/what to tweet.                                            





 

On the boat we learned about Lake George and the surrounding area. The owner of the boat was very nice, and was happy to give us the tour. I found it interesting that Lake George was separated by a river. However due to water rising it is no longer like that. I also was shocked to be told that some people use Lake George as their drinking water. I wouldn’t drink it, especially after being told Wednesday that water should be at least 95%. So that’s surprises me that people drink out of it, it’s hard to believe that it is 95% clean. The lake was beautiful, today was a nice day to be out on the water. After our boat ride we went into town to walk around and get lunch. We ate lunch at a nice dinner then walked through town a bit until we had to leave. We picked a perfect time to leave because once we got in the van it started to down pour.

Once back at Sage, I relaxed for a bit. I have to put this in here because I was super excited about it. While relaxing I saw the trailer for Godzilla, I have been really wanting to see it, so I texted my sister asking her if she wanted to see it with me. We ended up going to a later showing. Let’s just say it was AMAZING, I don’t want to give away anything but I defiantly suggest going to see it Godzilla fan or not it was an awesome movie!!!!!!

 

Day 8 5/29

Today we headed out to Lake George to do some community service and to spend the night there. We arrived at Wiawaka and got right to work, there was a lot to get down.  My job ended up being raking. After a while we took a break for lunch. I took my lunch right down to the dock to be near the water. After lunch there was a little bit more work to get done but when we finished we would have the rest of the day to ourselves until dinner. After putting my bathing suit on I went right in the water. I am proud to say I was the first one in the water. Although it was a bit cold I got used to it after a while I got used to it.  I laughed as Krista got in the water, she was freaking out over the cold water. After we swam for a bit we all hung out on the dock and relaxed. I took this time to catch up on my reading, while others took this time to catch up on their sleep. After a while I wanted to cool off so I went back in the water. Then I decided to lay out in the sun a little bit longer before heading up to change.  While Krista and I were waiting for Dinner  we had the opportunity to talk to a women who worked at Wiawaka when she was a senior in High School. She said how not much has changed yet it was still different. She was very friendly and I enjoyed talking to her. When dinner was ready the bell was rung to call everyone for dinner.



My Yummy Fudge

After dinner we went in to town. We walked into to the many shops there. After a while we returned to camp, so we could start the bonfire. At that point I was a little overtired after getting up early and going to bed later the night before, and when I am overtired I get really silly and weird (while weirder). At the Bonfire we had some Marshmallows and all had a good time. Hopefully I didn’t scare anyone since I was overtired (I’ve been told I’m quite creepy when overtired). Today was a great day, I really wish we stayed there longer.

 

Day 7 5/28

Today was the day we were all dreading but it still has arrived. Today was the trip to The Albany County Sewer District, DUH DUH DUUHHHH!!!!!!! Although the trip wasn’t that bad actually it was very interesting, if it weren’t for the smell I wouldn’t mind taking another trip there. I really liked the tour guide, probably my favorite so far. He joked and was very friendly even placed bets on if we ask “If anyone has fallen in”, no one did. However the funny thing is I was thinking about asking that but I didn’t. He even pretended to know where Oriskany (my hometown) is. Although I was upset when he asked about pie, because after that I was really in the mood for some pie!

 I never knew how complicated the process of waste was. They talked about how flooding is catastrophic for them, especially after the flood that happened a couple years ago. My hometown was affected by the storm and faced flooding issues. My first thought wasn’t “oh no I hope the sewage treatment plant is okay” or “Omg what if the sewage treatment plant was damage”, at the time I didn’t realize how problematic it is when you combine flooding and sewage treatment plants. Although not something I was looking forward to but the trip to the Sewage treatment plant was actually fun (except for the smell).

After presentations we went back to the lounge to all have pizza and watch Pitch Perfect. We attempted to Monopoly but that didn’t last long. I really enjoyed bonding over pizza and Pitch Perfect.  I am glad that I am going to get to spend this summer with an awesome group of girls and even an awesome group of professors.  

Day 6 5/27



Fort Johnson

Inside Fort Johnson

Today we went to Fort Johnson, Johnson Hall, and Mabee Farm. At Fort Johnson we toured the house of William Johnson and we learnt about his life. He played a huge role in the French and Indian War and the events leading up to Revolutionary War. He handled the relationship with the Indians and British. Because of this it was not uncommon for his house to be housing many Indians at the time. He did have a family but if I was his kid I would not be happy about giving up my bed for someone else. I also would not be comfortable with having to wake up and there being a chance that my floor would be full of people sleeping on it. Although Johnson did have a nice house, many rooms were set up to entertain his guests. After Fort Johnson we next went to another home of Johnson’s, Johnson Hall.





Johnson Hall

Butler's Bed

His second house was defiantly a lot nicer. Despite it being nicer then his first house, Johnson Hall shared a lot of similarities with Fort Johnson. The biggest similarity being it was set up to house and entertain many guests at the time. One difference was he had his master bedroom on the first floor. Johnson had developed hip issues after being shot so he had is room placed on the first floor to make it easier for himself. I will admit he was one tough cookie after getting shot three separate times and dealing with infection, he still continued to do what he did. What I found interesting about this house was it had hallways that were almost like secret passage ways for the servants to travel floor to floor without disturbing the guests. I also enjoyed the basement (not just because the cool air was refreshing). The basement is where the Kitchen and the Butlers Pantry was. Except he probably wasn't the best butler because he forgot to make his own bed. After Johnson Hall we headed out to our next stop, Mabee Farm.

At Mabee’s farm we toured what used to be the house the family lived in. It is impressive that the house is about 300 years old. Through the years it has been extended but it is still the same house it was when the house was first built. The family grew out over the years building an Inn near the three main ways of transportation at the time. What I liked about the farm was the Mabee’s were just regular people (maybe a little more well off then some), they weren’t anyone Important yet they were able to keep the land in the family up until 1999. The Mabee farm was right alongside the Mohawk River giving us a chance to go in a boat. Most of us got the chance to ride in the boat even row it. They used the Mohawk River, then later they mostly used the Erie Canal to travel supplies from East to West. At that point all I could think about was the Erie Canal Song that we learned in like 3^rd grade, it’s one of those songs that will easily get stuck in your head. I would not be able to sit in that boat for the two and a half weeks it took to get “….from Albany to Buffalo”,         (<- lyrics from the Erie Canal song, as I am now singing this as I typed and couldn’t resist). I love being out on the water but that would get boring really fast. After Mabee Farm we ended our day and headed back to Sage.

Mabee's Home



Out on the boast

Day 5 5/26

Happy Memorial Day. It has been a couple years since I have been to a Memorial Day Parade, it was usually tradition for my family and neighbors to go together to the one in Rome but for the past couple years we haven’t been going to the parade. So it was nice to finally go to a parade again this year. The Lansingburgh Parade is about the same size of the one in Rome. We arrived just as the parade was starting, so we broke off and went to find a place to watch the parade.

Once Krista and I found an open area we stood and waited for the parade to officially begin. While we waited we decided to talk some of the people who were also there to watch the parade. There were plenty of people around to talk to. A young women we talked to was there with her family, her husband and two children, she is actually from Lansingburgh and lived a couple of blocks away from where the parade was. She also said her and her family, when she was younger, would come to the parade every year and she wanted to continue that with her family. It impressed her that Krista and I were doing a summer semester. Another man we talked to was there with his fiancé, they had never been to the Lansingburgh parade and they heard it was a nice parade and decided to come. After talking to more people we decide to watch the parade itself.

The parade was nice not to different from other parades I have been to, fire trucks, bands and floats for the veterans. They tossed candy out like most parades do but sadly I didn’t get much candy when they were tossing it out. Although I did get excited when I saw the classic Chevy Impala,

which was awesome! I think it was a 1967, I could be wrong (supernatural reference) but it was still awesome!! One thing I noticed was a man, who was obviously a veteran, who was in a wheelchair would stand up and salute the passing officers and servicemen and women. While there was a lot of good spirits in the community, everyone being friendly and supportive, however there were some negative ones. Across the street there was a man with his family who started yelling at people for blocking his view. He then got in a yelling match with the father of a kid he was yelling at. People like that should stay home, it ruins the parade for everyone else. Luckily everything else about the day was good, especially being treated to ice cream after.    

Day 4 5/23



Inside Cole's studio

It has only been the first week and I am already loving the Summer on the Hudson, and today was a great way to end the week.  We traveled to Cedar Grove to see the houses of Thomas Cole and Fredrick Church, also between sites we hiked through the Catskills.

Inside Cole's Studio

The drive there was an adventure all itself, Andor drove the van for the first time. We followed behind Michael. Along the way we ended up getting a bit lost. In the end we made it to our destination. The Thomas Cole site was nice, I enjoyed getting a chance to see more of his paintings, and I also liked hearing more about his backstory. Although the tour guide at the site was a bit annoying, overall I had a good time.

We next took a hike in the Catskills, to an actual site of one of his paintings. This was defiantly the best part of the week. I am an outdoor person so I defiantly enjoy hiking and hope we have more days like this. I loved the hike, the scenery was beautiful. For me what I love about hiking is getting away from the sound of cars and technology and all only hearing the sounds of nature (however we all had are phones to take pictures.) Hearing the waterfall, the flow of the river and the other sounds of nature to me is the best part of hiking. Once the group reached the site, we had the option to continue up the path to the top part of one of the waterfalls. The path was a little harder but it was fun, once we reached the top the view was incredible. Going back down was a little bit harder but we all got down safely.  

Church's House

After a break for lunch we next went to Fredrick Church’s house. His house in my opinion was defiantly better then Coles, the outside was breathe taking. I thought it was cool that he added his own personal touch to the house. As the house was built he used his paintings to model for the design and color. Sadly we were unable to take pictures of the inside. This was the end of our first week and I cant wait for what the next five have in store for us.  



Day 3 5/22



Krista admiring the Cube

Storm King On the Hudson

Day four took us to Albany Institute of History and Art. Before we left we previewed some art that we were going to be seeing at the Albany Institute. Once we arrived we went to the second floor to view the Egyptian exhibit. To me the Egyptian exhibit was very fascinating. One part in particular was an

x-ray of the feet of people who have been mummified, they became misshapen because of the way they were wrapped. After viewing that Exhibit we went up to the third floor to view the art. Personally I enjoyed seeing the art after we viewed it back at Sage. I noticed things I didn’t see originally. I also liked seeing the different kinds of styles, there was such a huge variety throughout the exhibit. My two favorites were Storm King on the Hudson by Homer Dodge Martin and the Cube thing (I forgot the actual name). I don’t know why but those were two that stood out to me the most. The cube was so fascinating every angle you looked at it the colors would appear to be almost melting. For Storm King on the Hudson I just really admired the color and scenery. When we finished our art viewing it was time for lunch. Since we had nowhere to eat we decided to find a park, we ended up at the park in Troy. It was refreshing to eat lunch and just relax. After eating we spent time playing on the playground! 

Enjoying Lunch on the merry-go-round

           We then returned to Sage. At that point I had not yet finished Down from Troy a Doctor Comes of Age, the book for book club. The next three hours were spent reading. Compared to other books I have read this book was very interesting. Reading a book were the author grew up in Troy was cool because I could relate, I knew most of the places he mentioned from his childhood. Luckily I completed the book. At book club we discussed the book and each brought two questions to ask the group. Many people brought up interesting points.  While there were times we did get of topic we still somehow were relating it to the book. Book Club gave us a chance to discuss what we felt and viewed about the book. I really enjoy today’s book club and I am looking forward to the next one (and not just because we had pizza)!

Day 2 5/21

I’m still not used to getting up early (especially after staying up late) but hopefully soon I will get in routine. Like yesterday, today our day started at 8:30 in the morning. We reviewed some of our blogs from yesterday. First Krista showed us hers, then Katie. I didn’t want to show mine because I felt like I did everything wrong after seeing Krista’s and Katie’s. However after much persuading by Krista, I showed everyone my blog and it went better then I attended.

My visitors pass for the tour

The plan for the day was for us to go to the NYS Museum, do an Architecture walk, and go to the locks of Troy. However in the end we only went to the NYS Museum. At the museum we went behind the scenes of everything. We got the chance to see and learn about many of the artifacts that weren’t yet on display. Although as time went on it became harder to focus. Standing in the same spot for a long duration didn’t help the situation, if we were able to sit or move more I would have focused better. Although everyone speaking spoke about something interesting, but as the day went on it became harder to pay attention.

  

We next were able to walk around the museum. We broke up into groups and were assigned three areas to research and gather information on for a future presentation. Pamela and I were assigned Minerals of New York, Birds of New York and Longhouse. Both the Birds of New York and Minerals of New York were similar in that they all varied in each area. The environment is what controlled what birds would live where and where certain minerals would be located. I didn’t realize the huge variety of birds and minerals in New York. We then went to the long house exhibit, in elementary school I learned a lot about the Iroquois and other Native Americans. I even remember taking a field trip to a long house in I think third or fourth grade. Much of what I saw was stuff I learned but going to the exhibit helped me remember what Ilearned back in elementary school.                                                                                                                                                 

After we finished looking at our three exhibits we wondered through the rest of the museum. My favorite exhibit was the World Trade Center exhibit, to me it was very moving. Seeing the fire truck  (seen above) from the scene just sends chills through you and reading the timeline from the day just made me realize how fast it really happened.  Although the moment was ruined by the children who were there on the field trip who were just extremely rude. They were lucky I didn’t yell at them. When our time was up we meet up at 3 and enjoyed the carousal. Putting an end to the second day of Summer on the Hudson.

Day 1 5/20

A beautiful building in Troy

Residents of Troy
            have their recyclables out

My summer on the Hudson began today. It started bright and early at 8:30am and we all met up in Hart Hall 206. We were soon sent off to walk through Troy to take pictures. As I was walking around one thing that stuck out to me there are a lot of perks to living in Troy. One perk is how Troy is trying to improve itself by planting trees or having residents recycle. Another perk of the city is how much there is to see or do. The city is filled with beautiful buildings and sculptures. Troy also has a variety of little restaurants and shops. It wasn’t until my walk through Troy, that I learned that there are some nice perks to living in troy.

After about an hour of walking through Troy we met up at our meeting place to discuss what we found. As we each showed our pictures, we were taught about Blogger and ways to take better pictures. This helped me throughout the rest of the day.

Fish trapped in the Ephemeral Pool

The next adventure of the day took us to Peebles Island. The task we had to complete before we left was to collect three separate things, and place each of them into their own baggie. I collected muck from the river, Goose poop, and a caterpillar. To help search for items, we waked around in the water. One thing we found was some fish in a Ephemeral Pool, because the water level was high then lowered trapping the fish. We picked them up and placed them back in the river where they belong. This saved the fish from dying from either starvation or predator attacks. We then followed a trail. Along that trail we saw a deer and a snake. Most of the girls were afraid of the snake, however, I didn't mind touching or holding the snake. Today was the perfect day to go to Peebles Island and today was a perfect way start off this summer.