Memorial Day Weekend 2006


Over the Memorial Day weekend we went to West Point to see Kristina's sister's graduation. We went to some of the events the day before, including an awards ceremony and a dance. Kristina and I went to a nice German Restaurant while the rest of her family went to a banquet. While waiting for it to end, a helicopter landed disturbingly close nearby, possibly to pick up General Schwarzkopf who was also at the banquet.

The next day was the actual graduation. Luckily we managed to avoid the huge line of cars waiting to enter. It was cloudy all morning but I still managed to get a bit of a sunburn. The president was the speaker, here you can see him giving Kristina's sister her diploma:
Jen and the President

The president gave a long, rambling speech explaining how he is just like Harry Truman.

At the end, they all got to throw their hats into the air:
Grad Hat Toss

Afterward the sun came out and we went to the pinning ceremony, where the newly graduated students ceremonially were given their new rank. We helped with the move-out process, and then traveled back to Ithaca.
After we got back to Ithaca, Marie (who was roughly in the area) came to visit. We dragged her around to see the local sights.

She knew of a secret waterfall that only locals are supposed to know about near Hector NY. So we went there. It was really pretty, though we had to wade through some pretty cold water to get there:
Peach Orchard Falls

We then went to the Finger Lakes National Forest which is the only national forest in New York state.

We went along the Ravine trail, which goes along a small stream that has a few waterfalls:
FLNF Ravine

FLNF Ravine

We then drove along some dirt roads to walk along the gorge trail. Throughout the hikes, caterpillars kept dropping from above into our hair. There were also a few waterfalls along this trail:
FLNF Gorge Trail

After that we took advantage of our Empire Passport to do the upper loop of Treman Park, then relaxed by going to the Commons to get some Thai food, and then some ice cream.

Monday was hot and humid, summer has finally arrived. It feels like vacation time, but I have a few deadlines to make before my next big trip...


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