New York Gilmen / Lerman Natural History 6-28-07

New York Gilmen / Lerman Natural History Museum 6-28-07

Today we walked to the New York History Museum which is right across the street from Central Park which is right across the street from the Natural History Museum. So, as you can there was a lot of oooing and awwwing. The talk was just basically what we will be doing tomorrow since we are taking a bus tour of the city. Yeh, the museums were neat for the first 3 hours. After that I must have been getting tired. I walked around with Janet Parker and Mary Horn. It was nice and cool in the museums but when we walked out the blast of warm humid air feels like a blast furnace. There are quite a few people that have gone to see a Broadway show, but I really don’t have any interest.

This evening I walked down the street and marveled at what macrocosm cities have become. I try to imagine if this were my home instead of a place to visit and it’s so very hard to imagine. What really struck me was the fact that so many people eat out. I suppose there are some here, but I haven’t seen a major grocery store since we passed one about 100 miles up the road. I know that there must be some around here, but all I’ve seen so far are the small convenience stores.
Tomorrow have a bus tour of the city that should be fun. I am planning to see the NY Yankees play the Oakland As tomorrow as Janet Parker has an extra ticket. It should be an enjoyable day.

Pics

http://picasaweb.google.com/jnshoop/GLNNYNaturalHistoryMuseum62807?authkey=WN9YWStEs5E

The Plimoth Plantation June 27, 2007

The day started with a shuttle ride to the Plantation site. It is set up to recognize the Mayflower, but also to show what impact it had on the Native Americas. It was, of course, the beginning of the end for the Native Americans and their way of life. The re-creation part was the village. The people were acting as if they were caught in time. They had period clothes on as well as using the language of the period. If you were to ask them a question of anything that would beyond their time period they would answer you with something like, “Sir, I know not of what you speak.” One guy was railing against the leaders of their group and how the “investors’ back in England would be very disappointed with the choices that these leaders were making.

It always amazes me and helps me realize how similar and how very much different these people were. They were not unlike ourselves as they were looking for a better opportunity for themselves and their families. They had to put up with so much difficulty with this transition, but they had many of the same problems we have today.
What struck me was the fact that the Native Americans while recognizing other tribes, did not lay claim to land the way the new white settlers did.

There is a certain freedom that I recognize in being here alone. Some parts of it I like, and some I don’t. If we stop somewhere, I can take off and go wherever I want. All I have to do is find out when we are to be back. I really don’t even need to tell my roommate which by the way is a guy of about 32 years old by the name of Van Granger. He is also a 5th grade teacher from Grants Pass. He’s pretty relaxed and doesn’t get too uptight about things. If I want to go to dinner I can just wander around by myself and go wherever I want. On the flip side it is kind of lonely traveling by myself. I didn’t realize this until we stopped at a grocery store and everyone was running off in pairs or groups to shop for lunch. It reminded me of the Green Tortoise Trips where everyone is acting in very much the same way. It is only the fourth day and I’m already thinking these types of thoughts. Sometime I feel like a ghost watching the happenings around me. Not that I never talk to anyone, it’s just that I don’t make much effort to ‘hang out” with people. It’s kind of nice. Yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s not all bad either. It’s good that I like being myself. I would like to share these experiences with someone. I wish you all could be here to share this experience with me. It does bring back great memories of our trip across the US. That was fun.

To its credit, the area between Plimoth, MA and New York has its beauty, but I marvel how many people are here. Even the less developed areas have been impacted by man. The trash on a trail, the wrapper hidden in the grass, the can floating in a waterway, it’s a sign of man’s impact and I wonder what the future will bring. We see our present environment as our reality, but what would a person living here 300 years ago think of today’s world. I have to think that if there is a God he is very saddened to see the state of Earth. The transition is so slow in our lives that all too often we cannot recognize the degradation of the natural world. One of the presentations that I saw today is probably made me start thinking of this. The point was made how large some of the trees were when the people first arrived in 1620. They said that some of the trees were 10’ across at the stump and now today, a large tree is one that is 3’ at the stump. Also, the presenters said that 20 years after the immigrants arrived they had cut down for farming 75% of the forests which meant that the animals that depended on those forestlands were not able to live. The term “carrying capacity” comes to mind. I wonder at what point the Earth will reach that capacity.

Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/jnshoop/PlimothPlantation62707?authkey=0EDZ6j6miKY

The Mayflower II June 26, 2007

The Mayflower II June 26,2007
I love traveling, I got carded again. Maybe I look younger on the East Coast. After having a real lobster dinner in Plimoth, MA. we went to see the Mayflower II tied up to the dock. This ship was built in 1955 as near as possible to the actual ship. Since there weren’t any real good written records about the Mayflower they had to use what they knew based on ships of the era.

We were met by this lady dressed up as the wife of the Master of the voyage. Very soon we learned that she was ‘of a higher station’ than us. She would not proceed with her presentation unless the women curtsied and the men took off their hats and bowed to her. (Yes, I did)

She was totally in character for almost an hour. The tour wasn’t really very long, but it was long enough as we were led below the deck and listened to her talk for about 40 minutes. The space was about as big as our living room, but much more crowded. They even had about a 25’ boat stored there that would have taken up lot of passenger space. There were 102 passengers cramped in a very small space. I don’t remember how long the actual voyage took, but 45 minutes was long enough for me, and we didn’t even smell a chamber pot!

Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/jnshoop/SturbridgeVillagePlimothMayflowerIIJune262007?authkey=KzhfzaNimX8

Monday, June 25, 2007 Salem / Lowell, Mass.

Monday, June 25, 2007 Salem / Lowell, Mass.
I forgot what the air feels like here. It’s damp, heavy, and has a swampy smell to it. Crescent City probably has the same humidity index, but it’s cooler, so we don’t notice it.

The first thing that caught my eye was the streets here do not have concrete curbs, they’re granite. Cut granite. I asked the tour guide why that’s so and he didn’t really know, that’s just the way it is. It’s always been that way, and that’s the way it always will be.

Our tour started in the harbor area of Salem. He told us that since the ground was so poor here the only thing that the colonists could do was depend on the sea, so many of them became either fishermen or privateers, paid and sanctioned pirates. Salem became a big and important seaport. In fact, it was more important than Boston. Both ports developed a sea trade business. He shared an interesting fact; when the ships left from Boston they went around the tip of Africa to trade in the Orient. When the ships left Salem they went around the tip of South America and along the coast of North America. That explains why when Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia they were surprised to see the natives were wearing British uniforms and had metal pots, something unheard for the Indians to have, unless they traded for them.

We walked to the center of Salem where they have a memorial to the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, the stores in the town really attempt to capitalize on the theme as every other store is a witch themed store. Either that or a candle store. I didn’t realize that there were so many people in need of candles!

After about an hour bus ride and short nap we were in a town called Lowell, Mass. It is a National Historic Landmark recognizing the significance of the textile industry to the area. It is very much like a western logging town where the entire area is dependent on that one industry. Since the governors could no longer sanction privateers they had to do something else. The land was not fit for farming as there is so much granite here. They did have to import the cotton, but they built an entire town and industry based on the production of textiles. The working conditions were terrible. They had the machines in operation when we were there and it was so loud that they gave us ear plugs to use. I did my small part to support the community by buying a cotton bole (sp) for $1.25. It’s an actual cotton ball with seeds still in it and the little cap stem still attached. It’s actually pretty cool unless you’ve already seen one before…which I hadn’t. Most of the people that I raved to it about had already seen one, so they weren’t too impressed.

I can’t imagine working in that kind of environment doing the same thing for 10-12 hours per day. Anyway, the textile industry went away to other countries which in and of itself presents a number of problems. Are we to buy American made clothes at a higher price that support our own economy, or buy foreign made clothes where we may be contributing to the exploitation of people? In effect, we may be supporting a new market much like the town of Lowell, MA at its inception.

Now we are at a place called Sturbridge, MA where on Tuesday we are to see a re-creation of a colonial village.

Sat. June 23, 2007

Medford June 23

Electronic ticketing is pretty cool. I’m always amazed how things work when they work well. After I had cleared Security and they determined that I was not carrying any illegal weapons or 12 ounce bottles of water, I was fishing around in my pockets while waiting in the boarding area and discovered I had one of those snap-off knives. I promptly threw if away.

The flight from Medford to Salt Lake City was pretty uneventful. I sat next to Mary Horn, a kindergarten teacher at Bess Maxwell. After we got through the formalities of who and where and marveling at the aridness of Eastern Oregon and Idaho I had to regale her with the potential of electric cars. She was very patient.

The mountains were for the most part pretty barren and had little to no snow on them. As we came closer to Salt Lake City there were more and more cultivated fields that were round that very visible against the light tan color of the ground. Then just before we dropped down into Salt Lake City there was this huge open pit mine. I’m not sure if it was a gold mine or a copper mine, but it was BIG, and wide, and deep. Salt Lake City sits in a huge bowl. I really wonder what Joseph Smith was really thinking when he said that his troupe was going to stop. It’s in the middle of a desert! Maybe he just didn’t want to walk any farther. And it really is a huge lake. Salt Lake is supposed to be 6 times saltier than the ocean, which means even really skinny people can float. Besides the snow melt from the surrounding mountains (it really is in a bowl) there is only large creek / smaller river that flows into it. It’s called the Jordan River (duh) because it flows out of a lake and into a dead sea.

Anyway, as soon as we touched down with our hopes up them were dashed when we walked through the terminal. Our connecting flight was cancelled. So, after walking to Customer Service we found out that we couldn’t get to Boston that evening as planned, we could only get as far as Cincinnati, Ohio. Now, I don’t really know what Cincinnati is famous for except the old TV show WKRP in Cincinnati. Besides that, the flight would not even leave until about 4 in the afternoon. That meant that after we devoured the lunch purchased with the $7 meal ticket they gave us, there would be a looonng afternoon to waste.

I love Dave Clark’s Grill. It seems that celebrities do things like this when there popularity starts to wane. They open restaurants, or some type of business with their name on it. I love Dave Clark’s Grill. I went in and ordered a Philly Cheese Sandwich (no, they’re not better than yours, Bun) and a beer. Both were good, but not great. But, the best part is, that, they carded me. That hasn’t happened for 25 years. I love Dave Clark’s Grill! I’ve never been prouder to pull out my wallet and show my drivers license. It’s much better than pulling it out for a CHP.

Anyway, lunch took about 40 minutes, and that includes reading the USA Today from front to back, twice. I was left with a large portion of the afternoon. Now, I figured that this may be the last time that I visit so I better make the best of it. After all, the last time I consulted my top 1,000 places to visit before I die, this didn’t even make the top 10,000. As I was wandering around I asked a Security Guard how difficult it would be to get back in if I left and he said all I would need was a Boarding Pass. Heck, I had plenty of those; Medford, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, maybe even a Boston one. I then asked him if he could recommend any interesting places to visit while I was here. He was waiting for that question. He told me of a Shuttle Van that was free and takes you into the city. To be honest it was the word 'free' that really got my attention. Of course it drops you off in front of the Mormon Tabernacle. What they heck, it was free. They have pickups and drop offs every ½ hour. Perfect. Anyway, the people in the van were able to elaborate more on it. It seems that young people in the church can do this as their mission. They serve as tour guides and as evangelists; they even slip in some information on the buildings, which are, I might add, amazing. Someone sure had a good vision.

No, I did not convert to Mormonism even though they offered to help me see the errot of my ways many, many times during the course of the afternoon. I think I was probably offered more literature here than any other place on the two-week trip.

Father's Day

Today was a '12 on the 10 scale kind of day.' On Friday Randy asked me what I wanted to do for Father's Day. I'm sure he was somewhat reticent to actually pose the question to me, as he's never sure what I'll want to do. I told him I wanted to go to Hooper Peak, or at least where my cache site 'Hooper Peak optional' was at. Now, this probably won't mean anything to you unless you already geocache. If you don't, you can go to 'geocaching.com' and find out about it.

Yes, that is Hooper Peak in the background, so named by me. Chances are no one out of our immediate family calls it by this name. But, the way I look at it, a person has to start somewhere. I have plans of actually painting some time of plaque and placing it up there, then if someone finds it in the next hundred years, they'll probably just say, 'huh,' and throw it down the hill. But, I'll know the real truth.

Andrew and I camped at this spot a couple of years ago based on the whim I had after looking at the background over Sanger Lake. I think my comment was something like, " I wonder if anyone has every climbed to the top of that mountain?" So, we did it, and, yes, it was worth every scratch of it. No, there's not a trail. So, it's a by-guess, and by-golly kind of adventure, but the view is awesommmmee! You can actually see the ocean to the west and Mt. Shasta to the east. (Another great memory)

Thanks, Randy, I had a great day. Your time is your greatest gift to me, and I appreciated every moment of it.
Love, Dad
P.S. Randy really isn't cold. We had to make the best of the only patch of snow we came across.

Mo' pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jnshoop/FatherSDayHooperPeakOptionalRandy61707