Ashley came up this past weekend, and we crammed a bunch into 2 days. Here… Continue reading

Karey & I were up in NYC today to drop off some things at Columbia. Saw this outside Uris Hall… Continue reading

The Plain, The Cadet Mess, and in the background, the Cadet Chapel

Today was officially Greg’s last day to be a cadet. At the parade this morning, Greg’s class (of 2008) was officially dismissed, and the Class of 2009 took over the Corps of Cadets. I don’t think Greg minded this in the least.

Dan, Greg, Karey, & Sue after the Parade. Check out the sweet hat.

After the parade we went down to the RV for a bit, then did a bit of gift shopping and met up with Bob, Maryann, Mandy, Bobby, and Lisa as they finally made it onto campus. Scott & Mark were strangely missing, and we later found them to have left Penn State at around 9 PM. As I

Greg, a Civil Engineering grad, stands next to his team’s bridge

Today was an interesting day. Karey & I sorta relaxed a bit and let Dan & Sue go to most of the events. A parade this morning (that I dropped them off at), and a cookout tonight (that I wanted to go to but couldn’t due to timing). We did go to the Engineering open house and see the bridge pictured above. Next to it is my brother-in-law, who I am sure is so thrilled that he’s been photographed to death this week (And has more to come).

Karey Snaps A Shot!

We sat in on the Engineering awards ceremony, and saw Greg get a lapel pin and sticker (for his hard hat) indicating

West Point Museum

Today we stayed mostly around the Point, visiting the West Point Museum (Which is right outside the main gate). The museum is really more history than just West Point, with features on large and small artillery, wars throughout history, American wars, and more. They have some other pretty neat finds, like Adolf Hitler’s personal gold-plated pistol, and a full-scale replica of “Fat Man”, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

West Point Train Station

We walked back from the Museum through Highland and ate at a Chinese buffet (Good food, bad service). After getting back on base (Much easier when you have no trunk to open for Security, they scan your drivers’ license and you walk right through), we

Waiting for the Metro-North train from Garrison to NYC

On Tuesday we went up to NYC from West Point. Before we left I had to take care of some computer issues on a few servers several hundred miles away. So the day was interesting – see something historical, check Pocket PC to make sure nothing blew up, see something historical, etc.. Anyway, we took the Metro-North down to Grand Central Terminal, and then made our way down to Battery Park and onto the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Lady Liberty

We elected to stay on the boat and not file off at the Statue. Probably a good choice considering how long the tour at Ellis Island lasted. We took the

The view from our campsite, looking at the Hudson river.

Today we hung around the West Point area, the base and also out into a few little towns to buy supplies for the week. We’re set up in a parking lot on the North Dock on West Point’s campus, with a very nice view of the Hudson river and some interesting and friendly “neighbors”.

Karey peeks out the RV door!

After we got back from getting supplies, we met up with Greg and heard how he was doing on his last week at the Point. We then went and watched their graduation formation exercises, and got to see Greg lead his company (Marching around the square, a la Monty Python?). Today was a

Well, I’m registered, checked-in, and now the proud owner of a Microsoft MVP shirt. Unfortunately since my body is still thinking it’s on the east coast, I’m up extremely early for my normally sleep-loving self! It’s 8:54 local time now, but feels much later (Perhaps around noon?). Our first official meeting is “Lunch” which is scheduled to start around Lunch time, e.g. later than I’m thinking lunch should be. Anyway I had a breakfast sandwich to hold me over, and am psyched about getting to meet some MVP friends (Although not sure how I’ll meet them, I figure I’ll seek out Jason sometime in the next few hours, once I’m relatively sure he’s gotten in as he was flying down this morning).

Seattle weather… Continue reading