hudson river valley

This past weekend I took my last trip to New York to see Andrew. There's still graduation, but we both knew that would be different. We had such a good time. I got there Friday afternoon, and he'd pulled an all-nighter the night before so we took a late afternoon nap. He's always so still when sleeping, whereas I move around a lot. But I find that when we nap I stay still too, like the calming presence he has when I'm awake translates to my sleep too. I was surprised to wake up an hour later to find his hand still on mine, the way we'd fallen asleep.

After dinner we went to a bowling alley, which was packed because I guess there's not much else to do in those little towns. I didn't do too well, though I still think it's partly because my bowling ball was too light! Anyway, I felt like we were on a junior high date, not that I ever went on dates like that in junior high. I like having a sense of that innocence at this stage in my life.

On Saturday we went on a mission to find a KFC, because I'd been reading about KFC in my Food & Culture book on my bus ride over, and I developed a craving for it that wouldn't go away. It's always been my favorite fast food chain. So we found one on the internet and went out to look for it. The directions were screwy, and we stopped at two gas stations for assistance before getting there. Once there we got a bucket of extra crispy chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw and biscuits. Mmmmm. We headed back to West Point and had a nice short walk from the parking lot to his room. His campus is so incredibly beautiful. Green everywhere. He brought back a blanket from his room and we had a fried chicken picnic at Trophy Point, which is where the first two photos below are from. We took our time eating, and enjoyed lying atop soft ground and grass. The sun kept shifting, making us unbearably warm at some points and comfortably cool at others. It made me very aware of the environment.

I thought I'd never post photos like this but I love these, and want to remember them. He's always been a natural at these take-it-yourself pictures. I love how green everything looks in the background.




The bottom two, and most of the photos at the end, are from Bear Mountain Park, where we went on Sunday. It was gorgeous. The water was so green, there were so many people out doing family things. I'm always amazed by the sheer amount of trees in that area. After that he drove me to the train station so I could head back to the city. I've always loved that winding drive amidst the high hills from the Peekskill train station to West Point, or the other way. The first time I experienced it was during winter, and I've seen it through the seasons. It's breathtaking each time. I get really dizzy in his Jeep, which makes the breeze from open windows more refreshing. The trees stretch on and on, and even though it's all green, the view seems to change with every second. During this drive we stopped at the viewpoint, which I've wanted to do for awhile. It was beautiful, but not the same as seeing it from the moving car. I realized that I think a lot about those trips to his school in terms of motion and stillness. I feel so settled while moving along that road.