May 30 Lake George Day 2 Tour around the Lake

So today we got to go out on a Pontoon boat. I thought this was pretty good because i have never been out on a pontoon. We learned about the history of how the lake started. I didn't know that Lake George used to be two lakes. It formed into one lake because of the melting of the glaciers. It is pretty cool how they lakes still act like two lakes though. There is the northern lake and the southern lake. The southern lake has a an area in the lake that is called the dead area. This area of the Lake is anoxic, which means it has little to no oxygen. This is not good for the wild life of the lake because nothing can survive in this area; the worst part being that this anoxic area of the lake is growing. It makes me wonder what they are doing to slow the progression of this growing area. We got to learn the history of the Sagamore resort. This resort is extremely gorgeous, however it is very expensive. The resort building looks like a modern day castle; it is truly amazing. The lake view from the boat was breath taking. I have been out on the river in a boat before, but the mountain views are definitely something new.  Andor and Michael chose not to go on the pontoon, they wanted to go out on the canoe. We even saw them when we were touring the lake. The boat ride only lasted about an hour, which kinda sucked, but it was still fun. When we left the boat, we went to lunch at a small diner at Bolton Landing. Krysti, Michelle, Krista, and me sat at one table and Katie, Andra, Kassiana, Rose, and Pamela sat at the next table. I thought it was pretty funny that we all split up, and ended up at the same table. Lake George was a great experience, and I learned so much about the lake that I didn't know, and it was a great bonding experience for us.

View from the dock

Everyone on the Pontoon

Mountain across the Lake

Sagamore Resort

View from the Dock

Toby helping Michael and Andor out of the canoe

May 29 Wiawaka Community Service Day 1 in Lake George

Our first overnight. I have been to Lake George many times, though I have never been to Wiawaka Holiday House. This was an amazing site. We started off with a little community service, which wasn't bad, a little raking, a little sweeping, and little dusting. . I thought the history of Wiawaka was interesting. We were told that this resort-type getaway was created by the ladies in Troy as an all women's getaway. The views on the lake were spectacular. These houses were over one hundred years old, and still in very good shape. The picture below shows the house that we stayed in. The professors stayed in the Fuller house which is the first house that you come by. It was here that we ate our meals and gathered for the days activities.

The Mayflower house where we stayed

The sign on the Fuller House 

View from the Waka Lodge

Woods behind the houses

Waka Lodge

Dock

After our lunch break, and all of the work was done, we headed down to the dock where we got to swim and tan. We did this for three hours. The water was 58 degrees, just a little chilly, and the groundskeeper Joe, told us that someone just a few weeks earlier got hypothermia because they got stuck in the water in their canoes for twenty minutes. I thought this was crazy because I was in the water for a hour or so. No I do not have hypothermia. We had so much fun, and a few of us even got sunburn. Around five o'clock, We heard the dinner bell. Michael made us some awesome spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread with butter. 

"Come as Strangers Leave as Friends"

I have to say that the best part of the day was after dinner when we ventured off into the village. It was kind of late and it's still early in the season, therefore not many of the stores were open. We still had fun and walked around. I spent way more money that I should have spent, but its okay. Michelle and Krista even posed for a picture with Batman!

Michelle and Krista posing with Batman

Upon our return to Wiawaka, we sat around the campfire. It was here that we searched for sticks so we could roast our marshmallows. We sang songs from Spongebob which include , the Campfire Song Song and Goofy Goober. It was a fun day and though we didn't need to have roommates on this trip, I still chose to room with Krista, in haunted room 6 :).

May 28: Sewer Treatment Plant

So today we went to the Albany County Sewer District water treatment plant. This is the day that most of the class was dreading, however, it didn't bother me because my uncle works at the Kingston sewer treatment plant. I have never seen the inside though, so this was a new experience for me.  This is a medium sized treatment plant, this means that about 23,000,000 gallons of water go through the plant every day. I couldn't even imagine how much a large treatment plant filters every day. I thought it was impressive that the state regulations for how purified the water has to be is 90%, and the Albany County sewer district purifies their water 95%. Craig, our guide, said he would still not drink the water though, because there is bacteria in the water, though it may not be harmful, it still may not react with our bodies very well.

Stages of Water Purification

I thought it was pretty cool how the plant uses a lot of gravity to get many of the solid pollutants out of the water. the plant is set up to use as little electricity as possible, though their electric bill is still 50,000 dollars per month. I can believe that with all of the heavy machinery that they use. The following four pictures are pretty much follow the process in which the water travels. The pumps in the picture directly below pump the water to the narrow tanks where gravel, rocks, etc, are removed from the water. From here the water flows into the wide tanks where skimmers go through the water to any smaller rocks, and sediments and also oil/grease, is removed from the water. Then the water flows into the next tanks to get injected with bacteria to break up the dissolved pollutants that are in the water. From here, the water flows into the final tanks where the bacteria is pumped out of the water so it can rest and be reused. I enjoyed how Craig used unrelated analogies, like thanksgiving, to explain what the bacteria do. They eat as much as they can, then it is time to rest; once they wake up they are ready to eat again. 

Stage 1: pumps

Stage 2: Narrow tanks

Stage 3: Wide Tanks

Stage 4: bacteria

Stage 5: Final Tanks

Stage 6: incinerators

The above picture is what the inside of the incinerator looks like. Albany County Sewer District burns their sludge or bio-solids in this incinerator. This is much more effective than the dumping of the bio-solids in landfills. Craig explained that this treatment plant is the only one around that burns their bio-solids and uses the heat to power a generator that provides then with 40% of their electricity. They spent 9,000,000 dollars on a generator that they imported from Italy to help reduce their electricity bill. The trip to the treatment plant was interesting and it's amazing how much time and energy is spent on providing clean water to the community. After the treatment plant we headed back to campus for lunch and our presentations on the NYS Museum. I thought these went well. My favorite part of the night though, was hanging out with the girls after class. We went to the lounge in Manning, ordered pizza, watched a movie and played a little Monopoly. It was an all around excellent day.

Sir William Johnson and Jan Mabee

So today we went to three historical house museums, which includes Old Fort Johnson, Johnson Hall, and Mabee Farm. The pictures that I posted are not in order, though I'm not exactly sure. First today we went to Old Fort Johnson, in Fort Johnson, New York. This house is something that I have never seen before. The main building was a house, turned military fort for the French and Indian War, turned back to home. During the restoration process, some of the back holes used to protect the building with guns was reopened so we could look through them. We got to go all the way up to the attic which I thought was pretty cool. In the attic there was an old car; I'm not exactly sure what the year and make and model of it was, however it looked pretty cool. The tour guide we got today was much better than that on Friday. He was easy going and he connected with us where the other lady did not. 

YaYa the Lamb

Old Dutch Barn on the Mabee Farm

The most accurate depiction of Sir William Johnson at Johnson Hall

A rare site of the tenant book open

Winter Kitchen at Johnson Hall

When we left Old Fort Johnson, we ventured on to Johnson Hall. This upgraded version of Johnson's house was built during his later years. I learned that as William Johnson was a very sick man as he got older; Johnson Hall was built to be more access-able to William Johnson. Rather than the family sleeping quarters to be on the second floor, they were on the first floor. We got to take a peek at the children's room, however, Sir William's room was in the process of restoration. Throughout the tours, to both Old Fort Johnson and Johnson Hall, we learned that William Johnson was very good with the local Mohawk Indians. In the parlor of Johnson Hall, William Johnson displayed his Indian treasures such as: a few head-dresses, some clothes, and some tools. I found it interesting that at one point he was appointed chief of the local Indian tribe. 

Mabee House that was built around 1705

Fire Buckets at Johnson Hall

I thought it was quite interesting that these fire buckets shown in the picture above were filled with sand to put out any fires. They did this because the house could not be kept warm enough to keep the water from freezing. 

Animal Pelts on the wall at Johnson Hall

Courtyard at Johnson Hall

Old Fort Johnson

Back of Old Fort Johnson

China at Old Fort Johnson

A cool design on the door frame at Old Fort Johnson

I'm not exactly sure what this design is, I just thought it looked nice. 

Sir William Johnson's dresser

The last piece of original wallpaper at Johnson Hall

Fulton Sled in the attic of Old Fort Johnson

After leaving Johnson Hall, we ventured to Mabee farm. It was very interesting to learn that this farm was in the Mabee family until 1906-ish and it had people living in it until 2003. When we took a tour through the house, we saw that it was very old fashioned, no indoor plumbing, no running water. This made me think about what the family that lived there ten years ago. I wonder what they did for bathrooms, and sinks. Modern technology allows families to take advantage of this every day privilege, but these families had to make it work. We also got to me YaYa (I'm not sure if that's how you spell it) and Gogirl. This was their lamb and goat. Gogirl was a biter. After the tour of the Mabee house and barn, we walked down to the Mohawk River Front, where we learned about the cargo boat that sailed the river. There were only two of us that didn't go on the boat and learn to row, me , because of my ankle brace, and Kristi, because she doesn't like the sun, which is understandable. Today was an overall great day, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.  

May 23: Thomas Cole House, Kaaterskill Falls, Catskill Mountain House, Olana

So yesterday we went to see the work of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church at the Albany Institute. Today we went to see the places where they did their work. The Thomas Cole house on Spring Street in Catskill, Kaaterskill Falls, in which Thomas Cole painted, and Olana, which is the name for Frederic Church's home.  The experience at the Thomas Cole house was definitely interesting. Our tour guide was a little up tight and kinda bossy, definitely a person that I would not want to meet very often, but it was still pretty cool to look at all of the thing inside Thomas Cole's house and Studio. The Thomas Cole house is 199 years old, which I though was pretty interesting. 

Thomas Cole's Easel and chair

Thomas Cole's oval palette

Trunk in Thomas Cole's bedroom

After we took a tour through the house, we got to look inside Thomas Cole's studio. I thought this was awesome because a replica of his Voyage of Life painting was there. I also never thought about the light when it came to drawing or painting but it does make a huge difference. 

replica of one of Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life paintings

Work bench in the painting studio

When we left the Thomas Cole house, we went on our hike at Kaaterskill Clove. 

View From Kaaterskill Clove

The picture below shows the first view of the falls and everyone thought it was amazing. I pass these falls weekly when I go to Prattsville. It is an amazing site, but what you see when you hike up further is even more amazing. 

Both top and bottom picture are lower portion of Kaaterskill Falls

Michael, Michelle, Krista, and Kassianna by the falls

The top picture shows our crazy classmates that climbed past the trail to stand directly by the falls. The bottom picture shows the entire falls. If you look close enough you can see Michael and the girls on their way back. Once we departed from this beautiful site, we headed back down the mountain so we could go eat lunch. It was here that I rolled my ankle and fell on my face. At the time my foot was a little sore, though it did not hurt that bad, so I ventured on. We finished the hike back down the mountain and proceeded to South lake which is a few miles up the road to eat our lunch. I was still okay at this point. We left south lake and went on a hike to the Catskill Mountain House. This hike was no where near as tough as the Kaaterskill Falls hike, however by this point my ankle was swelling, I knew this because my boot was getting tighter and tighter, but I soldiered on. 

Kaaterskill Falls

The bend in the River

View from Catskill Mountain House Site

When we left the Catskill Mountain House site, we went to Olana. It was much more than I expected. Located in Hudson, right across the river from Catskill, this place is stunning. I wasn't expecting it to look like this. I was amazed that the house was based off of ideas from Church's trip through the Middle East and Europe. Each room had influences from a different country. It was amazing the details and designs that where throughout the house. It was kind of a bummer that we couldn't take pictures inside the house because it was more stunning than the outside. It is definitely something that I would visit more often. It is very close to where I live and its not that expensive to get in. I would just want to sit on the property and think. The sites that we got to see from this place where breath taking. I would definitely recommend going here to any one. 

Olana (both top and bottom picture)

View from Olana

Today was an amazing day. Other than spraining my ankle on the Kaaterskill hike, I enjoyed the day. I even got to gloat to Krista that for once I would be home before her. hahaha