Two kinds of Patriots

Most of Saturday was spent in Massachusetts.

Just northwest of Boston I visited the Minuteman National Historic Park.  This includes the Revolutionary battle sites at Lexington and Concord and the "battle road" in between.  Armed conflict between Great Britain and her American colonies began at these sites on April 19, 1775.  British soldiers marched from Boston toward Concord, where rebels were purportedly storing arms and ammunition.  On the way, they clashed with colonials at the Lexington Green, then moved on to the Concord area.  The battle at the North Bridge at Concord was immortalized in a poem as the "shot heard round the world."  All the way back to Boston, the British were ambushed by minutemen at places like Barrett's Tavern, where I saw a musket demonstration.

Memorial Statue at

Lexington Green

Old North Bridge at Concord. Minuteman

statue at this end, memorial at the other.  The

Americans forced the British away from the

bridge from this direction.

Barret's Tavern, left.  On the right, park employees give musket demonstration.

Despite the rain, it fired on the 3rd shot!

In the early afternoon, I got a look at the home of another group of "Patriots," the ones who play football in the National Football League.  This is in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  The New England Patriots' home field is called Gillette Stadium, and it is part of a modern complex with a hall of fame, restaurants, and shopping.  There were many people there doing sightseeing, having lunch, and enjoying the shops, despite the fact that there won't be a game there for a couple months.

Soon afterward, I passed through Rhode Island and its capital, Providence, then moved on into Connecticut on I-95, a road which continues all the way back home to Georgia.

The White Mountains

After departing Norwich at about 2 p.m. on Friday, I traveled east into New Hampshire and was soon in the heart of the breathtakingly-beautiful White Mountains.




This is the town of Littleton, NH.  This is their Friday afternoon traffic!








I saw a couple of these signs in Vermont as well.  We don't have these in south Georgia!!

Following U.S. 302 East, I came to Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, and started seeing some impressive ski resort communities with spectacular mountain views.









Mount Washington resort...







The highway then ran through Crawford Notch State Park, where I saw a railroad depot at a location where the railway line had to be cut through a stretch of solid rock at the top of the mountain.  As I was checking out the depot, some hikers came off the Appalachian Trail and took a break there.  From there, the road descends quickly from the pass to the valley below, passing a pretty waterfall on the way.




All along the roads of Vermont and New Hampshire were these gorgeous mountain rivers.  They are lined with stones in most places and run pretty rapidly at times.







From New Hampshire, 302 travels through the southern regions of Maine.  As you gradually fall out of the highest mountains, there are some huge, beautiful lakes.  When darkness fell, I crossed through a very small part of New Hampshire and into northeastern Massachusetts, where I spent the night.

Note:  This is much farther north than I had previously traveled.  The summer solstice arrived while I was in Vermont, and the sun was rising at about 5:00 to 5:10 a.m.  It sets around 8:45 or 8:50 p.m.  That's a LONG day!

Graduation !

On Friday morning at Norwich University, the summer commencement exercises were held.  Even though many online candidates like myself are still in the process of completing their capstone projects, the graduation is held as a part of the annual residency program.  These pics are from the night before, when we were dressed similarly but received our hoods.  You can still see the pride on the faces of students and faculty members.

I'm on the right; my buddy Kyle Gomez from California

is on the left.  We are "classmates" on our capstone projects.