This May we took a drive up to Lake Champlain to get an early summer vacation/holiday in... too early. The first hint that something was "wrong" was all the lilac trees still in bud or just starting to bud. Ours, in Maryland, had budded, flowered, and moved on. IOW, the seasons were a bit behind what we were experiencing at home. Arriving at our destination in Vermont, we found that most of the stuff we were interested in was closed... summer was nowhere near. Bummer. Anyhow, I got to drive up Hudson Valley which is something I always wanted to do because it sounded so darn interesting. I'm a history nut. The Hudson Valley is essentially the great warpath between the US and Canada and figured prominently in the Revolutionary War/War for Independence. I had to see what the fascination was. Our first sightseeing stop was going to be West Point. Arriving at the gate I soon realized: no town here; only the academy. Seen enough cadets in my time, so away we go to find a real overlook to see what the fuss was about in 1776 onwards. So about 5 miles north of that gate we came across a scenic overlook. I've seen rivers. Crossed the Mississippi several times, but this was just a total surprise. I can understand why Henry Hudson decided this could be the legendary North West Passage thru the continent and on to China. Images has been chopped to about 50% and we will spend some time here checking out the scenery before chugging northwards. Enjoy; thanks for viewing.