We left Niagara Falls for Herkimer, New York.  On the way we stopped at Fort Stanwix National Monument.  What is Fort Stanwix, you say?

I was curious if any of the founding fathers had a connection to this area.  Turns out James Madison did as well as Phillip Schuyler (father of Elisa, wife of Alexander Hamilton). 

Mary and Anna left for Ohio this morning but we still had 5 kids left interested in working on the Junior Ranger booklets.  They worked in teams and completed two booklets and each kid got a badge. 

Turns out Herkimer was a revolutionary war General who was killed at the battle that took place near Stanwix. 

The rest of my family decided trudging out to the Fort was not their idea of fun so they went back to the car.  The Yatzecks and I walked over and explored the exhibits at the Fort and talked with the interpreters. 

This was our first Revolutionary War stop on this trip and according to the docents, a great place to start because this is where the  war started; it moved East from here.

Down a bunch of windy roads we made it to Crystal Grove Diamond Mine and Campground.  It was pretty wet and soggy but the rain gave us a break and we cooked dinner, ate dinner, built a fire and made s’mores outside. 

There is no data here so I’m writing the blog on the porch of the camp store and then heading back to the camper to finish out Melissa’s two-day birthday bonanza with some games. 

The Yatzeck blog for today