Days 26 and 27: 8/19-20/16 Pulaski to Rome, NY, and a rest day.

This is our 6th ride-day in Upstate New York. At first the scenery was typical rural USA: corn and soybeans, soybeans and corn, but as we continued there was a shift. First to apple and peach trees, then grapevines and vineyards, and finally to small subsistence farms and poverty. Most cities seemed to be tourist destinations or had seen better days.

With that said, the ride to Rome was filled with gently rolling hills, beautiful scenery, and hospital people.



Rome is a larger town than I had expected. It's been around, in one form or another, since 1796 and has a population of almost 34,000. Not large, but big enough to have JCPenneys, Walgreens and a good sized grocery store. Being, what my friend Jeanne would call a "city-idt" (rhymes with idiot), I find comfort in such conveniences.

Panorama of Fort Stanwix

In addition to city conveniences, Rome is the home to Fort Stanwix, a national monument. During the Revolutionary War it guarded the passage between the Hudson River, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean, and Lake Ontario allowing European trade with the Americas and the Mohawk Valley home to the Six Nations Confederacy.

Powder Horns were elaborately decorated, often with maps.

The Information Center gave voice to the Loyalists and Rebels, each of whom called the other "traitor", but also to the "indians" and women. The displays acknowledged how poorly the Six Nation people were treated, but ended with them being "given" a reservation. The fort was interesting to go through. At its height 800 people inhabited it, though it was built to hold 400 on a patch of land smaller than most high school buildings.