A-day experience

WAMom68

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Jun 9, 2006
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What a great weekend!

Woke up to a windy day on Saturday so it was a bit cold at the parade. I liked that better than hot and humid. I have never seen a parade at West Point so that was amazing. All 4,000+ cadets on the Plain at one time. Several times it was so quiet that all you could hear was the flag cracking in the wind. Saw my son march by twice, first as a new cadet and then after he had joined his company as a member of the corp. There was one unplanned event during the parade. The spirit car drove out onto the Plain with the Black Knight mascot and some cheerleaders in it. They drove up to where the Supe and other dignitaries were standing. The Black Knight got out and saluted them. I didn't know until later that this was not a part of the parade, just some cadets having fun.

Over the weekend we fed him, let him nap, and listened to many great stories. Went to the PX and commissary to pick up some things for him. On Sunday he took us on a walking tour of the monuments. I got some wonderful photos and he seemed to enjoy playing tour guide. He loves history, so much of this was easy for him to learn and remember.

He seemed a bit sad when we left him on Sunday evening. I reminded him it is only about 7 weeks until we will be back for Plebe Parent Weekend. When I mentioned it to my husband later, he said "I think he misses us." Which makes me happy (wouldn't want him to be glad we are leaving) but I also don't want him to be sad.

Classes started Monday morning and he said he would try to call us tonight to let us know how his first two days went.

One more thing. If you ever stay in Highland Falls, NY I DO NOT recommend the Econo Lodge. It was clean (sort of) but also old and dumpy. Late Friday night it rained really hard and our room leaked. Luckily it wasn't above the bed or our suitcases. We had paid extra for a "kitchen" room. The kitchen consisted of an ancient all in one unit -frig, sink, and two burner stove, but no microwave or coffeemaker and no pots or pans so we couldn't even use the burners on the stove. I took a picture of the "kitchen" because it was just unbelievable. When I told the woman at the front desk a few of the issues I had with our room she acted kind of snotty. That's okay, I'll just pass the word to every USMA parent I ever meet that the place is a dump.

Now the countdown to Parent's Weekend begins...
 
Did you stay in that room just behind the "continental breakfast" room? If so, that's the Taj Mahal of the EconoLodge.

I'm so glad to hear you had a great time at A-Day and actually found your son during the parade. And I hope you're getting good reports about his classes. PPW will be a blast.
 
Sorry you had such a bad room and experience. I've stayed there a couple of times, and though it isn't luxurious, it was at least clean. I wasn't able to get a room for A-Day's Fri. and Sat., but I did check in for Sunday night. I took my daughter back to my room Sunday afternoon so she could sleep and shower, and when there was no hot water (from doing laundry) for her, the person at the desk was really wonderful and switched us to the other building.

I, too, absolutely loved the parade and the weather. I came from a heat index of 106 degrees, so the 70's we experienced was fantastic. The whole experience was very moving.

Sunday morning we drove to the Lookout Tower at Bear Mountain State Park. There were about 50-60 bikers there; looked like a motorcycle club of older guys. After we got out of the car and started walking to the tower, she very quietly says, "Mom, everybody's looking at me." I told her she looks very impressive in uniform, and she should start getting used to people looking at her. A few people asked about her uniform and about WP, and all were very nice.

At one point, I man rode up on a bicycle and started talking to her. He looked like a Rastafarian. Turned out he was a grad of 1973 and is now writing portfolios on Wall Street. lol You never can tell where you're going to meet an alum of WP.

I can't wait to see the fall colors during PPW.
 
Sorry MOT, I just noticed your post.

Did you stay in that room just behind the "continental breakfast" room? If so, that's the Taj Mahal of the EconoLodge.

I'm so glad to hear you had a great time at A-Day and actually found your son during the parade. And I hope you're getting good reports about his classes. PPW will be a blast.

No we were in the room right above the office. It had two things about it that were good: it had 3 double beds and it was huge. Other than that, I have nothing good to say about it. My Mom's room was okay (clean, two beds, frig and microwave) but had the strangest thing....the toilet paper roll was mounted on the wall about 6 inches off the floor. Who thought that was the best place for it?! I will only stay there again as a last resort. (Just my opinion, others may have had a better experience.)

I didn't know you found my son. I'll send you an email to get the full story. So far so good on classes. He thinks he will be bored in chemistry, english, and calculus because so far the work is all repeats of last year at NMMI. I told him to give it time. He loves his American Politics and Computer classes. The P's are former enlisted who went to OCS. He says "they are the coolest guys."

Found a dress today for the formal dinner and hop on PPW. Labor Day sale so it was only $60!
 
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