Thanksgiving "Break"

What started out as not planning to be in North Carolina turned into a really long, great visit back for Thanksgiving! I was asked to go on a trip to New York City to help babysit and everything worked out for me to be in Lenoir for Thanksgiving. As usual, it was great to be back and see family and friends. 

While I was in New York, I got to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My great-grandfather, Henry Gabrielsen, came through Ellis Island from Norway when he was 6 years old. Around 12 million people passed through Ellis Island on their way to the U.S. The 1st floor of the main building was where all the luggage was dropped off to be shipped. The 2nd floor was the waiting area where families waited to be questioned by officials and doctors before being shown 1 of 3 doors. One end of this room had 4 or 5 podiums where the officials wrote down in the register or log book information about each immigrant- where they came from, where they were going, age, gender, etc. During this questioning, doctors would examine them and if they were deemed ill, they were either sent to the hospital complex also on the island or back to their homeland. Sometimes doctors only had 6 seconds to complete an examination. Behind the podiums were the stairs to the 3 doorways. If you got sent to the right, you had to go to the hospital- to the left and you were sent back to your home country- down the middle and you were free to enter the U.S. 

Reading books I had always imagined lots of rooms in this huge building. While the building WAS fairly large, I was surprised that the waiting area and interview and doctor's examination all took place in the same space. 

Part of the main building was still closed due to repairs from damage during Hurricane Sandy so I didn't get to see everything, but I did get to see enough to get a great idea of what it was like. I can't imagine the chaos in that building. Up to 5,000 people a day were processed through. Amazing. 

The day I went was really snowy and cold and bad weather so I went back another day when it was clear to get some perspective on distance and size from Manhattan to the islands. Here's some pictures!

 

Lady Liberty

The main building on Ellis Island

Baggage Area on 1st floor

2nd floor - waiting area, interview area, and examination area all in this space. Most of the room would have been filled with benches. I am standing beside the podiums looking out where people were waiting. 

Looking across the dock area to the hospital complex. These are not available for visitors to see.....they haven't ever been I don't think....not just because of Sandy. 

Me in front of the building. :) 

I also got to go to the World Trade Center Memorial while I was in New York. That was a really great memorial to see. I'll post pictures from that soon! 

I came back to Cody last Thursday and head back to NC on Wednesday.....I will be in Wyoming for a grand total of 6 days in the month of December. I will say that I was extremely happy to NOT be in Wyoming last week.....the high was 0* and I heard from a couple people that it was -30* on one of the days. Not fun at all!! 

Register Cliff and the BAT CAVE!!

It's time for another history lesson!! A few miles away from the infamous wagon ruts is an area called Register Cliff. This is a pretty large cliff face that pioneers carved with their names or initials and the dates that they passed through that particular area. There are names and dates from the early and mid-1800s through today. They've fenced off the area that has the earliest dates so that people won't try to carve over them (thank goodness!). On one trip to Register Cliff, Dad saw a McKee carved into the cliffside. The plaque in front of it said that they've found a 1797 date that they believe was carved then (and not just somebody from 1999 carving a 1797), along with a couple other early dates...but most of them are from the pioneers. It was interesting to also note on the plaque that in all the diaries and written accounts of life on the trail, nobody mentions carving their name into Register Cliff. Settlers mention Independence Rock, Devil's Tower, and other notable landmarks along the way, but they haven't found any written mention of Register Cliff.

Also carved into Register Cliff is a former cellar used by the family that settled alongside the cliff. Many years ago, on one of our early trips West, we stopped to see Register Cliff. I think I was about 5 or 6, so Mike was 8 or 9. This place is fairly isolated and not usually very crowded, so as soon as we got there, Mike and I hopped out of the car and ran up to the cliff. We decided to go into this cave area, and ran right in while Mom and Dad were still walking up. We were inside for about 3 seconds when something incredibly scary happened. Also in the cave with us were hundreds, thousands, even MILLIONS of BATS!! (I don't actually know how many there were. It just seemed like a lot!) They started flying out of the cave all around us. I screamed....I don't know if Mike did or not......and we started running back to the entrance of the cave. The next thing I knew, I felt this hand pushing me to the ground and as I fell, I saw Mike's back fleeing past me. I vaguely remember crawling to the fence at the front and being rescued by Mom and Dad. Every now and then, we'll see something that reminds us of the Bat Cave and share a laugh and shiver. 

As I've gotten older and thought about this event more, I have decided that Mike was actually pushing me towards the entrance to get out and was being a helpful older brother to save us from the bat attack. It sure didn't feel like it at the time, but i'm thankful for the rescue. :)