Just a brief post, more later

Location: KOA-Newburgh, New York
(click pics to enlarge)

I toured New York City yesterday and took a couple hundred pictures. The tour left the campground at 7:30 am and returned at 9:30 pm. It was a long day with lots of walking and bus riding.

This is going to be a very brief post because I don't have time to do it right. I'll post a lot more pictures and comments about the tour later. It was very good, but also very tiring.

I also found the problem with the slow leak in one of Liberty's tire. It was a split in one of the seam. I called my roadside assistance and they sent two guys over to put my spare on for me. Tomorrow is a travel day and there will be a Camping World near the next campground. I'm debating about getting 4 new ones since the reputation for the tires on all RV's is not too good. Peace of mind as I'm running down the road is what I'm looking for.

I'll only post a couple pictures tonight and when I get more time I'll write up a more detailed post about the New York City tour.

The first picture is of the "sphere" that was recovered from the debris of the World Trade Center towers. The sphere was in a fountain between the two towers when they fell. When it was uncovered, it only had some dents and holes in it. It was decided to set it in Battery Park and has since become a major tourist stop.

The second picture is of the Statue of Liberty. It is taken from the angle that immigrants would have seen as they were coming to New York City and heading towards Ellis Island for processing. The nice part of the picture is that on the far right is the new One World Trade Center. You can easily see it since it is the tallest building. In fact, it is the tallest building in the western hemisphere.

The poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus is engraved on the base of the statue. The part that I like is:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

America has freely accepted immigrants from around the world, but it has generally been an orderly process. There were times when we excluded some countries, but those were rare. We did set limits on how many people were allowed to enter from particular countries. We also checked them out medically, physically and mentally before allowing immigration status. We are now being invaded by illegal immigrates from the south. They are coming here because our current executive branch unofficially told the Central and South American countries that if their children could get here, they could stay. We are now being faced with an "untold" amount of illegal immigrants. Of course, the drug cartel and terrorists are taking advantage of this deluge of people to hide their nefarious dealings. We are living in troubled times.

Ya'll take care of each other. Cya down the road.