My Trip to New Paltz

This past Saturday, I took a trip to New Paltz with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. A relatively small town about 80 miles north of New York City, New Paltz is known for its historic sites, its farms, as well as its beautiful fall foliage.

This trip to New Paltz is an annual family tradition for my aunt, uncle, and cousins. It began when my oldest cousin was a student at SUNY New Paltz. The family would come to visit her every year, and they quickly fell in love with the area's amenities and picturesque views. For this reason, even though my cousin graduated in 2005, they still set aside a day every fall to visit New Paltz. This year, they were kind enough to invite me to come with them.

Once we arrived, our first stop was the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. This preserve features excellent mountain views (see the picture above), and is a popular destination for hiking, bicycling, and picnicking. We enjoyed the scenery as we hiked through the park, and then we found a comfortable spot to settle down and eat our lunch. After we ate, we hiked back to our car and made our way to our next destination.

Our next stop was the Apple Hill Farm, where we went apple picking. The farm had several different types of apples, many of which I'd never even heard of! I sampled several different ones and found that the golden delicious were my favorite. Delicious, indeed!

For information on the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, see http://www.lakeminnewaska.org/state.html
Visit the Apple Hill Farm on the web at http://www.applehillfarm.com/

Vocabulary

Relatively (adverb) - when compared with something else

Foliage (noun) - leaves, flowers, branches, etc.

Annual (adjective) - happening every year

SUNY New Paltz (noun) - State University of New York at New Paltz

Amenities (noun) - features that provide comfort or pleasure

Picturesque (adjective) - having a pleasing appearance

Destination (noun) - the place to which someone travels

Sample (verb) - to taste a food or drink

Vocabulary Practice

1.  The flight's __________ was Rome.

2. The __________ of this hotel include a pool and room service.

3. My cousin attended college at _________.

4. Compared to New York, Rhode Island is a _________ small state.

5. During our vacation, we enjoyed the _________ ocean views.

6. There are many trees here. Look at the colorful _________.

7. At some ice cream shops, you can _________ the different flavors before you choose one.

8. The talent show is an _________ event.

 Grammar Point

We use the past tense of verbs to talk about things that have already happened. In this entry, I used the past tense several times because I was describing a trip that I took a few days ago.

Grammar Practice

Write a paragraph about a trip you have taken or a special event you have attended. Include at least five verbs in the past tense.