Cool Runnings – Day 4

Thursday was a day for a little road tripping so off we went.  Whiteface Mountain is the tallest mountain in the area or so I am told.  It was also part of the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid.  On the way to the mountain you drive by the Olympic Sports Complex.  We stopped here for a bit to see what the deal was because you can actually ride the Bobsled Run that was used in the Olympics.  How amazing is that?  So the particulars of it all are this:  you must be at least 48″ or 4 feet tall.  It costs $65.00, but you get a 4×6 pic of yourself probably screaming your head off or throwing up, a t-shirt, a pin and a lifetime membership in the World Bobsledding Assoc. Your run includes a driver and instructor – which is probably a good thing, the liability insurance alone must cost a fortune, and taking the run solo would not be good business practise from an insurance point of view.  I still count “Cool Runnings”, the story of the Jamaican Bobsled Team at the Calgary Winter Olympics as one of my favourite movies and standing there contemplating taking the run all I could see was the 4 of them freezing their butts off in the Calgary winter  and counting down in German LOLOLOL.  Who’da thunk it, a Jamaican Bobsled Team but I digress (as usual).

Adam wanted to take the run and so did I, but times being what they are the price tag was a little steep for this trip but next time – I am going and Sue also wants too. She said she would have but thought the height requirement was 60 inches and she wouldn’t have passed it – but she misread it and we are going next year.

The Bobsled run in the background, Olympic Sports Complex, Lake Placid NY.

On our way into the complex we stopped to take some silly photos and I noticed that there was a butterfly stuck in the grill of the car and it was still alive.  Poor thing 😦  so i gingerly tapped it so it would come off the grill.  I am not sure if it was stuck there or holding on for dear life but it kinda sorta fell to the ground and started fluttering around.  Within a minute there was another little butterfly with it, as if it had been following us just waiting for an opportunity to meet up with it’s friend once more.  The two of  them fluttered around for a couple of seconds and the next thing I knew, they flew off together.  This made me very happy – I hate to think that I participated in the death of something – I am just strange that way. One day on my way to work a Seagull flew into my car and was dead!  I cried all the way to work.  I don’t really like seagulls, but I would never kill one intentionally.  And but again, I digress…

Here is the butterfly:

saved from death!

After leaving the sports complex we drove to a little shop that sold  handcrafted cedar and pine furniture among some other cool stuff.  Look what I found:

Looks like Bosco!!!

You would think that if  Bosco had a modelling career before I got him, he would have at least told me so we could be collecting royalties!!!  It was nice to see this though because by now I was really missing the dogs.

The furniture really was beautiful, all red cedar and highly polished.  It always amazes me when I see stuff like this – it is hard to believe that someone actually takes the time to build it.

Hand Made Cedar Furniture

They also had a “novelty” chair on site and Sue was determined to sit in it!  I had to boost her up and you can see why here:

My name is Edith Ann and I am 5 years old...

For some reason Lily Tomlin and Laugh In popped into my head and for the rest of the day it made me laugh everytime I thought about it.  We left the store and headed to Whiteface, but not before stopping at an A&W for lunch.  I tell ya, you Americans have it made.  It was a real drive-in A&W with many more things on the menu that A&W has here in Canada.  BUT, the rootbeer wasn’t as good which really surprised me since the A&W Vanilla Cream Soda that I can only get in the US rocks!!!!!

When we finally arrived at Whiteface (after a little “lost” detour) we were told that the elevator to the top was not working.  That didn’t stop us so up we drove.  Wow!  What an incredible drive.  They mark off the elevation above sea level as you are driving up.  At the top it is 4600+ feet.  We got as far as we could in the car and then got out to check out the walk to the top.  With the thin air, temperature hovering around 45 degrees and my A&W lunch sitting in between my lungs I didn’t get too far up to the top.  I had to stop and come back down, I was having a tough time breathing.  Adam made it to the top and he has some awesome pics from up there.  Mine are from the bottom looking up LOL.

The lookout tower at the top of Whiteface.

Adam is my hero – the path up to the top is just that, a path of rock.  In some places there is not a whole lot to keep you from falling off the mountain.  He made it up to the top and back down without a scratch.  Way to go Adam, I couldn’t have done it!

While we were up there you can see for miles, in fact on this day the visibility was 70 miles.  It is an amazing view and looking down is not as scary as I thought it would be.  Actually it is quite beautiful.  I have been to and driven through the Rockies in Alberta, the Poconos in PA, driven Route 66  and seen the Grand Canyon but each time I see a view like this it astonishes me to think that somehow, some mystical force over the course of the last gazzillion years could produce this.

View from Whiteface

This is Mirror Lake.  Looking at it from ground level it is just another lake, yes it is beautiful but from up here on Whiteface it is easy to see how it got it’s name.  Who named it all those years ago, and how did they get up the mountain to see it?  The road up isn’t that old and the lake has been there forever – how did they know it was a mirror image?  These are questions that I know I will never be able to answer and that drives me crazy LOL.

The day that we spent getting to Whiteface and the time we spent at the top will always stay in my mind.  The older I get the more I have learned to appreciate the wonders of the world. Sometimes without question and other times with lots that have been known to make my brain hurt because I know there are no answers.  God, evolution, Aliens;  the possibilities are endless.

The ride back to Lake George brought us into town with yet more bikes arriving.  By now, every parking spot was full downtown.  The local grocery store (if you could call it that) had a woman in the parking lot marking license plates – if you left your car and didn’t go into the store – your car would be gone when you got back.  So some of us went into the grocery store and some of us went across the street to the liquor store…yep, we were out of Bailey’s and what would a night on the deck be without Bailey’s.

Dinner at this great little place we found in the fall – The Shoreline Restaurant.  Sitting on the patio, overlooking Lake George.  It was getting cool but at least this time we remembered to take our sweaters LOL.  As always, the meal was fabulous.  I had a ceasar salad and a chicken quesadia.  The salsa was homemade and I could have eaten it on its own!  I even remembered to order Sweet Tea this time!  The highlight of the menu that night was the “boneless ribs” that Sue ordered.  She said they were excellent.  Although I am sure that “boneless ribs” is just another name for Pork Loin!!!  Whatever the case,  Shoreline gets a 9/10 and we will be going back there next time.

Another great day  – tomorrow is supposed to be a rest and relaxation day, some pool time and maybe a nap or two…ya right !!!!! LOLOLOL.

Although I am missing the animals and even the ‘rents I really don’t want to think about going home on Sunday.  I think part of it is that I don’t want to have pack – the 2 outfits have grown exponentially to a huge pile sitting beside my bed LOL.  So much for promises made to myself, but the other thing is that I am finally rested up and relaxed and I know that in another couple of days it is back to reality and you know what – sometimes reality DOES suck!!!!

 

Tomorrow Pirates Cove and the girl in the Fishnet stockings.