Lake Placid, New York

Everyone was up by 7:00 so we could get the trailer to the RV dealer for repairs. We arrived at Pete’s RV in South Burlington slightly before 8 AM. The main issue with the trailer has been tires, but we also wanted them to look at the slide and a few minor things. Luckily the slide stuck in the out position when the service manager tested it (the odds of that happening were about 1 in 20 based upon past experiences!).

We left the dealership, filled the truck with diesel, and headed for a fast food restaurant for breakfast. Against my better judgment, we selected Burger King. Even though there were lights on inside, no cars were parked outside, so we weren’t sure it was open. When we walked inside the four employees were chatting at a table. They prepared our food and then returned to gossiping. The food wasn’t great – the hash browns tasted like the oil hadn’t been changed for weeks. On the plus side, Teressa impressed us with her mastery of the English language when she sprang the word “slovenly” on us to describe the appearance of the employees. We weren’t sure it was even a word, but it fit perfectly, and Teressa verified it was legitimate when we got home. The kids learned an important lesson today – even if a restaurant is open, if there aren’t any cars in the parking lot, that should tell you something about the quality of the food!

After breakfast we headed northwest across several islands on Lake Champlain to catch one of the ferries to New York. It was the first car ferry experience for the kids, and although it was just 15 minutes across the lake, we all enjoyed it. Back on land again, we made our way into the Adirondacks headed for Lake Placid. The leaves are really starting to change colors now, especially at the higher elevations. The challenging part is that the Adirondacks are almost completely forested, so you don’t get many opportunities for wide open vistas. Our neighbors in the campground indicated that the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the mountains in Maine have more rock outcroppings and meadows, and that folks from "out west" will enjoy the views!

We arrived in Lake Placid around noon and checked out the Olympic Training Center (see picture above). We also went by the ski jumping competition site (those people are certifiably insane!) and then up to Whiteface Mountain where all the ski events were held. Unfortunately the gondola wasn’t running yesterday, but we had the opportunity to look around the facility. We were surprised with the lack of infrastructure at an Olympic venue – the parking lots were small (and gravel), there were no lodging accommodations at the ski area, and there aren’t any sizable towns for miles around. As our neighbor mentioned last night, there is no way they would be able to hold an Olympics there now!

We drove down the hill to the small town of Wilmington before finding a restaurant for lunch – Mel’s diner. The food was good and the waitress friendly – you have to love small towns! We ate and navigated to another ferry terminal on Lake Champlain. This was an hour ferry ride, but delivered us directly to Burlington. We drove to the RV dealer and picked up the trailer. They replaced the two rear tires and slide motor. We are back in business!