(2009) Lake Placid

Lake Placid and the Adirondacks

Dan and I have been in New Jersey for two weeks and it was time to get out. Actually, our move coincided with a regional meet of our STN friends, very few of whom we knew because of their east coast location. But the meet was just 5 hours away, in beautiful Lake Placid, located in the State’s largest park preserve, the Adirondacks. It would have been silly not to go.

September 11-12, 2009
Miles: 613
Map Link

The original plan (there’s always an original plan, isn’t there?) was to leave after Dan’s work on Friday, ride up the three hours to Gloversville and stay with friends of the family. This would give us all day to travel two hours’ worth of roads – a sure way to enjoy oneself! But when Dan got home from work Friday night, in the dark and in the rain, he was fully fed up with riding, worn tires, New Jersey and going anywhere. “That’s it. I’m not going tomorrow.” So while grumbling about drivers who were out to kill him on his motorcycle, we did a basic installation of the tire changer in the garage. We (or I) wouldn’t be leaving that evening, if at all.

The next morning came overcast, but at least dry. The tire changer was put to use, giving Dan fresh rubber on his KLR, and he decided to come with me. Of course by then it was noon and our “all day to play” was out the window. No worries – we’d hustle up there (Lake Placid) via the Interstate and take our time on Sunday, when the weather was forecasted to be much better. So at 1:30 we headed north. The clouds stayed with us, a few drops of rain washed the bugs off of our visors and it was a pleasant ride. At least it beats I-5 for Interstate riding. No pictures were taken on this leg, as I didn’t feel that the interstate was worthy of me actually stopping the bike to pull out the camera. I was counting on sunshine and more interesting sights the next day.

We arrived at the hotel just in time to join a few STNer’s for an unofficial STN dinner at a local BBQ house and then stood around in the hotel parking lot, kicking tires and swapping tales. It was midnight before we retired for the night.

The next day was still overcast, but with great pretense of becoming sunny and warm. Instead it rained on us for the first hour of our trip. Lake Placid is a cute town, nestled in a tree-covered valley. Testaments to past and current Olympic events and training were to be seen in numerous places, and yet the town retained it’s quaint feeling. Lake Saranac, the next town along our path through the heart of the Adirondacks, was also charming and I probably should have stopped for a photo of the lakeside cottages tucked in along the shoreline, their mirrored counterparts shimmering in the slight movement of the lake.

After Lake Saranac I stopped for the only real “ride photos” of the trip. There were other scenic spots I would have stopped at, but it was raining. Dan will insist that it didn’t rain that much on this trip, but when I don’t pull out the camera more often because of the rain than the lack of scenery, then I say that it rained too much. But the beauty of the area was still recognizable and I can tell that in two or three weeks the trees are going to be putting on quite the show.

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Heading south from Saranac Lake

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A quick stop in Speculator, NY

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Dan doing his best to “look happy”

After this last stop it started to rain again in earnest, but only for a little bit. The closer we got to Gloversville the brighter and cheerier the weather got. We did stop in to see the friends of the family, but after visiting with them, we chose to take the next 3 hours on the Interstate so that we’d get home with plenty of time to take care of some chores that we had been neglecting. What a great little break this was from our not-quite routine life!

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