Day # 7 last day :(

We got up early on Saturday morning. We packed up everything and got ready to check out of our motel. It was a gloomy day (45 and rainy).

This is a picture of the outside of The Olympic Center.

This is where "The miracle" happened back in 1980, the U.S. Hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union. In 1932, this is where figure skater-turned movie star Sonja Henie grabbed her 2nd of 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals.

This is a mural on the doors leading into the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. There are 4 rinks total at the Olympic Center.

You can go into the Arena and watch skaters practice. There were 5 skaters on the ice when we were in the arena. There are also guided tours, an Olympic Museum and a virtual reality ride.

While on our way home, we took this picture of the sunset and noticed a small rainbow to the left of the sun.

We really enjoyed our vacation, even though it never seems to be long enough. We have a lot more pictures that we will be posting for quite a while. Hope everyone enjoys them.

Day # 6

Today we just relaxed! We walked 2.7 miles around Mirror Lake for the first time all week. We took our camera with us and took pictures around the lake.

We drove around today on roads we hadn't been on and got some awesome scenic pictures. If you look close at the mountain you will see that it is Whiteface Mountain.

These pictures are of Cascade Lake and Cascade Mountain. It isn't far from a two lane, but once you get down off the road you wouldn't believe how quiet and calm it is.

This is another river we stopped at. The sun was in just the right spot to get the reflection of the trees.

Happy 4th Birthday Alexis!!!

A birthday is a day filled with special joy, a day that lets you know you're always loved and cherished.

Happy Birthday!

Love Uncle Chris & Aunt Laurie

Day # 5

Thursday morning we got up and had plans to drive to Lake George. Rachael Ray had talked about a place called Sutton's Market Place in her magazine and on her TV show $40 dollars a day. So we were off and driving.

We stopped at Chapel Pond on the way from Lake Placid to I-87. It is a fairly small pond, and we couldn't believe how clear the water was. It was very calming just to stand and look at the view.

We drove down I-87 to Sutton's in Queensbury, NY. It was interesting. There was a building with two floors of crafts, home-made jellies, jams and baked goods. There was also a restaurant in the same building. There were 3 buildings of VERY expensive furniture, a building with clothing and a toy shop. We each tried an apple cider doughnut, but didn't dare to eat at the restaurant. (we didn't recognize anything on the daily specials board)

This is a picture of Lake George taken from Lake George Village near "Million Dollar Beach".

We stopped in Bolton Landing on our back to Lake Placid. This was still Lake George. We didn't realize how big Lake George was. It is approximately 32 miles long and is nearly 3 miles wide. Much of the shoreline is unsettled, and through federal and state conservation efforts, will remain so. Small communities surround the lake, each lending its own unique style and way of life.

We drove most of the way back on Rt. 9. It was a 2 lane road that ran through the mountains. There were a lot of small towns and quite a few places to stop and take pictures. This picture is of a waterfall on Hague Brook. There was a place to park and hike into the woods to see both sides of the waterfall.

Day # 4

On Wednesday we got up early so we could drive to Tupper Lake to go to The Wild Center. It is a natural history museum that just opened this year. It rained on and off for most of the day. There are hiking trails outside and quite a bit to see inside. We managed to get out and walk the hiking trails for a while when it wasn't raining.

While we were hiking at the Wild Center, we took this picture of a bridge built over Blue Pond. All of the railings are made from logs and branches. It looks like it took a lot of work and patience. We left the Wild Center at about 3:00pm and drove back to Lake Placid.

This picture was taken in the afternoon after we got back from the Wild Center. It is another picture of Mirror Lake. It is located in downtown Lake Placid. The village of Lake Placid is 1,967 feet above see level at its highest elevation. The village is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks.

This is a picture of a Crane (we think) taken in the Chubb River. It is behind Lisa G's, one of our favorite restaurants.

Day # 3

Wilmington Flumes
This is a waterfall we found as we were driving to a little town not too far from Lake Placid. We got out of our car and hiked around the area a little bit. It was a little muddy due to the rain we had in the morning.

This is Whiteface Mountain. It's where people ski and snow board. If you look at the picture enlarged you can see the ski lifts. The summit elevation of the ski area is 4,436 feet!! No Thank You!

This is the Olympic Ski jump. The 90 and 120 meter jumps are done here. I can't believe people go up that high on ski's. I won't go up that high! You can take a glass-enclosed elevator up 26 stories.

This is Mirror Lake. We stay about a mile from Mirror Lake and down town. Boating on Mirror Lake is made easy by the availability of sail boat or paddle boat rentals. No motor boats are allowed on the small pristine lake.

Day # 2

Click on picture to enlarge

Today we drove to Montgomery to go to the Orange County Chopper store. While checking out we were told that if we went to the OCC shop that most of the guys come out at lunch and sign autographs. We had planed on driving over just to see what the shop looked like and to take a picture of the sign on the outside of the shop. Well, 3 hours later we got 4 autographs and lots of pictures. I can't believe how star struck I got. Chris is usually the one that gets all shy. I don't know what happened but I was so nervous. Not as nervous as a guy that was there that called his wife. He couldn't even get the words out and he only saw one of the guys. We left Montgomery after lunch, and made it to Lake Placid around 6:00pm.

A Week Ago Today!

On the Road!

We left for New Paltz, NY. at 9:30am. This was our first stop on vacation. We got to New Paltz about 4:30pm and found our motel. We went to a Blimpe for a quick dinner.

(got a sub and took it to our room)

This little town was a little different!!

We had to wait in a line of traffic for about an 1/2 hour because of a craft fair getting out as we came into town.

These sunflowers lined the road.

We had free HBO in our room. Thank God! (There was nothing we wanted to do or see down town!) We have never stayed in a motel that was so noisy before. Lets just say we won't return to New Paltz. We stayed in our room and got up early to go to our next stop. Our next stop was so worth the trip!!!!

Home :(

We just got home from vacation. We have tons of pictures (380 or so). We love taking pictures. We will share some tomorrow. I believe I hear MY bed calling me!!!

See Ya !!!

Vacation finally begins! It seems like we have been planning our trip for ever. This will be the fastest week of the year for us, but we will come back relaxed and full of stories. We always have so much fun going to the Adirondacks. We have some of our days already planned and some we don't care if we do anything. We will update the blog when we get back. Have a great week.

Nothing can BEE easy!!!!!

Click on pictures to enlarge

We had the guys come and put new gutters on the house today. As you can see in the first picture, things were moving along pretty good. But when they moved to the back corner of the house, they ran into a problem. A small swarm of bees (probably 200-300) decided to attack the guy that was at the top of the ladder. After a couple of stings, a can of wasp and hornet spray, and spraying them with the garden hose, we finally had to give up for today. For all the years we have lived here, we never had any problems with bees until we got the new roof last year. Must be there are more places for them to get into now. This probably isn't good with someone who is allergic to bees living here. Hopefully we can get rid of the problem so we can get the last 2 hangers attached to the roof!

American Choppers!

On the first part of our vacation we are going to Montgomery NY, to the Orange County Choppers store. They have a lot of the bikes they build on the discovery channel in the store on display. We went to the store a few years ago and were amazed at how large the bikes are. You see them on TV, but they are so cool to see in person. My father is a motorcycle person and I have been around them most of my life. I don't think I would try to drive one myself. But I sure like the sound and the looks of them!

Signs of Fall!

These pictures sure show that Fall is on its way. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love to watch the leaves change to their bright colors. I don't know if you can inherit loving a season, but I do know that Fall was Grandmas favorite and is also my mothers favorite.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Flowers from moms!

These are a couple more pictures from moms house I took the other day. This is one of her favorite flowers. I think she has a lot of favorites. This one is an Anemone. We both enjoy gardening. It didn't seem like we really got time to get out to the greenhouses like we always do. The heat didn't help matters. This is my kind of weather now!! This is why Chris and I go on vacation this time of the year. We have much more fun. We leave in 4 Days!! :)

An All Day Affair!

For the last four years, Chris and I have made homemade salsa. We think we have it down now. Some years it seems like it takes forever. This year wasn't bad at all. We enjoy doing it. We got 68 Jars of salsa 43 Half Pints and 24 Pints. We only made three different kinds this year. Garlic (My Favorite), Mild and HOT (Chris's Favorite). Our family seems to enjoy the salsa also.

Sleep Over !!

Ruffle Butt!

All Smiles!

We had a very interesting start to the weekend. Baby J's Mommy ended up in the hospital on Friday morning and didn't get out until Saturday evening. (She is doing a lot better now!!) So we had baby J as a house guest. Grandma had her in the beauty shop for a few hours on Friday and we had her the rest of the time. We had a lot of fun with her. We are sorry we had her for the reason we had her. She is getting so big so fast. These are two pictures out of many we took of her. She is just too cute not to take pictures. I guess it must be a side effect that comes with scrapbooking.

Moms House

I went to moms today to try and get a picture of the monarch butterflies that are visiting her butterfly bush and Hydrangea, but I didn't have any luck getting pictures. I did get pictures of her Hydrangea. On one bud it is three different colors. It is so neat to see.

Reservations

We made our reservations tonight! We can't wait to get away for a little while. We love to spend time together just the two of us. It is time for some R&R. We sure do relax in the Adirondacks! We love it there. If we could, we would move out there. Too bad we both have decent jobs. Oh well a week will have to do for now :)