Events of Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Today we woke up in the middle of nowhere. We were somewhat tired of being in the middle of nowhere, I suppose, because we decided that we’d need a new scenic spot for breakfast. So we drove a bit and then stopped and had a special but somewhat bitter cantaloupe as a treat for breakfast, right next to Blue Mountain Lake. It was absolutely gorgeous, what with all the fall colors. Then we drove on to Lake Placid, on the most incredible scenic drive so far on this trip. There were autumn leaves of so many multitudes of colors on every hillside as far as we could see – indescribably beautiful. There truly are no words to describe our utter amazement at the bright fall colors these trees put forth. But then again we’ve never experienced an autumn in the East!

Our first stop of the day was at the Olympic Training Center just outside of Lake Placid, where we tried out a bobsled, a skeleton and a luge. We also peered into the cafeteria, but had to skip the tour of the sports medicine rooms, training rooms, lodging rooms and hang-out spots as it didn’t start for several hours. We stopped for lunch across from Lake Placid, which made us miss our local Lake Tahoe very much. It was so very pretty in both ways that reminded us of our Lake Tahoe, such as the lake itself as well as the village, and in ways we’ve never seen before, such as the vibrant fall colors.

After lunch, we took a short walk to the Olympic Center, ambling past the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, where the 1932 Opening Ceremonies for the third Winter Olympics and the 1932 speed skating races were held. First, we viewed the 1932 Olympics Ice Rink, which was nice and cold but remarkably small. As we moved on we passed a plaque commemorating the 1932 Winter Olympics. Listed on the plaque were the nine events of the games and the gold medal winners. There was no downhill skiing or snowboarding, only two cross country skiing events, a ski jumping event and a combined ski event which we guessed was jumping and cross country. In speed skating, there were four events of different distances and the US took home all the golds. Ice skating was next and there was a men’s winner, a ladies’ winner and a pair winner. The Canadians had won in hockey that year, but the Americans dominated the 2 man and 4 man “bobsleigh” races. Later we viewed a picture of the Opening Ceremonies. These were held on the outdoor speed skating track and the athletes had to walk in on the icy track. It was remarkable to see how small all the teams were. The Winter Olympics has certainly grown a bit since 1932.  

Then we proceeded to the 1980 Arena, where the “Miracle on Ice” occurred. If you’re unfamiliar with ice hockey, the "Miracle on Ice" was a gold medal-round men's ice hockey game when the United States team of amateurs led by coach Herb Brooks defeated the Soviet team, supposedly the best hockey team in the world. Mom said she got chills just being there. Yeah, it was pretty cold in there, but not that cold.

Luckily for the rest of us (who didn’t really find it that fascinating), a few figure skaters were out on the ice, so we sat down to watch them practice. It was absolutely spellbinding, even though the youngest female ice skater, who we gathered was receiving a lesson, was far from Olympic quality.

But still, we sat in Section 5 of the place where a modern-day miracle took place! The doors to the arena were decorated with a picture of the infamous hockey game, with the epic words: “HOME OF THE MIRACLE ON ICE” in bold across the top.

As we drove on from Lake Placid, we saw more fall leaves and mist and even a waterfall! After a quick grocery store stop, we came to our campground, a lovely rustic place with lots of colorful trees. I think we’re going to like it here for our rest day.

As soon as we had settled in, Dad proposed a walk through the fall colors to explore the campground and the surrounding area. All us kids joined him, so Mommy got some alone time in the RV to read. I’M JEALOUS‼ But the walk was gorgeous. We found a creek, a shrine, a tree house, a laundry room and a playground. When we returned from our walk, we took turns showering and preparing dinner.

Once we were all showered, we sat down to a delicious dinner of ravioli, bread, and salad, with s’mores for dessert! But we ran out of marshmallows, so Daddy volunteered to have whipped cream as a substitute for his marshmallow. After dinner, we did dishes, swept, cleaned up, made cherry Jell-O (J) and read up on our upcoming states (Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine). Then we got ready for bed and slowly drifted off to sleep to the sound of raindrops lightly dancing on our RV roof. What a great day!