Travel Log Days 5-7: Lake Placid

Day 5 (August 6th)

My birthday morning started out with a walk and a sit by the edge of the lake near the beach.  This is a popular lake for triathlon training and generally active people, so we enjoyed watching people get at it on a gorgeous morning.  While sitting.  

Morning snuggles with this little fella.

A Not-Pictured but Significant Ambition of the Day

Being that it was my birthday and I was more in the mood to try something deemed “significant” by comparison to other, more predictable days, I enthusiastically decided to try the adventure course at a nearby zip line park.  Matt of course tried it with me and it felt exciting to get to do something off the beaten path together.  (We don’t get out much these days, particularly not out together.)  

I should open with the fact that I’ve never zip lined before, but have wanted to try it.  It has never presented itself as an easily available option with available people and available time.  Since I didn’t truly know what it was going to be like to zip line, I was a little apprehensive.  So when the woman at check-in described the two options to us - (1) a zip-line-only course (all zip lines progressing in height and speed) or (2) an adventure course involving treetop obstacles and zip lines interspersed - I quickly opted for the latter, thinking this would ease me into the zip lining.  I mentally blocked out of all thinking of what these treetop obstacles would be like, assuming that the toughest mental challenge I’d be up against would be hurling myself off a platform to zip line without smashing face-first into a tree. 

Now, I have run marathons, which include training for marathons - the worst part of marathons.  I frequent barre classes where I enjoy full body weight workouts - by choice.  Matt and I did 120-ish days of HITT, core, Pilates, yoga, and cardio home workouts this past spring into summer.  I can still hold our 50 pound son in my arms or on my hip for a decent amount of time.  There are moments in my life when I actually feel strong and I don’t even add the “for my age” disclaimer. 

I knew within five minutes of the training course, having only left the ground by about two feet, that I had not made the wisest choice.  It turns out I have no real instincts of balance when tested on cables and swinging ropes.  The training was designed to make sure you could navigate the D-hook that secures you to the cables the entire way, preventing you from actually falling to the ground.  But they threw in a few balance challenges that immediately gave you perspective for what was in store.  Still, I was saving all mental anguish for the zip lines.  These silly rope bridges and tight rope looking things were just things in between the zip lines.  Surely I could hold on to some ropes.  They even offered us gloves to aid in gripping things.  “Yes!” I enthusiastically declared at the option.  “Gloves!” I thought.  It’s as though it’s designed to be easy.  

After proving we could use the equipment and were thus not complete morons, we were off on Part One of three.  Each part would get increasingly more challenging and higher up in the trees.  The first couple obstacles were relatively calm and easy, though I was surprised at how hard I was breathing to get through them.  I also felt I was going slower than I wanted to go.  I was calculating every step and every hand placement, even though it didn’t visually warrant such scrutiny.  About halfway through, there was a doo-dad bridge-type thing where you were to step on skinny 2x4’s that were laid out diagonally from different directions.  The spacing in between them was inconsistent so sometimes you were taking normal sized steps to get to the next one and sometimes it was more of a reach.  There were ropes to hold onto on the sides but these ropes did very little to keep you balanced, if you grabbed them the way I was grabbing them - my only strategy seeming to be that of desperation.  Sometimes my desperation would lead me into deep side bends, other times forward, other times a side lunge to avoid my feet going spread eagle.  Even still, it was Part One, I was excited for the zip line part which I knew came at the end of the course before part two, and I still had some birthday bucket energy in the tank.  

Finally, at the end of Part One, the zip line was upon us!  (Technically there was a tiny zip line in the training course but it was so slow and you had to actively lift your feet up to avoid running along the ground, so I didn’t count it as the true first one.). FUN!  Easy!  Had zero fear, didn’t faceplant into a tree, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and the wind against my face.  I was already looking forward to the next one.  We just had to get past these pesky obstacles.  

Part Two began.  We were higher up, maybe 20 feet at times.  Right away, the obstacles were harder.  I wish I knew why. I spent a lot of energy being utterly shocked every single time when, “oh, this one’s gonna be hard too!”  I was quite winded and second-guessing everything I had eaten or drank over the last 45 years, vowing I’d give up eating every fun thing and hand my life over to kale if my body could kick into some hidden gear hiding behind the pizza I’d devoured two nights ago.  

Part Two continued as my forearms began to feel like Jell-O.  I was leading, which meant that Matt was either waiting for me to go through a segment before he started it or he was still finishing up the segment before when I was starting the new one.   By now I had realized that this would not be an outing during which we’d get to talk much or enjoy much of it in a togetherness sort of way.  Our guide was on the ground below, and this was when he started to give me pointers about where I might place my hands or general tips like this zap of genius - the higher up you hold onto the ropes above you, the more balanced you’ll feel.  I swear they didn’t cover that in any of my two music degree courses.  

About two-thirds into Part Two, I started in on a segment that was similar to the one in Part One before my devotion to kale.  This time the zig-zagged skinny boards were not attached to each other at all, they were spaced farther apart, and there were more of them to get through before the next tree platform.  It was the hardest thing I’ve done physically, maybe ever, including giving birth (since I joyfully took the drugs to get through that.)  I’m still sorta self-analyzing it.  The last six miles of a marathon are horribly hard but I wouldn’t say that I ever felt compelled to push really hard through them.  I’d just keep moving my feet, even if just shuffling along.  I always tried to be strategic about front loading the real work to buy more time at the end when I knew I’d be in more pain.  When my quads are about to burn out during a barre class, I can skip a rep or two and jump back in.  But when pulling with every muscle fiber you have to get your foot to move forward onto a swinging 2x4 suspended 20 feet in the air, you have to just do it.  There’s no avoiding the push through it.  

I did it.  But it took a long time.  I truly thought my arms were going to give out and I would fall any minute.  I even contemplated just falling on purpose so that I could hang there effortlessly for a bit and not use my arms anymore.  I had to take breaks after almost every single move I made.  I was breathing as if I was sprinting. I started using mantras that I haven’t used since marathon training in 2014 to remind me that I’ve done hard things before and I could trust myself to do this one.  I had Anne Lammott’s “Bird by Bird” gem in my head, transposed to “board by board”.  The second my foot hit the ending platform I blurted back to Matt, “that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”  And, “I’m joining a gym..  Tomorrow.”

The segment immediately following that one was arguably harder, but the guide gave me literally step-by-step directions.  I think he could sense my helplessness.  You had to climb through hanging rectangular picture frames suspended by cables.  The frames were hanging at differing heights so sometimes you were transferring yourself over and down vs over and up.  It involved a lot of bear-hugging thick wooden boards for dear life.  But then...a really fun, longer, faster zip line!  Almost worth it.  

We didn’t do Part Three.  I asked some questions to gauge the difficulty by comparison and the guide confirmed that there were at least three segments equally or more challenging than the two that almost did me in.  So, in a special, humble birthday moment, I politely said no.  I’m telling myself it was a proud “know yourself” victory.  Oh well.  

During the last 40 minutes, I thought to turn on my Garmin to track.  20 of these last 40 minutes included a lot of just walking and standing and a desperately needed water break.  I burned 290 calories in those 40 minutes.   Based on that, I guesstimated that I burned more than 1,000 calories doing just parts one and two. With metrics like these, I’ll be climbing Whiteface mountain by Wednesday.

Flopped on the beach for a bit to recover.  Arthur is in the neon green.

This is 45.  

Pre-birthday dinner picture.  

“You cannot HAVE ze duck.” 

-L.A. Story

This was an old house turned into a restaurant.  Fun, breezy decor and great venison stew.

The name of the restaurant was Salt of the Earth.  I liked the logo enough to buy a T-shirt.  But also because I’d like to think I’m a bit salt of the earth too.  

Matt treated me to after-dinner amaretto (and red wine for him).  

Day 6 (August 7th)

Pretty birch tree on our morning walk.  Arthur stayed overnight with Granny so that we could spend the morning *not* taking turns walking the lake loop but instead go together.  So grateful for any time we can carve out.  

Sat people watching from the little amphitheater in town.  

Lunch on Lake Placid (the actual Lake Placid, and not Mirror Lake).  This is a boathouse restaurant with patio seating, great cocktails, and a beautiful view.  

The boathouse also has a gorgeous garden on the property, this spot being a popular wedding venue.  We’ve now been here three times for lunch and garden photos.  

The rest of the day was intentionally lazy.  We made it back outside to enjoy dusk and a competitive game of Tacos vs Burritos (if you have kids and haven’t played this, it’s a MUST...was invented by a 7-yr old boy and is genuinely fun!) by the lake.  

Day 7 (August 8th)

We decided to return to the bobsled facility at Mount van Hoevenberg to see if they had open slots for the cliff side coaster, as it was sold out the previous day we visited.  This is the longest coaster in North America and follows the path of the 1980 Olympic Sliding Track. (Cliffside Coaster). We were a little sticker shocked at the price, until it started.  It’s very well done, there’s an audio tour in your seat that both gives you directions and safety reminders (you control your speed with hand brakes) and also Olympic history on the way up and down, calling your ride the way they’d sportscast the bobsled event.  It was really fun and a great way to get great views of the biathlon area, the cross-country skiing course, and great mountain views.  

Riding for Austria.  

Ready to go!  Each person gets around a 3-4 minute lead to avoid crowding on the course.  You’re required to social distance 80 feet between cars and they do an effective job teaching you with signs what that looks like while you’re climbing up.  You climb up six minutes, and ride down four minutes.  (Matt’s car was USA because he’s more patriotic, according to him.)

A bit of the audio on the way up the hill.

After the coaster, we got really lucky.  Athletes were training on the bobsled push track and we got to watch.  At first I thought we were just going to watch through windows, but one of the guys saw us and waved us to come into the actual track area where it was delightfully cold and we could see them up close.  Admittedly, I have never seen athletes quite this ripped quite this close up and I was a bit fixated on that for a few minutes.  I was a complete fan girl.  I bet these people could complete that adventure course in minutes flat.  Watching them was so motivating and interesting!  They would push what we assumed was a sort of practice cart, jump on it as though it was a bobsled, ride it down a hill then up a hill until it slowed to almost a stop before it would slide in reverse back to where they started.  A time clock would track their speed when they crossed the line where the bobsledders would hypothetically jump in and begin the slide. We saw times like 5.53 which I think meant mph which is fast, given the strength required to do this.  

I’ve taken zero interest in anything to do with bobsled, until this trip.  Watching this for just fifteen minutes was enough to make me want to try it.  Matt said these guys are as big as NFL linebackers.  

Maybe we’ll see these people in the next Olympics...

Arthur glued to all of it.

These training facilities are extremely nice.  This gives you an idea of just one of the lounge areas with alpine decor, spotless restrooms, a food court, an entire climbing gym on the main level, and many nooks to relax.  

 

Next, we drove out to a neighboring town for the annual tradition of eating lunch at one of the few remaining A&W restaurants.  Always a fun treat!  

Look at those root beer floats!  

This is North Pole, NY.  And this is its post office, where it’s Christmas all year long.  There’s also a North Pole Village with lots of activities and a tour, but it was closed.  We stopped in to see the gift shop and post office.  

Mini-golf where things finally cooled off with some rain.  Arthur and Granny have been here every day, and Matt and I only missed one day (when we instead tortured ourselves in treetops).  

After mini-golf, Arthur and I got to ice skate in the newly renovated Olympic Center Ice Rink!  This is the original entrance from 1932.  

I grew up roller skating and have only been ice skating maybe ten times.  Ice skating is similar but never feels all that easy, despite my legs having a general muscle memory for it.  This was the nicest rink I’ve ever skated on.  I don’t know if was that the skates were new, the rink was newly done, or some inspiration effect from the Olympics.  It was smooth, zero bumps, and felt so much easier to skate on.  I built up to a few turns and footwork that I usually don’t dare try.  Such a cool experience! 

This was Arthur’s fourth time ice skating and he made MAJOR strides this time.  By the end of our session he had less of a death grip on my right hand.  :-) 

Besides all of this, we’ve enjoyed living out of messy clothes piles (rebellious vacation mode), Matt has started his favorite puzzle that he does only here in Lake Placid, we watched Lilo and Stitch, and have caught most sunsets.  I could definitely spend the entire summer here.