Lake Placid (Vacation 3)

On Wednesday we left Big Moose Lake for Lake Placid. The drive was a surprising two hours long (I didn't think the Adirondacks were all that big). Boyfriend's mom rented a condo for us right on Lake Placid. It was really nice not having to cram into a hotel room.

The bulk of our time at Lake Placid was spent at various Olympic sites. Though we did also spend some time wandering through the shops on Main Street, tasting wine, getting a massage, and playing games.

We bought an Olympic "passport" that gave us access to the Olympic Center with museum and ice rinks, the ski jump, the bobsled track, and Whiteface Mountain. The museum was small and the rink where the US team won the game that inspired that movie Miracle would probably have been more exciting to someone else. I did like the stuffed animal versions of all the Olympic mascots dating back decades, though. Especially the Snowlets from Nagano (sorry, I didn't get a picture)

After the museum, we drove over to the ski jump. At my last job, I worked with a guy who had almost gone to the 2006 Olympics for ski jumping. I have to say, standing at the top of that jump, I'm not sure how he ever worked up the courage. Especially the first time.

Looking down from the top of the ski jump

The tower was so big it was hard to get the entire thing in frame. Thankfully there was an elevator to the top. Although there was a second, 90-foot tower that did not have an elevator. I would not like hauling a pair of skis to the top of that

The 120-foot ski jump tower. On top of a hill we took a chair lift to the top of.  The sign said they were pouring the concrete for 15 days straight to build it

After the ski jumps we went to the bobsled and luge course. Apparently, one of the things that makes Lake Placid unique is that you can see all of the Olympic sites from all of the others. I took a picture of this from the bobsled course

Other Olympic sites

You can see the ski jump (left) and ice rinks (right) anyway. Mt Whiteface is off to the right and was hidden by clouds, so I didn't take a picture of it.

They actually gave us the option of walking down the bobsled track, which was fun. I hadn't been expecting that, and it was kind of a neat way to experience the track.

The beginning of the bobsled track

Heading into the first curve. The ceiling got really low when the track went horizontal

The next day (when it was sunnier) we took a gondola up to the top of Whiteface. (A whopping 3700 feet above sea level) (Forgive my snark) Anyway, here's a cool picture of Lake Placid from the peak of the mountain

Lake Placid is shaped more like a figure 8 than a circle

After we were done with the Olympic sites, we went on a short hike to see some waterfalls

Waterfall!

More waterfall!

All in all it was a very fun trip.