Vacation 2008 Part 2 - The Adirondacks

We left Gettysburg and headed to upper state New York to hang out with the girls. We like to stay at KOA Kamping Kabins as we go. There's no TV, so we spent time playing games and reading the books we bought in the gift shop at Gettysburg.It's rustic and cheap! The only drawback is the hike to the shower room in the morning. We cook our breakfast outdoors before we head out in the morning, so it feels a little bit like camping without the hassle of setting up and tearing down a soggy tent every day!
Jiffy popcorn works great on our camping stove.
One of the first things we did when we arrived was attend a dedication of this bronze statue of a Lake Placid hometown boy made good -he was in 5 Olympics as a ski jumper, and then went on to a broadcasting career with NBC and The Wide World of Sports. Alison had a lot to do with organizing the ceremony, designing and printing the programs, arranging the details on site, etc. We really enjoyed meeting a lot of the people she works with, too.
We got to spend time with the girls and Alison's boyfriend Jon every day. Here we are in Alison's apartment watching the Celtics win their final game against the Lakers. Things are on very late in New York - the game didn't start until 10:00 p.m.! We left at half time because we had a tee time in the morning that we didn't want to miss.
You can't skip the yummy ice cream stands. This one is called Mountain Mist, and we stopped there twice plus another FAVORITE place called Donnelly's, a dairy that is halfway to Christie's school. It's not a wonder I gained a few pounds over vacation!
Paul actually had a banana and vanilla twist cone - it tasted like banana cream pie - yum!
We ate out most evenings - here we are with Inger, a gal who works in the library at Paul Smith's College. We ate at a Mexican restaurant where Jon works part time.
Had to get a pic of Jon working hard.
On Monday, Christie took the day (actually the week) off and we headed to Elizabethtown and an interesting Adirondack museum. This history stuff is becoming a tradition, because we have spent at least a day touring historic sites each time we visit!
Christie and I climbed an old fire tower next to the museum - and I mean "old" when I say old! Paul wouldn't try it. I don't know what good it would do to hold on tight if it collapsed, but I sure
had a good grip on my way up!
There wasn't much room at the top but the view was great.
There was a display of art that was a combination of strips of digital pictures with homemade paper all glued onto the canvas and painted, too. We were admiring the pictures when we discovered the lady we were talking to was the artist. She was originally from Wisconsin, but now lives in the park.
We wandered around a colonial garden outside the museum and then walked downtown for lunch.
Christie has a fun business as a pet and home sitter. We had the pleasure of staying in her awesome cabin while she stayed in a home pet sitting for FIVE cats and a dog.
The hungry mob waiting to be fed.
At last!
Each cat had its own spot for dinner. Very organized, but then what would you expect from retired college professors?
Jiminy Cricket was a honey of a miniature collie. He almost made you want one of your own ... but then how could we take off on trips or golfing at the drop of a hat? Christie has the best of both worlds - fun with pets, but none of the expense.
Of course, we had to spend SOME time golfing. Alison works at a golf resort as a part time job, plus ORDA, the Olympic Regional Development Authority has connections, so we golfed on two beautiful courses. See the ski jumps in the background?
This course had some weird mounds as part of the challenge.
This course overlooked Lake Placid and the deer were very friendly.
Nice shot, Paulee!
I even managed to stay out of the trees on this hole!

We had a great time catching up on the girls lives, and enjoyed the break from our daily grind. Too bad we can't do this every other month or so. Stay tuned for Part 3 and the trip home on my next posting.