Dodgeball Fun?

After reading last night's edition of the Jay Community News, I paused after seeing the announcement inviting teams or players to join the fun in the upcoming Dodgeball Tournament this February.

I immediately had flashbacks to high school gym class and thought of the anxiety that would fill me as soon as the teacher announced we would be playing dodgeball. Balls scared me, I was a runner. For a 90 pound weakling, I was always an easy target and could rarely avoid being hit.

I can tell you right now that when I was thinking about my new year's resolutions, getting over my fear of dodgeball was not on the list. A quiet, peaceful activity such as learning the art of Origami in 2012 was on the list. So, if I do attend the tournament this year, I will be the one in the bleachers making Origami cranes and I promise you that if I throw one at you, it probably won't hurt.

Where Have I Been?

Exploring new slides.

Where is this one you ask? I'm afraid I can't tell you because my husband barely told me.

The Pretend Train Bandit

Last week my nephew was in town and we thought there was no better activity to do with a four year old boy that loves trains than to take the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. It was a peaceful journey to Saranac Lake, but once boarded to ride back to Lake Placid, I looked outside and informed my nephew that there were some peculiar looking people at the train station.

The sight of these two strangers dressed in trench coats on a hot summer day frightened him a little. As others boarded the train, we were greeted by a suspicious looking man with a red bandana covering his mouth.

The "bandit" came over to us and handed my nephew a "real three dollar bill" just in case he was accused of being a thief. With all the build up to this "Tri-Lakes Bandit Train Robbery," a certain four year old sitting across from me was getting nervous. We were told by the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's website that "once the bandit boards our train, there is plenty of fun and laughter to go around." My nephew was not laughing. It was right around the time that the train stopped in Ray Brook to pick up the "payroll" that the bandit tried to steal, we had to keep telling my nephew that it was only for fun, like a game, that it was all pretend.

I should mention here that I was probably around the same age when my mother had prepped me on real vs. pretend before seeing the movie Bambi. In the scene when Bambi's mother gets shot, I announced to the crying audience, "IT'S ONLY A MOVIE!"

This kind of steely reaction must run in the family because every time we said robber or bandit, my nephew would say, "They're just people. It's only for pretend. They're just people." As for the "real three dollar bill" he was given, we let him believe it was real, because gullibility also seems to run in the family.

Trap Dike: Part One

Hard core I am not. Adventurous maybe. Curious, most definitely.

For years, friends told me stories about ascending or descending the Trap Dike and I wondered how this place could be so amazing. I knew that Avalanche Pass was gorgeous from other through hikes I had taken, but this dike they all talked about definitely had me curious.

I was always jealous of listening to their climbing and skiing adventures and silently pouted that no one would ever take me. Finally, I mentioned my interest in reaching Mount Colden's summit via this classic Adirondack climbing route to my friend Emilie and we started planning when we could go. This planning process took us approximately two years to finally have days off together and have the weather be on our side. With Emilie's upcoming trip to the Indian Karakoram for a climbing expedition of her own, this first week of summer was our week. Or so we thought.

We kept watching the weather report and things looked good for our adventure, with a 30% chance of showers in the late afternoon. Emilie figured out that if we started by 8 am, we could be on our way down before any supposed rain would begin. Not trying to get ahead of myself in the story, but I should note here that approximately 3 hours later she told me that if she had a client with this forecast, they would not have attempted the proposed hike. However, a paying client I was not and as two friends, we plowed ahead and so we reached Avalanche Lake looking out for dark clouds.

Unusually optimistic for the two of us, we determined that it was partly cloudy and we circled the lake. Confident that the weather man was spot on with the weather forecast, we decided to eat a sandwich before we started our scramble and just as we were finishing the crusts, we looked at one another and said, "Was that a raindrop?" Yes, but no sprinkle was going to keep me down and so we continued.

Then those sprinkles turned into heavy rain drops, we put on our raincoats and the rocks became slippery and wet. Turns out rain and rock slabs don't mix well and Emilie, the knowledgeable guide gave Mother Nature the thumbs down.

And so there I was crouched in the rain with my SPF 70 having her tell me how nice it will be to do the Trap Dike with fall foliage.

So, as I feed her cats this summer and tell them stories about their owner climbing on the other side of the world, at least I'll have Trap Dike, Part Two to look forward to.

Best of luck Emilie on your big adventure!

Gold Medal Laundromat

Back in the day when I was an apartment dweller in Lake Placid, I had to cart my laundry to the laundromat. This was not an activity I loved. Most of the laundromats in Lake Placid back then were places that rarely made me feel like I was walking away with clean clothes. I never hung out at the laundromat waiting for the clothes to come out because just sitting there made the last of my clean clothes that I was wearing feel dirty. Of course, this meant returning 28 minutes later to discover that the machine did not work properly and then had to wait around even longer than anticipated. So, I perfected the art of timing my visits to my parents just when the laundry basket had reached its full capacity.

When Drew and I bought our first home, his parents gifted us with our very own washer and dryer. It was one of the best gifts I had ever received and I was thankful that my laundromat days were over. Or so I thought...

Just as any homeowner knows, when it rains it pours. We came back from a weekend away and the basement was flooded. The worst it has ever been. It fried our hot water tank and our beloved washing machine. Over the course of the week I had taken hot showers in four different households within a five mile radius. Several dollars later, the hot water tank is fixed and the washer is not.

This week, our laundry collection surpassed the friendly, "Hey do you mind if we come over and do a load of laundry?" With a total of six loads, we drove to Lake Placid and went to the new, Gold Medal Laundromat in the Cold Brook Plaza.

What an improvement now that it is under new management. I know this happened awhile ago, but wow! The washing machines are all new and they work. The driers blew me away. For a large load, the clothes were all dry in less than half an hour.

We didn't lose any change in the machines and when I had a problem putting one of the bills in for quarters, the owner came right over even without me asking for help. The laundromat was clean and had a nice sitting area with a large flat screen television to pass the time. I actually didn't mind spending an hour there doing laundry and sat reading until I heard the machines beep to tell me they were done doing their job.

It is nice to know that there is a good laundromat in Lake Placid and I will probably gather up some sweaters for their dry cleaning service. I think Gold Medal Laundromat definitely deserves the gold!

Much Deserved Pedicure at Speedy Spa

A quick update on my never ending toe issues...I finished the marathon on Sunday with no damage to my recent toenail removal and managed to cross the finish line with zero blisters. My tootsies actually ended up being the least of my issues and while struggling with the heat (my enemy), I thought about how my friend, Elizabeth thought that thinking about a pedicure in the last few miles might make the miles go by easier. Honestly, I needed a whole lot more than the thought of a pedicure appointment in the last few miles, but we both did it. We finished another marathon and our feet definitely deserved the royal treatment at Speedy Spa.

The owner, Claire greeted us on the porch and was happy to see us, we were happy that there was only one step to climb. Speedy Spa has such a fun vibe to it and is a great place to go with girlfriends for spa treatments.

Elizabeth came away from the marathon with a couple bruised toenails, so Laura gave her feet some needed tlc.

Elizabeth decided to cover up her already purplish toe nails with a rosy pink. I asked her what the paint color was called and she said, "Baguette Me Not." I responded confused with, "like as in a french baguette?"

Um yeah, you can tell I'm not too girly because baguette diamond was not even a thought of mine.

I went with something a little less feminine and had my nails painted, "Hot and Spicy."

I guess I was partial to the name since I really haven't been able to cool down since the race and well... y'all know I'm a little spicy.

We left Speedy Spa feeling great and it made me think I should start rewarding myself more often, marathon or not. Thanks Speedy Spa!

Arcade Fun!

I started yesterday morning off by saying to my husband, "My prom date is spending the night and I don't know when we'll be home." Obviously he'd met him several times before and knew he had nothing to worry about because I've known Phil since our potty training days. Drew's only concern when it comes to my relationship with Phil would be that I might as an adult pee my pants from laughing so hard. I had been excited for months about his visit.

He met me at my place of work and had made plans to meet up with a friend from our hometown for dinner. Her trip took a little bit longer than planned and so we were left in Lake Placid with nothing to do on a Monday evening. We walked along Main Street in the spitting snow as stores were closing and feeling a bit defeated, we ended up at Bowlwinkles.

It was league night and we were told that we couldn't bowl, but it made no difference to us because there was an arcade! Phil was psyched to see his favorite game, Time Crisis II and got us a handful of coins to play our hearts away.

As he was shooting up bad guys I hung out at Ms. Pacman, but the joystick was broken and couldn't play too much of that before I started getting blisters. We noticed that several of the games were broken, but we weren't too sad because my all time favorite arcade game was there, Skee Ball! Oh, and after the first game of that we discovered we could get tickets and try to win something. I had my eye on the gummy worms.

We knew we had to get serious and started up some major rounds of skee ball.

Drew ended up joining us and we needed as much help as we could get if we were ever going to have a chance of winning those gummy worms. He and Phil warmed up and bonded over some Air Hockey.

This strategy seemed to work because Drew had one skee ball roll and got it into the 10,000 hole and shot out a long line of tickets. After running out of tokens and counting up our tickets we ended up with a measly 149, way short of the 325 needed for those worms. Phil picked out some "Groovy Playing Cards" and I scored a cat eraser and some play doh to give to our friend once she finally got there.

It's funny how I walked away from last night's fun thinking about the "drug-free" after prom party we attended and how I played similar games to collect enough tickets for a flashlight. The flashlight is long gone, but my prom date remains in my life after all these years.

Oh, to the Oval I go!

The day started off just like all the others with the alarm going off at 6:30 am, the thermometer was in the single digits and it was snowing outside, so I opted out of my morning run and watched something on hulu instead. This pattern is bad for someone that is supposed to be in marathon training.

I decided I'd pack my running things and run after work around Mirror Lake a couple times. As it turned out, I spent too much time watching internet tv and did not pack a couple crucial layers to do this. I figured I'd compromise and run around the 1980 rink. Fail. The ipod didn't want to work and there was no way I was going to torture myself with that kind of boredom.

As I ran past the windows of the mezzanine, I looked down at the speed skating oval and knew that I could join my friend Ann for some laps. Faster than I had run in months, I darted out of the building and ran down to the Lake Placid Skate Shop to grab some speed skates.

Linda was so helpful, she had the skates ready for me before I could even tell her my size! She could tell I was a little nervous because I had only been on speed skates once before. Luckily, the first person I ran into was her daughter and so she skated a couple laps with my friend Ann and I, giving me pointers along the way.

Honestly, I should be ashamed of myself that I had not done this sooner in the season. The night was gorgeous and the ice was perfect for my beginner's glide. It is so sad to think how quickly Mother Nature might change that surface tomorrow.

Having been a figure skater, it took me awhile to adjust to the blades and find my center of balance. Once I got a little bit better and my feet weren't shaking, the distance runner in me kicked in and I started mentally calculating laps and counting miles. This was way more fun than running around an indoor ice rink.

I've been known to say that if I had been introduced to speed skating as a teenager after giving up figure skating and turning to track that "I could have been a contender." A legend in my own mind I suppose, but tonight I skated on the same rink as the real "Legends of the Oval."

Visitors and a Cascading Waterfall

I like having guests visit me along the Ausable because it generally means good food and lots of laughs are on the way. If we know visitors are coming to stay at our house, it means we'll be eating a higher quality dinner thoughtfully prepared rather than our usual last minute frozen pizza option. If they're staying elsewhere, I try to figure out a place they would really enjoy eating at together. Good food and drinks always wins me over whether I'm a guest or a hostess.

As for activities, I like to plan out some fun things to do as well.

When I heard that L and P were going to be staying in Lake Placid and wanted to get together over the weekend, I immediately wanted to know where they were staying. Why? Well, I hoped their lodging accommodations would have a pool and I could build it into the evening's itinerary.

L informed me that they would be staying at the Courtyard Marriott. I wrote back right away telling her to pack their bathing suits. Now, I know writing this to someone you haven't seen in roughly 12 years and having gotten reacquainted through one another's blogs might seem strange, but L quickly wrote back, "I hear the pool has its own 'cascading waterfall' (as opposed to one that does not cascade)."

Before we checked out the cascading waterfall at the pool, we toured two dining establishments for drinks and food and then sprinkled in a little Adirondack ambience. The tour de Lake Placid seemed to exhaust everyone, but we rallied and put on our suits since we did at one point call the hotel to confirm that the pool wasn't closing until 11:00 pm.

There wasn't just one cascading waterfall, there were two! One each for L and P to relax under.

If L&P would like to return, I'll show them a real waterfall next time, one that cascades more than two feet.

Equine Center aka Bomb Shelter

When I first moved to the area almost a decade ago, I had this sweet deal through work and paid only $100 a month to live in this little apartment on the old Lake Placid Club property.

When I wasn't surrounded by snow drifts in the winter, you could see that I lived in the middle of a parking area for the tennis courts. During the day, when I was actually inside (rare), the door would get knocked on asking if I was the Tennis Pro. At night, I would wake up to the sound of cars slowly driving in and parking. I started to recognize the cars that were either doing drug deals or parking to make out. My cinder block apartment never really felt like home and my friends referred to it as the "Bomb Shelter."

Turns out the "Bomb Shelter" is now surrounded by horses.

The Equine Center now has a location here and they offer horseback riding, carriage and sleigh rides. As my dedicated readers know, I have a problem with motion sickness so I will not provide you with a review of the horseback riding. I shall leave that to someone else.

No offense horsies, but I sure am glad I don't live in the "Bomb Shelter" anymore. I hope you enjoy the teenage face suckers more than I did.

For Sale: Water Tube

After purchasing three tubes from the Mountaineer less than 24 hours ago, I have discovered that tubing down the river is not for me.

Our friend Heather from Colorado was visiting and we thought it would be fun to float down the river to our house. We started our journey from the parking area on 9N between Upper Jay and Jay. Everything started off smoothly and I was loving life.

A little more than half a mile later down stream, I could tell my body wasn't liking the adventure. I had visions of myself grabbing onto the bridge foundation and holding on for dear life like Anne of Green Gables did before Gilbert rescued her.

No, the current wasn't strong and I was not in danger of drowning. This lazy river tubing adventure was carrying us at a rate of less than one mile an hour. You see, my body is fragile and I am prone to motion sickness. I have gotten sick while flat water kayaking on Mirror Lake. I thought I would be fine just floating down the river not exerting myself. However, I am a freak of nature.

Drew and Heather were perfectly happy drifting further and further down the river away from me.

Something happened 1 1/2 miles down. I vomited. Yes, that's right, I puked. It was a technicolor yawn. I tossed my cookies. Upchucked. Barfed. Threw up. Hurled. This projectile ralph happened in my beloved river.

I was still only about half way to our house and had no choice but to float and walk along the river banks while my husband and friend laughed at me during other bouts of vomiting. This unfortunately is something Drew has gotten used to over the years with me.

Finally we rounded the final river bend and came to the parking area less than a mile walk to our house. I exited the river and waved down a woman that I've seen often while running in the morning to give me a ride to the Covered Bridge to meet them.

Drew and Heather completed the three mile river journey. Drew ended it with a grand finale of sliding down the rapids just before the bridge. He obviously had no problems with his stomach.

So, if anyone else would like to give it a try, I know of one River Rat tube that won't be used anytime soon.

90 Degree What?!

What does one do when family comes to town during a heat wave?

1. Take turns hugging the icy North Pole.

2. Drive 1000 feet from the house in an air conditioned vehicle to the famous swimming hole and submerse your body into the refreshing Au Sable River.

3. Decide you are not leaving "Heaven on Earth" anytime soon and finally turn into a swimmer after 32 years.

4. Don't cook, go to A&W for dinner and drink Root Beer Floats.

5. Repeat step 3, walk down to the river for a quick dip before bed and wait for the sun to go down.

Roaring Brook Fireworks

Instead of watching the fireworks from behind our house in Jay tonight, we hiked to the top of Roaring Brook Falls to watch them over the Ausable Club.

We arrived before sunset and found our spot on the rocks. Lori, Drew, and I couldn't get over what a perfect summer night it was and quietly took in the beauty around us. We were all relaxing until some loud obnoxious hikers from New Jersey showed up and got right in front of us and ruined our wilderness experience!

Just kidding, we love you Muffin even if you are from NJ! :)

There are moments every day when I realize how lucky I am to live here. Tonight was no exception. Being able to pick up my husband and friend after work and take a short hike to watch fireworks in the mountains is definitely not something I take for granted.

Happy Fourth of July from the top of Roaring Brook Falls!

BBQ Festival

The I Love BBQ Festival has returned to Lake Placid this weekend.

Sadly, I was not asked to return as the ILBBQF Mascot. Do you think it's because I'm not piggly enough?

Perhaps it's because I tend to try out only one rib in the Buck a Rib Contest. Maybe I need to start bulking up for next year's festival and eat more homemade potato chip nacho towers and pulled pork sandwiches.

Learn to Fly Extravaganza

At the start of the Olympic Games two weeks ago I had asked Drew, "If you could start your life over at the age of three and start training for an Olympic sport, what would it be?" He thought for awhile and finally replied, "Ski Jumping." If he had grown up here and not in Central New York, that could have been a possibility. Our six year old friend Ruby is lucky to have a Mom that allows her to try out a variety of activities and last week it was Ski Jumping. She had so much fun and couldn't wait until the next time she could practice her jumps.

Last night was the last of NYSEF'S Learn to Fly Series and ended with a kid parent competition. Unfortunately, Ruby's dad has been out in Colorado for the month and so Amy was scrambling to find a surrogate parent. Drew was the lucky one and got to partner up with Ruby in the Learn to Fly competition.

Ruby coached Drew on how to stay low and spring up on the jump. She showed him how it was done on her Sponge Bob Square Pants skis. This girl has no fear.

After practicing, Ruby told Drew, "You better jump far!" Of course in the excitement of it all, I messed up on my videography duties. So, either tilt your head to the left or if you have a laptop turn it clockwise 90 degrees to check out Drew's massive 9 meter jump on the 16 meter hill.

They made a good team and finished in 21st place! Ruby was a little disappointed that she didn't receive a ribbon, but as we walked out to the car, she started to realize she did pretty darn good since some boys didn't even go off the jump and that was only her second time.

Lake Placid Toboggan Chute

One of my all time favorite activities in the winter is tobogganing down the chute onto Mirror Lake. This is always a hit or miss activity because it is so weather dependent. February is usually the best time to go when the lake has been frozen for a few months.

A couple years ago in March, my friend Emilie and I stumbled upon the Lions Club race that had been delayed due to weather conditions. We had so much fun, but got completely soaked because the top layer of Mirror Lake was turning to slush. Strangely, we received second place for women and walked away with a Genesee Beer trophy that now resides in my garage.

That trophy really means something to me because as a child my sister and I were in a sledding accident and we ended up with one black eye and a swollen jaw. Surprisingly, we took a chance at the Toboggan Chute together a few years back and the only mishap was a pair of torn snow pants.

This is not an activity for the faint of heart. There is a large warning sign before you climb the structure discouraging expectant mothers and others with heart conditions. They also let you know they are not responsible for damaged clothing that might get torn from extreme friction.

My husband had never been down the Toboggan Chute and so after grocery shopping we went for a few rides. I think the following videos will show that I have gotten over my fear of sledding.

I love it when you spin on the ice at the end!

How can something be so scary and fun at the same time?

If you've never been tobogganing, this could be your week. The conditions are fast and this Saturday, Rock 105 will be hosting the Adirondack International Toboggan Championships where there are lots of prizes and the funds raised go to the USA Luge Team. I'm sorry to say there won't be any beer trophies handed out at this event, that was last weekend and I missed out on the event. So, for another year, our beautiful beer trophy will be the only one on the tool shelf.

Jay Knitting Group

I first learned how to knit during the ice storm of 1998 when I was a sophomore in college. With no electricity and little to do once the wood was chopped, my mother pulled out her yarn supply and got me knitting my first hat. We sat around knitting in front of the fireplace and listened to the radio for days and when the power came back on, the hat was complete.

After finding out several friends are having babies in the spring, I got started on another hat. My mother was there to help me. A couple projects later, I began perfecting the art of the scarf. I received help from a gal on you tube. She was patient and never got upset when I'd have her show me how to cast off over and over and over again.

My current project is another hat and I'm still having problems working with different colors.

When I heard that a knitting group was starting in Jay, I got really excited that other ladies would be there to help me. No longer would I have to keep relying on visits from my mother and utilize the you tube lady.

The knitting group meets at the Alpaca Shoppe in Jay and knits in the waiting area of the Chiropractor's office. A woman I sat next to went to the knitting group last year with no knitting background and tonight, just one year later, showed up with a a nearly finished sweater. Seeing all these women knitting together was very inspiring and I couldn't believe that most of them were juggling a few different projects at the same time.

With 20% off on knitters night, the soft alpaca yarn was hard to resist.

After receiving some help on my hat, I caved and bought some more yarn and started the project presented that night, an Alpaca Boucle Scarf.

So there in the waiting room of the Chiropractor's office, I learned a new way of casting on and said good bye to the you tube lady and her sad looking dorm room.