North Pole, NY
It’s our last night in the Adirondacks. We’ve been staying in a town called North Pole, which is fun for Ingrid. There’s Santa’s Workshop nearby, but unfortunately, it’s closed during the week. Too bad because they have live reindeer! Our campground has the best playground yet, in my opinion; they have an intricate wooden 4×4 truck and pirate ship, a plane that rocks seven kids side to side, and even a train. It’s kind of fun to see the candy canes and Merry Christmas signs. The only thing I don’t like (and I really don’t like this) is that the showers are push button and they turn off automatically after just 2 minutes!
Yesterday we drove up Whiteface mountain. Near the peak you can get into an elevator that will take you the rest of the way. It was mostly a bummer because there was zero visibility, still it was our day to see Whiteface mountain so we paid our $14 entrance fee and plodded on. Ingrid had asked me earlier this month what it feels like to be in a cloud, so I told her we were going to a castle in the clouds! She perked up quite a bit and we all got into the game. There were some beautiful views along the way but near the top we were truly covered by the clouds and couldn’t see anything. No matter to Ingrid who was excited to enter the “castle” at the top. It really did look and feel like a castle. Inside was a restaurant and gift shop. Inside the tower at the very top of the mountain we saw photos of the famous people who had been there, like the Kennedys. I think at times it’s a popular ski resort; at this time of the year though, we had it all to ourselves.
Today we wanted to see some of the other sights but quickly lost our excitement. It seems like most of the land here is privately owned, and so for every attraction there is an outrageous entrance fee. There’s a gorge close by that seemed interesting, but then we found out it costs $16 per person ($9 for kids) just to hike to it! There’s also a chasm which you have to pay for, a gondola ride up Whiteface mountain (we were willing to pay for this one, but it was closed today). Ingrid is constantly asking if we can have a picnic so we packed up a cooler and headed out with the dogs. We drove toward Placid Lake and had a hard time finding an ideal spot. Finally we just stopped close to the lake and spread out the blanket and ate our sandwiches and chips. The dogs whined constantly because they were tied up. Ingrid danced around enjoying the picnic, and Andrew and I talked about how cool it would be to live on a lake for a month or so. After lunch Andrew took us back to a hidden road he’d seen earlier, an unpaved path along the railroad tracks. We weren’t sure if we should, it seems pretty off-road unfriendly in the Adirondacks. But we did and we’re glad we did! We drove a short distance and found a big open field for the dogs to run. They were beyond thrilled! On a little hill adjacent, Andrew found abandoned playground. That was kind of erie, seeing all the trees overgrown on the swing set, and the monkey bar buried in weeds. We had a grand time playing and then drove back through the narrow path with tree branches brushing us like we were in a car wash. Just as we came to the real road, we saw a police car parked across the street, monitoring with a radar gun. Fortunately for us, s/he did not see us coming out of the woods.
Tomorrow we hit the road for Montpelier, Vermont where we’ll visit Andrew’s school friend Laura. Laura has children so I’m excited for Ingrid; it’s been a kid-less kind of a trip lately with everyone going back to school. We’ll stay in Vermont for about a week and then drive to Syracuse, where Ingrid and I will fly from to California. Andrew will meet us there after a week and we’ll go to Sarah’s wedding together. When we get back to NY we’ll stay with Andrew’s uncle, visit Ingrid’s great-grandma, and even spend a few nights in New York city. Beyond that is only loosely planned and totally open. I love it!