Adirondack Road Trip Day 2 - Crocodiles & Bears! O My!
I took a quick step backwards after hearing the leaves and branches of a nearby tree shake wildly. The only thought that ran through my mind was that I had no idea what the hell to do if a bear actually popped out of the woods and got on the trail with me. Do I run? Hide? If so, where, up a tree? Do I use my walking stick to whack at the bear? Do I yell at it? Do I place my food about 100 yards away, which I think you’re supposed to do after you cook a meal in the woods? I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do. So I ran, and I ran hard and fast and with more reason to run than I ever had in the past. All I heard was an extremely loud growl and leaves and trees moving ahead of me, but that was enough for me to want to get the hell out of the woods. I can’t say I was that graceful in my exit as branches whacked me during my sprint, and I fell on my face numerous times because it was extremely icy, and had anything really wanted to catch up with me in the wild, they probably could easily had their way with me, but I did make it back to my car and felt a humongous feeling of relief.
I placed my walking stick in my trunk, caught my breath, and was about to hop into the car when I saw an older woman exit the woods with a pair of cross country skis.
“Hi ma’am,” I initiated the conversation once she got near her car. “I was wondering something, are you from around here?” I asked her to see if this was someone I could possibly trust.
“Yes sonny,” she replied taking off her skis. “Lived here all my life,” she said as I wondered how weird it would be to live my entire life in the wilderness. It probably wouldn’t be too bad, actually.
“I was wondering if you knewif any animals lived back in those woods, like larger animals,” I asked her without seeming to be too direct or sound too ignorant about the woods. “Like any large animals,” I finished my thought waiting eagerly for her response.
“Well, there are definitely animals out in the woods. Didn’t you see the sign?” she pointed to the sign I read before entering the woods and nodded that I had read the sign. “All I can say is that last weekend my friends from around here were driving back home and on their way they had to stop in the road to let bears cross the street.”
I don’t know why I felt this way but I wanted to give this woman a humongous hug, but instead I thanked her and hopped back in the car and started the drive to Lake Placid, where I assumed some mutant man-eating crocodile would try to eat me. I took pictures of the passing mountain ranges, and entered that feeling of less consciousness when you’ve been driving extensively in an isolated environment. I started wondering where I’d be staying for the night, but this thought didn’t linger too long as I saw off the road to my amazement the “Lake Placid Hostel.” “A Hostel?!” I thought to myself in amazement. “What the hell is a hostel doing out near Lake Placid?” I felt this warm feeling run through my body that made me feel like I was at home. Now, I may be the only person in the world, or at least the only person in my group of friends and family, who may react this way when they see a hostel, but a hostel means a few things to me - 1. Cheap!, 2. young people, 3. Nearby downtown. I don’t think of the movie “Hostel,” or anything terrible happening, or a poor house, or sharing a room with strangers, or anything like that. I usually think that I’ll be surrounded by people who share the same interest and passion for traveling as I do. It’s usually the only place on my travels or in the world where I can find a group of people who really care about something I live for - traveling. However, I did get some strange reactions when I stayed in hostels in the U.S. But I don’t think much of those experiences, because for the most part - like 99% of the time when I’m traveling - no one gives me a hard time when I stay at a hostel, even in the U.S.
So I pulled off the road and parked in a snow filled lot and headed into the hostel. It was FREEZING outside. I walked in, but the heat didn’t seem to be working too well, but the hostel itself looked like it was in decent shape. I didn’t see anyone at the front desk so I started walking around hollering to see if anyone was around. “Anyone here?” I kept yelling throughout the house, but no one was responding. I started to get worried that the hostel was closed, but that didn’t make much sense to me because the door was open, so I kept exploring the place and made my way upstairs where I heard a television on.
“Anyone in here?” I asked behind the door, but heard no response. “Anyone in hear?” I yelled a little louder.
“Yea, what do you want?,” I heard this groggy voice respond.
“I want a room, you know what you have to do to get a room,” I continued the conversation through the door.
“Call the number at the front desk, and someone will show up,” I heard the man’s response, an American, but I could tell he was getting frustrated with me, so I quickly scooted down the stairwell and looked for a number at the desk. I found a number and instructions on how to reserve a room, and called the number I was supposed to contact for a room.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” a woman responded on the other side of the line.
“A minute?” I thought to myself. There’s nothing around here for miles, where is she coming from. But before I even finished the thought I saw a car pull up into the hostel and a blonde haired woman step out of the car and head inside and make her way behind the desk, as I shuffled to get out of her way.
“A room’s $15,” she told me, and I accepted her offer before she could finish the thought. I happily paid my $15 and checked out the room which was surprisingly nice. There were two bunk beds with very clean white sheets and covers, a table and a chair in my room and a very clean private bathroom with a toilet, shower and sink nearby. I had hit the jackpot with this hostel, and was amazed that any 22 year old would turn down this deal if it was offered to them. I had a room and essentially a hostel to myself for $15. I headed back to the car and continued my drive into downtown Lake Placid with very high expectations, god knows why.
I entered downtown Lake Placid and was slightly amazed and excited to see such a vibrant little town in the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t seen a real town or city all day driving through the backwoods of New York, but Lake Placid seemed legitimate. I quickly held a grudge against the town though because I couldn’t find free parking anywhere. I parked at the outskirts of downtown, and walked five minutes to get to the main drag. I walked past bars, and pharmacy stores, a couple bookstores which were closed for the night, a bank, a bunch of restaurants, a movie theater, convenient stores and a sports bar on my walk along Main Street - I love how every American town has a Main St with lots of random stuff. It was ridiculously cold outside - no more than 5 degrees - and I had been outside long enough by the time I finished my stroll, so I happily descended into the sports bar where the Giants were playing their playoff game and I ordered a buffalo chicken sandwich - my second of the trip, geez, haha. I didn’t care what happened in the game, and sat at the bar long enough for me to regain feeling in my toes, hands, and the rest of my body parts before taking off about an hour later. I didn’t really know what I wanted to, not much honestly - because it was so cold outside, so I felt extremely relieved when I saw a long line at the movie theatre, and thought that was a great way to spend the night.
Before getting on line I walked inside and inquired about the price of the ticket and was extremely shocked that seats were going for $6. SIX DOLLARS?? I couldn’t believe this and felt like I was back in Ohio and Kenyon when the local movie theater would have dollar movie nights on the weekends. I hopped on line not knowing what movies were actually showing, so I called my sister and asked her about the movies that I could choose from. She said that I’d enjoy “Juno” so I took her word for it and was going to buy a ticket, but couldn’t because the theatre didn’t accept credit cards. Now, even though the theater looked as if it were built in the 1920s doesn’t mean they have 1920s technology, and I was a little shocked and disappointed when I heard this. I asked where the nearest ATM was located and sprinted out of the theatre, entered the miserable cold, and jogged to the nearest ATM. I ran back - a ten minute round trip - and skipped the line to buy my $6 ticket. I felt incredible, or whatever that feeling is when you feel you got a steal or an incredible deal, that’s exactly how I felt.
“Juno” itself was surprisingly entertaining and I was doubly surprised to see two actors in the movie were also in “Arrested Development.” “AD” has a special place in my heart because I had heard of the show but never watched it when it was on TV, but was turned on to it because Suz was a huge fan and we spent a bunch of time watching AD. So I had a small personal chuckle to myself and felt really great that I had no emotional reaction to these actors from my past, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I left the theatre and headed back to the car and drove back to the hostel where I bumped into this older guy who was hiking the Adirondack mountains and was up from Long Island for the weekend - “Crazy, I thought to myself.” For some reason, I never think that way about my traveling habits. I returned to my room, called a bunch of my close friends to tell them about the Bear story and crashed for the night. Even though only 2 days had passed since I began my road trip and I only had one more, I thought that I was cramming in enough stimulus to keep me wired for weeks.
Tags: New York Road Trips, Travel
