We’re Here!!!
8 – 7 – 06
Well, our stay in Utica, NY was a pleasant one. We both had a lenghty sleep recovering from our long travels. Maria is doing better with her cold. All the medicine is finally taking effect.
Today, we leave for Vermont to see the McDermotts (Kevin, Carol, Connor, Kelly, Jake). It’s been two years since Maria has seen her friend and it’s been three years since i’ve seen the family when they were passing thru from Colorado to Vermont.
Our route took us from Utica to upstate New York across Lake Champlain to Burlington and then to Barre, Vermont.
The Adirondecks were just beautifull!!! It’s really a reminder of Door County for us, except in a very large scale. The main feature in this area is Old Forge. It’s like Door County combined with the Dells!!! Which means alot of antique shops along with the water slides and putt-putts. There are tons of people here even for a monday. The resorts that are prevelent in this area are full as indicated by kids riding their bikes and skateboards all over the shoulder. Joggers are also prevelent on the shoulders. Of course lakes dots the whole area. The scenic highway is cut thru the woods and in some instances trees are cleared to offer scenic vistas. The mountains are gorgeous and very green!
Road construction are everywhere in this strech of road. Our longest wait was about 15 min. when a resurfacing job was going on at Tuppers Lake.
We stopped at Lake Placid for lunch at a greek restaurant and had a great lunch of olives for starters and souvlakis sandwich. This is an awesome restaurant. Of course as everyone knows, this city is the site of the ’32 and ’80 winter Olympics. The Miracle on Ice happened here when the collegiate american all-stars beat the soviet pros and went on to win the gold medal in ice hockey! I remember that game distinctly as I was getting a filling in my tooth while the radio at the dentist was on with the game live. I already knew the final score but watched the game on TV that night and heard Al Micheals immortally described the feeling of the moment. Incredible moment in Olympic history.
We didn’t get to see any of the particular venue sites, but we did pass by the location of the ice track where Eric Hieden of Madison won I believe was 5 gold medals in speed skating. We also could see in the mountains the location of the ski runs where the competitions were held and where the future ski olympians train.
Again the vistas with the mountains and streams were spectacular.
I took us another 1 hr and 30 min. to go from Lake Placid to Port Kent. We arrived at Port Kent and they were loading the ferry to take us across Lake Champlain to Burlington. Luckily, there is plenty of room to board. After we paid $19.25, we boarded the ferry.
I was wonderfull to be top-deck and feel the breeze and watch Burlington get bigger and bigger as we approach her. The ride was fairly smoothed. It took exacly an hour to cross the lake.
We found the McDermotts house with no problem whatsoever. Their house is beautiful and is located in a cul-de-sac and sorrounded by trees and beautifull view of the Vermont mountains.
We arrived there around 4:30 ish and gabbed with everyone until 11pm.
Overall a great day to start our visit with the McDermotts.
Tags: E Vermont 2006, Utica, Vermont
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