This is a beautiful area and we thoroughly enjoyed our week here. However, we were really turned off by how commercial it is. It seems that the most hyped/advertised things to do here involve a hefty charge. For Nancy and I to just take a drive up to the top of the Whiteface mountain cost $25. The cost to see a famous natural landmark, High Falls Gorge, was $12.50 pp, and the cost to see the Ausable Gorge was $20 pp. There was even a cost to enter the Olympic museum. This was a little disappointing…….we saw tons of spectacular places last year out west, and with rare exception, their was little or no cost. But I guess that’s because we were mostly in national parks where my Senior Lifetime National Park Pass got us free.  You can also really tell that this area is much older than the “the West”. There are cottages and buildings here that go back to the 1800’s. It’s part of what creates the uniqueness of the eastern US vs. the west. Our RV park reminded me of an old style campground with a pool, putt putt golf course, generaL store, canoe/kayak rentals, and lots of other on-site entertainment for kids.  Everyone was very friendly, and the kids were well-behaved and polite……we really enjoyed staying here. Another nice thing about this campground is the frontage on the Ausable River, which has a strong reputation as a world class trout fishery.  While fish are caught year round, the best fishing is in April and May. I didn’t take time to get a license and go fishing, but I hope to get a chance to come back someday.

Being in Lake Placid at the same time as the Ironman competition was a bonus. We thoroughly enjoyed watching over 3000 anxious participants compete in this very grueling event. Not only do you have to be in great shape….you also need the mental toughness and patience to endure such a long event.  It will take the professional triathletes about 8 hours to finish.

The course and finish line stay open until midnight. Only those that finish before midnight will be considered official “finishers” for the event. Many don’t finish. It’s hard to even imagine the difficulty of completing one of these events. These men and women have to be some of the most well-conditioned athletes in the world.

Kudos to all of those who are willing to do the training and test themselves at one of sport’s toughest events!  That includes those that started the triathlon knowing they probably would not finish, but were willing to get out there and see how far they could go.