Road Trip - Day 4! (NY, VT)

May 29, 2012 (Tuesday)



Lake Placid, NY

 We headed to the downtown area to check out the shops and views of the lake. Most of the shops open at 10am, with just a few opening at 9am. We attended the tour at the Olympic Center at 10am. Our tour group was guided by a pleasant guy named Howard Riley. Howard did a great job at providing us with information about the Olympic Games and how the Olympics choose Lake Placid to host. The tour was $10 per person and lasted approximately one hour. You do not see a lot, but you learn a lot. There is a store in the Olympic Center, but it is not always open. If you would like an Olympic gear it is best to check out the store downtown, which opens at 9am. Also be sure to check out this website to see what is open if you visit any Olympic sites:  www.whiteface.com. The hours at each facility varies with season. Not too many things were open during our visit.

Whiteface Mountain was open during our visit, so we headed towards “Veterans Memorial Highway”. Along the way we stopped at “High Falls Gorge”. The Gorge was nice, but a little on the pricey side - $20 for 2 adults, but that was because they had some construction going on. The trails and boardwalk were well maintained. The trail is about ½ mile long and takes about 30-45 minutes to walk.



Whiteface Mountain

 We continued towards “Veterans Memorial Highway”. There is a toll booth at the bottom of the mountain. The cost is $10/car/driver and $6 for each passenger. Before going up the mountain, there is a sign stating the conditions at the top of the mountain. There are many pull-out locations along the roadway for photo opts. The highway pavement condition is quite rough, they might keep it that way to keep vehicle speed down. The sign warned us of black flies at the top, oh man were they bad! Needless, to say our visit at the top was cut a bit short because the black flies were relentless!  Once to the top of the mountain, you can take the elevator to the very top or you could hike to the peak. The elevator operator told us that the flies are really bad in the spring and early summer.



Covered bridge near Woodstock, VT

 Upon heading to our final destination we had a decision to make – take the freeway to White River Junction, VT or take side roads. The GPS said it was the same time regardless of the route we could take. We opted to take the side roads; the only disadvantage was that we would not be able to take photos of Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. Our travel route took us through Ticonderoga. We did not stop since it was raining very hard, but the town seems to have all sorts of tourist shops.  We continued driving in the rain and reached Woodstock, VT. Woodstock is a very quaint town with a mix of storefronts and beautiful old homes.  At last we arrived to White River Junction. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel was nice and the room was updated and in good condition.