15 SEP 05 - Whiteface Mt, NY to Vermont

We started the morning with our first rain of the trip as we wanted to head up the toll road to Whiteface's summit. After suiting up into rain gear, we filled our gas tanks and did the lottery thing. We cruised a few miles past a closed-for-the-season North Pole Village and arrived at the Whiteface tollgate where we learned that the road was temporarily closed due to rain and fog. Time was killed near a relaxing pond to one side. Within an hour, the weather lightened somewhat and we headed up the moiuntain in the comfort of our dry suits. Above the treeline, the views were spectacular in between the clouds. The rain slowed to a drizzle as we were flagged into a parking area next to a tunnel. A sign declared that President Franklin Roosevelt had dedicated this road to military veterans and made the peak accessible to the handicapped. The tunnel was planked and led to an elevator inside the mountain. The elevator jockey then took us to an observatory at the peak. We did the tourist thing: looking at a pictoral history of the road construction and horrendus Winter conditions. OK, we also created a Kodak moment or two. After retreating down and back thru the tunnel, we motored the final 300 meters down the road to a castle-like building. Thankfully there was a gift shop where we got our pins reading "Land of the Free, Slopes of the Brave - Whiteface".

After riding down the mountain, we backtracked thru the Whiteface Gorge to the other side of Lake Placid and past the Olympic ski jumps.

A short ways further was the Olympic Bobsled Run at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. They have a sled fitted with wheels, driver and brakeman for a $30 ride thru the lower 1/2 mile of the course. It's worth it: we were really moving thru the s-curves, vertical on the walls and pulling g's as we slingshoted down the finish. Yes, we got the pins, round ones reading "The Storm", apparently the marketing name for the sled.

We continued east down the Adirondack Mountains towards Lake Champlain and the Vermont border. We crossed the lake on a lovely 20 minute ferry ride from Essex, NY to Charlotte, VT where we re-started the bikes and headed south. We quickly came upon a shop advertising "cob smoked sausage". We stopped and after several varieties of treats, OJ introduced Mike to aged, SHARP, Vermont cheddar cheese. We then motored east thru the shadows of Vermont's Green Mountains towards Waterbury, VT where Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream headquarters was closed for the night. There were actually several "Road Food" stops in the area, so we wanted to spend the night nearby. We found the Riverside Inn just up the road in Stowe, VT, one of the biggest ski resort towns in all of New England. The Inn is actually a quaint and comfortable old house run by English folk. Husband Julian let us park our bikes in their barn next to his classic Jaguar XKE that he was showing the next morning in an event called the "British Invasion". After settling our gear in a comfortable room, we worked on our appetites by walking to the nearby Shed Inn. There we munched on good burgers, microbrewed India Pale Ales and lagers. No insomnia for us!