Lake Placid Skater

Saturday Nite Ice Show- July 19

2008-07-20T23:09:00.006-04:00

Just a heads up- I didn't manage to get any photos of the Ironnman swim start this morning. I wasn't able to make it to the beach. Plus, it started raining- not exactly the best photo-taking conditions!

However, I do have some pretty decent photos from the Saturday Nite Ice Show. Again, most of them were taken by my friend who was present at the show, but there are a couple of mine in there :) The next purchase that I am saving up for will be a better camera!

ENJOY!

LP SKATER

Iron-Week!

2008-07-19T20:01:00.008-04:00

It's that time of the summer again- the week when Ironman Lake Placid invades the village. Since even a couple of weeks ago, Iron-people of all ages could be spotted biking, running, and swimming the loops to prepare for race day. This week, it was absolutely crazy! The town was filled with 1000+ racers, as well as their families and friends. I have learned that it is really difficult to get around LP this week because of all the road and pedestrian traffic.

I did however, have to get around, as I had not only skating and driving school, but volunteering as well. When I spoke at the Kiwanis club meeting a couple of months ago, I was asked if I wished to help for Ironman. My response- of course! I have always volunteered- in fact, my first Ironman volunteering experience was only a few days after I moved to LP 5 years ago. This time, my job was totally different.

Whereas I worked ON race day the past 5 years, this time I got to work on the days leading up to the race. The job was packing up the athlete's belongings in a numbered bag, writing the number on their hand, and holding onto the stuff while they swam. Afterwords they could come and claim their bag. Best of all, it was free!

It was a fun job to have- the Ironman participants are very appreciative of the volunteers, and were very cheerful. Must be all those endorphins from the constant exercise!

So on Friday and Saturday morning, I worked from 6:45-10:00 am. Even though it was early (I am not really a morning person), it was worth it.

Although it was nowhere near the length of the Ironman race, I personally participated in a triathlon a few weeks ago. It was actually a last minute race- I was expecting to go to the gym for one of my favorite workout classes, only to find out that it was canceled! So after telling my partner in the event that I wasn't doing it, I tracked him down and asked if he was still willing to swim. Luckily he agreed.

I would have done the entire race, but since I am a really bad swimmer (think doggie paddle) I asked my friend to swim for me, and it can be like a team race. After he came out of the water, I rode my 12 mile course (remember, it is a mini-tri) and came back. My friend had "officially" signed up to do the run portion for me, since on my mountain bike I was slower than most of the road bikers. But I decided to run anyway, and did so without injuring myself or others. Good thing :)

Anyway, I really respect the Iron-people, and their dedication and strength in their sport. One skater that I know of, Katherine Bertine, actually became a triathlete after her skating career. She is now a contender for the 2010 Olympic Cycling team! She also wrote an interesting book on her experiences in show skating, "All the Sundays yet to Come". Just proof that there can be a possibility for competing in different sports after skating! I want to do Ironman one day, hopefully after my skating career is over, before I blow out my knees!

Hope that wasn't too long winded- I should have a couple of photos from the swim start tomorrow. Anyway, here are some I took today:

Enjoy!

LP SKATER

Saturday Nite Ice Show- July 12

2008-07-14T19:12:00.004-04:00

Enjoy!

More Saturday Nite Ice Show photos!

2008-07-10T22:32:00.005-04:00

Hi All-

Here are those extra photos I promised from last weeks Saturday Nite Ice Show. They were taken by one of my friends who has a way better digital camera than me!

Anyway, enjoy the photos- they are clearer and feature interesting moves captured well by the camera. YAY!!

LP SKATER

Photos Coming Soon :)

2008-07-07T22:48:00.004-04:00

Hi all-

Just wanted to update everyone on photos/posts yet to come:

*Competition photos/post (forgot about those.....).

*More Saturday Night Ice Show photos.

*4th of July- LP Skater style!

*Adventures in Triathlon.

*Learning how to drive.

And maybe even more! Stay tuned- I will write when I have a spare moment!

LP SKATER

Saturday Nite Ice Show

2008-07-06T00:28:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos taken at the Saturday Nite Ice show on July 5th. I did the best I could to capture the skaters with my small digital camera! Enjoy!

CAPTION FOR LAST PHOTO: (from L to R)- Brooke Castile, Ben Okolski, Siobhan Karam, Kevin O'Keefe, Jason Wong, and Jessica Houston.

We have been having more guest skaters at each show lately- at this show there was a pairs team, an ice dance team, and 2 singles skaters!

Tonight the skaters were Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski (pairs), Siobhan Karam and Kevin O'Keefe (ice dance), Jessica Houston, and Jason Wong (both singles skaters).

Next up, keep an eye out for LP Summer Competition photos (I didn't get a chance to post them!) and other news.

LP SKATER

Reflections from the Accounting Room

2008-06-26T16:28:00.007-04:00

As you can guess, I am in the Olympic Center Accounting Room (good old familiar Locker Room 7) and my day has slowed down enough for the moment that I can create a post- and rest my aching feet!

There is an interesting dynamic occuring in this competition; at least downstairs near the USA rink. Glittery, mostly tiny figure skaters mix quite unexpectedly with muscular (and tall!) womens hockey players. The Lake Placid Summer Figure Skating Competition falls not only on the same weekend as graduation across the street, but also right in the middle of the USA womens hockey team training week. Therefore, the mix of athletes in the hallway.

Although I am not a huge hockey fan, I still appreciate the sport and enjoy the womens team visiting during the summer. Like any other elite athletes, these girls train hard daily- when they are not skating, they are sprawled out in the hallway stretching, getting bandaged up by the team doctor, or warming up before their ice time! Every year the set-up is the same- the skate sharpening room constantly open ;the radio playing 93.3 FM to entertain the skate technicans and other staff members; the table topped with industrial size peanut butter and 2 coffee makers, which brew about a gazillion pots a day (again, for the hard-working technicans). This makes for a comfortable, home-away-from-home atmosphere that everyone enjoys. The only other hockey camp I can say I enjoy this much is when the mens Swedish hockey team visits in August(for obvious reasons :) ).

Anyway, back to the competition. There were a lot of 6.0 Events, meaning I was very busy. This time I was lucky enough to be chief accountant for the 6.0 part of the championship, preparing me for future jobs when I receive my official appointment.

Right now it is all IJS events in the 1932 rink, so there is't much for me to do until the papers come downstairs to be copied. I guess it should be dinner time!

Till tomorrow (maybe!)

LP SKATER

New Zamboni!! and other news

2008-06-25T22:35:00.009-04:00

Here is the news for this week- this is probably the most I will be able to do until after the competition this weekend. So enjoy :)

* Yay! Above is a picture of the Olympic Center's shiny new red and blue zamboni! It arrived earlier this week, and is the zamboni drivers pride and joy. Makes me almost want to learn how to drive one.......If anyone of my readers are planning to come to Lake Placid, you may see it in action!

* The Lake Placid Summer Figure Skating Championships are starting tomorrow, and will go through Saturday.

* The Horse Show in Lake Placid has also started. Who knows- we may even see Bruce Springsteen around town (his daughter competes). Fun stuff!

Lots of events going on- I will try to take some competition photos.

Ciao!

LP SKATER

Busy Saturday (Olympic Day/ Adult Exhibition Photos)

2008-06-21T23:09:00.007-04:00

Hi all,

Whew! It has been a long day.

First I ran to Olympic Day at the Ski Jumps at 12:00, went to the wrong parking lot, and had to drive back down to the main parking lot. Next time we need better directions! :)

Olympic Day is a Lake Placid tradition in which community sports-oriented organizations get together to provide info to locals and guests about their sports and programs. The Ski Jumpers were there coming down the jumps ( and sometimes falling on the slick green grass-like surface at the end). The Skating Club/ORDA was there, to tell people about their programs. A biathlon coach was present, teaching kids and adults how to shoot biathlon-style with laser guns. And the Lake Placid Speed Skating Club (my mom and I) were there!

We were one of the interactive booths, as we had our portable slide board. Always a popular exhibit, we had people between the ages of 5 and 45 trying to "skate" on the slippery, furniture-polished surface.

I was lucky enough to win a Bobsled sponsor shirt with lots of logos on it. After my mother convincing me that it would NOT be a good idea to go try mini-ski jumping down the "bunny hill" (she was afraid I would break/twist/injure something before my senior freestyle test at the end of the summer), we packed up and got ready to go on to the next job. In the end it was more of a dash for the car, since we had another famous 10 minute adirondack downpour that drenched everything-including us!

After lunch it was off to the second hand shop. My mom has been opening the shop almost every day this week- it is the busy summer season. While she and one of her generous helpers organized and logged in dresses, I went upstairs to watch the Adult Exhibition in the 32 Rink.

The Adult Exhibition is one of my favorite parts of the summer. I love seeing the skaters (many of whom I have seen around the rink and on the ice all week!) skate their hearts out and put together a great show. It is great to see such genunine love of skating.

I have lots of photos to share of both Olympic Day and the Adult Skating Exhibition.

Posted below are some of them:

Enjoy those photos!

LP SKATER

Guest Skater Alert!

2008-06-20T23:43:00.007-04:00

The guest skaters for this first show of the Saturday Nite Summer Ice Show Series are......

Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov!

They were actually here today, teaching a seminar on the 1980 rink. The first time I saw them skate live I was at Skate America, and was very impressed with their skating and presentation. It will be a great show!

I wonder who will be here next week......

Keep an eye out for more news and photos from Olympic Day tomorrow at the Ski Jumps!

Enjoy the weekend!

LP SKATER

Not photos, but.....

2008-06-19T23:11:00.006-04:00

As you can tell from the title, I didn't get any photos today. For some reason there weren't too many people hanging around the OC to photograph- maybe everyone was out to lunch :) Anyway, I will try to snap some in the days to come.

I thought instead I would update everyone what is going on here.

It has been raining...and raining....and raining! Only for a few days, but it feels like forever since the sun came out. Many of the skaters were dissapointed in the soggy weather, and they weren't the only ones- I much prefer sunshine!

Still, not much time to think about the weather- I have been skating now; when I'm not skating, I'm at the gym; when I'm not at the gym, I am at home typing. Since I turned 18 a month ago, it is time for me to train intensively in becoming an accountant and judge. There are tests and competitions to trial and clerk at; schools to attend; and now, be chief accountant at a small non-qual competition.

So that is what I am preparing for- the Lake Placid Summer Figure Skating Championships in a little over a week. My desk is under a small mountain of paperwork, schedules and lists to be checked and re-checked. But I am having fun and learning a lot!

Also, I am trying to train myself in another aspect of life- skating. Figure skating is one of those special sports that are so detailed, so essentially technical that coming back to it after 5 weeks off the ice is difficult. So many moves to re-teach my body to perform again!

Still, being off the ice made me really appreciate skating and the fun of it, and not just the occasionally monotonous practice. I can only imagine how injured skaters on the top level feel, coming back on the ice after weeks or months! Try doing a triple axel after not skating that long! Discipline!

Right now, some of the skaters are preparing for the first Freaky Friday and Saturday Night Ice Show. A modification from past years for the Saturday show is that instead of small shows all summer, followed by a big extravagaza with lots of guest stars, we have a guest skater at each show. I was fortunate enough to skate in the last big Summer Ice Show at the end of the summer in 2004. It was a great production featuring group numbers, solos, and guest skaters such as Johnny Weir, the Protopopovs, and Ina/Zimmerman. Also a bunch of "up-and-coming" dance teams. Cool, huh?

I actually sort of miss that show, but in a way the individual ones with guest skaters has more variety, with a different skater each week. We have had skaters such as Navarro/Bommentre, Shawn Sawyer, Steven Cousins, Scott Smith, Denkova/Staviski (pre-jail), Joannie Rochette, and even Kimmie Meissner!

Now there is always some pleasant anticipation around the rink as to who will be the guest skater of the week. I will say who the guest skater of the week is when announced :)

That's it for news!

LP SKATER :)

Wednesday Photos

2008-06-18T22:23:00.007-04:00

Enjoy!

LP Skater :)

More Photos!

2008-06-17T23:17:00.004-04:00

Here are some more random photos taken around the Olympic Center. Enjoy!!

LP SKATER :)

Summer has begun!

2008-06-16T21:58:00.004-04:00

Today was the first official day of summer camp, and one of the two Adult Skating Weeks kicked off as well. So there are skaters of all ages in the Olympic Center this week!

After skating on the surprisingly quiet Junior/Senior sessions (I expected to have to dodge people, as is the norm in the summer) I snapped some photos from around the OC. Enjoy!

Here are some bits of info about the coming week:

* Lake Placid's resident Olympic Champions, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, are back! The Pairs champions will be available for lessons. See their signs in the OC for more information.

* US National and International level ice dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov will be hosting a seminar on Friday, from 6-7 pm in the 1980 rink. They are also available for private lessons. See their sign on the bulletin boards in the OC for more info.

* The first Freaky Friday of the summer will be held this Friday (of course). Check the schedule for exact time and location.

* There will be two Skating Shows on Saturday. The first will be the Adult Skating Exhibition, where the adult skaters get a chance to perform. Come support them! Check schedule for exact time and location!

The second show is the famous Saturday Night Ice Show, in the 1932 rink! Almost every Saturday night in the summer there is a show in which campers can perform, along with a different guest skater every week. The Show is at 7:30 pm.

That's all for now- keep watching for more photos and news as the week goes on!

LP SKATER

They're Back!!!

2008-06-15T23:50:00.007-04:00

By "they're" I mean the rinks in the Olympic Center- as of this past Thursday, there were sessions available for figure skating and hockey. For me, the summer has officially started!

I will be covering the skating camp with photos and news beginning tomorrow. This week is one of the two Summer Adult Weeks, so I will try to get photos of them and of other camp patrons.

Keep an eye out for news and updates as well!

Happy Summer!

LP SKATER

News :)

2008-06-11T23:04:00.004-04:00

A few note-worthy events have happened in the past few days.

The first is that I spoke at the Lake Placid Kiwanis Club meeting last night. The meeting was held at a member's home here in Lake Placid. I was thrilled when one of the members approached me a month ago and said that the Kiwanis was interested in hearing my future plans for community events. It was lots of fun to give my speech about how skating has shaped my life, and my plans for future projects. Everyone was really kind and receptive, and offered their help in future endeavors. It was the highlight of my June!

In other news.....there is finally ice tomorrow. A good chance to get my feet acclimated to the stiff boots and attempt some stunts :)

That's all for now......

LP SKATER

Competitive Edge

2008-06-09T23:07:00.011-04:00

It is almost summer- that time of the year where there are many opportunities to compete in other areas of the country. Lake Placid is hosting two competitions this summer- the Lake Placid Summer Figure Skating Championships, and the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships. The Lake Placid Summer Figure Skating Championships is the closest one, being held June 26-28. The Ice Dance Championships is in August.

Be sure to check out lakeplacidskating.com for more information!

Happy Competing!

LP Skater

A Walk in the Park.....

2008-06-09T22:43:00.006-04:00

On Sunday, I decided to amuse myself by going on a walk. It was the second of our surprisingly hot and humid days in Lake Placid, and I spent the day before adjusting to the heatwave (read: doing paperwork and trying to spend as much time near the air conditioning unit as possible). Still, warm weather is a nice change after the cold winter, even with the humidity.

I thought it would be nice to do my cardio outside for a change, instead of in the warm and sweaty gym. So my mom and I hopped in the car and rode a short distance towards Wilmington, and stopped at the High Falls Gorge adventure center. We have lived in LP for 5 years, and during that time went past the area hundreds of times. This was our first time there.

My mom had 2 free admission vouchers, so we got our armbands and strolled across the bridge that spanned the Ausable River. The whole walk took about 30 minutes total- it was a really easy walk, but it is worth it for the view of the waterfalls. Check out the small slideshow above.

Because we didn't get much of a cardio boost walking there, we went for a power walk around the lake after lunch. That was Sunday!

You can tell there isn't much going on when I start writing about waterfalls.....:) Anyway, hopefully there will be ice soon, as I heard a rumor that there may be sessions starting as early as later this week!

Soaking up the sun.....

LP SKATER

It's Almost Time.........

2008-06-06T22:27:00.010-04:00

It seems as if my May "vacation" time will soon be coming to an end, and the summer chapter of life in Lake Placid will start up again. As soon as next week (or at least by next weekend) there will be limited ice time. Can Am tournaments are scheduled for the 13th-15th, which means there will have to be at least one rink up.

In a way I am a bit apprehensive, since I haven't skated since my Colorado trip. With the price of gas these days, it is tough to ride 1-2 hours away to Plattsburgh NY or Burlington VT to skate. Luckily I have been working out and keeping myself in skating shape- let's hope I can do some stunts :)

I will post when I know the definitive answer on the ice opening.....then I will start the summer edition of the blog!

Until Then :)

LP SKATER

Birthday in the Garden State

2008-05-29T23:07:00.011-04:00

Hi All-

I meant to write a post on the day of my birthday about my adventures thus far, but was not able to find a wireless "hot spot" anywhere near my grandparent's house. There used to be a cafe in the area that had free Wi-Fi access, but it does not offer that anymore. So, I found myself without a computer from the 24th to the 28th- a long time for me! But here are some photos from my long weekend in NYC and in NJ!

On Saturday, we arrived late (as usual) at my grandparent's house. As many who live in NJ or have been there know, it might as well be a whole different planet! Unlike Lake Placid which is very calm and quiet, Clifton NJ is loud and busy, even at 11 pm at night! Cars whizzing by the house at all hours, doors slamming, music blaring......it was quite a different experience. I am so not used to traffic!

It was great to see my grandparents again. Although I speak to them at least once a week, seeing them in person is better. I last visited in September, during which I stay there and travel into the city for the Middle Atlantics competition in Chelsea Piers. 8 months is a long time! Even better, I got to see some of my relatives the next day.

On my birthday, I ended up having a party. Haven't had one of those since I was 10! My aunt, uncle, and cousins came, as well as my grandmother's Cousin Betty. It was lots of fun- we had a barbeque, followed by gluten free cake!

The next day, we went into NYC. My mom and I left the house at 6:30 am and took the train from Clifton, to Seacaucus, and into Penn Station. We headed straight for Rockefeller Plaza, home of the Today show. On the way, we passed Fox News, where the Army marching band was playing in honor of Memorial Day, past Good Morning America, and finally to the incredibly crowded space outside the NBC building. Apparently, all those people were crowding because, unknown to us, the B52's were playing in the summer concert series. So we hung around to watch the show, then, when the area cleared out, moved up to the front of the side we were on to watch the rest of the show. We could only make it to the left side of the concert stage to watch, but were very close. The front was no doubt the best spot to stand, but it was completely packed. It seemed that the B52 groupies were in attendance, standing at the front row and singing along with all the songs. They were fun to watch! Still, after watching the taping my grandfather made at home, I saw myself and mom in the left corner of the stage, at the start of the last hour of the Today show. It was lots of fun, and best of all I actually figured out who the B52's were!

Afterwords, we bought tickets for the NBC studio tour, (which I missed last time due to unavailability of tickets) and then went in search of food. I had heard of a teahouse which I had found on the internet, and thought we should go to lunch there. It was all the way up on 73rd Street, but we decided to walk along the west side of Central Park, and up that way. Well, after a long sweaty walk (it was only in the high seventies-mid eighties degree range, but very humid) we arrived at the teahouse to find.......a 45 minute wait! Since it was already 12:45, and our tour at the NBC studios was at 1:30, we couldn't even wait, much less eat. So we grabbed a baked good to tide our hunger, hopped in a cab, and went back to Rockefeller Plaza.

We then took our tour. It was fascinating to see the actual studios used on a daily basis, and how small they are! The studios used to be radio studios, and many of the walls were knocked out when NBC made the switch to television. This created some of the studios that host The Late Show with Conan O'Brian and Saturday Night Live. We got to see those studios, but the one used for the Nightly News was occupied by Lestor Holt who was doing a report, so we couldn't go in there. But it was a very informational tour, and I highly recommend it.

Finally- Lunch!! We traveled once again all the way DOWN from our location to Soho, to a healthy restaurant, Angelica's Kitchen. In my opinion, and in the opinion of another New York resident who told me about it, this place is the best health food restaurant in the City.

Onward to another spot I love- Babycakes bakery on Broome St. It is a gluten free, vegan bakery that I discovered on my last visit to the city. I love it there! The staff is always friendly and helpful, and the baked goods are great!
NOTE: Special thanks to R.J. and the other staff member at the bakery that day- thanks for your help,and it was nice talking to you. If any of you read this post, feel free to drop me an e-mail. My e-mail is on my Profile page. Thanks again and good luck to you!

Last stop- the Teahouse which we wanted to visit, but were didn't have time for earlier. Alices Teahouse was themed after Alice in Wonderland, and was quite good. It was suprising to find a decent teahouse in the city!

That was our day- after a subway ride to Penn Station, followed by the normal scramble to find which trains went to Seacaucus, we got on the right one and headed to NJ.

If you read the last post I wrote from NJ, you will recall that I usually end up making travel "mistakes" everywhere I go. I did it again- we arrived in Seacaucus to once again find out that since it was a holiday the next train to Clifton would not be in for an hour and fifteen minutes! We did that last time too. But we did manage to get home at earlier than 11 pm!

It was a fun weekend overall. Next up? Skating in a few weeks!

I will post if something groundbreaking happens.

Until Then :)

LP SKATER

Coming soon.......

2008-05-28T11:38:00.003-04:00

Hi all-

I just got back from New Jersey yesterday- it was a long day! My birthday was fantastic! I will post photos when I get back home- for now, we have to return our rental car.

Later :)

LP SKATER

KRISTI WINS!!!

2008-05-20T23:33:00.003-04:00

As you can see from the title, I just finished watching the highly anticipated "Dancing With the Stars" finale on ABC. I wasn't surprised at all at the outcome- Kristi Yamaguchi won not only America's hearts, but also the extra-shiny Disco Ball trophy.

I have not really kept up with Dancing this season. In fact, I haven't been dedicated to it since Apolo Ohno was on in Season 3. I have just been too busy! Despite the fact that I have only seen bits and pieces all season, I could feel from watching Kristi dance in the first episode that she was going to win. She was very smooth and polished, and started to have a wonderful "stage presence" toward the end. Not as much suspense as in past years for me! Although football star Jason Taylor did very well also. Congrats to both of them!

So there is the the media segment of the week :)

LP SKATER

Letter to my Body

2008-05-20T23:14:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone,

I'm writing again- amazing huh? As I said in my last post, I have lots of time on my hands these days. So I wanted to share with you a recent blog trend I have participated in.

About a week ago, I came across an ad for a website called BlogHer on a site I frequent, and decided to check it out. It turns out BlogHer is a website for women, by women, a blogging community that strives to provide additional exposure for women's blogs and ideas. Here is their website, if any of my readers are interested in joining this wonderful group:

www.blogher.com

Anyway, back to the blog craze. It seems as if a popular and positive category has popped up on this website- Letters to my Body. I will admit, at first I thought it sounded sappy and a little odd, but as I read the letters women of all ages and situations wrote to their bodies (which are oftentimes really under appreciated, if you think about it) I was moved by the honesty and "release" it provided. Many people (especially girls and women, but some men as well) don't appreciate their bodies for the wonderful things they are, even if they are not considered stereotypically "perfect". But here were these women, sharing their feelings on a very public forum, about a sensitive issue for most of us- our personal relationship with ourselves (or, as it is referred there, our bodies).

So that's the monologue- after thinking about it a few days, I decided to write a letter of my own. Being a fairly private person, I was hesitant to put it out there, but I decided it just might help people like myself.

So here is the link to the Blog post:

http://www.blogher.com/teenagers-letter-her-body

If this doesn't work for some reason, you can find this on the "Letters to my Body" section at Blogher.com.

Please give me some feedback on this! I would like to hear your thoughts on this exercise.

LP SKATER

Perfect Ten......

2008-05-18T23:10:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone-

I modified the blog recently- since there is no ice I have time for that sort of thing! On the right of the page towards the bottom, you will see the snazzy new "Rate my blog" button that I installed. Please do me a favor and tell me what you think! I am shooting for a perfect ten......:)

On the home front, nothing much is going on in Lake Placid. May is a quiet time here- with the ice down, and a lull in tourism until the summer, LP falls into a sleepy spell for several weeks. There is no ice in the Olympic Center until approximately June 15 (when figure skating camp starts) so I am quite bored. Every day I pass the time by biking, working out, running errands, and organizing before the busy summer season hits.

I am happy that I will be visiting my grandparents this coming weekend. It will be my 18th birthday on Memorial day, and I wanted to go down to NJ to see them. So those are my plans- I am looking forward to a change of pace. I miss skating, and hope to skate at least once in NJ. I am lucky that my grandparents live in Clifton, which is about 30 minutes from Wayne, 15-20 from Hackensack, and 10 from Montclair. That means 3 rinks to choose from! I will certainly have to work off my cake!

I will post on the weekend, unless something dramatically exciting happens. Stay tuned!!

LP SKATER

Colorado Photos 2

2008-05-10T17:16:00.013-04:00

After finally figuring out how to get my photos off of my camera's internal drive, I was able to post the last slide show from Colorado. Enjoy! (Keep an eye out for Chunky the traveling monkey. I take her on all of my trips!)

I'm back! Actually I was home at about 6:30 pm yesterday, but had to run to the Skating Club of Lake Placid's Annual Banquet. Now I can finally post!!

Thursday and Friday were basically just one extended fuzzy blur. We were on the go from 8 am Thursday morning until 10 pm Friday- approximately 40 hours. Even now, it feels like an entirely different reality, as if it didn't even happen. But it did! This is how the last of my journey went.

Thursday my mom and I were up at 8 am. There was lots to be done, and very little time to do it! We had to pack up by 12 pm and get breakfast. After a quick but delicious breakfast at Adam's Mountain Cafe (did I mention it? Fantastic, healthy food in Manitou Springs) we went back to the hotel to pack. This trip we overpacked (as usual) so ended up sending 3 boxes of clothing and souveneirs home! The rest went into two huge suitcases, a large duffel, a big carry on bag, my purse, a briefcase, my laptop case, and my skate bag! We are certainly expert travelers ;)

The first thing we wanted to do was to explore Miramont Castle. The day we went for tea there (by the way, there are photos of that in the slideshow too), we were informed by the waitress that there were tours every day until 4. Unfortunately it was almost 4 that day, but my mom and I did make it back the last day. It was a beautiful castle, built by a French priest for his mother. The two moved there for him to minister in Manitou Springs. The big mystery is that he disappeared overnight after only 5 years living in the castle. After his disappearance, his mother moved back to her native France, and the Sisters of Mercy moved in and cared for Miramont. Apparently one of the nuns hung herself there; yet another unpleasant aspect of the castle's history. After becoming apartments, then sitting dormant for a while, the building was eventaully supported by the community and underwent restoration.

According to the guide at the welcome desk, Miramont is one of the most haunted sites in Colorado. Various paranormalists have visited, as have "Haunting" TV shows. She even had a book at the desk with suspicious photos taken by guests. She said some had orbs (balls of light) while others had figure spirit shapes. I took some photos myself (with no flash) and spotted some "orbs" I thought, although I am not sure if that is true or not.....There were other testomonies in a book in a castle. Being somewhat skeptical, I am not sure if they are entirely truthful.

It was a beautiful castle- I am glad I visited. For more on Miramont Castle, visit their website at www.miramontcastle.org.

Then it was time to finish up in Manitou Springs- we wanted to explore a bit before hitting the road. We walked a little bit, exploring the unique shops. Manitou's main street is a lot like Lake Placid's Main St, except with a a lot more Native American crafts and Wild West themed shops and galleries. Again, we didn't buy too much (mostly because everything was expensive, but also because any purchases we made were going into my purse, since there was no room in any of the suitcases!) but we did find some small unique things. I had previously been saving my money for Boulder, because I had heard how cool it is, and how it had a Church Street-like pedestrial shopping mall. But I had spoke to a shopkeeper in Old Colorado City who had told me that basically anything that you can buy in Boulder, you can buy in Manitou or Old Colorado City, much cheaper. It turns out she was right.

Anyway, we were finally done around 3 pm, and were ready to head towards Boulder, which was the next spot on the itinerary. We at least wanted to see it, since we had heard it was a cool town. And our flight wasn't until 12:55 am, so we figured "why not?".

After hitting two hailstorms between Manitou and Boulder (the weather is even more unpredictable in Colorado than in Lake Placid- during our 10 day trip we had witnessed 3 hailstorms and one snowfall)we finally got to Boulder at around 6:30.

Boulder is really neat, but a little too urban to me. I was expecting something like small town Church St. Instead, Boulder was more like the urban, stylish version of a pedestrian mall. I was glad I had taken the shopkeepers advice- the huge Pearl Street was more commercialized and chain filled than I had expected. Instead of the Peace and Justice store and independantly owned boutiques, there was Billabong and American Apparel. Don't get me wrong- Church Street has some chains too, but I still like it's individuality and personality. Pearl St was cool, but far to bustling and impersonal for me.

There was, however, a cool shop right next to the sushi restaurant we went to. It was Goldmine Vintage clothing, and it was much like the Second Hand Shop, but for regular clothing, and much bigger. The clothing was truly retro- some of the clothing looked like it had come from the closets of the Brady Bunch! There were flowery tops, vintage dresses, bell bottoms, leisure suits, and other funky vintage styles. I didn't buy anything, but it was cool to look.

After sushi, we went back to the airport. Even though our flight was not until 12:55 am, we had to return the car by 10 pm. Luckily the Denver airport is nicer to sit in than JFK. I amused myself by surfing the net and transporting myself through the airport on the moving sidewalks (so cool- like the ones on the Jetsons!)

Our flight from Colorado to JFK took 5 hours on the clock, but was actually 3 hours (because of the time zone change). Then we had a layover in JFK for 3 hours! By the time we got to VT it was around 11 am.

As soon as I arrived home there was the SCLP annual banquet. It was good to see everyone again.

The only bad thing about returning home is no ice. The Olympic Center will not have ice again until June 15th. So until then it will be biking, dryland, working out, and the occasional visit to Burlington to skate.

So that's it for my travels right now- I will be going to NJ to see my grandparents for my birthday (the 26th). I will post whenever anything exciting happens!

Enjoy the weekend!

LP SKATER