Our Trip to the Lake

We spent a week at a house on a lake near Lake Placid, and it was practically by accident.  We’d bid on this item with friends at a silent auction because 1) it was super-cheap, 2) proceeds went to our church, and 3) W had been to the area and said that it was nice.   Approximately the next morning, I was sorry that we’d done it.  First, the homeowners approached me and said something about how the lake was murky and you really couldn’t swim right there in the backyard.  Then there were scheduling problems, and instead of getting to use the house last summer, when we had plenty of time, we had to squeeze it in this summer, so W didn’t have enough time to stay all week–he headed back to work on Monday.  Umm, how relaxing is that for anybody?

Frankly, I got a little scared when I realized that there would be no internet and no television.   I mean, clearly, I spend quite a bit of time on the computer.  And, while my kids aren’t tv junkies, an hour or so of something mindless at the end of the day when I’m trying to cook dinner sure does take the edge off.  My friend and I would have two kids each, no Manly Backup, and no emergency DVD action.  Between packing and typing up auto-posts, I was getting a teensy bit nervous that it was going to suck, big-time.

It didn’t suck.  It was beautiful.  The kids loved it.  In fact, yesterday they said they’d trade in their tv with a lake and kayaks.  If you haven’t ever taken a good ol’ wholesome Adirondack-lake-and-mountain vacation, you should totally do it.

One of our favorite outings was a canoe ride across the lake to a little beach that you could only access by hiking.  We’d heard about it from our friends who owned the house, but there weren’t too many details.

We asked another neighbor–who unsuccessfully tried to coach me in kayak skills from his dock as I flung myself about with enthusiasm–and followed his directions.  Then we were extraordinarily fortunate, because another boat was headed for the hiking trail.  We followed them and guessed our way through the trail hoping that we’d find a beach.  The suspense was incredible, and all four kids ran ahead of the grown-ups.  They shrieked with joy when they found the lake beach.  We were all exultant at the discovery.

It was gorgeous and serene.  We all splashed around.  There were a bunch of the biggest tadpoles I’d ever seen.

We also saw a leech.  It took a particular liking to W, following his ankles wherever they went.  Luckily, we only saw one of those little suckers.  Ha, ha!  Suckers!  Get it?

Anyway, it was an adventure.  I’ll share some of our more easily accessible adventures later in the week.