Looks like another bright sunny morning, Pic #01 is at the motel before we take off up the west coast of the lake. For the most part I didn't care too much for the city of Lake George - way too big and commercial for me - and EXPENSIVE! Once we got a few limes out of town, though, things looked up. Pics #02-04 are of the ride up the lake towards Fort Ticonderoga. This whole area played a minor part in the Revolutionary war, and Fort Ticonderoga was the fort at the southern end of Lake Champlain protecting the short portage into Lake George and it's 35 mile length and access to the Hudson River.

Rather than my trying to retell the story - might be best for you to read the historic sign overlooking Lake George in Pic #03.

Pics #05-10 are just little scenes along the way. After Breakfast in the town, we headed out to the Fort for a $12 tour of the place.

 
While we were there - some characters in costume gave little vignettes of Fort life.

Turns out the fort is in private ownership now, with a lot of renovations underway, but it still afforded us with a sense of what it was like in the 1700's.

You could spend many hours here going through the exhibits, but we had someone waiting at their family 'camp' (New Yorkers call their summer vacation homes in the Adirondacks camps) with a couple steaks at the ready.

 
Pic #26 was our first view of Lake Champlain - a short view it was, too, because we headed west deeper into the Adirondacks at the town of Westport. We were warned that Lake Placid, due west of us at that point, was holding it's Iron Man Triathelon today and the roads were gonna be closed throughout the region, and to expect delays. I changed my route slightly to avoid the closures but we had to skip Lake Placid because of it - the town was FULL of people and the media, and except for it being a great ride, through scenic mountain passes and lakes, Kim was a bit upset at not getting in to see the town.

 
Pic #29 shows a pretty common site along our route - nice little alpine lakes nestled in passes through the mountains. #30 is the Ski Jumps from the Winter Olympics held here back in...in.... hmmmm, hell - a long time ago. We snaked through Saranac Lake rather quickly, as it was getting late in the afternoon by then and we wanted a lot of time to hang with John and Nancy - friends from the Internet who's been reading and emailing Muthuh's Rides for years. I was eager to finally get to meet him. Thats us all in #31 by their 'camp' on the shores of one of the hundreds of little lakes up there.

 
The camp was set up real nice, built back in the 1930's, they have a main cabin, a dining room/kitchen cabin (in case of fire) and a slightly newer guest duplex, all separate from each other but connected by covered porches.

 
John and I went down to the boat house on the lake and shot the bull for 30 minutes while everyone else was settling in further up the bank. I could tell Sunrise over this lake was gonna be nice. Before long we headed up to go into town to get some supplies - well, beer wine and cigars mostly. Tupper Lake was only about 5 miles away so it didn't take long. Got back long before dark and started the grill and began shucking the corn, making glazed onions and mushrooms, mashe potatoes, grilled vegetables and salad. A REALLY nice dinner in his family cabins. I need to thank his family for letting us stay with him that night.

Pic #43 was just before chowing down on all the food - that budweiser in my hand? - ya really can't trust these damned digital pictures anymore - it was actually a Wine Cooler I grabbed just before the picture snapped - I just cloned the other Bud bottle and superimposed it into my hand. Can't trust bikers anymore can ya?  
Finally - cigar and Budweiser in hand - (no wine cooler this time, promise!) we sat on his porch and do what we do best late in the evening - bullshit til the mosquitos drove us indoors. Another half hour in their cabin living room and we were ready to call it a night - easily one of the better stops on any of my trips. Being able to put a face with a name, along with nice accommodations and good friends makes these trips worthwhile. John and Nancy... had an excellent time at yer place, dude - thanks for the perfect evening on the road. Hope to see ya again as we venture up to Niagra Falls sometime soon.