After Paddy's successful debut in the world of triathlon relays - it was obvious that perfect weather, and temperatures in the mid-70's were calling for more "activities". Our wake up early AM conversation went something like this.
Jane: "Do you want to go for a walk?"
Paddy. "No".
Jane: "Do you want to hike up Panther Mountain today?"
Paddy: "No".
Jane: "OK. Maybe you should drink more coffee....I'll go for a bike sprint around the lake...and we'll continue this conversation when I return."
Paddy: "OK"
I know better than to try to get a "yes" from a man who hasn't had enough coffee. With that, Mr. Huffy (heavy duty Trek bike with the fat wide tires) and I took off for a nice workout around Piseco Lake. I did stop and smell the roses....and take some blog pics. The scenery in the Adirondacks is too incredible to simply blur on a bike sprint.
By the time I had returned to our campsite - Paddy was in an agreeable mood. We took off for a hilly bicycle tour along Old Piseco Road - and burned off another 6-8 miles.
It was another windy day in the Adirondacks, and the little lake was all churned up. It was Day 3 of fun in the Adirondacks - and we now had this lake swim figured out. Swimming would be in ONE direction - i.e. WITH the wind and waves. Add a boogie board and flippers for the return trip (against the wind and waves) - and you have a perfect swim/fun water workout.
The "monkey" appears to be finally off my open water swim back. Not completely, but a little bit maybe. For the first time, I carried on a conversation while swimming (other than "Paddy - get closer!")....laughed at one of Paddy's jokes.....and at one point even took off far from my Paddy/boogie board safety net -- to swim the final 300 yards to shore. A pretty big moment in my "learn how to swim as an ol' fart" world.
Piseco Lake is a fantastic lake for swimming. Fresh water. Clean fresh water. Perfect temperatures. No lake grasses. Another week in this environment - and I might actually become a real swimmer. For now....making big strides will be enough.
We returned to our campsite, and made a roaring campfire. Paddy wanted to toss in all of the pine firewood all at once. This probably wasn't such a good idea - since the fire got pretty high. But we didn't burn down anything - and roasted a bunch of marshmallows.
After 3 days in the Adirondacks, the lack of internet, or any technology has become a wonderful loss. I have ceased checking my Blackberry, and whatever happens in the rest of the world - can stay there. I'm not quite ready to depart from this magical place - but I'm pretty sure we will be back again next year.
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