Olympic Training and Ski Jump Demos

After our cruise around Lake Placid, we headed to the Olympic Training center for some ski jumping demonstrations and to learn a little bit about the life of an Olympic hopeful athlete.  First we happened upon some arial ski jumpers practicing, so we got to watch them for a while, which I thought was super fun.

Then we walked over to the ski jump for a couple of demonstrations there.  We watched one from the bottom then rode the chair lift up to the top and watched him do another run from the top!  That was really fun, I totally enjoyed all the demos.

We got to pose for pictures on the actual podium that was used during the Lake Placid Olympics!

We had lunch at the top of one of the ski jumping towers.  The view was gorgeous.  The ski jumper that did the demos for us came and ate lunch with us and answered all our questions about what it's like being a ski jumper.  He was 24 and was hoping to make it to the Olympic trials in Park City in 2014.  He was totally adorable, just so happy and excited about his passion.  I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of him.

After lunch we had the rest of the afternoon free.  My dad and I decided to take a walk around mirror lake.  It was a beautiful day and was really, really warm!  The leaves were beautiful as was the lake.

It wasn't a dirt trail through the woods like we were hoping for, but it was still a nice walking path.

We decided to stop for a little while and sit on a bench in the shade to cool down a bit.  It was so blissful.  I love the sound of lake water lapping up against the shore, it is one of the most soothing sounds in the world to me.  There were also 3 dogs playing in the water a little ways down from us and it was so fun to watch them.

We walked through the little town to get back to the hotel.  We did a little window shopping, and a little actual shopping.  I found this awesome book that is cut in the shape of a K, it's perfect!  What a wonderful souvenir from this quaint little town.

Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  Tonights meal was one of my favorite of the entire trip.

I began with a warm apple bisque that had swirls of maple syrup.

Roasted herb chicken with quinoa for my main course

And peanut butter cheese cake for dessert.

And this is the lovely view that greeted me when I returned to my room to get ready for bed.  Such a beautiful place.