Day 5: Lake Placid Rest Day

August 8, 2017

Miles: 0 (Rest Day!)

Happy Birthday, Michelle!  (although I'm sorry I'm a day late.  But, it was a long ride yesterday, yeah, that's it, it was a long ride.  With rain, and a lot of hills, yeah, that's the ticket, a lot of hills)

I awoke at 9am to find that Di was already up and had been so since 7:30am.  That is strange behaviour on a rest day!  I guess she is in better shape than me, because I would have been happy to go back to bed and sleep for a few more hours.  We had checked the weather forecast yesterday and it was scheduled to rain all day, but I guess the rain wasn't informed because it ended up being a beautiful day.  We left to go in search of breakfast, but it was so nice we stopped to sit by the lake for a little while.

Di enjoying the lake and the morning sun

A short walk down the street brought us to the Breakfast Club.  I love that movie, so in we went.  The restaurant had two seating sections: one overlooking the lake and another that overlooked nothing.  Our waitress seated us in the nothing overlook room.  We were slightly disappointed, but we had coffee so we got over it.  Suddenly, a different waitress appeared and told us we were seated at that table by mistake and another table had been prepared for us.  We had to collect all our things, including the silverware and place mats, and followed the waitress to our new table.  "Here", she said, "this table will be much better for you."  We were now seated right in front of a large window overlooking the lake.  We weren't sure why we were moved, but I think its because they mistook Di for a Kardashian.

Di happily seated at the celebrity table

Di ordered an omelet and I orded the vegetable rosti, which was a layer of roasted potatoes topped with a layer of vegetables which in turn is topped with two eggs.  Yes, it was a good as it sounds.  The only downside is it was enormous enough to feed a family.  Ha, I'm kidding, that was no downside at all.

Breakfast is served!

That's a vegetable rosti (with a cast iron skillet!)

Di's omelet

The rosti again, in case you needed to see it from a different angle

The Breakfast Club made us happy.  We were too stuffed to move very far, so we went back to the lake and read our books for a while.

Reading Birdsong by the lake

Eventually, Di reminded me that we had to do laundry, our usual rest day chore.  So we stuffed our clothes into a plastic bag and headed to the nearest laundromat, the Loot and Launder.  The name kind of makes you wonder, but we decided it was best to ask no questions.

Di being the bag man (laundry bag, of course)

We passed the library on the way

The laundromat was down an old set of wooden stairs

Di is happy knowing the clothes will soon be clean

We went into a nearby cafe while we waited for the clothes to finish washing.  The cafe had an outdoor balcony that overlooked the lake.  I had an ice coffee  and enjoyed the view.

An enjoyable view

The washed finished and we brought the clothes back and hung them to dry in the room.  We went back to the lake to relax and read some more.  The lake is beautiful, which is one reason we spent so much time near it, but the real reason we were often there is because its only a twenty foot walk from our apartment door.  Twenty feet is a long enough distance to walk on a rest day.

A glamour shot of Di to make up for yesterday's breakfast shot

Di wasn't too tired to walk to Ben and Jerry's (look how happy she is!)

This is downtown Lake Placid with the camera pointed one way

This is downtown Lake Placid with the camera pointed the other way

Hanging in Starbucks for more coffee (me) and planning tomorrow's route (Di)

After getting ice cream and then coffee, we returned to, where else, the lake.  There are no motor boats on the lake, just swimmers and paddlers in kayaks and canoes, so it is very peaceful.  It is the kind of place where one can just sit in thoughtful repose.

Di in thoughtful repose (will he ever just please stop taking pictures)

We went to the Black Bear Restaurant for dinner.  It was very crowded, so we sat at the bar.  Di ordered the chicken and shrimp with gluten-free pasta, and I ordered the salmon primavera with gluten-filled pasta.  My meal was good, but Di said her's was just okay.  I think she would have enjoyed it more if she had ordered a larger beer.

Bar food

Tomorrow we are off to Port Henry.  Rain is again scheduled for tomorrow, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that once again no one told the rain about it.  The route doesn't look too bad, especially compared to the steady climbed that comprised yesterday's ride, but the rain will help make it more interesting.

The route from Lake Placid to Port Henry