When I was in 5th Grade, the Winter Olympics came to my neighborhood. It was a proud time for us, and all of us kids had Olympic Fever that winter. It was my first introduction to the Olympics, it left an impact and ever since then I’ve been a total fanatic for the Winter Games.

Naturally I’ve been excited with the Vancouver Games just over two months away (only 74 days to go!), so when we had some vacation time I suggested we head NOT eastward to the ocean, but westward into the Adirondacks.

Great scenery. Fun just to drive around half the day, especially when this is the view through the windshield…

But of course, I felt like being a tourist. I’d been there before, many times, but I’ve got Winter Olympics on the brain so I have to get my little reminders of what turned me into a Winter Games junkie in the first place…

We drove out to the Olympic Training Center, and just walked in. Didn’t know what I’d find there, I just figured “The worst that can happen is they can tell us to go home, so why not?”

Well it turns out that we weren’t really allowed to just wander about. We could walk into the lobby and check out some of the photos on the wall, and see some bobsleds and luge sleds on display (like there is any place in Lake Placid that DOESN’T have one of those on display) but to get any further in required credentials. We didn’t have any of those, so we turned around and walked out.

The Olympic Arena, however, is open to self-guided tours all over the place. Just walk in the front doors and wander. We even got to watch a hockey game that was going on…

We wandered around and looked at a few of the photos and plaques and trophy cases, but didn’t stay too long since we’d already seen most of that when we were here last (which was, if memory serves me, the summer before the Torino Games). There was one thing I wanted to check out that I didn’t get to visit last time…

The Ski Jumping Complex is just an amazing thing up close. They are huge, the size of 25-story skyscrapers and you can see them from almost anywhere in town…

We went to see how close we could get to them. The “How” was a little odd. We drove to a large (but empty) parking lot about 2 miles outside of town, with a large locked front gate, and a bored looking lady inside a security booth. Aww crap, does this mean we can’t get in? I walked up to her and asked “Can we just go in and look at the thing?” She told me that for five bucks each we could take an elevator to the top of the main jump tower.

“Wow, seriously? Hold on a sec.”

I walk back to the car and tell my girl the scoop, and see if she wants to go. She’s not the Olympic junkie that I am but she humored me all the same… because my girlfriend is a peach. My girlfriend is cooler than YOUR girlfriend, and I have not one but TWO ski jump ticket stubs to prove it!

When we got to the base of the towers (four blocks drive from the place where we got the tickets, incidentally) I looked up and for a sec thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. These towers are enormous, the main tower is the size of a 25-story building. It gave me a newfound respect for ski jumpers, because these aren’t “ramps” as much as they are long wooden slides attached to the side of a skyscraper!

The elevator trip up gave me a little vertigo at first, but once I got out onto the deck where the skiers jump from I was greeted by a most amazing view of the entire valley…

and then I looked downward to see the view that greets the prospective ski jumper…

Wow, isn’t that something? Skiers shoot down this ramp at 60 mph and launch into the air, the entire trip lasting only 15-20 seconds. No brakes, no air bags, no seat belts, just a pair of skis. Neat, huh? Here, check out a couple of the videos I shot of the occasion:

Another high point of the trip was a trip to “With Pipe and Book,” an old bookstore and cigar shop that has a particular fond memory attached to it for me.

When last we were in town they were closing their doors, having a “Going Out of Business” sale. I was sad to see ‘em go, and when we came into town I was curious to see what might be in its place. Sure enough, the shop was able to stay open another few years, and they were selling off all their stock, and closing this coming January. I was pleased to be able to browse this shop one more time, and made sure to bring home some memorabilia from them…

…the REALLY cool stuff was out of my price range (even at the “75% Off” discount), but I was particularly pleased to get a mint copy of the Opening Ceremony program for the 1980 games. There, now I can say I got something from Pipe and Book.

So it was a nice trip, I was able to recharge my batteries and relax before setting back into the school/work schedule. Look, here’s a relaxed “me” by Mirror Lake…

…just for the ladies at school who feel it’s not a vacation unless you go to some form of shore.