850 Miles on the Open Road with Dad

Though I had wanted to visit the Adirondack Mountains again for a long time, I hadn’t visualized when I finally did get the chance that it would be on the back of a motorcycle 😆 But miles were driven, memories were made, and I think we both walked away with an experience we feel blessed to have had together. As you embark on this recap with me, I’ll try not to get too long-winded, though we packed a lot into these three days! I’ll give you the highlights, along with some laughable moments, as well, but suffice it to say that it certainly was an adventure…

First, a little backstory –
Growing up, my dad had a Suzuki GS1000 (still does, somewhere, I think!). For years, he and my mom would make the annual trek to a motorcycle rally, Americade, in Lake George and leave us daughters at home to fend for ourselves (haha, jk, we had help). But I would love when they came home and got pictures developed, to see what all they experienced on their travels… and I knew I wanted to get out there some day. But even on my short jaunts around town or through the valley with dad, I never trusted 2-wheelers. Something about them scared me and I would nearly be holding my breath until we returned home. And as my parents got older, my fear got worse every time I heard about them going out for even a quick Sunday ride. Call me a worry wart, but drivers in general have just gotten less observant of those around them…especially motorcycles. Eventually Dad purchased his first Can-Am Spyder in 2012 and it was red. Now you’re talking! THREE wheels, a bit of a bigger presence in your lane, and way less risk of falling over or getting seriously injured if something were to run out into or be on the road. He’s now onto his second one, a green 2021 he nicknamed Kermie! 

Now to the WHY –
A bunch of years back, Dad decided he wanted to take a Spyder ride with each daughter. YOLO, right?! My oldest sister, Debi started the tradition off with a bit of the Tunnel of Trees in Michigan. They had wanted to do Route 66, but life had other plans and it was better to stay close. Darlene went 2 months after our trip, and they experienced Hershey, PA (complete with personalized chocolate!). Jenn still has to go, but they have a plan in place when both of their schedules are able to coincide (darn busy bees!). I think they’re going to do Kinzua!

IDK…ADK?
Originally I had thought about us going across the state and ending up in Vermont for a state race for our adventure together. But I decided that was kind of selfish of me, as I wanted the main goal of the trip to be spending time with dad and not having any time limits in place nor activities to take away from the true purpose of the excursion. Well, it’s a good thing, too, because Dad had stipulations… 

1.     No major planning ahead

Now if you know anything about me, you know this was HARD. I don’t need every second of every day planned out, but I like to have general ideas about things. And especially with a road trip, at summer, visiting semi-popular locations, I like to at least know where we’re going to make a stop, and hopefully even book a hotel! We were pretty lucky over the years with our cross-state travel and just winging it, but things have definitely changed and you just never know… (more on this later haha)

2.     Take the roads less traveled

Now this I was okay with. Though I can handle myself in most any traffic scenario, on a motorcycle (three-wheeled or two) is just a different beast altogether. Again, enter my fear described up there ⬆️ down here ⬇️. There’s a reason why there’s all those “Share the Road” signs out there! Now, I kinda cheated on #1 and looked at the possible routes we could take so that I could at least have an idea of what we’d be passing by/through, in case there were any World’s Largest Haybales or some shit like that haha. The biggest thing I noticed is that it would take us much longer, but the scenery should prove to be fantastic. Deal.

3.     No alcohol

This wasn’t particularly hard for me, since I only tend to have something when I’m socializing with larger groups of people. But I will admit that I was surprised that was one of his rules since he sure loves a good night cap! I’m not 100% sure of his reasoning behind this one, except for having a clear mind since he was the only one that could do the driving haha (Passenger Princess, bonus!). 

We settled on Lake Placid as the main attraction, since I had never been, and when looking at the Vermont idea previously I knew I wanted to see part of the ADK either way. We could also check out Lake George since it was nearby and he and mom had that motorcycle history there (and him being familiar with the area was an added perk). If you’ve ever talked to me about where I grew up, heard the words “New York” and said something like “oh, the city?!” …yeah, no. We’re from WESTERN NY. Near Buffalo. I actually live half the distance to NYC living in VIRGINIA than I did when I lived in NEW YORK STATE haha. So there was plenty of our very large state I had never seen before I moved away from it in 2007, or at least parts I had only been through or to for a short period of time. So I pulled up Google Maps, got a general idea of what the non Thruway and main thoroughfare options would be, and crossed my fingers🤞🏻
 

Away we go!!
Around 7 a.m. on July 25, 2023, Dad and I hit the open road. It was a little chilly and very cloudy, but thankfully no rain. I’m guessing I had only gone about 30 miles roundtrip with dad on the bike before that day, so I was a little nervous how this would be. On a bike there’s no A/C, no crossing your legs or repositioning too much if your butt starts falling asleep…limited “luxuries,” really haha. We did have some music going and were able to communicate through our helmets, but still very different than a road trip in a car for sure.

The first thing I think I perfected was using my phone camera off the back of the bike haha. I loved having unobstructed views of everything we were passing, and just held onto my phone for dear life haha. I consider myself more Gen X, regardless of my birth year, but I guess my one Millennial behavior is DOCUMENT-DOCUMENT-DOCUMENT. Having photos and videos of things is a huge priority for me when it comes to whatever I want to remember more clearly. Maybe because there are huge chunks of my earlier years that I can no longer recall, but let’s move on haha. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We drove along the Finger Lakes moving east on 20, and stopped at the I♥️NY sign in Geneva (because it was a NY adventure, after all). We decided to stop to eat at a little place in the middle of nowhere because the cow print sign caught our eye. It ended up being the ironically named Milkhouse Diner. 🐄 I remember losing the small pack of tissues mom gave me before we left as we pulled out after brunch and they flew out of my unzipped pocket… so they’re likely still decomposing somewhere in a field south of Marcellus (sorry!). Continuing on, we checked out the Historic Old Forge Covered Bridge and Fulton Chain of Lakes for a little bit of history (and a free potty break haha), and then onward and forward with hills increasing in size and turning into mountain views as we drove. About 6:30 p.m. we pulled into Lake Placid.

Lodging #1 – Art Devlin’s Olympic Motor Inn

Once we realized how far we could make it, I started looking at options. Even though it was a Tuesday, which isn’t traditionally a “sell out” kind of night, Lake Placid is still a popular destination in the summertime! I didn’t book it ahead, we just hoped there would be a room available once we got there. But I loved the fact that this one was owned and operated by a former Olympic ski champion. Pretty neat! It wasn’t luxurious by any means, but actually had decent ratings (I don’t go below a 4 if I can help it), and ultimately provided a space we could lay our heads and safe parking for the bike. Check and check. Why am I telling you about the hotel? Well, maybe you’ll want to visit someday…but also, you’ll see. 😟 

Since I tend to get too detailed with these things, I’m not going to give a full play by play through everything that we did. Instead I’ll give some highlights for each area, which includes some suggestions if you’re ever inclined to visit! 

Our Lake Placid Highlights

• Downtown Lake Placid has a great summer music series called Songs at Mirror Lake. You can bring chairs, sit in provided benches or on the ground, and even kayak/canoe up on the water if that’s your thing! We grabbed a slice of pizza from a nearby place (didn’t document the name, oops), a sampling of goodies from Adirondack Chocolates, and sat for a spell to listen 🎶

• If you’re one of those “do it all” types, or enjoy saving money and having multiple options, I highly recommend checking out the Lake Placid Legacy Sites Passport. It allows you to visit the Olympic Center, Olympic Jumping Complex, Mt Van Hoevenberg, AND Whiteface Mountain for one price. We already knew we wanted to hit up the Village, including the ice rink, and ski jump. ⛷️

• With this pass we could take the gondola up to the top of Little Whiteface Mountain to check out the sights, as well! It was extremely foggy/cloudy when we got off the gondola right before 9 a.m., but we waited around for about a half hour and everything burned off so we could catch some great views of Lake Placid from afar!

• Driving up Whiteface Mountain (the big one haha) was so beautiful! We took the tunnel toward (so cool) and elevator up to the top, taking in the sights while snagging some amazing photos of each other. I went the long way down along the rocks, which was only slightly terrifying haha. Dad took the elevator back down, and even found some other retired farmer biker dudes while he waited for me! We checked out the castle, though it was under renovations, and had a snack at a food truck parked there – 4610’ Grill Maple Smoke BBQ Co. So much yum!

• The Olympic Center is great if you like adding a little history to your adventures. I always make it a point to watch the winter Olympics and was obsessed with figure skaters for a bit, so seeing the rinks and different torches and medals was really neat. You can even “try” bobsledding!!

• The Jumping Complex was another slightly terrifying portion, since you’re up so high and things sway haha, but the views are so worth it. Plus, they have people practicing jumps into water nearby and it’s fascinating to watch! 

• We hadn’t planned on visiting Mt Van Hoevenberg, but I’m so glad we did… the legacy tour included seeing current bobsledding push track practice (brr!), then walking the historic sliding track! A highlight of the trip for sure.

• Did you know you can visit the NORTH POLE nearby? There’s even a Santa’s Workshop, but sadly we didn’t have enough time to stop.

• Did you also know that there is REAL SNOW outside of the Olympic Center all the time?! No joke! It was like 80 degrees that day and there was still snow on the ground haha. Magic? Or resourcefulness 😉

“Rut Roh, Raggy…”
At the end of a fully packed day in Lake Placid, we started heading toward Lake George. We had hoped to make it through Natural Stone Bridge in time to maybe see some caves, but our Olympic fun took a little longer than expected. So we settled on some ice cream right outside there instead haha (big surprise to those of you that know us well, I’m sure 😛). Since I had been furiously documenting our entire morning on film with a combination of pictures and video, my phone battery was nearly dead. For some reason I hadn’t brought my portable charger, and my cord couldn’t reach the USB port on the dash. And to top it all off, we were going through a bad cell service area. It was only a Wednesday, but everyone and their mother (or father I suppose is more fitting haha) must have been in Lake George that day because finding something under $200 was nearly impossible. With lack of battery, signal, and patience… on the fly I ended up with the one that had the best reviews of those left in an affordable range (which wasn’t saying much…and realizing shortly after this that I could plug my charging cable in the “trunk” space to keep it charged while he drove 🤦). Arrive in Lake George.

Lodging #2 – “Barely Deserves Mentioning But Was Close to the Steamboat” (True Name Redacted)

Okay, it wasn’t really that bad, but it was pretty bad. And not because I’m a bougie hotel type person, as I’ve definitely stayed in my fair share of scaries, but I really wish I had had more time to make my selection as we approached Lake George. It ended up being one of those places where I think it doubled as apartments for the locals and was definitely rented out a time (or eighteen) for hourly shenanigans. Thankfully our room ended up between some less-sketchy looking people, but the whole scenario was just a memory I’d rather not dredge up fully ever again haha. There were no bugs I could see and the water ran hot in the shower. End. Scene. Those were the positives haha. Looking up the location again, 2 years later, someone recently left a review that made me giggle, “”This is a dated motel dripping with character.” Yeah, dripping with something… *shudder* 😵

Our Lake George Highlights

• We weren’t here that long, and I feel like most of the time we were eating haha.
  • The Olde Log Inn had a super yummy French Onion Soup and really nice servers!
  • The Breakfast Spot had one of the best Monte Cristo sandwiches I’ve ever had! 
  • I also picked up some delicious pastry we brought with us to the next stop, but I can’t seem to find it on the map anymore, so it may have closed 😕

• You’ve gotta hop on the Minne-Ha-Ha to experience an authentic paddlewheel steamboat if you never have (or even if it’s a repeat experience for you). The homes along the lake are gorgeous and the Captain shares some cool information on the ride. It started raining and we didn’t have an umbrella but still wanted to sit on the top deck, so keep an eye on that forecast haha. Thankfully we were under a little lip near the Captain’s box, so we only caught a few errant drops.

Grey Skies are Gonna Clear Up…
We wanted to cover as much ground as possible before stopping again, and I was still a little bit traumatized by my forced second lodging choice, so we started heading west right after the boat ride. The rain we had been dodging while on the road the entire trip finally caught up to us and we got SOAKED! Thankfully we were able to find some covered gas pumps pretty quickly and put on the Frogg Toggs that Dad thoughtfully packed! And when the sky cleared, it was a gorgeous trip for the remainder of the ride. I couldn’t believe how blue the sky, white the clouds, and green the grass was in some of the areas we rolled through. It was like the quintessential pictures you’d draw when you were a little kid 🖼️

Next stop, Waterloo.

Lodging #3 – “Luxurious AF” (Better Known as del Lago Resort & Casino)

Instead of taking 20 back home like we did on the venture out, we shifted a little bit north after a stop in Cazenovia to see the lake. It was a little less scenic and a bit more trafficky, too, but it was all worth it in the end! Thankfully dad let me bypass rule #1 a little bit after our not-so-pleasant adventure with the motel that shall never be visited again. And boy did it pay off! I found a casino we’d never been to, not super far from home, but a good way to break up the long drive. Not only was everything white, white, white, which was a far cry from the dark, drab interiors of both of the previous options, but we got freaking bath robes, too! We decided to just grab what tickled our fancy from the food court downstairs, do a little gambling to test our luck a little, and get a good night’s rest. Soft, cool sheets with a down duvet and fluffy pillows are a hotel bedding combination made in heaven for me…and this place made up for the mistakes of the previous evening ten-fold!😴

The next morning was Dad’s actual birthday…78 years old! We took a selfie and got back on the road. Unfortunately the easiest way back home kind of went through Rochester proper, so we had to break rule #2 a little. But we worked our way back to the back roads as soon as possible! We had one last stop for food at the Cozy Corner in Springville, and then I finally recognized the roads we were on again! 🙌🏻

100% Worth It
I’m not gonna lie, there was some trepidation about spending 3.5 days with my Dad, just us two. We’ve traveled as a family to many different places, but most of the time we all have our own rooms, or at least some separation between beds. And we also aren’t spending basically every waking hour with each other, including being attached by a microphone and helmet headset while on the road. But I wouldn’t trade this road trip for anything and I’m so thankful that we could make this happen while we were healthy and able enough to do so. Life is too short and you never know what could happen tomorrow (as I type this while finishing up recovering from an unexpected surgery two weeks ago). My advice to you – if you’re thinking about doing something like this with someone you love, and are hesitating for whatever reason…TAKE THE TRIP. The conversations we had, sights we were able to see, and experiences we shared are ones I’ll cherish forever. 🥰

My only regrets are not documenting how many actual Dollar General stores we drove by on our nearly 850 mile adventure (because I’m pretty sure it was at least 42 🙄🤣) and not getting more pictures of us together!