Adirondack Rocky Mountain High

The intrepid Rooney family has returned from the Adirondack wilderness. We spent several days camping at the Limekiln Lake state campground in the town of Inlet, just outside of Old Forge.

Here’s the recap:
Day 1: We arrived Monday afternoon and spent most of the day setting up camp. Actually, Kris did most of the work while I took the kids to the beach to keep them out of her hair.

Day 2: We went to Enchanted Forest Water Safari. We were there pretty much the whole day, now that we don’t worry so much about rushing Thomas back for a nap anymore. I think it was the longest family outing we ever went on.

I was pretty impressed with the park. It’s been around for more than 50 years and was bigger than I expected. We started off on their “lazy river” ride, which was very relaxing. Nolan had a blast on a kid-sized water slide. And we all took a raft ride down the Cascade Falls. Kris, Nolan and I loved that. Thomas wasn’t so sure.

But I wasn’t going to leave until I tackled a water slide. I told Kris and the kids they could pick any slide in the place for me. Naturally they chose the tallest one they had—the Killermajaro slide. According to the Water Safari website, it’s a 280-foot drop and you reach speeds up to 30 mph. That was a lot of fun, but it was a little bumpier than I expected and I was a little sore when it was over.

Day 3: It was mountain climbing day, and Thomas hiked up his first mountain. He’s been to the top of couple of mountains before, but with us carrying him all or part of the way. This was the first time he hiked all the way up under his own power—and he loved it! He was so proud of himself!

We climbed Rocky Mountain. It’s only about a half mile to the top. So it’s very easy for kids. Once at the summit, there is a beautiful view of Fourth Lake in the Fulton Chain Lakes (see picture above).

Later in the afternoon we took a ride with the Old Forge Lake Cruise Line. Our two-hour cruise started on Old Forge Pond made its way up the chain to Fourth Lake, the largest in the chain, and then back.

During the cruise, the captain invited both of the boys to come into the wheel house and take turns piloting the boat. They each left with a “junior captain certificate” that they thought was great.

Day 4: We took a ride on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, which Thomas thought was terrific. Actually, as much as he loves trains, he was a little nervous about it at first. But he warmed up to it after a while.

After the train ride we had lunch and wandered around Old Forge doing a little shopping.

Day 5: It seems like on many of our vacations we feel like we stayed one day too many. We seriously considered leaving Thursday instead of Friday, but decided to tough it out.

On Thursday night we packed up as much as we could and went to bed.

We had beautiful weather for the whole trip. Then sometime around midnight it started raining. Kris and I woke up early and laid there awake. That’s when we noticed it changing from raining to pouring and water was coming in through the seams of the tent where the floor meets the walls.

So we backed the van right up to the tent. We put the kids in the van and had them eat their breakfast while Kris and I packed up the tent and whatever else was left. Then we hit the road. We were home by lunchtime.

It was a pretty successful trip. We all had a great time and I think everyone has returned with some great family memories.

In addition, like our trip to Silver Lake last year, I’ve also returned with facial hair—which I’ll keep as long as my wife continues to humor me.