It was the best of days (we zeroed both timed segments!), it was the worst of days (my camera batteries died and it rained or SNOWED(!!!) most of the day!)
As such dear reader, you’re stuck with very few, if any car photos. You’ll have to deal with whatever meagre images I feed you. Sorry.
We left the Woodstock Inn at one minute intervals. The parade of automotive beauty was fantastic… and my camera was as dead as the proverbial doornail. No matter what order I stuffed four of the ten rechargeable AA batteries I own into it… the camera just blinked or laid there… cold and dead as a day old fish. I even charged a set of the batteries the night before! Oh well.
The first segment was about 75 miles long. I drove and dad navigated. The only bit I recall is that the car turned over 100,000 miles partway through. Thankfully a stoplight appeared and I was able to grab a shot of the odometer. This car has had an easy life: under 3500 miles a year since birth. I do that every two months or so in my “daily driver” back home.
The segment finished at a ferry dock on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain from Fort Ticonderoga. We cleared the checkpoint with no penalty time. w00t!
After that we went over the ferry in the second load of Rally Cars, and on to the fort.
We were able to wander around this monument to our country’s early history. It was built by the French in the late 1600s to protect Lower Canada from the British further south. It was the scene of two amazing battles in the Seven Years War (what we call The French & Indian Wars) in the mid 1700s, then of course was captured by Ethan Allen in the early days of the American Revolution. It changed hands a few times in that conflict, and its guns were dragged over 300 miles by sled in winter to relieve the siege of Boston, convincing the British to leave the city for good.
After Independence the fort was abandoned and fell into ruin. The Pell family bought the property and eventually restored the fort around the turn of the 20th century to the condition it was in at the time of the Revolution. It is a fantastic site, and anyone with an interest in history should visit Fort Ticonderoga. I’m glad I finally had the chance.
From there we had two transit stages to lunch, then a transit to a private house for a tour. Then a timed stage which finished at the Olympic Ski Jumps at Lake Placid, NY. Partway along that stage we actually ran into snow! Despite the inclement weather we zeroed that stage, and went for a tour of the jumps. We rode the elevator of the 120m jump (the 90m jump was closed) and enjoyed the view.
Above: Looking straight down the ramp of the 120m Jump.
The view, in spite of the weather, was awesome. Being a retired alpinist, heights give me something of a buzz, bringing back the wild days of my youth. My father however, gets pretty wigged out, so he peeked once, and headed back to the car. I stuck around, soaked it all in, and shot photos.
Above: The view of the 90m jump from the top of the 120m
Above: Yours Truly, contemplating a run down the ramp.
From the jumps to the hotel was a very short transit stage. We filled up the car with gas so we can start tomorrow with no worries.
Here is the view from our room. Car spotters can play “name that car.”
man that ski jump looks crazy! they are truly mad!
pity about the camera – my Canon S2 had to be replaced under its extended warranty as it was ‘saying’ the batteries were dead when they weren’t … I’m now having to put up with a new Canon S5 …. I’ll survive… 🙂 hope you get it sorted
Jerome