Vacation, part 2

Higley, Part 2:

First, Nana watching Sam do his Perplexus, a 3-D maze of sorts which Nana and Grandad gave him. Well, it's not really a maze, as you aren't trying to fix a path. You are trying to guide a BB along one of three paths without its falling down. A couple of weeks ago Sam had a Perplexus explosion and suddenly could do all three paths... intermittently.

He has a love-hate relationship with it, since it can be very touchy, and frustrating at times. Many times he's complained of too much noise when anyone so much as walks through the room where he's doing it. (You can imagine how that goes over!) I often hide it at night so he doesn't see it and try to do it first thing in the morning. It's taught him the value of perseverance, I think.

Tue and Wed we drove the 1.5 hours up to Lake Placid, where we stayed overnight. Great hotel, excellent weather and had a really good time. Shown is the view from the lower of the two Whiteface peaks, to which we took a gondola ride. (One of the three times during the trip Sam said, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!") Next year we'll hike up Mt. Jo, which is just a mile each way, but a 700' climb.

While in Placid we played a couple of rounds of mini golf to pass the time. The were of the same class as Pirate Island in Sea Isle City--which means they were very good, and Sam was in heaven.

Also in Placid we learned of, and let Sam try, the EuroBungy. It's a Swedish marriage between a trampoline and bungy jumping, allowing huge leaps into the air. Sam was truly in heaven. Next time up we've got to get Susan to try it as well, as she's always been a big trampoline fan.

We ate dinner in Placid at a pizza place run by a family from Montenegro. We chose it in part because we were able to sit on

the balcony and hear the start of a public jazz concert while overlooking Mirror Lake. Oddly, while there we met three unrelated families also hailing from the Rochester area. Must be some obscure trick of marketing.

Sam and I did our annual overnight in Higley. The weather was much nicer this year than last, and we were further away from the water, so no bug problems. It was delightful, especially since N&G&S&J brought over fried chicken from Lorna's Higley Hideaway Diner Cafe. (Notice I never used the phrase "roughing it"!)

Only kayaked once, but got to solder copper pipe for the first time! Scrabble (Susan pulled it out, as I recall), Poirot mysteries, and a delightful week.