Summit up

We're all quite sleepy this evening after plenty of mountain air. We went up Mount Whiteface, though admittedly not on foot. We drove nearly to the top and completed the last 270 feet in an elevator. We spent a couple of hours up there in the September sunshine, admiring views of some of the six million mostly unspoilt acres of the Adirondack National Park.

After the mountain we took to the lake. Our hotel is on Mirror Lake, so we borrowed boats of one kind and another and had an oarsome time paddling around. Then we took to pedalling around in a pedalo - the kids were very impressed that it had six in-built cup-holders, almost as many as our car.

In the morning, while the kids were in the pool, the Man took a look around the Olympic museum. He reports that while Robin Cousins got a mention as the Men's Figure Skating Champion at the 1980 Lake Placid games, a much more famous British Olympian featured more prominently, even though he didn't compete in the Olympics until eight years later. Any guesses?

Go Placidly

In a couple of days I'll post some photos of where we've come for a last minute mini-break, but we forgot to pack the uploading cable so for now you'll have to wait.

Anyway, we have driven up to the North Country and we're staying by a lake. There's a whole lot of Olympic structures around...so if the title didn't give it to you I'm hoping you've guessed by now where we are.

The children, as ever, are less impressed by the general destination than by the fact that we are staying in a hotel, and they have been making full use of the pool and spa bath, the in-room microwave (for popcorn) and - of course - the TV.

The Boy has asked me to report that he has learnt to swim today with his head above water, so our trip has been worth it if only for that. But I hope it will have many more delights as we explore the area properly tomorrow.

An awful lot of accordions

We've been out and about today. First we visited the local Farmers' Market, which seemed to be doing a roaring trade. There was musical accompaniment in the form of a band of accordion players. "That's a lot of accordion players," the woman with a jewellery stall two tables down from them told me, with feeling. Presumably she had had to enjoy them all morning.

Then we moved on to Staples office supply store, to stock up on school supplies. I am much better at doing this after two years here, and managed to accumulate everything in one visit.

Once I'd collected the Girl from her sleepover venue, we all ambled round the corner to our neighbour's pool party for snacks, badminton, a little swimming and neighbourly chat. Then the Girl moved on to another play date, and the rest of us went mini-golfing (this time it was the Boy's turn to trump his Dad with a hole-in-one). And finally we ended up at the Girl's friend's house viewing Jupiter and its moons through a telescope.

Jam-packed

Well, I can't speak highly enough of the Indian Ladder Farms' Barn School. The Girl has enthused about it (to anyone who'll listen) from start to finish. She has worked hard, made new friends and today she even managed to catch a chicken. Plus she has presented me with a pot of jam (or should that be jelly?) she made from berries she'd picked herself. Excellent.

The Boy had his buddy to sleep over last night and to play most of the day. Meanwhile the Girl went straight from Barn School to her friend's house, and we won't get to see her again until tomorrow. The social whirl is ramping up.

Speaking of jam/jelly, I made myself a traditional American staple today - the PBJ, or peanut-butter and jelly sandwich - just to see what all the fuss was about. It was actually pretty nice. What peanut-butter and jello (US for jelly) would be like I'm not so sure.

Deal braker

Last week when I had the car tyre replaced at the dealership, the mechanic noted that the front brakes needed fixing. The guy I spoke to at the desk implied - no, actually told me - that I would need to get the brakes seen to otherwise the car would fail its annual inspection (due in October). Also that one of two things could be wrong, and while the first would cost $250 to repair the other would cost more like $450. And if it was only the first problem now it would turn into the second if I left it too long, so I should get on and get the matter seen to as soon as possible.

So, today I took the car in, fully expecting a two and half hour wait and a large, possibly huge bill at the end of it. An hour or so into the wait I was told the brakes were fine, good for several thousand more miles, they couldn't understand why I'd brought it in.

Well, what was I to make of that? On the one hand, I was happy not to have the expense of replacing the brakes. On the other, I'd wasted a whole chunk of the afternoon taking the car in and hanging around for no good reason - not to mention I'd had to impose on Exile #2 to look after my children.

I've been in America long enough now, I realise, to feel ok about politely expressing a grievance (so long as it's not against a hairdresser, obviously). The upshot was, I received an apology (not from the bloke who'd misled me, however - though apparently he admitted to having perhaps been 'slightly alarmist' in his dealings with me) and no charge for having the brakes examined. And quite right too. Hmmph.

Back to school...

Not for lessons yet, though. This evening we marked the start of the school social season with the annual pot-luck picnic. It was a chance to catch up with old friends and make some new ones and (for those so inclined) swing on the monkey-bars, race round the field and catch frogs in the stream. Truly this school is just too much like fun.

Other news: today I got in touch with the local Chamber of Commerce to introduce the Fair Trade Town concept. I've already received an enthusiastic 'how can we help?' type of response, so that's pretty exciting. The Girl had another happy session with her animal friends at the farm. And the Boy has turned the sitting room into a 'penguin exhibit', by draping white sheets all over it.

Animal magic

The Girl had another great morning at Barn School. When we went to pick her up at lunchtime she hopped into the animal pen and proudly introduced all the livestock to us by name. Here we have Isaac and Curry:

and here are Otis (calf) and Teddy:

There are a whole lot of other animals, too, including Eeyore the donkey and Rosie the Highland cow. Also a bunch of chickens and turkeys (but they don't have names).