What the fuck is that mountain doing there?

We had road trip Tuesday: Monday edition today. We went up to Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks, and then to Lake Placid. I've never been that far north in New York before, it's like 30 miles from Canada or something. It was beautiful up there, the mountains were very impressive. I think they're bigger than the Green Mountains in Vermont, (update: they are) but I don't know for sure. While I've never been out west, I'm aware that the Rocky Mountains are far more impressive, but having grown up in Iowa, the mountains out here never fail to amaze me. I didn't appreciate the landscape the first time I lived here, and I really missed it while we were in Minneapolis. This time around we're taking full advantage of how nice this area of the country is.


We were thinking about going to Howe Caverns, but decided they were too lame. Actually, we still might go someday. I've never been in a cave before. But Dan's dad suggested Ausable Chasm and I'm glad he did. While it was kind of crowded (there's one main trail that splits off into two halfway through) and there were tons of kids there (Me: "I fucking hate children." Dan: "This oughtta be a fun day.") it was really very cool. They call it the "Grand Canyon Of the East" and I guess that's fair to say. The best view on the hike:
After the hike we drove to Lake Placid because it wasn't that far away, although we took the wrong highway so it took much longer to get there (my bad). It was okay, a little kitschy for my taste, and in my opinion they need to let the whole "The Olympics were here in 1980" thing go. They've been riding that fame wave long enough. We did find a great deli for lunch and then had some ice cream next to Mirror Lake. Then I got crabby, which is how we know the road trip needs to end. It happens every time.
On the way home, we found this frightening taxidermy place ("shop?") with some real, stuffed black bears, a moose, and the pièce de résistance, a lion eating a giraffe. Where the fuck they got a lion and a giraffe is beyond me. Ebay? I couldn't resist having my picture taken with a black bear (as I'm a bit obsessed with bears in general) but I had to get out of there stat because the whole thing was super creepy. I put the picture up on facebook for anyone who is interested.

The only thing missing from our day was a giant crocodile: