RPI Freakout with Friends

We had a mini RPI reunion last weekend, at least our class did.  Kathy and Bob, Pete and Luanne, and Naveen and his friend Walt all came to visit - sweet!  It was an awesome weekend of reminiscing and checking out the campus and Troy to see what's new many years later.

Plus we got to watch an excellent hockey game - the annual Big Red Freakout that somehow John and I have made it to 3 times in a row.  Let's Go Red!

Thank you to Bob for this photo:

Saturday before the big game we drove around Albany and Troy, checked out the Troy farmer's market and the Albany co-op, and stopped by to see Nipper on the roof:

Kathy found a lead for the Troy Arts Center so we stopped in for a look.  Nice view of the Hudson from inside:

They are currently showing artwork from Hudson Valley Seed Library, very interesting:

Our first visit to the campus bookstore in many years - Bob took full advantage of the offerings in preparation for the game:

It's genius!

One of our favorite shirt designs:

The site of our "hockey line" hangout where we waited a couple weeks for season tickets (back then we had an air mattress at least):

Our senior year living quarters:

Time for some hockey!

Pete was really prepared - we were impressed!

Yay Puckman!

A happy crew, watching RPI go up 3 goals to none:

A few action shots:

The Engineers played well and hung on for the shutout win.  Awesome.

Sunday morning we went for a walk/run around the University of Albany campus.  Bob found a place to rest for a couple minutes before the start:

He also noticed this sign:

A little chilly, but maybe the sun will come out?

John in the 10-mile race:

Kathy and Bob heading out for a walk:

Sunday afternoon was another highlight - we got an insider's tour of EMPAC, the new (well, new to us) arts center on the RPI campus.  We were really lucky that Ian and Rosalee were willing to show us around all the spaces we wouldn't normally get to see.

A caricature of Mr. Rolnick who has been teaching here for many years:

Such interesting designs and spaces:

Inside the White Room where artists set up to practice and perform:

The view down toward Troy:

The smaller auditorium, another fun space:

Naveen was with us Saturday evening, but somehow I neglected to get a photo of him.  He had different seats at the game and we didn't get a group picture at the Polish restaurant pre-game nor at the bar post-game.  Next time!

He did mention these waterfalls near campus that none of the rest of us had heard of.  It's spectacular, hard to believe we didn't know about it back then!  Lots of ice decorations around the creek right now:

We also visited the Mohawk Falls, which I never tire of looking at.  Lots of ice around this one too:

Thank you, friends, for a most excellent weekend!

Lake Placid with Jenny and Jerry

(Many photos are courtesy of Jerry and Jenny Beard - thank you!)

John's parents flew up from Texas for the weekend and even though it was the "deep freeze" kind of cold in the northeast, we decided to stick with our plans of going yet further north for some fun and sightseeing.

A brief detour through the town of Lake George to check out the ice fishing scene:

Spectacular glimpses of ice walls and ice climbers on the way to Lake Placid:

Whiteface Mountain and a cross-country skier braving the cold in the foreground:

We started our own "braving the cold" adventure at the ski jump site.  Lucky for us, the US aerials team was in the middle of practice when we arrived.  Jerry caught a couple of awesome photos of these amazing athletes - woo hoo!

No jumping into the pool this time - only the real thing in January:

We were happy to have sunshine and blue skies as we made our way to the chair lift and elevator to take a tour:

Nowhere near as cold as some winter rides up ski mountains:

Yep, still insane:

Go Jenny!

Great views from the top:

We had time for a look around the John Brown Farm where the man himself is buried:

Then it was time for an appointment with the bobsled crew over at the Olympic Sports Complex!  Go Jerry and John!

The van to head up the hill:

The ride down the hill (along with a driver and a brakeman):

Jenny and I watched on the TV screen from inside and tried to take pictures.  Here you can barely see the guys getting ready on the upper right of the screen:

Once the ride started my camera couldn't keep up with the sled zooming by each camera and I got a bunch of shots of empty track - but Jerry and John can tell you, they were definitely there!  2 G's around the big turn  :)

Congratulations on your successful run!  Awesome.

To celebrate, we went for Mexican food for dinner.  It was in the same place as the Chinese/Japanese restaurant (although you have to pick one menu or the other for the whole table).  Not your typical Mexican food, rather more Asian-inspired, but surprisingly good:

The next morning we hung around downtown for a little while:

We could watch the happenings on Mirror Lake from inside a hotel lobby.  We spotted a fast dogsled team across the way:

Also a bunch of rinks where folks were playing Can-Am hockey:

Jerry and I decided we would really enjoy a dogsled ride ourselves, and since I believe neither of us has plans to live somewhere where we could do this anytime we like, we jumped at the chance.

Mush!

Happy mushers:

Time to make our way over to the ice rinks and Olympics museum.  First we saw the rink from the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics:

Not many seats back then, but a nice rink:

Then the coolest part - the rink where the 1980 Miracle on Ice game was played.  Yes, right here.  Wow.

There are events going on all the time here, including many hockey games last weekend:

On to the Olympics museum - small but full of interesting things to see, especially for Olympics buffs.

I'm quite sure no one is talking about taking her gun away:

Torches from previous relays:

They were replaying the US vs. USSR hockey game, so we watched the 2nd half and it was as exciting as every time I see it.  Not as exciting, I'm sure, as the live broadcast that Jerry remembers watching!

Bobblehead Bobsledders  :)

Outside we saw the speedskating oval used both in 1932 and 1980, and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get on the ice myself.  View from the ice:

Trying to remember how to ice skate:

Jenny looks fast:

Too cool (and only slightly cold):

Look out John, Jenny's gaining on you:

Sculpture in honor of Sonja Henie:

A fun stop at an antiques store:

Jenny had noticed these "snow rollers" on our drive up, and we happened to see a news report about them on TV Saturday night.  We managed to spot them once again on the way home and determined they were worthy of a photo stop.  I had never seen them before - apparently created from a special combination of wind and a particular type of snow:

And once again, John assists with a humorous shot to end on.  We ran into Richard Simmons Saturday evening...

Thank you all for a fabulous weekend!!