It all started when my wife’s parents and her sister’s family decided to go to Lake George for the week. I had never seen Lake George before and when I looked at a map, I was surprised to find out how close it was to Cornwall. It appeared to be less than a 4-hour ride.

My wife had to work all week but I was able to take a few days off to attempt this ride. Therefore, I left early (7:00 AM) on a Tuesday morning. I packed for rain since the sky seemed to be hinting at one more down pour before the sun.

The ride down had some interesting events. First, the sky was cloudy and dark. Riding through the Adirondacks for the first time in thisweather was a bit wild. The roads were empty on this Tuesday morning and the views on both sides were breathtaking. The roads were full of 90 degree turns combined with multiple “S” curves. Around each corner were small ponds, lakes and rivers with a layer of fog floating on top.

The excitement to see what was around the next corner combined with the constant leaning from right to left while taking the corners was indescribable. What a blast!

At one point, I came roaring around a corner and there was a big hill presented in front of me. At the bottom was a blockade of what seemed like troopers. Lights were flashing and a big sign saying that everyone must stop. It turned out to be a Border Patrol Inspection. They even had dogs sniff up and down my bike. I guess that smuggling through the Adirondacks is a popular route. I was getting low on gas and asked the Border Patrol officer where the next gas station was and he told me that it was not until I get to Saranac Lake.

Lesson Learned about a Vespa: Never pass over a gas station when you do not know where the next gas station will be. If you have three quarters of a tank in the middle of know where, it just may not be enough to get to the next station, so always fill up when given the opportunity.

My heart stopped a beat thinking that I would run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Thanks god for the free one year Piaggio Road Side Assistance. It turned out however that I had sufficient petrol to make it to Saranac Lake’s Mobile gas Station.

It took me 3 hours and 50 minutes to get to Lake George. By then the sun was out and it was in the low 90s.

Enjoy my video…