It was a busy week at the CVB, and an extraordinarily beautiful one, too. With the sun out in full force every day, temperatures in the 60's and 70's, and the sounds of birds singing songs from classic animated films in the air, it was tough to concentrate on our work.

Of course, the huge news this week is that the long-awaited

The sun and dry weather were welcome, to say the least. The Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain (and Vermont, too, of course) has been battling record-high water as the lake reached record height last week. The water has now begun to recede, and we are all crossing our fingers that it continues to do so.

I like to think I'm optimistic; a glass-half-full type, but this high water has affected many friends' homes, yards and businesses - many experiencing heavy damage from flooding. It seems impossible that anyone could find even one tiny sprinkle of GOOD resulting from this situation.

But I've found it.

You see, the high water has required a number of road closures and detours, including some for the auto traffic to and from the southern ferry at Crown Point; the temporary crossing to Addison, Vermont until the new bridge is completed. As we have an office at the foot of the Lake Champlain Bridge, I was detoured on my way to work the other day.

H ere's my nugget of optimism:  the temporary detours are exposing a lot of travelers to some beautiful country roads in the Adirondacks. And for those who happen to be cyclists, they'll undoubtedly be back.

The roads along Lake Champlain are ideal road biking terrain - and there are 14 loops outlined in a downloadable brochure on the region's website. The Adirondack Coast Bikeways - archived on the site - includes a 26 mile loop called Iron to Iron that covers some of the detour terrain. 

See? It's all in your perspective. But it won't hurt for everyone to do a sun dance, too.
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Kimberly Rielly is the director of communications for the Lake Placid CVB / Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism

OUTDOOR REPORT:

This weekend: John Warren of the Adirondack Almanack provides an outdoor report for North Country Public Radio each Friday - valuable compilation!