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Breaking from our tradition of Memorial Day vacations below the Mason-Dixon line, Adam, Crosbi, and I rented a cabin at the foot of Whiteface Mountain. It's not that we were averse to going south but rather we had certificates to be awarded, Adirondack 46'r Certificates of Accomplishment.

We took a leisurely hike along the Ausable River, ate delicious MexiQuinn food, and strolled around Lake Placid. I read an entire book. We drank beers on the third floor balcony of the Lake Placid Brewery lazily watching the not-so-lazy tri-athletes swimming Mirror Lake.

We headed up to the Crowne Plaza to meet up with hundreds of other Adirondack mountain climbers for the Annual 46r Dinner. There could be no more appropriate location for this ceremony as Crowne Plaza is high above the town of Lake Placid with a view of our finishing peak, Whiteface. There was a tear-inducing tribute to Grace Hudowalski then those that finished the 46 in 2013 were lined up in order of their final summit time and led to the podium to receive their acknowledgement. It's pretty amazing to be in such a large group of folks who "get it" and know that enduring the challenge of the climb is worth it in the end.