Launch at the lake - Los Angeles Times
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Tips4theTrip: Taking the leap at the lake

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
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We were with friends at their place near the south end of Lake George in upstate New York. The neighbors have a boathouse whose roof is the perfect launchpad for leaps into the lake — with adult supervision, of course.

And we had a platoon of kids.

In the end, I think every one of them jumped, even the L.A. city kids who have spent their young lives being warned against horseplay near deep water.

Some of the kids launched at first opportunity. Others had to fidget and pause and be cajoled and reassured, and then they’d fidget and pause some more. Were they more scared, or did they just like the extra attention? Both? Hard to be sure. But the second time around was a lot easier.

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There’s no better way to pass a summer afternoon.

You can always count on travel to teach you something — but what? Travel is the substitute teacher who didn’t get the lesson plan, the adjunct lecturer who goes off on Pinochet, the grad assistant who trashes your poetry, then hands out cupcakes. If only you’d had a clue what was coming, right?

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I’m building a gallery of guidance from new and old adventures in the West (and the rest of the world). The photos are mine. As for the attempted wit and wisdom, it’s dead serious, except for when it isn’t.

Twitter: @mrcsreynolds

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