Lake Placid

Q Haven will be cooking at Lake Placid this 4th of July weekend after all.

When we were figuring out our schedule for this season, Lake Placid was a big question mark. This contest has both big pros and big cons. The biggest pro is the event itself, which is great. We went to Lake Placid in 2006 and 2007, and just had great times both years. It issuch a unique little town and the people there just embrace the BBQ teams and the event.

Another pro is Dmitry Feld, the attentive, highly caffinated organizer of the contest. The guy always has a million things going on and always seems to have it all under control.

The biggest con is the location. While it is in a beautiful town, it is far away and hard to get to. Towing the camper through the mountains is not my idea of fun. But more than that, we really were thinking ofdoing just one contest a month this year, and we had already penciled in New Hampshire and Harpoon. So I reluctantly crossed this one off the list.

But my brother Cristiaan gets credit for administering the nudge that got us thinking seriously about going. He mentioned a strongdesireto goback this year, and Sheila and I started talking about it. As we talked, the memories of those two contests started flowing back, the calendar came out and we started figuring out how to make it happen.

It's not going to be easy but we are going to make it happen. I have a feeling that once we get there, it will be worth it.