Michelle Goes Global

A view from the other side...

2009-07-30T14:05:00.009-05:00

Crista and I have returned safely after many hours in transit. Trains, planes, and automobiles were all modes of transportation used to get from Malang to Lancaster. Too bad we couldn't have added a boat into the mix. Now that I have unlimited, high speed internet access I'm going to add more pictures and details about our time in Indonesia. I'm still processing all that we saw and experienced, so maybe I'll post more once I have time to formulate.

Our first interaction with Indonesia centered around its methods of transportation. Upon landing in Malang and exiting the airport we encountered the motor bike, the most popular mode of transportation. I know that I mentioned this before, but I was fascinated with how much was transported on these bikes. From entire families to all kinds of home products, they managed to get just about anything from point A to B.

They're so helpful... notice the tow rope.

Bicycles were also used to haul various things. We saw beds (yes, multiple) being pushed down the road on top of a bicycle. On the outskirts of town in the more agrarian areas bicycles were used in place of carts for hauling all kinds of produce, sometimes the driver just walked beside the bike because the load was too large.

Driving was a battle of the most aggressive and nimble. Above is a brief video demontrating how challenging it can be to navigate a car down a street. Every time I sat in the front passanger seat I usually let out a little gasp as a motor bike or car nearly cut us off.

Sleeping quarters...

2009-07-30T14:04:00.005-05:00

Crista and I ended up in Indonesia because my friend, Jennifer, has lived there for almost 4 years now. She was gracious and allowed Crista and I to stay at her house. When you rent a house in Indonesia it comes with the full responsibility of ownership. The renter is free to make any renovations and changes to the house as if they owned the home. So before Jennifer moved in she had many updates made to the house.

Being a tropical environment means that there is an extremely hot season and a rainy season, the combination brings mold to most homes. I visited several home and noticed mold or paint bubbling off the walls from this moisture and heat combination, so it's a common problem. Jennifer told me that most Indonesians do not take care of these issues in their homes. It could be that most people are renters and don't want to spend the money to fix a home they don't own. I was reading a book entitled Culture and Customs of Indonesia and it was suggested that typically homes and personal property do not hold status value, unlike much of the western world where houses are indicators of wealth and prestige. This might also explain why little capital is spent on the upkeep of houses. Needless to say, I was happy that Jennifer spent the capital to clear the mold and bring in a western style toilet, as well as a tankless water heater for showers.

Screens are a must because the mosquitoes are on the prowl for fresh blood. Another update that Jennifer had to make to the house before moving in.

Taking your shoes off at the door is customary in Indonesia. We went visiting some of the students at their homes and I wore the wrong shoes... I had to keep undoing and re-strapping my shoes every time we entered and exited their homes.

Ahhh, the conveniences of home. In Indonesia, the squatty potty is the throne of choice. Showers are done by dipping a bucket in a tub of water and pouring it over your head. So a hot water shower is definitely a luxury.

Here is where Crista and I crashed at night. Luckily our room was in the center of the house, nice and dark. Plus it provided a little bit of a sound barrier for the 4am wake up call...

Sign me up for art camp...

2009-07-30T14:03:00.003-05:00

Schools in Indonesia close for only a few weeks in the summer, which happened to be the time we were coming to do the art camps. The first camp we did was at an international school. Most of the students spoke English, which made communicating an experience we could enjoy without an interpreter. Here are some of the kids that Crista and I connected with:

This little girl had the cutest laugh. We had a laughing spell as I was telling her she was silly and she was telling me I was sillier.

On the last day of camp the adults ordered pizza for lunch. This little boy was eying the pizza the entire lunch. As he noticed a few pieces left in the box, he yelled to Jennifer "You full?" We couldn't share any pizza with him because there were other students ogling as well. So he followed me to the trashcan as I was disposing of the empty boxes, he opened every box to make sure it was indeed empty; then exclaimed in excitement at the discovery of a leftover pepperoni.

I probably encouraged this behavior with the presence and snap of the camera.

Here are Crista's buddies. The first class we had included them... well kind of. A few seconds into the class and they took off running. I went after them and they only giggled at the chase and kept on running. By the second day, we connected with them and they began to participate in our activities.

One of the games we organized for the students included a balloon stomp. I apparently used the wrong kind of balloon because it took a hard stomp to pop most of the balloons. Oh well, it kept the game going!

Art Camp #2

2009-07-30T14:02:00.004-05:00

Besides having a different summer schedule, schools operate from 7am - 12pm six days a week during the regular school season. To accommodate parents' work schedules a center opened up to provide instruction to the students in the afternoon, which was the site of our second art camp.

In the mornings before our afternoon art camp, Crista and I helped with a card making class for the teachers at the center.

Imaging going through life having never used a paperclip, tape dispenser, plastic wrap, a camera, or painting a picture. Yeah, hard to imagine. Unfortunately this was reality for many of the students that attended this art camp. It was amazing to watch the students discover these items and be creative using them.

One of the games that we played with the students was Heads up, Seven up. We had several peakers in the bunch .

This is Winnie, she had the vision for this center and a heart for the students. She is amazing, as she continues to battle cancer and run the center.

We invited the moms to the center to view their student's work. It was awesome to see them wander around proudly viewing their child's work. There is a strong sense of "group think" pervading the culture, because of this individual creativity is stifled. Several of the students were able to make personal breakthroughs in exploring their creative side.

These girls followed us around the neighborhood as we visited some of the homes of the students.

Such a cute smile.

We had a great time connecting with the students. Hopefully they had fun being creative and discovering new things.

Sites around town...

2009-07-30T14:01:00.002-05:00

Everywhere we went we attracted attention. Apparently seeing someone with white skin is something equivalent to a celebrity sighting. At one of the restaurants we were photographed about 30 times by a guy at a neighboring table. When we wandered through neighborhoods, kids would come running to say "Hallo" and then follow us around.

This group of kids formed across the street from the center as we were packing up to leave for the day.

Vendors wandered the streets each making a unique sound to call buyers to the streets. They would start mid-morning and go till well after dark selling their food.

Gas stations were found in the center of town, so people would set up stands along the rural roads selling bottles of gas to motor bike drivers. What amazed me is that it wasn't just one stand here and there, but stand after stand selling gas along the same road. I noticed this "everyone should do it" concept in the neighborhoods that we wandered through. Not just one house had a mini convenient stand selling candy, cigarettes, drinks, and other such items, but four within a few houses of each other. Not sure if this is another example of "group think" and limited creativity in coming up with profit making ideas or a working concept.

I can't say that I have ever come across rice fields in my other travels. I found the countryside to be beautiful.

More pictures of the temples we visited.

Did I mention that I got dressed first that day...

Our one free Sunday morning we went to the local country club. Believe it or not the pool was heated, the evenings get cool so they keep the water from getting too cold. They also played music underwater. It cost us $4 to get into the pool. That's more than most of the people make in a month... making the gap between the haves and the have nots very large.

Bring on the food...

2009-07-30T11:59:00.002-05:00

Crista and I both enjoyed Indonesian food, there were only a few things that we couldn't touch. I have to admit that watching Jennifer eat squid complete with tentacles made me gag (which I tried to not make obvious).

This was my favorite restaurant. We ordered family style and the entire meal cost us $3/person.

The waiter at the restaurant is hilarious. I couldn't speak with him directly but even translated he is funny. I'm not sure why I'm making a muscle, he suggested that we pose like this. Possibly this is more of his humor... seeing what dumb things he can get tourist to do.

The first time we tried to go to the restaurant they were closed for a wedding. This seemed to be a common occurrence for us, while at the pool we had to move so they could set up for a wedding.

Soto Ayam - Chicken soup basically with fried potato slices on top

Forget the name but it was good.

Breakfast one morning - rice with a heat kick topped with scrambled eggs

Adventure day...

2009-07-30T10:17:00.015-05:00

We started this adventure at 1AM, which explains why I couldn't see anything on the camera screen when trying to take this picture.

This was our hired transportation to the sunset sight and then to the volcano.

This drive combined with a strong gas odor and the lack of sleep caused everyone on board to get sick. We were told that the "normal" path was covered in fog so we had to go the back way... filled with the largest pot holes I've ever seen.

We were trying to find out what time it was... because it was too dark to see the watch. Unfortunately I couldn't find it in the screen either.

Got it! But the camera didn't have enough light to focus on anything that close... right! After all of this finagling, Sharon announces that she has an indiglo watch.

Vendors were scattered across the top of the mountain selling food, scarves, gloves, coats... it was cold for a tropical climate. I was glad for my sweater and sock gloves.

The sunrise... worth the early morning, fume filled ride.

A view of the volcano pouring out smoke.

Nice until you're breathing it!

The options are to walk to the top or take a horse to the landing before the stair climb.

We chose to walk.

Worse squatty potty I ever had to use... and had to pay to use

She was selling flower bunches to use as an offering to the gods. This area had a large Hindu population and they believe that the gods live in the volcano, so to appease them they throw flower offerings into the crater.

The early morning rush hour climb to the top.

Nothing but smoke. Why not a plunge?

Crista is trying to fan the smoke away from her face.

I, on the other hand, have no shame and tuck my sock under my glasses to keep the smoke out.

I thought I'd make an offering to the gods with my own flower... didn't work she's getting too strong.

We hiked more than 1/2 way around the volcano to the peak in the middle of this picture.

Coming down the mountain everyone had to cover up because the ash was free for the breathing.

Everyone took home more than a little ash.

I tried to cover up on the way down because by this time my hair was so stiff with dirt. Again no shame. Crista was amused by the reaction of one of the tshirt vendors when he saw me.

The flatter, less pothole filled way home.

As we entered the rain forest area, the driver told us to look for monkeys swinging from trees. Seconds after he said this I looked up and saw this monkey sitting in the tree. When he heard the loud jeep coming down the road he disappeared into the trees before I could get any more footage. Awesome, though, cause how many monkeys do you see in the wild...

These picture do these fields little justice.

The driver stopped along the way home at this park where we hiked down the mountain to see a waterfall. I thought for sure that the waterfall was going to be 2ft. tall, I'm glad I was wrong.

The path down the mountain. I was looking for monkeys the entire time.

Thirsty!

I told you they carry everything on the bikes. This is the name of the waterfall.

A visit to a farming community...

2009-07-30T02:24:00.002-05:00

We met one of Jennifer's friends, Lydia, she was so welcoming and wanted to take us to visit her mother's house. So on Sunday we took a drive to her mother's house to see a farming community.

These ladies were so nice to stop their work and pose for a picture.

Our tour took us down to the river... where we encountered a few girls from the orphanage taking a bath. I guess the river is still used for everything.

Gives new meaning to free range chickens.

Notice on the other side of that little gate is this family's kitchen. Convenient for getting milk, but I'm not sure about the smells and sanitation factors.

We crossed this stream to go see Lydia's father's prized fruit trees. Her father passed away 2 months ago and now no one is there to pick the fruit. Someone has been stealing the fruit, so there wasn't much left for us to see.

Jennifer offered to come and help pick the fruit, but it has large needles all over the tree and apparently takes a special touch to pick the fruit.

The fruit grows in clusters. It has a bitter - sweet flavor.

This is Lydia preparing the fruit for us to eat. Not too long after this picture was taken I spotted a LARGE spider on top of her head. It stood out against her white headdress. I really wanted to get a picture of the spider on her head, but at the same time I didn't want to be rude and let it continue to be on her head. Jennifer bravely took a stick that Lydia handed her and swatted the spider off of her head. By this time we were all very freaked out and just wanted to get out of this area. I'm telling you the spider was HUGE. We were told later that spiders there aren't poisonous, but looking at the spider I wouldn't be too sure.

Here it is... the menacing, really long legged, attack spider. I get chills every time I look at the picture.

Pictures from our travels

2009-07-25T04:23:00.006-05:00

At 1AM, after 2hrs. of sleep, we headed to meet our jeep that was going to take us to Mt. Bromo, an active volcano. We had an adventure filled trip that I can't wait to share. Here are my adventure companions and also my housing mates these last few weeks. Let's just say that we had a fabulous time. I have some awesome sunrise pictures, as well as some extra surprises to share at a later (high speed access) date.

The school has been working with 5 ladies to start a business making and selling purses. Here is one of the students helping her mom put the finishing touches on one of the purse designs. They just started this business in February and are working out all of the details for selling the purses. The proceeds go directly to these families which is a great blessing to them.

This is the group of students, staff from the school, and our team (assembled from many areas in the states and one Indonesian). We really enjoyed working with our team and helping with the art classes. For our last day at that school we assembled an art show displaying all of the student's creations and invited their moms to the school to view their work. For some of the student's this was the first time they had painted or done some of the projects, so it was exciting to see their faces light up as they showed off their work to their moms.

Crista at one of the temples we visited. It was amazing that they allowed people to climb all over this ancient structure. Although the fine for moving a stone or taking something from the temple was 10 years in jail and a $10k fine. Didn't want that to be our last act in Indo.

Seeing as it took quite a while to upload these pictures this will have to conclude our photo tour for today! I'll be back in the usa in a few days, so more to come then!

Our time is flying...

2009-07-21T03:45:00.002-05:00

It's been difficult to get on the internet here because at the house they have to pay per bandwidth used, so I don't want to use up their time. There is internet at the school around the corner, but Jennifer has to be with me in order to use the internet. So, alas, there won't be much communication from us.

We managed to stop by the school today so that I could jump on and send a quick update. We had a break on Sunday and Monday from the art classes and used the time to do some touring. On Monday we visited some area temples and got to view the countryside on the way. I got some amazing pictures, but unfortunately I won't be able to upload them today.

Today, Tuesday, was our first day of art classes at the Indonesian school. We had a great time with the students. Crista was helping with the photography and creative writing class, while I helped with the aerodynamics class making paper airplanes. The students are full of energy and I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow.

Because I only get a few minutes to update the blog I haven't been able to share some of the more crazy stories of the trip. I'll try to add one today. The other morning I woke up at 4am and had to use the bathroom. The bathroom consist of a 4x4 room with toilet and shower each hugging one corner of the room. I opened the door and low and behold there was a cockroach on the floor (it took up half of the floor - well at least 3 inches of it). I managed to skirt around the cockroach because it was lying on its back. There was no way that I was going to kill it because there was no vacuum available (or Laura). So I went back to bed and thought someone will surely see it in the morning. Well, Jennifer got up about 2 hrs. later to take a shower. She went flying into the bathroom, barefoot and not paying attention to the floor. Splat! Her foot landed directly onto the cockroach. I had to apologize later for not taking care of it when I encountered the flying mammal earlier. Since then there have been at least 3 more cockroaches scurrying around, which they say is not normal. I'm blaming Crista for dropping her peanut butter cracker crumbs on the floor.

Hopefully we can add some pictures soon, otherwise I will add them when I return to the states. You are in our thoughts and prayers!

First art camp is finished...

2009-07-18T10:44:00.002-05:00

Today we finished the art sessions at the first school. We had a great time with the students, especially entertaining the younger ones. Crista made friends with two brothers and spent a good amount of time keeping them focused on the project at hand.

This evening we went out for a typical Indonesia meal, complete with Tempe (a fermented soybean). So far our time here has been great. Taking to the roads is always an interesting endeavor. Today I saw a family of 4 on a motor bike. I also saw a guy on a motor bike grab the arm of a bicycle rider and pull him along the road. Awesome!

Sunday we head to the pool for a relaxing day. The weather has been great, not too hot.

A tribute...

2009-07-17T18:32:00.002-05:00

I recently received news that my great aunt passed away. I was hoping that this wouldn't happen while Crista and I were out of the country, because we desperately wanted to be with family during this time. I have managed to keep this news from Crista since she agreed before we left that hearing this would distract her from our purposes here. So in an attempt to keep Crista away from the computer I will be making posts while she is sleeping, which may limit the amount of times I can update the blog.

I have decided to post a tribute to my Aunt Bessie, since I won't be able to attend the services on Monday.

Laughter, spunk, stubborn, and a healthy appetite for hot dogs are what I remember most about my Great Aunt Bessie. For many years we would dress ourselves in layers and make our annual Christmas visit to see Aunt Bessie and Uncle Johnny. Once inside their house we would immediately begin to peel off the layers of clothing, while Aunt Bessie would offer us homemade cookies and diet soda. Meanwhile Uncle Johnny would make his way to the thermostat to take the "chill" off the air from the open door we just entered. Inevitably Aunt Bessue and Uncle Johnny would have some friendly banter back and forth about soething, providing entertainment for all. The evening usually included Uncle Johnny cuttying up the cardboard boxes from their Christmas gifts into small pieces for the trash.

When Uncle Johnny passed away in 1994, Aunt Bessie became a regular part of our family gatherings by moving in with MomMom. Wherever MomMom went Aunt Bessie was sure to follow, even as far as Israel. This set up got me thinking about my own future, and would joke with Crista, my 16 1/2 years younger sister, about moving in with her when I turned 80. I'm hoping for a trip around the French Riviera as a gift from Crista for my 85th birthday!

Just the other week I was curling Aunt Bessie's hair when her roommate Betty asked if she was getting a male visitor. Aunt Bessie always had a quite witted response to such comments, and announced that no one would want her anymore. Her comebacks were usually followed with a smile and little giggle. The first day in the reitrement home I went with Aunt Bessie to physical therapy to which she repeatedly said she didn't need because she was too old. She had the staff laughing , but politely obeyed their requests.

I'm sad that Crista and I will not be a part of the memorial services on Monday, but know my heart will be with the family. I pray that the 97 years she graced our presence will be celebrated and that the God of mercy will welcome her with open arms.

Love you Aunt Bessie!

We have arrived!!!

2009-07-17T04:45:00.007-05:00

We left Lancaster on Monday, July 13 to head to NYC for our flight from JFK. It is now Friday in Indonesia and we have just completed our first day of art camp. Most of our week has been consumed with air travel and the other portion with trying to catch up on sleep.

We arrived in Malang yesterday after several changes in our flight departure time. So needless to say we were quite exhausted by the time we arrived in Malang (we sat in the Jakarta airport from 6:50am until our final boarding call at 10:15am). Apparently flight delays are a common occurrence here.

This picture was taken at our hotel in Jakarta before our long airport wait.

Our trip from the airport to my friend, Jennifer's house was very interesting. Motor bikes crowd the streets carrying one to four plus people on them. I saw children, seemingly younger than 2, riding sandwiched between two adults or sitting on the front of a bike. Cars weave in and out of the motor bike traffic. It's a sight to behold.

Today, Friday, was our first day of art camp. The kids were really cute and kept us busy. Crista and I helped with the creative writing sessions, as well as the game session. I had the older students building towers with marshmallows and straws. Saturday is our last day of camp with these students and then we have a few days rest before our next sessions at another location.

Here is a dessert that we stopped to eat at street stand. I'm pretty sure that the FDA doesn't visit the street stands. I figured the fire and chocolate took care of the germs!

More later!

Here we come...

2009-07-12T23:25:00.002-05:00

It's 12:25am on Monday morning and we are leaving at 8ish am to drive to NYC. I'm sitting here with dye in my hair (I didn't want the gleaming roots to cause any concern at the border crossing) wrapping up some final emails. The bags are packed in the living room and my bed is calling my name. Next post from somewhere in Indonesia, hopefully!

We'll try to keep the stories and pictures worth reading!

Michelle

A week until takeoff...

2009-07-07T22:48:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's a week until Crista and I embark on our journey. The details are coming together as we enter our final days: Crista has her passport, we have our hotels and transportation booked, and the packing list has been started. We are assisting with art sessions at two schools, plus we are in charge of the activity time. Here is a brief rundown of our time...

Monday, July 13 - Head to NY with Mom and Dad

Tuesday, July 14 - Fly out of JFK at 10AM towards Tokyo (14hrs)

Wednesday, July 15 - Arrive in Indonesia at 8PM local time (spend the night in the airport hotel)

Thursday, July 16 - 6AM flight to the city of Malang, 12pm first art sessions begin

Friday, July 17 - Art sessions

Saturday, July 18 - Art sessions

Sunday, July 19 - Swimming/rest

Monday, July 20 - Tour area sites

Tuesday, July 21 - Art sessions

Wednesday, July 22 - Art sessions

Thursday, July 23 - Art sessions

Friday, July 24 - Art sessions/final show

Saturday, July 25 - Monday, July 27 - Help my friend prepare to move, assist with prep for training session in Banda Aceh, hike to the top of an active volcano, and other fun stuff

Tuesday, July 28 - 3pm fly from Malang to Jakarta, 10pm fly to Tokyo

Wednesday, July 29 - Fly from Tokyo to JFK, take train home

Thursday, July 30 - sleep all day:-)

*Note: Indonesia is 11hrs. ahead of EST

A month until takeoff...

2009-06-13T23:06:00.006-05:00

The weeks are going to fly by(pun intended) as Crista and I prepare for our time in Indonesia. We have been given charge of the break time between sessions. So I'm pulling resources together for some high energy activities to kick off break time. Then we'll do low impact activities before heading back to our art sessions. Also, Crista and I are going to be assistants in the art sessions, which include: photo journaling, aerodynamics (something with making paper airplanes), hula dancing, fine arts, and card making - to name a few. I think I might need to start practicing my hula dancing.

To give you an idea where we are going... the string of islands at the bottom of the map are part of the 17,000 + islands that comprise Indonesia. We are flying into the capital, Jakarta, on the main island of Java. Then we travel by plane to a small town called Malang, not even indicated on the map, but still on the island of Java. It is roughly located SSW of Surabaya. For more reference points, the tsunami that hit a few years ago in the town of Banda Aceh is located on the NE tip of the neighboring island of Sumatra. That concludes the geography lesson for today.

Thank you to all that have purchased food as part of our mini fundraiser for game supplies and travel to the schools. My kitchen has been a busy place lately!

Supporting Indonesia

2009-06-01T21:10:00.008-05:00

Plans our well underway for Crista and I to fly to Indonesia in July. I'm organizing a fundraiser to help offset the costs of our travels to the different schools and for the supplies we need to take with us for the art sessions. If you would like to place an order for delivery in the Lancaster area email me or leave a comment on the blog. For those outside of our Lancaster delivery area, you can still donate to our trip by purchasing an item below for a local family in need. Also, if you would like to donate to our work in Indonesia, but would prefer to receive tax credit instead of food, email me and I can give you the necessary information.

C&M Desserts and Entrées
[Homemade Desserts and Entrees delivered to you frozen
so you can enjoy them any time.]

Strawberry Cheesecake

$25 – whole 9.5”

$12 – half

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cheesecake

$25 – whole 9.5”

$12 – half

Mocha Truffles

$10 – 12 truffles

$ 5 – 6 truffles

Chocolate Chip Cookies

$10 – Batch (yield 2 dozen)

Taco Stuffed Shells

$15 – 15 shells

French Lasagna

$15 – 9X9 Lasagna

Each of the above items are homemade by Crista and Michelle.

The next adventure awaits...

2009-05-26T23:10:00.004-05:00

It has been a few months since I have updated the blog. I believe I mentioned in a former post that perhaps I was going to do better about updating the blog with random stories... ah, yeah that hasn't happened. What is it about the best layed intentions?

After returning from Switzerland, Laura and I took our cross-country trip (the first week of September when gas prices were approaching $4 - great timing:-). I'm very glad that we seized the opportunity, besides I got to increase my states-visited list.

Since returning I have managed to keep myself busy building a deck with my father, painting his house, babysitting for friends and family, trying to write a book (not as quick as it looks), working odd jobs, and looking for my next career move.

In March, I enrolled in an emergency teacher certification training to be a substitute teacher. This process involved lots of paperwork, several background checks, and individual school board approval. I passed the "test!" It's been an interesting adventure these last few weeks. I've been called Mrs. Deller, rescued a class from a toilet explosion, and was corrected by 2nd graders.

School is almost out, so it's the perfect time for another blogging travel segment. I have three purposes for this trip: 1) get my sister, Crista, to experience another culture 2) visit my friend living in this country and 3) continue my love for traveling and helping others. So in July, Crista and I are traveling to Indonesia to help with Creative Art classes in several Mustard Seed schools. This trip is going to be a lot different than my more recent travels, but I'm excited to jump into another cultural setting.

Stay tuned for trip updates!!

Aging...

2009-02-17T23:00:00.010-05:00

There is nothing like having a birthday or a little ache after an intense game of Wii to make you feel the effects of the aging process. I remember in the early years longing to be older... to ride my bike around the block, to go to the movies with friends and no parents, to ride the big roller coaster, to get my driver's license, to go to college, and on the list went. Then, somewhere in my twenties the desire to get "older" faded. The rush to get to the next rite of passage was gone, no need to conquer the age barrier.

Now in my thirties, not only has the desire to age completely disappeared, but it's turned into a desire to savor every moment of the current age. In fact, getting older means that there will be things I can't do, and that is something I'm not ready to fully embrace. Of course, those reading this that are further down the road will scoff at my finding limitations at the ripe old age of 34. Nonetheless this is a reality we all have to deal with eventually.

Maybe this aging thought is heightened because I'm childless, and that ability definitely has an age limit, or perhaps its because every time I play the Wii I get sore. Today I spent the day with my great aunt as she transitioned to her new home in a skilled care facility. At 96 years old, it's not the home she ever desired for herself, nor does she completely remember from moment to moment why the new home is necessary, but alas the cannot do list has grown.

When the physical therapist told Aunt Bessie that she needed to do exercises, Aunt Bessie replied with, "I'm too old to need exercise, there is nothing you can do to make me better." I'm not sure if this exchange provides hope because there will always be people along the way to keep pushing me to make sure the cannot do list doesn't over take me... or if it's a testament that one day I will be okay with the cannot do list. Aunt Bessie did have to go to physical therapy twice today.

The past few weeks have been a reminder to me to make the most of every day, not only because time rushes by, but because when the "cannots" take over I want to have something interesting to look back on. So here is to creating memories and living a life worthy of reflection!

On the hunt...

2009-01-08T22:56:00.008-05:00

I haven't been keeping up with the blog as well as I do when I'm out of the country. This is partly due to the lack of things to write about (not too exciting that I did laundry, got gas in the car, or rotated the couch cushions) and I just don't have the same need to communicate like I do when I'm away from home. I've decided I need to work on this, because there are stories that need to be written.

Holiday travels:

Just before Christmas I headed to Florida for a quick trip with my aunt for her birthday. It was a nice break from the cold, you can't go wrong sitting by the pool in 80 degree weather in December. I also got to visit my former home, Lakeland, for a brief 24-hour visit. It was nice to catch up with a few people.

Not a bad water feature. I'm thinking about adding one in my backyard.

My cousin, Danielle, and I on our discovery walk around the resort.

Here is a picture of my traveling companions... so much for trying to get in the picture, I couldn't even manage to get my eyes open in time.

We visited a botanical gardens in Orlando. I captured some good butterfly shots, if I do say so myself.

Christmas 2008

Back in PA, the Christmas celebrations were kicked off on Christmas Eve with a church service and the annual dinner at Michelle's house. This year I tried to keep it simple with a great pulled bbq chicken recipe, you know it's good when dad goes back for seconds.

On Christmas day we always get together with my mom's side. Here are some candid shots from the crazy fun!

MomMom opening up her gift stash. Laura, Crista, and I got her The Thin Man series... if you don't know what that is you are missing out on truly l

Right back at ya babe!

Nice profile!

Aunt Bessie celebrating her 97th Christmas... just think what those gifts must have been like in the early years.

The three uncles, I can't say any more.

Scavanging

For the last three years my dad's family has been doing a scavenger hunt around the Brownstown area as part of our Christmas celebrating. Here is my team posing for one of the scavenger shots. Next year Laura and I are planning the hunt... let's just say it's going to be fun! I have already been putting together my plans:-) On the Sunday after Christmas you may want to stear clear of the area, because there will be 70 of my relatives driving around like crazy people!

The New Year

On the Monday before New Year's day I gave a friend of mine a ride to NYC. I spent the days leading up to New Year's day wandering around the city, lots of fun! I stayed away from Times Square, which is just craziness. After the magic hour, I decided to drive home to avoid the traffic; I pulled into my parking space at 5am. Nice way to bring in the '09 year.

The tree is up...

2008-12-06T19:55:00.006-05:00

My aunt pointed out the other day that I haven't updated the blog lately. That is mostly because there hasn't been any news to report or stupid stories to tell. Today changed all of that... this post falls in the stupid category.

This afternoon Laura and I went for the annual tree picking ceremony at the local Christmas tree lot. My brother thinks we are wimps since we live in the land of tree farms and won't go cut down our own tree, but I believe that requires more dexterity than I'm capable of. We decided to check out a lot around the corner from the house that for some reason we had bypassed in previous years.

We walked up and down the rows of blue spruce and fir trees. There were some beautiful trees, but none that fell in the budget friendly range without also carrying the "Charlie Brown" look. As we made our way down the last row towards the exit I pulled a Michelle move. There was a tree branch laying on the ground that managed to tangle itself in my feet. I tried desperately to untangle myself while maintaining my balance, but it is just not my style.

The forward motion the branch entanglement caused didn't work well with the gravel base my feet were trying to gain a solid footing on. Somehow in my awesome falling ability, I finally stopped flailing with my back on the ground a good 10 feet from the initial point of impact. Unfortunately the film crew was not capturing footage today, because according to Laura this was one of my best landings to date.

The stupidity didn't stop with the landing, because when Laura tried to help me up she ended up spinning me around and almost falling on top of me. It might be a good thing that there was no one around to witness these antics. Although on our way out of the tree lot two workers stopped us wondering why we were leaving without a tree. I still had tears running down my face from laughing so hard and both of us were giggling. We tried to answer their questions, but really just wanted to run to the car. Laura finally explained why we continued to laugh at every question they asked us. They asked if I was okay and then told me to be careful. Ah yeah, that's my goal every day!

Laura and I made our way to another tree lot and found a great tree in our budget, and we did not have to sacrifice on size. I finished decorating the tree this evening and it looks great. Last year I went to the Pottery Barn Outlet after Christmas and found great ornaments for $.99 each, saving over $80 off the original price and giving me something to look forward to this year. Here are some pictures of the finished product.

Nothing like a fireplace glowing, Christmas decorations sparkling ,and snowflakes glistening outside; I love this season. Oh, yeah, be safe while getting your tree!

Taking the babysitting to a whole new level...

2008-10-27T21:43:00.006-05:00

On Saturday Steve called me to let me know he was considering the purchase an electric fireplace. Now it's not everyday that my brother calls me and when he does, it usually means that he needs something from me. This call played right into my theory, and instead of wanting me to babysit a child, he wanted to know if I would house his fireplace if he decided to purchase it.

It became a family event as we headed to Costco to make the purchase and bring it back to my house for assembly. My initial thought was to place it in my bedroom, where there is currently only a bed, making the placement of a fireplace rather easy. However, the point was made that heat does rise, so why would I place a heating device on the top floor. Good point, but the living room was already stocked with furniture.

A suggestion was thrown out to play with the furniture arrangement and see if there was a way to fit the fireplace with the other furniture in the living room. I was getting a little anxious as the furniture was being shoved from one side of the room to the other, meanwhile two large fireplace boxes lie in the middle of the room with kids scurrying between all of the disheveled pieces.

We found an acceptable arrangement and moved our attention to the fireplace assembly. I'm still not sure how long this babysitting arrangement will last, but until then Laura and I will be enjoying the glow of a "fire" and the warmth of a little extra heat in the living room. We hosted our first fireplace party tonight. Mom, Tabitha, and Crista joined us for a movie and the glow of a fire. The fireplace is a little big for the living room, but it does add a needed touch to the room.

The furniture moves have exposed some decorating holes on the walls, but I guess those will just have to wait since this is only a temporary arrangement. I was hoping that Steve would have purchased a new flat screen tv that he wanted me to babysit as well. Too much of this babysitting stuff and I may not want to give anything back.

Cape Fear

2008-10-14T00:08:00.014-05:00

Time for another road trip... I know it seems like I live on the road. My cousin, Phil, invited me to his destination wedding on Bald Head Island, also known as Cape Fear, this past weekend. My caravan of guests included Aunt Cindy and Uncle Rick, MomMom, the two sisters, and the parental units. I had an absolutely fabulous time and I believe that a yearly extended-weekend excursion might be called for.

We left Lancaster at 5:10am on Friday morning and arrived at the ferry dock at 4:30pm. We boarded the 5pm ferry for Bald Head Island. Once on the island our luggage was loaded onto a tram, where we were shuttled to our house. There are no cars on the island, except for police vehicles and the occasional repair truck.

The only way to get around is by golf cart. Each house comes equipped with a golf cart or two for use while on the island. It just so happened that it was raining when we arrived and continued to rain off and on throughout the weekend, making it less than ideal for golf carting.

Laura, Crista, and I jumped into our 4-person golf cart on Friday night at 6:39pm to make it to the market before 7pm for groceries. Armed with a map of the island, our gps, and limited knowledge of our location we attempted to find our way to the grocery store. We ran out of the house so quickly that we forgot our cell phones. The only address we knew for sure was that of my aunt and uncle, where we were eventually going for dinner.

The rain was coming down quite steadily, greatly impairing my driving vision through the plexiglas. We only found three plastic sides to the cart, so water and wind came into the cart from all sides. The lights on our cart weren't very bright and the road signs were set back off the road where the lights couldn't reach them without driving off the road. After circling around we ran out of time for the store, so we followed the gps to my aunt and uncles for dinner.

Little did we know that while we were lost in the night rain, our parents and company were stranded along the road with a broken golf cart. They pulled away from the house and stalled 100 yds from the front door in the pouring rain, and had to push it to the side of the road (where it still sat the next day). Luckily a tram car came barreling along seconds after their current ride left them sit. This incident only added to the list of issues we had with the house we were staying in.

The house was beautiful and was packed full of extras, but our list of issues started in the first few minutes of our stay. Someone left trash in the kitchen, laundry in the washer and dryer, burnt out lights inside and outside the house, and roaches were found in the dishwasher drawers.

The house boasted the service of a professional decorator and it showed in all of the little details of the decor. While dad was leaving messages about all of the house issues, we discovered another big problem... no propane for cooking. The burners, oven and even the gas grill outside were out of gas. I managed to find an electric skillet and tried to cook our breakfast eggs on it without them pouring over the edge.

The managing company made a visit and decided to try to find us another house. Meanwhile we were off to a luncheon with the wedding party and relatives.

Each morning we took a walk around the island, either on the beach or through the nature preserve. The shell collecting was fun and the morning walks were entertaining.

We had to keep mom on track!

On a walk through a park we happened upon this little tower. It was open for a climb to the top and provided good views of our first house.

On Monday morning we took a walk through the nature preserve. While dad was talking I heard a deer rustling through the trees, so we quieted and kept our eyes peeled. I moved on ahead with my camera perched for a shot. I heard dad and Laura making noises behind me, but figured they were just being crazy. Turns out I'm the crazy one, they were trying to get my attention because they saw the deer. So no picture of deer.

Dad did almost hit deer with the golf cart the one night as he rounded the corner. His cart was first to stop and then Laura driving right behind him, good thing we avoided hitting them (we didn't need any more stories!).

On Saturday the managing company came by the first house to take us to see another house (pictured above). We thought the first house was amazing, but this house was right on the beach and possessed spectacular views of the ocean and stunning design inside.

The beach view side of the house. Each room had it's own unique view... glorious! Laura, Crista, and I had the room on the second floor with the balcony (because there was a king and queen bed in that room).

Our bedroom

The balcony view

Our bathroom

Living room which was open to the dinning room and kitchen

Kitchen... complete with no propane appliances!

The view from the living room.

This is the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina that is still standing. We took a tour to the top to catch the views.

The view to the top... the stairs kept winding up and up. Making my knees grow weaker and weaker, but I made it to the top.

A view of the wedding chapel from the lighthouse.

It was a beautiful spot for a wedding.

It was a very nice ceremony. The Rev. Dr. Robert Thompson, or sometimes referred to as the groom's father, performed an excellent ceremony (I enjoyed the homily).

The Thompson cousins... welcome to the family MC.

The sisters sporting black and gray and we didn't even try it.

Everything at the reception was themed very tastefully around the beach. I loved the design of the entire event.

My travel companion.

The cousins, Cara and Jeni, along with MomMom. I enjoyed the little we did get to hang out during the weekend. You're welcome north anytime!

Phil and MC's first dance.

My relatives that were able to make the wedding. We had a terrific time, I'm glad that we can enjoy each other. May there be many more reasons that bring us together for fun and laughter in beautiful surroundings.

2008-10-08T15:28:00.005-05:00

Since returning from Europe and the US road trip I've been keeping busy with some design work, manual labor, taking my aunt status to a new level, and reconnecting with some friends. I have a few worthwhile stories, otherwise nothing too thrilling.

Not too long after returning Laura and I hosted a sleepover for the 4 little people. I tried to make them a tent in the basement using an old sheet and duct tape, but it came down a few hours into "sleeping." At least the initial effort was exciting enough to make these three monkeys want to sleep in the basement. In the past they have slept on my floor (seriously I'm too old to be giving up my bed) but inevitably someone yells out in their sleep which doesn't work for this light sleeper. So Isaac gets the 3rd bedroom and the other three the basement. I'm going to have to work on my tent making skills for the next time.

Nathan is now 4 years old. He told me the other day when I was getting on to him about something that "It's not all about you! It's all about God!" Ever since he has started uttering words, he has used them in a very funny and creative way. I hope he never loses his art, it just needs a little discipline every now and again.

While I was in Switzerland my dad started a little deck project. Seeing as he has helped me through a kitchen floor, a "minor" bathroom remodel, and a clothes dryer problem, I owed him some labor. I'm not sure if my labor or my cordless drill were more helpful, especially since now that I think about it, he still has my drill. I mostly did screw installation which wore a hole in my thumb. I had to get the fingerless glove that I wear for riding bike to provide a little more padding on the thumb. There are just a few more jobs to be completed before the project is finished. Maybe if we light enough candles for warmth we can actually sit out on a fall night and enjoy the deck with the new lights.

Here is our caged supervisor. He really enjoyed the dirt and saw dust created by this project.

This past weekend Laura and I, along with our host, the Haydenator, went to the Body Tour at the Whitaker Center. It was disturbing and interesting all at the same time. I had to hang on to Laura several times during the display because of the graphic nature of the content and my "blood aversion" condition. The displays looked like plastic, but still it was gross.

Isaac and I have been bonding over the last several weeks. He has accompanied me on several shopping trips, which he thoroughly enjoys. He is a great companion and provides me with lots of laughs. On our last trip he was grabbing clothing tags and holding them up to his face, like they were phones or something. We went for a morning milk run and I was having trouble finding my gift card for the purchase. The lady behind the counter said that's what happens when you have kids, you never know where anything is. I must really be in a sad state, since I don't even have kids... just borrowed ones.

He looks so old in this picture. He liked looking at himself on the camera. Whenever he saw this picture he would bark because of the dog on his shirt.

Isaac had his very own sleepover this week. I think he enjoyed himself. Here he is lying out on the steps with his truck, doesn't really look too comfortable.

Cross Country Road Trip

2008-08-30T22:55:00.052-05:00

Two days after returning from Switzerland I jumped in a car with my sister, Laura, and headed across the U.S. This trip was a bit like running a marathon, because time mattered and we had to eat and drink on the run. Nonetheless this trip provided a great opportunity to experience the lands west of PA, spend time with my sister, and visit relatives and friends along the way. Our time line and limited internet access prevented me from updating the blog during our travels so I'm going to outline the days below.

So grab a beverage, because we are going on a journey across this large country.

Saturday, August 30

Our journey began in Laura's Golf with mom and dad in the back seat. We had to go to Harrisburg to pick up our rental car. Laura said we should have taken her car on the trip, but I don't know that much about engines, nor do I have all of the necessary tools.

We stopped for breakfast with the rents and had our picture taken with the rental car outside of a diner near the Harrisburg Airport. We had a Hyundai Sonata for the trek and I'll tell you that I was quite surprised by the handling and the added features. I must admit that I did not expect much when the rental office told me that I had a Hyundai. I even wrote to Hyundai to tell them of my pleasure with their Sonata. It came equipped with XM Satellite radio (a must for a multiple state trip) and from the lumbar support to the steering wheel finger controls, it was a great car for spending lots of time in.

Laura enjoyed the reclining passenger seat during the trip.

I think this is the only state welcome sign that we caught with the camera, there are a few more on the video camera. It's really hard to capture these signs because they are not always conveniently located, nor readable at high rates of speed.

Sunday, August 31 - Drive from IN to TX (passing through IN, KY, IL, MO, AR, TN, and TX)

We were able to visit with our friends Mikel and Anita in Indiana. It was great catching up with them, I haven't seen them since our days in Florida.

Cecilia was so cute and quickly made friends with Laura.

We stopped in Bloomington, IN (home of Indiana University) and had lunch before heading back on the road.

Looking at the map I noticed that we were really close to Kentucky and could easily swing through there on our way to highway 55 in Illinois. This was a grain transporting system that went for miles, and was about the only interesting thing we encountered for the entire day.

This was the scene for most of our trip south to Texas. Boring... I almost feel bad for people living in the middle of the country.

I really didn't have anything better to do.

I felt like I suddenly was transported to the African Safari and would encounter a ferocious animal at any moment.

No animals on this section of the trip, just flatness with an occasional tree.

Monday, September 1 - Dallas, Texas

We arrived in Dallas at 3:30am very tired but thrilled to have made the journey in one piece and to finally have some interesting things to see.

Turns out that we had several friends living in the Dallas area, so for lunch we got together with Jess...

and Heather. Heather was kind enough to let us stay with her and even waited up for our early morning arrival.

The glass building in the middle of the picture was designed by I.M. Pei, the architect that did the triangles at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

We visited the sight of the JFK shooting. Just off this street there were some gentleman set up with a table and pictures giving their take on another theory surrounding the shooting.

This is the Grand Ole Opry hotel in Dallas. Inside the hotel there are tributes to the various areas of Texas. This is a large state so this is a great, one-stop-shopping view of the Lone Star State.

It seems that most of my friends from Florida have left the state and have relocated around the country. My friends Amy and Jeremy are now living in the Dallas area. I haven't seen them in 3 years, it was really good to reconnect.

Our trip to Dallas proved that some relationships aren't affected by distance or time.

Tuesday, September 2 - Drive from Dallas to Flagstaff, Arizona (through TX, OK, NM, AR)

We decided to take the straightest route from Dallas to our Flagstaff destination, which meant going due north through Oklahoma City. As we approached the city we stopped for gas and noticed a Chick-fil-a just down the road, turns out it was opening in 3 days. We couldn't wait the 3 days, nor could we give up the search for another Chick-fil-a. Our search took us to downtown Oklahoma City to a former Chick-fil-a location. Apparently the GPS was not updated on the latest O.C. news. Little did we know that the search would take us by the government building that had been bombed years earlier. (By the way we never found a Chick-fil-a restaurant)

A train sighting, at times these were very exciting because it provided something new to look at.

We passed a lot of wind harvesting areas in Oklahoma and Texas. Seeing 40 or more windmills clustered together is a very interesting sight, much more interesting than the 6 or so perched along the PA Turnpike.

This was the view leaving Albuquerque, NM. The terrain became much more varied as we headed west.

This sign was at a pull off area in New Mexico... apparently it wasn't enforced.

In the distance is the beginning of the most gorgeous sunset I've ever seen.

Here is the view from the car.

There was rain off in the distance with some spectacular lightning.

Notice the town name... it solicited a little singing on my part.

Wednesday, September 3 - Flagstaff, Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas

We loved the town of Sedona, if you ever get a chance to visit it's a must see.

A stop for chai and coffee to admire the views.

A trip to the airport provided a great view of the valley and the red rocks.

The trip to the Grand Canyon was across this plateau, but we spotted some deer along the way to make it a little more interesting.

I don't like heights! I get really nervous when near the edge or watching others near the edge. I was convinced this guy was going to jump and could barely watch as he maneuvered around the edge. Thankfully this was all for a picture and not preparation for a plunge.

The sun was really bright and was bothering Laura's light blue eyes. I really like this picture, other than the fact that Laura is squinting... no I like it even with her squinting, because it makes me laugh.

This was a close as I could get to the edge. The appearance of being close without actually being close at all.

Here Laura is trying to talk me into going out on the end of this rock ledge... can't do it! With every step my knees went weak.

Laura went to the other end of this rock that we are sitting on. She's crazy and also gives me butterflies in my stomach.

Here she is on the other side wanting it to look like she is dangling from the edge.

On our way out of the park Laura spotted this mule deer hanging out in the shade. I wantded her to go closer but she got scared when he lifted his head and locked eyes with her. I should note that while she went to take a better picture, I went to hide out in the car for the escape plan of course!

Another long train spotted on our way to Vegas.

Laura loved the sunflowers scattered around the highways, so we had to stop for a photo shoot.

I didn't really study the path we were taking into Vegas, so I was pleasantly surprised by the crossing of the Hoover Dam (and we reached it before sundown!).

Another beautiful sunset on the way into Vegas.

Our hotel... we checked in about 8:30pm pdt and were told that the manager okayed a room upgrade for us. See the ph, our room was just to the right in a panorama suite.

The view from our room.

The entry to our room was down a long hallway to the double doors at the end.

A view inside our room... 1300 sq ft with two bathrooms and two flat panel tvs.

We walked around a little and then decided to get P.F. Chang's takeout and return to our room to enjoy the view.

Thursday, September 4 - Las Vegas, drive to L.A.

We took a morning walk down to the Venetian to wander the shops and see the gondolas.

In front of the Parisian Hotel, not quite as good as the real thing.

Inside the Bellagio was a replica of the hotel with the fountains. It was very pretty inside the hotel lobby and arboretum.

Leaving Vegas we headed south through the Mojave Desert towards L.A.

Friday, September 5 - drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco

Thank you Aunt Barb and Uncle Jerry for the hospitality and the entertainment.

Fighting L.A. traffic to head north to San Francisco.

This was the view heading north... don't they look inviting for 4-wheelers?

As soon as we came to the Pacific we found a parking area and jumped out to touch the water and do a photo shoot.

The Hearst Castle... but we didn't have time for a tour, just a fly by.

The drive up the coast provided more views of the clouds and fog than it did of the ocean. It was still a fun drive winding around the mountains.

Downtown San Francisco, complete with trolley cars.

This is a view looking out from the entrance of China Town and across the street to the restaurant we ate at.

Saturday, September 6 - San Francisco

We took a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and had to set up a photo shoot. A nice foreigner with a great accent took our picture... he was by himself and driving a mini van, very curious.

A view of downtown and the bay bridge.

Alcatraz - We looked into a trip to the island, but never made it out because Laura got sick.

We saw several of these "cars" around town. I even heard audio instructions coming from them. Then our thoughts drifted off to the sight of our parents renting one of these and driving around town... the imagination provides some of the best entertainment.

At first I thought they were piping in the seal sounds for the tourists, nope they were live.

We walked around for a little and then headed back to the car where Laura had to stop and use a random bush to deposit some of her stomach contents. So we scrapped the afternoon plans and headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap for Laura and a PSU game for Michelle.

After our resting time we headed back out on the town to see a free Shakespeare play in Presidio Park.

Their version of Pericles was done in a western style, it was an interesting interpretation.

We borrowed the hotel blankets to cover up for the show, because it was very cold at night.

Sunday, September 7 - San Francisco

Our last day in San Francisco was spent trying to see all of the tourist recommended sights. Here is a view of the painted houses. We weren't really impressed after the long walk up the hill to get the view.

I drove the car down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world.

We made our way along a scenic drive through the city and stopped for photo shoots along the way.

Another hazy day along the water, which I'm told is common.

I'm really good at capturing the best of Laura!

Our last meal in San Francisco before heading to the airport. We sat along the bay with a view of the bay bridge.

Overall we had a fabulous trip, even though we had to buzz through most areas. I will say one thing, no one that we stayed with could complain that we overstayed our welcome, because we were barely there for the welcome! I've learned several things from this journey:

1 - Things really are larger in Texas. I was amazed by how spread out everything was and how large the industrial complexes were.

2 - The middle of the country leaves a lot to be desired in many areas of life, but the people sure are nice.

3 - Few people = faster highway driving speeds.

4 - There is nothingness between L.A. and San Fran.

5 - I definitely view life through a northeast U.S. lens and I'm okay with that.

6 - You can get good pictures while traveling in a car at 80 mph.

2008-08-26T03:39:00.001-05:00

On my last tour day of Switzerland we decided to do a lakeside tour. It was a cloudy day so going up the mountains would have been viewless, but the lakes provide no less beauty.

Hertenstein

A quick stop in this small town to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

Boat cruises around the lake are a common scene.

The mountain Rigi was directly behind us with cable cars going to the top.

Weggis

It's said that Weggis is the Riviera of Lake Lucerne, I'm not sure why exactly but it was a quaint town on the water.

Schwyz

We made our way inward to a town built into the side of a mountain and made one stop at this building. It is a museum that houses the Bundesbrief, the Charter of Confederation (circa 1291), which was used as a basis for the U.S. Constitution. The Bundesbrief has only left the country one time and that was for a week's trip to Philly for a special celebration.

Zug

Since my last visit to Zug was wet and dreary, we made a return visit. This is a really great town and I loved the buildings in the Old Town.

We ended our day with coffee and tea at this restaurant in the center of town. A perfect end to my time in Switzerland. It's an amazing country from the lake shores to the peaks of the Alps... every view is spectacular. I have 1300 + pictures to prove it!

On to Basel...

2008-08-25T12:10:00.019-05:00

The weather was a little cloudy this morning so we headed northwest towards Basel, which borders Germany and France. It's the 3rd largest city in Switzerland, an artistic and historic town with many homes dating back to the 14th century. We explored a self-guided tour around the old part of the city and I tried to captured some pictures of the beautiful historic homes.

Basel, Switzerland

The start of the walk began at the Market Place. The red building is the Rathaus.

The shopping streets had canopies over them to help deflect the sun light.

Random vase of flowers found in the middle of the street. Artistically I haven't decided what this is saying.

This the signs we followed around town for our tour. They were quite inconspicuous at times and at one point we thought we lost the trail.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the bread alligator.

Another view of a city along the Rhine River.

Augst

Dating back to 44 BC the Roman ruins in this town are amazingly still around these many years later. The guys laying the stones had no idea how long their work would outlast them. Makes me wonder if my bathroom work will outlast me 2000 years, guess I didn't have the same respect for the work done before me... but seriously it needed to be done!

The side of the Theatre.

Roman baths

Floor mosaics

Truly a gorgeous day and it was good thing we headed towards the west because the east stayed in a fog. Only one more day to explore, and then it's back on the jet to head to the States.

Visiting Tiffany

2008-08-24T16:14:00.019-05:00

My friend Tiffany lives outside of Zurich with her husband and 4 month old baby. We have been on several excursions already, so I thought I would share some of the pictures.

Zug

On the lake... and very wet on Saturday night.

We thought the rain would pass so we started walking only to find the rain increase, along with the wind. So back to the car for the next town towards the sunshine.

Bremgarten

I had to borrow a jacket from Tiffany it was so cold.

There was a bike race with jumps and ramps through the old city cobble stone streets. We sat along the river and had hot chocolate before returning home.

Zurich

This is a picture walking towards the lake.

It was a busy Sunday around the lake; good weather has a way of drawling people towards water.

These pontoon boats are from the 60's.

Mainau, Germany

This is the entrance to Mainau, but what we didn't realize was that it cost 15 Euros to go look at the island of flowers. Instead of crossing we decided to picnic at the entrance and then go back in the car for a brief drive through Konstanz and Singen, then head back across the border to Switzerland.

Stein am Rhine, Switzerland

The stone on the Rhine, not really sure where the name came from, perhaps the castle on top of the hill. Anyway, it was a beautiful city and a gorgeous day.

This is the beginning of the Rhine River from the lake water.

A view into the shopping and cafe section of the city.

Very cool town... if you ever get this way for a visit, I'd put it on the list.

They are restoring the building on the right but had a scrim made with the paintings and windows from the building so that it would flow with the rest of the buildings on the street during the project.

Touching the Rhine... it actually wasn't too cold, just the sun was really bright.

Game Museum

2008-08-20T20:34:00.011-05:00

Wednesday was a rainy, overcast day and the limited indoor activities at the chalet meant boredom could set in at any moment, sending the kids wild and me crazy. It didn't take much convincing to make a trip to Vevey to visit a museum and Montreux for shopping, I was relieved to have an escape from the confines of our mountain dwelling. With kids loaded in the van, we headed down the windy mountain road. Gum is a must for these van trips down the mountain, without it I get nauseous from the constant turns and the dodging of cars nearly scraping the side of the van as they pass. The museum we had intended on visiting was closed, so we changed plans and ended up at the Game Museum in Vevey. The museum displayed games throughout the ages. They had a room at the end filled with all kinds of games to play. Then we headed back to Montreux for a quick shopping trip. Overall it was a good escape.

Since I had to take pictures with the camp's camera I let a student take pictures with my camera. So this is her take on the day. The above picture is the courtyard of the museum.

Some ancient game pieces that were found.

The museum was near Lake Geneva so we took a walk to the lake.

The town of Vevey.

My last hike...

2008-08-20T15:06:00.011-05:00

Our last hike with Fabienne... very sad. This was an easy hike compared to some of the others, for the most part just a gradual ascent to our lookout point. One of the boys from Russia is not a fan of walking, today he told me he is the laziest boy around... not too hard to believe. On last week's hike he brought a spray can of water, and would spray his face throughout the hike. It was the funniest thing ever. I'm laughing even as I type it was so funny. On this hike, because of a misunderstanding about a project we were working on at the chalet, he had a large rock that he was kicking down the road (which he didn't need). So I look back to see where he is and all I see was him kicking the rock, while trying to pull his jeans up that had fallen below his underwear, all the while yelling to me about something or other. I've told him several times that he needs to purchase a belt, but he won't listen. I can't stop laughing every time I picture the scene. I would have taken a picture, but I don't think it would have been appropriate.

Our mode of transportation for the excursions. It's a VW... makes me miss mine.

We stopped at this cabin to have a picnic. Fabienne brought sausages and bananas with chocolate for the grill.

Just to the south of the cabin there was this lookout over the valley.

This town was our destination.

The lift. I went up with the first batch of kids. It was a glass elevator to the top. Once on the top there was a large platform with observation decks. There are always a few kids in very bunch that are not fearful of heights and test all of the limits. I was so nervous... being the exact opposite.

It was really hazy so not many of the pictures are worth seeing, but the view was spectacular.

Yep, holding for dear life. It was windy up there too, which never helps when I'm already nervous about falling off.

One thing I wish I could take home...

2008-08-18T14:25:00.009-05:00

The view from the chalet is amazing and the skies at night are spectacular. Since this is my final week at the chalet I'm trying to take in all of the highlights. Here are some pictures I captured from the sunset tonight. I was practicing with camera settings so that's why the colors are so different in the various pictures.

An escape to Lausanne...

2008-08-16T16:15:00.023-05:00

At the beginning of the week, we thought me might have to help with the kids that were staying the weekend, but as it turns out we did not. Rob was leaving today and was getting a ride down the mountain to the train station, so Evan and I hitched a ride to the station and decided to head to Lausanne. It was a very nice day, considering it had rained the past two days (have I mentioned that it is cold here... I packed for August temps and it's October temps according to my reference point). This was the first time in 3 weeks that I've been out in a city without children to watch. Freedom! All the parents reading this say 3 weeks, whatever... but seriously there are differences.

The Cathedral of Notra Dame in the background built in the 12th century. I didn't want to seem touristy while we were shopping so I didn't take any pictures of the shopping streets.

As we were walking back to the train station, I was stopped by an older gentleman asking me a question. I thought he wanted to know what time it was, so I asked Evan if he had the time. To which he showed the gentleman his phone. Turns out he was looking for the Cathedral of Notre Dame... I got what he was saying after about the 10th time, but by then he was asking another guy. Oops! And I thought I was getting good at guessing what people were saying to me.

Random shots from around town...

A government building

Notice the nice "M" in the middle of the picture... doesn't really belong with the architecture.

We found this party under the bridge. The guys in the middle were doing step challenges. Crista it was right up your alley.

Lausanne is home to the highest court of appeals in Switzerland.

Laura keep the dream alive!

The night sky from Lausanne's train station.

When we returned to Montreux there was a little extra time before the train took us back up the mountain so we wondered along the lake in search of some coffee. I stopped for some pictures of the views. There is rarely a night without an amazing sky. Tonight the sky and the water seemed to blend together.

Skit director

2008-08-16T15:40:00.003-05:00

The last night of the camp usually involves a group of kids doing a play of some sort... always in French. Well this past week we had 4 children that spoke Russian and some English (one of them, a 5 year old, also spoke Spanish and French). So I was put in charge of coming up with a play for them to perform on Friday night. I had the afternoon to pull something together. Since my Russian consists of like 2 words, along I'm learning a few more, I wasn't sure what kind of play I could pull together. Besides my collection of skits, plays, and dramas is very small and most are only understood in certain contexts.

Good thing for the internet, because I typed in "funny skits" and found this British comedy sketch below and thought it would be perfect. The kids liked the idea of being in something funny. So I set off to rewrite the bit for our context. The three older kids performed the skit in English, French and Russian. I wrote out their parts and we practiced their English and French lines. I was really nervous that it wouldn't come off as being funny or that the French kids would critique the Russian kids for their French lines. Thankfully it went off really well and everyone was laughing. On the bus ride down to Montreux today, the actors were replaying their lines most of the way down the mountain. I took it as a sign that they were pleased with their performance and not embarrassed at all.

The rewritten skit was about trying to find a bathroom. Here the actors are during the performance.

Witch Hazel and Goat Cheese

2008-08-14T03:22:00.020-05:00

You may be wondering what these two have in common, I'll tell you... lunch. That's right we had another glorious hike and a lunch that we helped prepare while on the mountain. Fabienne showed us how to take witch hazel and make it into a delicious soup. First we stopped by a farm where they made goat cheese. The farm was situated right in the valley and the cows grazing area was literally on the side of the mountain. I'm not sure the goat cheese making process was FDA approved, but interesting nonetheless.

After the lesson in cheese making we headed back up the mountain to a little cabin along the path. The cabin was owned by Fabienne's brother-in-law and was about 12 feet x 12 feet. This is where the soup making began. We put plastic gloves on and started picking witch hazel leafs. The leaves were rinsed, cooked, and blended with a few other ingredients for a great tasting lunch. The entire day was spectacular. After lunch we strolled up the mountain for a 2 + hour hike. All of these hikes are helping me to put this area into perspective, and aerial view would help tremendously.

Col de Jaman or Collar of Jaman

These bells are given to the farmer each year when the bring the cows up from Caux to the mountains, as a parade of sorts I guess.

This is the farmer preparing the goat cheese.

The witch hazel soup... very good!

The cabin where we made the soup. It sleeps 3 in the loft.

The cog train making its way to Rochers de Naye.

On a clear day we would have been able to see the lake. But when we started we could barely see the next mountain.

As we made our way down the clouds kept moving towards the west.

Dent de Jaman or Tooth of Jaman

Contest

2008-08-14T02:12:00.000-05:00

I told some of you before I left that there would be a contest of sorts on my blog. The prize of course being chocolate, because this is the land of Lindt. The rules are simple, leave the most comments that are publishable and more than 5 words on my blog between now and August 26 and you win! I reserve the right to award the prize as I see fit. Keep the comments coming!

The bathroom incident!

2008-08-10T16:23:00.003-05:00

You can't travel overseas without having some crazy encounter with the bathroom. Well now that I think of it, maybe it's just me... I am the one that took 8 months to complete a bathroom remodel which had plenty of off the wall (pun intended) encounters. Any way I digress, I went into the bathroom to empty out my contact case and as I was spinning the lid it whirled off the contact case and, you guessed it, right into the drain. Which happens to be a hole big enough for the lid to fit nicely into.

Not to worry, I run to my room to find two long objects for which to use to retrieve the lid. The only things that I can find that are long enough are... an eyeshadow brush and an eyeliner pencil. I head back into the bathroom convinced that my tools will do the job. The lid has nicely fallen on the little knob that is part of the stopper. So in I go with the tools but instead of retrieving the lid I end up pushing it down further.

I refuse to give up, so I go downstairs to find two paint brushes just perfect for the job. I almost had the lid, when it flipped and was now completely blocking the drain. Nicely done! So I run downstairs telling the guys about my problem and Rob goes on a search for pliers, while I head back to the bathroom.

The "u" portion of the pipe pops right off. I then begin to try to muscle the connector piece off and with a little bit of work I get in loose. Life would be grand if the lid would just fall out, but as things would go it is too big to fit through. So I grab my paint brush and push the lid up while trying to clamp it with the other brush coming in from the top. All is going well until I get near the top of the sink. Apparently in whatever year the thing was built they put these slats in the sink, just enough room for a lid to fit in. Now the lid is trapped in the sink, seriously I don't know how these things happen.

Back down the stairs I head to tell Rob not to worry about the pliers because I have solved that problem, but have created a bigger one. With the aid of my tweezers and much finagling, Rob is able to capture the lid and bring it to the surface. I put the sink back together and all is good. Now I'm extra careful when I'm around the sink, as everyone should be.

Solo hike

2008-08-09T13:33:00.020-05:00

I decided to head up the mountain today and try to get a better view of the surrounding snow caps and the valleys beyond. This next picture is from Caux which sits at 1050m or 3,444 feet and I walked just to the left of the chimney of the brown house in this picture.

All of the signs are in time estimates, but I'm not sure who's pace they are using, definitely not mine. This is was one of the stations along the way, the panoramic view train makes its way from Montreux to Rochers de Naye. I stand corrected on the type of train that I took from Montreux, I was calling it a funicular train but it's actually a cog train.

There are jumpers all the time here. I didn't see anyone take off but I did hear a couple of "whoo's" along the way. The town along the water is Montreux.

The knob in the middle of the picture is Caux, my starting point.

Another view of Lake Geneva and Montreux.

The jutting mountain in the middle of the pictures is called Dent de Jaman.

This cow tried to rush me when I was going to take it's picture. So I quickly headed away from it and took the picture when it wasn't looking!

I made it to this point, Chamossale at 1612m or 5,288 feet and had to decide which way to go. Earlier in my trek I ran into a family from Copenhagen that are staying in Caux and they said there was a restaurant not too far away. I asked which way I should go and they just said up.

The sign in the picture above in at the building in this picture. I should have referenced my pictures to pick my route, but I didn't and ended up going to the right of the building.

This picture was taken from Caux and I zoomed in on the area that I had hiked to. It's amazing how much clear the mountains get the higher you climb.

This mountain is Rochers de Naye and I hiked on the left of this picture by the pine trees.

Here is where I stopped for a point of decision... continue and face certain peril or return without rolling down the hill. It was really steep and I was getting nervous because somehow the trail just stopped and I was free climbing, but not really sure where I was heading.

This is what lay before me and I just didn't think it was a good idea to continue. I don't know if the pine trees give a good idea of the slope of the hill, but trust me it was steep. I had to use the grasses as ropes to pull me up.

A view looking to the right of Lake Geneva.
This picture was taken by the Copenhagen family.

Another view along the way. There were chalets scattered on the mountain.

The top of Rochers de Naye... maybe I should take the train next time!

May the games begin!

2008-08-08T17:04:00.021-05:00

Today we veered from the original plan and went to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. I didn't get to see much of the Opening Ceremonies because I was outside with one of the kids, but at least I was at the museum for the opening... kind of special!

The torch for the Torino Olympics.

Inside the tent where people were viewing the Opening Ceremonies. I was there for a second but had to follow a kid out that was too hot. It was stifling I was glad to be sitting outside.

View from the terrace. Those are houses across the lake and a sail boat on the lake.

The sneaker that is just behind the shirt and the racket handle is signed by Michael Jordan.

I totally think that someday my bike will be here!

The US women's softball team signed this glove. I got scolded for taking pictures so no more after this one... who knew, there was no sign or nothing in the literature that I read. Oops!

A random stop in Montreux for the kids to do some shopping in 15 minutes. I took pictures and led three kids to the Migros store for a quick purchase!

A day in the life of...

2008-08-07T08:07:00.006-05:00

Just so you don't think that life is all mountains and good times to be had in every valley. Here is a run down of my day:

7:30am Wake up and shower

7:50am Wake up the children

8:15- 8:25am Up and down the steps five times to get the girls to go downstairs for our walk to breakfast

8:30am Walk 500 yards down the mountain to breakfast

8:40am Go up and down the stairs at the Buffet getting the kids orange juice, milk, bread, and cereal

9:00am Go up and down the stairs at the Buffet clearing off the dishes from the tables and taking them to the dishwasher, while telling kids to sit down

9:15am Return up the mountain 500 yards to the Chalet

9:45am Workshops begin - children may participate or not so we must keep track of those that don't want to do them and make something up for them to do (age range 6 - 15) - which means if the younger ones play the older ones think it's dumb, then we break up arguments, play matching games, ping pong, go up and down the stairs searching for children, etc.

11:30am Head back down the hill for lunch

11:40am Go up and down the Buffet stairs getting water, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd courses for 27 people (only being able to carry 3 plates at a time), and clearing off the plates from each course, while tell kids to sit down

12:30pm Back up the mountain

1pm Workshops begin - children may participate or not - we try to organize a game of hide and seek, but older children are bored, then someone gets hurt - try to go to the soccer field no one wants to go, finally some kids go and an argument breaks out, proceed to soccer field, the rest of the older children don't want to do soccer, music, or art and ask to be left alone to talk (I stay back to monitor the situation and to keep a close ear to the happenings) **Add catch girls trying to sneak into my room

5:30pm Walk down the mountain to the Buffet - repeat lunch process of stairs and plates

6:30pm Return up the mountain

7pm Start telling kids to shower (I've made a schedule and keep telling them when the next one is ready), then I have to help the 6 year old with her shower

8:30pm ish A concert of some sort

9pm ish Tell girls to get to their rooms

9 - 11pm ish Sit in the hallway with my computer and keep telling girls to return to their rooms, get lightning bugs out of one room, catch two girls in another girls room (moved there while I was catching bugs)

11pm Go to my room and update the blog or email people

12am Finally wind down for sleep

Keep praying for me!!

Rising to new heights...

2008-08-06T13:10:00.018-05:00

On top of the mountain they have large nets set up to capture birds for studying purposes.

Here the guy is tagging the bird so they can track their migration.

All of the cows must wear bells so the farmer can locate them. The sound followed us on our hike.

We hiked on a road which the kids liked much better than last week's rock hill.

Blueberry bushes lined the path as we ascended the mountain. The kids all had purple hands from picking blueberries. Beautiful scenery, wildflowers everywhere, and a snack provided by nature, it really doesn't get much better.

They couldn't help themselves... picking berries all of the time!

A few of us took a 20 minute hike to this overlook at 5700 feet. The views were spectacular, I'm afraid the pictures just don't do it justice.
A snow bowl in the middle of the picture.
Again it just doesn't look real when you add a person to the picture.
On a clear day we would have been able to see Mt. Blanc in France. The view was incredible despite the cloudy day. If anyone needs a hiking guide for your vacation in Switzerland I can personally take you to all of the hot spots in this region. It really wouldn't be a problem:-)

Chateau de Chillon

2008-08-05T15:51:00.004-05:00

The Chateau de Chillon dates back to the 12th century. Through out it's history it served as a fortress, arsenal, and prison. Today was a good day with the children; we were busy with workshops, the chateau, and the pool (activities make for shorter days and less mischief). Tomorrow we are going for another killer hike, which means tired children at night!! Actually tonight went really well, the girls were in bed with little problem (I just went out to check on a door opening which sent them running back to their rooms - at least they no I mean business!). I think I'm going to try to do something special for them on Thursday night if all continues to go well.

Another round...

2008-08-03T14:33:00.008-05:00

Here we go again, the second round of children arrived today. I have 9 girls ranging in age from 7 to 15 years old. The 7 year old is going to have all of us wrapped around her finger, she is beyond adorable. She asked me if she wakes up in the middle of the night if she could come into my bedroom, even if I'm snoring. I couldn't resist the request, hopefully it won't be needed though!! It's a diverse group of girls, but there are a few that I think I'm going to really like (I don't care what teacher's say, it's hard not to have favorites!). Thankfully this week we are taking the children on 3 excursions, which I think is going to be perfect for the amount of children that we have. I also enjoy the excursions because it gets me off the mountain (that's right even on the mountain top you need to have a change of scenery once in a while).

Before the kids arrive I went for a quick walk, it was such a clear day that I could see for miles (kilometers). I wish it would have been clearer yesterday when I had free time, because I have been wanting to climb to the top of a mountain next to Rochers de Naye where I'm told you can see mountain peaks for miles. Oh well maybe another day!

I caught a jumper from the beginning, it was really cool to see him run down the mountain about 50 yards from me.

Then he quickly sailed away over the lake. What an amazing view that must be perched over the lake with mountains surrounding you.

The last two pictures are looking down on Montreux and in the distance Lausanne. These are some of the towns that had fireworks the other night. Just imagine this view at night with fireworks shooting up everywhere... magnificent.

Around the Chalet

2008-08-03T04:33:00.007-05:00

As Laura pointed out to me yesterday, I haven't posted any pictures of the Chalet.

My room is the top far left set of windows.

Here they are playing nerd pong. A crazy game that sends you running around the table.

Sunset

2008-08-01T16:55:00.006-05:00

I didn't think there was going to be pictures with today's update, but the sky tonight was amazing and I just had to share the pictures. Today, August 1, was a Swiss national holiday celebrating the formation of their country. The evening sky started the celebrations off and the night view made a perfect ending to a beautiful day. At around 10PM each town surrounding our mountain view set off fireworks in honor of the holiday. I have to say that it was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed. Perched in Caux I saw over 10 firework displays being set off simultaneously in all of the surrounding towns. I wish that my camera would have been able to capture the view. It will be etched in my memory for a long time to come.

These pictures are the sunset view from the front of the Chalet looking over Lake Geneva.

Climbing mountains

2008-07-31T14:37:00.014-05:00

Thursday was scheduled as an outing with a lady that lives in the town just down the mountain from Caux. She is an esthetician and trains people in running, as well as an excursion planner for the Chalet. The hike today was intense but the kids did really well. The six year old and I were hand-in-hand the entire way up the 400 meter vertical climb. The entire hike had to be at least a mile, but the effort to get up the mountain was well worth it. I'm sure the pictures will back me up on this point. So far each of her excursions have been to different places in the surrounding area and from what I'm told they are all equally beautiful. I can't wait for the next three!

We had to stop on the way to the hiking destination because one of the boys was car sick, so here is a quick shot from our stop.

The trail looked like this for most of the way. Luckily I was having a sure-footed day!

This was our final destination, a lake nestled in between all of these mountains. Simply gorgeous. Lac de Taney

Add me for another studio picture backdrop.

Some of my fellow hikers. These are three of the girls that are here this week.

I zoomed in on the top of one of the mountains and found these crosses. Apparently in Switzerland they put crosses on top of every mountain.

Find the face in the mountain. There were several of us that thought there was an old ladies face in this mountain. Do you agree?

Hopefully this provides a little perspective. We drove through part of this valley and then up the mountain to a parking area, starting our hike part way up the mountain.

I found this view from a website, which gives a better idea of where we were hiking. The lake is in the middle, we would have hiked through the "lower" portion on the right of the lake.

Day off...Wednesday

2008-07-30T12:55:00.008-05:00

I spent my day free exploring the mountain above and beside Caux. Here are a few pictures of my journey.

This picture is looking back on Caux. I believe the Chalet is the light silver roof in the top middle of the picture.
This is looking back on Caux. That is the hill that I descended to go to Montreux last week. I can't believe that I have been here for a week, in some way it seems so much longer.

I realized that I haven't posted any pictures to prove that I'm the one behind the camera. I guess this still doesn't prove anything, because the trees

The road of my journey.

Lightning, seriously!

2008-07-29T16:47:00.009-05:00

Tonight a storm rolled through that shook the entire mountain. I tried to capture some pictures of the lightning, there are a few good ones, but nothing compares to viewing it live.

The aftermath...
This lightning strike on the left just might be the one that did the damage to the pine tree (Or the ball of fire above).

The top of the tree is gone, so is the 2ft ant hill that was at it's base.

The tree was split right down the center.

First outing...

2008-07-29T14:43:00.009-05:00

Load up the bus we are headed to the musee (museum) and la piscine (swimming pool). I wish I could have hung my camera out the window while we were driving the 1hr. to Martigny, which is south through more of the Alps. Too bad I was in a huge valley because I was close to the French Alps and Mont Blanc.

This picture is looking at the bath house, with mountains all around.

The kids loved the water slide and the boys discovered that you go faster when your skin is touching the slide instead of your bathing suit. You can guess what that meant.

There were 4 diving areas. The highest one is 10 meters, but it wasn't open to just anyone. The 5 meter platform was high enough for me, it might as well have been 10 meters.

This was the museum that we went to in Matigny.

A few from the Chalet at night. Not to bad!!

The Invasion...

2008-07-28T14:40:00.007-05:00

The kids have arrived and have been lots of fun. There are several boys that speak English really well which has been a real blessing. Yesterday we were walking back from lunch and one kid told me that girl's couldn't hear what he was talking about. Turns out he has two girlfriends and he was trying to give another kid some advice. I asked if the advice was good and I was told no. So far the kids have been entertaining. One of the kids is a ping-pong champion, something like 30 games and no one has beat him. He didn't like the action picture I took so he posed for a picture, and this is what he said capture the true form of the table tennis champion. (By the way this is the same kid that received the girl advice.) He told me that when he gets to the U.S. Open he will send me tickets.

The camp dog... shy (not the French spelling of course).

Two more views from the Chalet...

A walk about...

2008-07-26T12:02:00.011-05:00

Today, Saturday, has been a slow day, the kids have left and there is silence. It has been a good kind of silence, restful and thought provoking. At one point the silence was about to overcome me and send me into an unconscious state, so I picked up my camera and went for a walk. It's been a dreary day with intermittent rain showers, just enough time for me to get a good walk in.

I walked up the hill to the left of the Chalet and got another view of Montreux. I don't know if this provides enough perspective of the walk that I did yesterday. My calves are certainly feeling the effects today.

Another view of Montreux further up the mountain.

The houses clustered between the mountains is amazing. I can't help but wonder what the people living in these houses do for income. I see a lot of Mercedes, Ferrari's, and other expensive vehicles driving around.

I zoomed in on the distant hill in the previous picture to get a closer look at this house. It really pops off the landscape. Maybe on a clearer day I can get a better view.

This is the quintessential picture of Switzerland, a chalet perched in the Alps. If you ever have the opportunity I highly recommend at least a train ride through the Swiss countryside. The views are spectacular. On one of my train rides I met a family from India traveling through Switzerland to drop their son off at college. The mother and I struck up a conversation, she shared a lot with me during our brief encounter. As we were getting further into the "remote" areas of Switzerland she commented on how boring she found Switzerland. I guess we all have our definitions of excitement and boredom, I know someone that finds butchering animals exciting for which I definitely don't share the same sentiments. I'm finding Switzerland to be a refreshing change of pace. I'm almost certain an extended period in this pace would change my view to boredom as well, however I think there is something to be said for entering a different rhythm of life once in a while.

A view from the top!

2008-07-25T14:58:00.010-05:00

The internet connection is a little slow so I have to reformat my pictures before uploading them, which may mean not as many pictures in the future. I've tried to add more to this post but the connection with blogger keeps timing out. I miss my blazing speeds at home.

This is a school on top of the mountain. Some of the students work at the Buffet where we eat all of our meals.

We descended the mountain on foot which took about 2 hrs. My legs were shaking at the end from trying to fight gravity. This is the town of Montreux which is directly on Lake Geneva.

This is part of the path that took us down the mountain.

We got a view of a hang glider at the top of the mountain. The building to the right is the Buffet.

This is a church that we pass on our way from the Chalet to the Buffet. It's a steep 500 yard walk between the two.

This is a town we walked through on our way to the bottom. It's called Glion.

Well that's all of the pictures for now. Saturday is another free day and then Sunday afternoon the next round of kids come. There will be 15 kids and 4 chaperons so we will have our hands full with kids from 8am - 9pm. Next week we loose a chaperon, then two weeks after that another one... until finally for the last week it will just be Evan and I. So, I'm planning to take it one week at a time and not think about the craziness of the last week. I'm so glad that I will be visiting my friend, Tiffany in Zurich for a few days of rest before flying home.

Oh, Martinessa if you are reading, I went to the La Poste today and ordered stamps for the U.S. in French. Which worked but they don't take cards and seeing as I'm not yet carrying francs I couldn't purchase them. But don't you worry I will prevail!

The road less traveled...

2008-07-24T13:45:00.005-05:00

After what seems like an eternity, I've arrived in Switzerland. I left my house on Wednesday, July 23 at 9:30am and arrived in Switzerland on Thursday, July 24 at about 1pm (EST). That's more than 24hrs. in planes, trains, and automobiles to reach my final destination.

On my first train ride from Lancaster to Newark Airport I met a Doctor that works for the World Health Organization and lives in Geneva. He gave me his contact information in case I'm able to take a day trip to Geneva, he volunteered one of his sons to take me around. It really is a small world.

I arrived at the airport with little trouble, but leaving the airport proved to be slightly more difficult. There was a weather situation near Boston, which happened to be our route. So we sat in the plane for two hours before we were cleared for takeoff. Those two hours were the time I had to make a connecting flight in Düsseldorf, Germany. About an hour before we were supposed to land I was going to ask the flight attendant about my connecting flight, when the lady in front of us had a mini seizure. The flight crew rushed to help her doctor husband, which trapped me in my seat for a while. When they mentioned getting the IV equipment out I started to feel a little sick myself. Did I mention that these people were from New Jersey, which meant I could understand them. I was finally able to excuse myself to the bathroom to get some water and cool down, luckily the lady didn't need to get an IV.

I made a connecting flight in Düsseldorf with little problem. The only thing that I realize is that I'm not good at guessing the context of the German directed at me. That plane was delayed for about 40mins, pushing my arrival into Zürich even later. The plan was to meet up with Evan, also from Lancaster, in the Zürich airport because he was coming on a direct flight.

I couldn't find Evan anywhere in the airport, and by this time I figured he had been waiting for 5 hrs for me. My cell phone does not work to call US numbers (a problem I thought I fixed), so I tried a land line once more and no answer. I decided to hop the train, figuring that Evan got sick of waiting and continued on. Well, my assumption was wrong, because apparently not all direct flights are quicker than 2 delayed flights. Evan apparently sat on the plane in Philly for 4hrs before taking off.

Well, we finally were able to meet up in Montreux. Then we took a funicular train to Caux. Here will begin the picture portion of the trip.

Only one picture tonight because it's 10pm (Swiss) and I'm a little tired from the journey. This is a view from my bedroom. Yep we are on a mountain. They say it is about an hour walk down to the town, I think Evan and I are going to find out tomorrow. Because it costs $12 every time you want to ride the funicular train one way. Oh one more important note: it feels like fall in the evenings, I actually closed my window because I think I might get too cold. That's all for now.

Family vacation...

2008-07-13T22:23:00.011-05:00

This past week I joined the family vacation already in progress. Here are a few pictures from our beach excursions.

Isaac loved the beach and had one speed - on!

Here he decided to eat his sandy foot... not sure! This is the same child that thought a pbj was better dipped in the sand first.

Add "likes long walks on the beach" to his list of activities, it put him out every time.

The surfing dudes!

For Father's Day we sent dad flying...

Here he goes!

Look Mom no hands!

Flying high!

Steve couldn't let dad fly alone, so he joined him for the experience.

The last to fly, Steve got the biggest dip.

Photo shoot with the rents in Rehoboth.

It was a good vacation full of sand, laughter, and family memories.

The adventure continues...

2008-06-30T19:46:00.005-05:00

In several weeks my suitcase will again roll it's wheels down the corridors of an airport headed on another adventure to an uncharted area. I have the opportunity to travel to Switzerland to be a part of an art camp for children and youth. Trading in the rolling hills of Lancaster for the snow capped peaks of Caux, Switzerland was not a hard decision. So stay tuned to the blog for some updates from the other side of the ocean.

Here is a picture of the Chalet, notice the mountains in the distance... not a bad view.

Stay tuned!

It's a heat wave!

2008-06-08T22:12:00.006-05:00

The heat on Saturday was just too much. I managed to mow the backyard and weed the flower beds, but it was just too hot to continue to the front yard. So when Tabitha mentioned a trip to MomMom's for a swim I just couldn't pass up the chance to stay cool in the heat.

Isaac prefers the lazy river. He's a man of leisure!

Nathan on the other hand is a ragging rapids man. Here he is riding a "seahorse." He is still learning how to paddle around with his mouth closed.

I would have to classify Caleb as a log flume man. He likes the slow steady predictability of the flume with a possible big ending (as long as daddy is right there with him).

Joshua is a distance swimmer. He liked to swim from the shallow end to the deep end and back again.

Now it's time for the big kids to show their stuff...

Can you tell which one had gymnastic lessons?

I was able to catch Laura mid-flip.

Nice face!!

Time to cage the swimmers.

Crista had a grad party to attend so she couldn't join us for the pool portion of the day. Her fun was taking the scooter out for a spin to get the mail. The battery started to die so she had to walk it the rest of the way, kind of defeats the purpose.