Together Again

Tonight we had our first meal as a reunited family. All eight of us plus my dad sat down for a dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and green beans. We had to sit in two rooms since our apartment which is more than adequate for four or five is overflowing with nine for dinner. It is nice to have a full house. All of the kids were glad to see one another. And mom is glad to see her boys.

Dayton and my dad arrived this morning. Haden, Keaton, Olivia and I took the train to Zurich to meet them at 5:40 am! Landon and Jansen decided to sleep in. (This was my dad's first flight since the Vietnam war era. ) They are both exhausted from the travel and the six hour time difference. It takes a couple of days to adjust. They need to recover a.s.a.p. I have lots of fun to fit in during their 2 1/2 week stay. Jansen will be here until the end of April though. He wants to take full advantage of the opportunity to explore Switzerland and beyond.

Dayton is staying with Haden at his apartment and the rest of us have settled in very comfortably here. The one bathroom is in high demand and must be carefully timed and scheduled. No long soaking baths around here. Maybe we will be more appreciative of the three bathrooms we have at home after this. I am sure we will be temporarily, but soon enough will return to banging on the door and yelling at the occupant to hurry.

I'll try to get a family picture soon. I should have taken before and after photos of the food. The food vanished in nothing short. Leaving nothing but pile of dirty dishes. Thanks to Keaton and Grandpa for cleaning the kitchen.

Snail Garden

Landon has a new hobby. He has a snail garden or maybe a snail ranch since there are lots of snails in a "pasture." They do escape occasionally and have to be rounded up then taken back to the the corral. It is surprizing how much lettuce snails can eat.

For Mrs Ladelle

These are for Mrs. Ladelle, our favorite piano teacher and train lover.

Little Hands Books

Little Hands Books are the creation of my friend Paul Fogg. He is in the process of developing the third book to be released in May. The text for each book is taken directly from Scripture and the Word truly comes alive with finely detailed, colorful illustrations. The colors and depth of the pages are beautiful and hold the attention of all ages of children. I am so excited about this mission God has given Paul to present God's Word to little ones that I wanted to share it with you.

http://www.littlehandsbook.com/

Grindelwald, Switzerland

Sunday & Monday, March 9-10, 2008 We had a wonderful stay in Grindelwald. It is perfect access to the train that leads higher up in the mountains for sledding and skiing. Our hotel had Scandinavian inspired architecture-beautiful natural woods and big windows to take in the mountain view. Our room had two twins beds down and a loft with four twins. The kids loved it. We even had our own shower and WC (toilet). Not always available in Europe as they are in the US. The restaurant in this very Swiss hotel is called the "American Bar," complete with Route 66 signs and burgers and fries. Funnily, on the menu under Steaks and Ribs, were pork steaks! Beef is a rarity here. The boys ordered bacon burgers. Their first burgers in two months! Olivia and I had the most delicious handmade pizza. The kids even played a game of pool.








Robert traveled to Grindelwald with us on Sunday. He and the kids sledded at Kleine Scheidegg before his return to Basel Sunday evening. So I was on my own with three sledding pros on Monday. This forced me to learn to sled. And I did. It was fun and FAST! We made three sled runs taking the train from Grindelwald up to Alpiglen and sledding an hour or so to the bottom. Then the process started over. At the end of the day four exhausted sledders headed back to Basel.



Breakfast on the train Sunday morning: Hard rolls with strawberry and Mediterranean flavored cream cheese. orange juice and coffee. We have started shopping more at the Markethaus just over the German border. This store carries many items that are familiar to Americans. We are still buying some mystery foods, but the frequency is decreasing.

The church in Grindelwald. I had hoped to have time to discover the history of the building, take more photos, and go inside. However, sledding ruled over all else. Maybe next trip. The side of the church faced the street and the front into a courtyard with several other buildings.

Look very closely at the above photo. Keaton is at the top of the path.

This snowman was waiting for us at Alpiglen, altitude 1616 m., when we arrived for our first sled run. Pig in German is schwein just in case you were laughing at the name...don't know what Alpiglen means in German. (It is not pronounced al-pig-len, but alpi-glen.) There were some folks from England on the train amused at the name. Hope the Germans on board weren't too offended with their comments!

I attempted to find the meaning of Alpiglen. Here is the best I could do. The German language combines words. For example, Marketplatz is Market Plaza and Pilgerstrasse is Pilger Street. So maybe, it means mountain glen(valley). A good research project for someone.

Purple signs and poles mark the route for sledding.

I found it is impossible to take photos while sledding without specialized equipment explaining why there are no sledding photos. And each time I would stop to get out my camera the kids became very impatient. I needed a camera attached to a helmet. That would be okay as long as there was no micrphone to record my screaming. Thankfully they were screams of fun and joy!

This photo(above) was taken in front of the restaurant in Alpiglen at the beginning of the run. It, a few barns, and a small depot are the entire village which is only accessible by train. We did make an attempt to sled down from Kleine Scheidegg into Alpiglen. Except for the blinding snow and howling wind that prevented anyone weighing under 200 ponds from standing upright it was perfect for sledding. We wisely decided not to sled in a white out and went down to Alpiglen to totally different weather. Shortly after that Kleine Scheidegg was closed.

Jansen arrived in Basel today. (Thursday, 3/13) My dad and Dayton will arrive on the 19th. We will get one more sledding trip in once they arrive and before warm spring weather melts the snow. Hopefully the weather at Kleine Scehidegg will be favorable so that we can sled the entire Eiger Run!

Rain, Clouds....Part IV

Saturday and Sunday, March 1-2, 2008

Returning to Basel Getting back to Basel proved to be as challenging as the trip to Chamonix. We left Argentiere in time to take the train back to Les Pelerins, the train station closest to Les Gaillands, pack, and return to the train station. The arriving train was very close to on time. It stops, we push the button to open the doors and they don;t open. Other people are pushing buttons and still no open doors. Then the train slowly starts to pull away with all of us standing on the platform. We are whistling, banging on the train and yelling. Finally, it stops and we get on.

The instructions we received pertaining to our return itinerary were that once we boarded the train in Perelins we would ride it all the way to Martigny, Switzerland before changing. These were instructions from the French train station. Well, we get to the stop at Chamonix and we are instructed to change trains. After clarifying our destination, we do so. Okay now we set. Not quite. Something is wrong with the train and we sit for fifteen minutes while the problem is resolved.

At least we think. Forty five minutes or so down the line, the train stops. Folks get off and on. Then, to our horror, the train starts going back the way we came! The next available stop, we get off. The station was Montroc-Le Planet if you are following this on the map.

Then we wait for 45 minutes for a train going the right direction. It comes. We get on. This time Robert goes and knocks on the door to the conductor's booth for instructions. Sure enough, we need to change trains at Vallorcine. We change trains. All of the delays have caused us to miss our connection once we arrive in Martigny. Our frame of mind was that if we could just get back to Switzerland everything would be fine.

The train arrives at Martigny. We depart the French train with ALL of our belongings. And....the station is closed. Within minutes the automated sign displays a destination that we recognize from our trip down. We take that train. Fortunately, Robert is able to get instructions for the rest of the journey from the conductor and seven hours later on a four hour trip we arrive in Basel!

All in all the trip was great with many happy memories. The travel...well, Robert may never go back to France. Everyone, for the most part, kept a good attitude and happy disposition through it all.

This weekend we are going back to Kleine Scheidegg in SWITZERLAND! Snow is in the forecast with temps in the teens and twenties. Burrr. In France, folks were sunning! Skiing and tanning all in one place.

Rain, Clouds... Part III

Saturday & Sunday, March 1-2, 2008

Sledding in Argentiere, France on Sunday Because of the unseasonably warm weather in the lower elevations there was little snow on the ground in Les Gaillands where we were staying or in Chamonix. Normally the area is covered with snow. The tourist center suggested a few places higher up that the kids could sled.

...So we loaded up the kids and went to Argentiere.

It took a survey of the ski area to find the best sledding spot. Sledding, called sledging here, is not as popular as it is at Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland. At Kleine Scheidegg there are many desiganated areas for sledging and most of the particpants are adults. Not to be discouraged the kids found a great hill to play on.

And the sledging began!

Dragging the sleds up the hill...

And coming down the hill.

Argentiere Train Station(above) Exhausted children waiting for the train (below)

Rain, Clouds, Missed Trains and Silver Linings Part II

Saturday & Sunday, March 1-2, 2008

Exploring Chamonix, France After finishing lunch and resting for a bit we left the village of Les Gaillands and bravely boarded another bus for the two mile trip into Chamonix. It was too late in the day to take the train to a sledding area, but the beautiful city kept us busy for several hours window shopping, a little sledding on a small hill, getting groceries, and eating a very nice dinner.

My camera was almost overheating from all the pictures I was snapping. Everywhere I looked another wonderful photo to capture. Lots of window and door photos to add to my collection!

Chamonix has a nice relaxed, family atmosphere. It was easy to wander around and enjoy the sights. But nothing could compare to the mountain range surrounding Chamonix. As the sun changed positions so did the appearance of the mountains. The late afternoon sun reflecting on the snow was brilliant. It is impossible to pick a most beautiful time of day.

This "bronze statue" had people staring at the great detail in the workmanship only to be caught off guard. It was alive! How this man stood there hour after hour I cannot imagine.

Olivia put a franc into his case and I just missed him waving at her. One woman walked very close to him and as she closely examined the "statue" he stomped his foot!

Tex Mex all the way in France!

Landon surveying a restaurant menu. He made a good choice. The pizza was great.

Part III to come..snow pictures!

Rain, Clouds, Missed Trains and Silver Linings

Saturday, March 1, 2008 Our plan to was leave for our weekend in Chamonix-Mount Blanc, France on Friday afternoon. We had spent the day making sandwiches, packing snow gear, bedding, etc. Robert arrived home from work around 3:00 and we quickly gathered all of our suitcases and sleds and left for the train station. After the tickets were purchased we proceeded up one set of escalators then down a second set to our gate. We boarded the train, stowed our stuff , and settled in for the ride. About 45 minutes into the scenic trip the conductor comes along to check our tickets. That is when the problem began.

He informed us that our tickets required an overnight stay before reaching our destination. An overnight stay for a four hour trip? Worse than that was that was the news that there were no other connections Friday evening that would allow us to reach Chamonix. We got off the train at the next stop and with great frustration returned to Basel. The ticket agent had made a mistake in the itinerary.

The good part of the delay was that the kids came home and took about half of what they had packed out of their bags. Lugging those heavy bags on and off the train convinced them they would not need to take so much stuff.

So, Saturday morning at 4:30 am the alarm sounded. We left for the train station a second time. With four train changes we never quite had time to get comfortable. The scenery change from northwestern Switzerland traveling southward is dramatic. The mountains and streams gave way to rolling hills and vineyards. As we approached the Swiss/France border the signs went from German to French. Our last two legs were on the French railway.

Have you ever traveled in France? France is nothing like Switzerland. The Swiss trains and buses are on time all the time. The French train will arrive....the printed schedule is used a very loose guideline. It was on the last two legs that the adventure began. The conductor looked at our tickets and instructed us to not get off at the designated stop but two stops down. We did and we boarded the next train with no trouble. The train was a little train that ran on tracks built into the edge of the mountain. At various points along the way announcements were made for the coming stop. No one told us that there are stops in between, but you must request a stop by pushing a button to signal the driver.

Two or three stops past where we should have requested a stop we realized something was wrong. After inquiring of other passengers our fears were confirmed. So we quickly departed the train at the next scheduled stop. A stop with no attendant at the small station. After carefully studying the posted train schedule, it was clear that the next train would not arrive for two hours. That might have been okay if freezing rain had not been falling. Shortly two young men came to check the schedule and understood enough English to understand our conversations. They told us that we could catch the bus that ran every twenty minutes at the top of the hill. Okay, that sounded good.

So, we trudged half a mile up what would be a mountain in Oklahoma in the freezing rain with all of our luggage and two sleds to the bus stop. There was a covered shelter to wait in. That was good since the bus that should run every twenty minutes really doesn't. Next question, have you ever ridden on a bus in France? Don't! It is a frightening experience. I guess until the bus took off Robert and I had forgotten our French bus ride from a few years ago. Even the folks who are seated hold on tightly.

This time we noticed a sign posted behind the driver that said to advise him of the requested stop. Robert did. But he didn't really care. We got off the bus in the village where the apartment was located. Another walking distance of close to a mile. After about 10 minutes, Robert suddenly announced in a panic that he left the apartment directions and address in Basel. We called Haden and he was able to log onto my email account and retrieve the directions. We continued our walk and can you guess what we passed? A bus stop almost directly in front of the building we would be staying in! We could have ridden all the way!!

We finally made it into the adorable little apartment belonging to a business associate of Robert's. He and his wife were kind enough to invite us to stay for the weekend! The view from the living room was of Mount Blanc! Robert took the photo below just at sunrise.

This one was taken mid-morning. Imagine waking up to this! Definitely a silver lining!

More to Come in Part II......