| It Was Tough To Say Good-bye... |  | 15 –16 July ’05, Friday-Saturday. Rhine Falls
I know I was awake, showered and ready to make coffee by 6:30am this morning, and it felt good. The sun hadn’t been up for long, it was still cool, and it was quiet. This day was going to be a busy one for the Chouinards… Not much longer, and I was hearing some rustling from inside their motorhome and I knew that they knew just how quickly they were going to jump into this final morning. It is never easy, and it is stressful, although I think Mikleane was handling it pretty well. They had to have the coach back in Wolhusen by 9:30 and it was about 12 miles outside of Lucerne. On top of that, they had to go through the “final check-out” and then with luggage in hand make it over to the train station for the start of their trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We said our final goodbye’s and they were heading out of the front gate of the campground. I’m sure they are going to be missing the camping, but going on to Paris and then back home and all that they have left of the summer…we’ll miss them as we miss everyone at home. Louise and I finished packing up ourselves and were on the road just after 9am ourselves. We had a wonderful time in Switzerland, and we would highly recommend it for a vacation for everyone. The only real positive of leaving and getting out of the country, was it is VERY EXPENSIVE. One of the exceptions of being expensive, is the price of “petrol” (gas). We did find it to be about $1.80 US less than Germany per gallon. Other than that… Well, we left Lucerne and back-tracked for awhile. We went up past Zurich and Winterthur, and then due north heading to Stuttgart Germany. On the way, we came upon (just by chance) a waterfall that we had heard about from a couple we met about 4 weeks ago. Just 3km south of Schaffhausen is Rhine Falls. This just happens to be the largest waterfall in all of Europe, although it only drops 23 meters (80 feet prox). The amount of water flow and the vantage points all around it make it really something to see. There is no doubt, you can get right at the most powerful point of the fall, and it makes you wonder “just what the hell are you doing there that close !!!”. We were out on a platform that is cantilevered out to the most powerful point of the fall, and it is REALLY close. The location is also pretty and unique. There was an old church and Closter that has now been taken over by a hostel and other “tourist” retail shops and restaurants. We were happy to have stumbled onto this and hope we got some good pictures. We arrived in Stuttgart about 3 in the afternoon and found the campground. The campground was located just inside the city and right next to a huge stadium and the river Neckar. As we pulled up to the gates of the campground, we noticed a lot of police action right in front. There were a number of young people that the police seemed to be searching, but what the heck, we pulled in anyway. As we got out of the van and approached the reception desk, the lady behind it said “We do have room for your van, but I want you to know that there is going to be a 3 day concert going on across the street and there are going to be a lot of the “”young people”” here at the campground…there will be a lot of loud music, drinking and having fun…are you sure you want to stay here with us ???” What the heck…we stayed. As it was, there were a lot of “young people” with their tents, some music, drinking, and a few sick people in the morning, but it wasn’t all that bad for one night anyway. But did we want to make it all the way through 3 nights, I don’t think so…besides, it was too hot in this campground and we wanted a little shade for the weekend. We checked out and headed south about 40km (25 miles) into Tubingen.
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| July 19, 2005 02:54 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Our Last Night In Switzerland |  | 14 July 05, Thursday.
Our drive out of the valley was just as it was when we drove in the first day…stunning !
Fact is, we even made a stop along side the river about 20 minutes after we started out, just to see and feel the cold water from the glaciers one more time. As you pull out of the canyon, you have 2 very large and beautiful lakes directly in front of you in Interlaken. The color of the lakes is that slightly dull green/blue that also comes from the glaciers. We followed the eastern lake all the way to the end and then turned north and headed over a steep pass that would take us to Lucerne (about 60 miles away). Unfortunately, even with all the beauty that was around us, we all had something that was on our mind, and that was that our visit and travels with Mikleane, Rick, Lil-Lou, and Drew was drawing to a close. Our “Camping Partners” only had one more night to “camp” in “Dragonfly”, and I was to make my last “2 pot” morning coffee. There is no doubt, they fit into this “camping” gig like pros, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them camping again. The weather in Lucerne had turned hot again, and when we arrived about noon, we were all ready to get in the shade and stay there. The only problem, was we hadn’t had lunch yet and everyone had a place they wanted to go too. Fortunately for me, I was able to stay around the camp with Louise, and the rest headed out for Lucerne for the last time and to find that something special for lunch. For us staying behind, we volunteered to go grocery shopping for our lastnights dinner, which turned out to be spaghetti. After dinner and washing of dishes, we just sat around, with the tables lit with candles, and enjoyed reviewing the last 2 weeks and all that we had tasted, tried, explored, fed, and seen. Just about no one went to bed early, but come 11, and the table was dark, all were in bed and ready for that early wake-up call. Tomorrow….came too fast !!!
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| July 19, 2005 02:50 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Finally The Jungfraujoch !!! |  | 13 July ’05, Wednesday.
The people that run the bus service from Stechelberg are really getting to know us. This morning we were off for the cog-wheeled tram in Lauterbrunnen that will take us to Wengen again. Now this time, we will stay on the tram and it will take us from 1274 meters at Wengen to the world famous Jungfraujoch – “Top of Europe” at 3454 meters (about 11,333 feet). The last leg of the tram ride takes us just under an hour, and it is more than 50 percent through tunnels. Fortunately we had a bright and sunny day to make this last and final day in the Swiss Alps really memorable. When we arrived in Wengen, we were met by a huge throng of tourists, that had set their sites on the same departure time as we had. As much as we tried to align ourselves with the best position to get the best seats (or any seat) on the train, we weren’t quick enough. Lucky enough, Rick, Louise, and I were the only one’s out of our family that had to stand. We started our steep climb almost immediately our of the station in Wengen. Now, standing, we really noticed the grade…we felt like we were pushing up hill with one foot the whole way. When the conductor came by checking our tickets (and by the way, this part of the excursion package we had purchased, would only cover half of the price…otherwise, we had to add another $120 SF), he must have felt a little sorry for us standing…he gave us one free drink ticket each. The tunnel area is over 10 km long and took over 16 years to complete. It officially opened in 1912, and is still using some of the original equipment to get you up there. Once we entered the tunnel, we had 3 stops…the first 2 were to let us out for a stretch and an opportunity to take some great photos. I didn’t mention, the train clicks along at a snails pace the whole way up and down. The 3rd stop we finally arrived at the Jungfraujoch terminal. Now this terminal is also in the tunnel, and we found that we were walking through a number of tunnels once we arrived. Even the elevators were from one tunnel to another. Once we reached the 3rd floor, we were at a level that we could walk out onto a deck overlooking the Swiss Alps at their finest. The first things that we noticed, were we had a shortness of breath because of the altitude, and it was cold, until the sun hit you and then you had to watch for immediate sunburn. Out on the glacier we had the opportunity to do a number of things, such as ski, ride a dog sled, hike over the glacier, climb the ice, slide on a saucer, and ride a rope slide down a long slope. Lil-Lou, Drew, and I opted for a slide down the glacier on the saucer, and then they jumped on the rope slide for their finale. There was one moment that I think all of us will remember, and especially Drew, when he let his saucer get away from him…it was a quick moment, but when it started it just kept on going and going and gone…. I would imagine that it might have made it down by the time we left 2 days later, but who knows… At the top of Jungfraujoch, is a large multi-storied building, which 3 floors are above ground and 3 below. On 2 of the upper floors are restaurants, so we just had to have lunch. Then onto the “Ice Palace” to see the ice sculptures, and then…we were exhausted…head down hill…we were done in… We all wanted to fall asleep on the train ride back, but luck would have it and nobody did. When we arrived back at Wengen, we headed over to one of our favorite bakeries and then to one of the large cable cars for a ride up to the top of another mountain, Mannichen (7317 ft). From there, we headed out for an hour and a half hike along the side of a mountain to Kleine Scheidegg. Just like this entry, we were having a long and full day and it still isn’t over. At Kleine Scheidegg we jumped aboard another tram and headed all the way back to Lauterbrunnen, grabbed our favorite bus and he took us to the large cable car going up to Gimmelwald. When we arrived there, we headed for one of our favorite Hostel’s where we could enjoy a good beer and over look another part of the Alps from above. Gimmelwald is one of Rick Steves favorite places and we all could see why…fact is, we ended up having dinner along with that beer…. Tomorrow…Drive down the longest valley in the world and head out for Lucerne again
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| July 19, 2005 02:48 AM
By Joel
Location: Switzerland
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| What do You Mean $65 Additional ??? |  | July 12 05 Tuesday.
Oh my gosh, we woke up to clear skies. Hurry catch the bus and the gondola to Murren and on to the Schilthorn. We had validated our passes for a free day. But this trip from Murren to the Schilthorn was another 65 francs. Grampa was not happy, but prompted by Grama paid up. The Schilthorn is where the James Bond film “ In his Majesties Service” was made in 1968. It is at 9,000 + feet. When we arrived it was totally socked in by clouds. We watched a couple of movies and had some snacks and hot chocolate in the revolving restaurant. Then a quick walk to throw some snow balls and take a few photos and we were off. Stopped in Murren for lunch. Again Pizza, rosti and sausage. After lunch Rick and the kids decided to hike back to camp about 1 ½ hours. Mikleane, Joel and I explored Murren and took a tram to Allimendhubel. Checked out he village and walked back to Murren. Then Joel and I took the train along an upper panoramic ridge and the tram back to Lauterbrunnen. Mikleane decided to walk from Murren to Gimmelwald. When we got to Laterbrunnen we caught the bus to the Gondola to Gimmelwald, and low and behold there was Mikleane, so we went to a hostel for a beer. We had fun talking to the young kids staying at the hostel. This is a tiny village that only has some summer tourism as in winter it is snowed in. They make cheese and smoked sausage that is very good. Well back to the campground for dinner. Tomorrow the Top of Europe !!!
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| July 19, 2005 02:45 AM
By Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| I Thought We Came Here For Sun ??? |  | 11 July ’05 Monday
We awoke to rain. Oh well, off we went. Determined to ride as many mountain trains, cable cars and gondolas as we could. We wanted to get our moneys worth. We headed for Lauterbrunnen and the rack and pinion mountain train. It was awesome. Our first stop was Wegan. A beautiful mountain village built on the side of a mountain. We stopped first at the bakery for a treat. We checked out all the shops and some of us purchased some souvenirs. The rain continued so we caught the cable car to Mannliken. This point is one of the highest surrounded by steep cliffs. All we could see were clouds so off to Grindelwald. We took a cable car down the valley to Grund and walked the steep path to Grindelwald. The rain had stopped and we had some peeks of fabulous mountains. After a great lunch of soup, snitzel , rosti and pomme frites we were ready to explore the Village. We caught the train back to Lauterbrunnen and caught the bus back to Stechelburg. Stechelburg is a small village at the end of the road up the valley from Interlaken. It is at 3,000 + feet, surrounded by rock walls and a dozen or so waterfalls. Lots of Para gliders, jump from the cliffs. They are exciting to watch. Raining again at bedtime. We need to dry out. The weather forecast, more sun tomorrow.
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| July 19, 2005 02:42 AM
By Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| She Wants To Add-On... |  | 10 July’ 2005
Well that is one part of the day. We stopped at the gondola office at Stechelburg and spent 400 + francs on passes to ride the lifts, trams trains and gondolas thru the Jungfrau region of the Alps. The pass is good for six days with three days being free and 3 days being half price. It was very cloudy and threatening rain so we opted to wait till the weather cleared up some before taking our free days. After dinner at camp we decided we would pay half price to ride the gondola to Murren for dessert. Well the bus had stopped running so we had to walk about 1 mile. By the time we reached the station we had missed the gondola. Needless to say we were really frustrated. We walked another 1 ½ miles back to the Stechelburg hotel where we had big…. desserts. Tomorrow we will start to use our passes.
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| July 19, 2005 02:40 AM
By Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Lauterbrunnen Valley and Trummelbach Falls |  | 10 July ’05, Sunday. The Lauterbrunnen Valley Girls
One thing we could all agree on was, we could all have slept much longer this morning. With the mountains looming high above us, the sun doesn’t come into the valley (if and when it comes at all…) until late in the morning and then leaves early in the evening. We have a lot of “white noise” from the river and the numerous waterfalls, to help us sleep. Yep, we could just sleep on and on… Today we went for a discovery walk around the area of the village we are in and the next back one down the line. We followed the river trail, that runs through the Lauterbrunnen Valley, until we reached our next site, about 2 miles away. Trummelbach Falls, must be well known to a lot of people, as we definitely weren’t the only one there. I had never heard about it before, but now that I’ve been there… The water for the Trummelbach, comes from a number of the largest mountains in the Alps, and thunders down through a mountain most of the way, before it reaches the outside. They have built a large elevator that climbs through the mountain for about 200 feet, and then you climb the stairs through tunnels and then finally reach the main display of falls. There are a number of stops on the way to the top, that you can see and feel the pulse of the water falling, twisting, and smashing it’s way to the bottom several hundreds of feet below. The way up and down was in tight quarters and narrow stairs that sometimes was cantilevered over the falls. The water was constantly on you from the splash or just from the dripping off of the walls and ceilings. They say there is over 5,200 gallons a second flowing through this fall…really spectacular. We continued our walk along the river, watching all the waterfalls pitching their load of water from just about every crack or shoot off of the mountains above us. After reaching Lauterbrunnen, we had a very nice lunch, and then caught a bus back to Stechelberg and the campsite. We were ready to just take it easy, and get ready for tomorrow…Gimmelwald, Murren, Schilthorn and more… | |
| July 11, 2005 02:55 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Synchronize Stoplights...What Is This ??? |  | 9 July ’05, Saturday. Chateau de Chillon
Leaving Lausanne, we headed east and followed the shores of Lake Geneva. Since we are taking a minor road, we are hitting every little “burg” all along the way. It’s not the little towns and villages that are any annoyance, but it is the stop lights…they are NOT synchronized at ALL !!! And when your traffic lights are in a mess, so is the traffic…and then, when you toss in a weekend, every village/town having a function, and then to top that all off, Montreux is having one of the biggest “Jazz Festivals” in the world…and we, are driving right through all of this, trying to get to another castle. “Chateau de Chillon”, one of the most beautiful medieval castles in Europe, and it’s on the shores of Lake Geneva. It was amazing, as we came around this last curve, there sat the Chateau de Chillon, projected out into the lake, and the lake making a natural moat all around it. They told us it would take an hour to see it all, but they don’t know us…it took us over 2 hours. We were able to see some wonderful collections of furniture, paintings, pewter ware and weaponry, all displayed in their proper rooms of the castle. I don’t think there was any room or passageway, that was “private or out of bounds” to us. We had a great time and saw a beautiful castle. This castle dates back to the 13th century. In the dungeon, we saw were Lord Byron had etched his name on a column, and also some religious carvings etched by a prisoner on one of the prison walls. By the time we had walked the castle through, it was lunch time, so we headed up to the van and raided the refrigerators. Then, we were back on the road. Still heading east, our destination was Interlaken, about 60 miles away, but through some of the Alps. It didn’t take long, and we were winding and climbing at a good pace. I don’t know how long it took for us to get over our first pass, but it seemed forever. “Bumble Bee” handled the climb wonderfully. The closer we got to the top, the closer we got to the wet weather. No snow, but it did rain steadily, and it definitely got a lot cooler. Our pace was slow, so the 60 miles or so, took hours, so when we arrived in Interlaken, we hit a grocery store and then a “Bikers Bar” for dinner. We weren’t through traveling yet, as we are aiming for Stechelberg, which is about 8 miles south of Interlaken, and our campground. This campground is located at the very end of the road to Stechelberg, so it was easy for us to find. As we arrived in Stechelberg, we were introduced from both sides of the road, giant waterfalls. They were falling hundreds of feet, and were absolutely incredible. We have at least 7 waterfalls that we can see from our site here at the campground. Directly above us are Switzerland’s highest peaks, and our goal is to travel by tram and cable cars to the top of some of them. Let’s hope the weather breaks and we can see the magnificence that they can offer. Directly above us is Gimmelwald and Murren, and once we arrive there, we will again travel by tram on up to some much higher levels, such as Schilthorn at 9748 feet. Another peak we want to travel to is Jungfraujoch, which is the “Top of Europe” at 11,333 feet. Tomorrow…we start | |
| July 11, 2005 02:50 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Lausanne and the Olympics |  | 8 July ’05, Friday.
Our campground in Lausanne is right on the edge of Lake Geneva, and about 35 minutes walk down the boardwalk to Ouchy. This morning we got underway just before 10am and made our way along the boardwalk to Ouchy and the Olympic Museum. It was a good day for a walk, about 70 degrees and sunshine. Ouchy was first established as a small fishing village, but now it is a Swiss Riviera Resort town, with a capital SRR… One thing nice about camping, is you can enjoy areas like this and still stay on a slim budget. Our main goal today was to enjoy the Olympic Museum. It is just a short block off the boardwalk and is spectacular. The grounds are really done well, with lots of bronze, stone, and metal sculptures, and a couple of fountains that all make it sensational. Once inside, we were treated to a very well laid out “museum” of Olympic history. We not only read the stories of how, who, and when the Olympics were started, re-started, and continue to run today. We also saw items of clothing, metals, shoes, skates, guns, bows, and etc, etc, that all make up the games of past and present. On the lower floor, you could sit in your own “theatre” and watch the opening, closing, and competition of past Olympic Games just by making your selection on the screens…it was a big hit. After pizza for lunch, we boarded the metro and headed up the hill to Lausanne. Now did I day hill ??? Lausanne is just like Seattle in this regard, as it is all hills. You, as a tourist, will get your exercise here in this town. Mikleane took on the responsibility of being our tour guide, for a walking tour that Rick Steves had in his book on Switzerland. There are a lot of things happening in this town, and construction is only one of them. There are little white tents put up all over the hills of Lausanne. If it isn’t for a music festival, it could be for an opera, or maybe just for food…all these little white tents… We saw the churches, cathedral, castle, city hall, and just about every other building and bridge in town, before we caught the bus back to the campground and a pasta dinner. I guess it is time for me to say once again, IT IS EXPENSIVE here in Switzerland. For lunch, we had 3 personal sized pizzas, 3 beers, 2 soft drinks, and it cost us about $60 US. I start to shake every time we walk towards a restaurant… Lou tells me to “get over it”, so I try, but it’s hard… Tomorrow…Interlaken | |
| July 11, 2005 02:44 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| Have You Heard The Hisssss ???? |  | | Swans hiss and other tales of the road… 7 July 2005 – From little Louise: “hi friends! – Didn’t have to go clear across the world to get Seattle weather, but we did. Woke up this morning in a campground on Lake Murten with the rain pouring around us. Upon hearing the rain on the roof of the camper, I made a quick decision to close my eyes and stay in bed. You learn something new everyday and today I learned that swans hiss. Hard to imagine, but if you have bread and don’t give it to them, they’ll start hissing and snapping. After a slow start to the morning and sharing all our bread with the ducks, ducklings, and swans, we drove to Avenches to view the Roman ruins of Aventicum. They were unique and fun to explore. We next drove to a supermarket and had sandwiches and smoothies for lunch. We are now in a French speaking part of Switzerland – Mom and Dad’s constant French is beginning to get on my nerves. We are now at our new campsite on Lake Geneva in Lausanne. It’s a large campsite with table tennis (Drew and Dad are playing right now) and a restaurant. We walked the lake in the late afternoon and came back to a nice dinner of chicken and pasta. Grandma’s cooking is just what we need on a trip like this. Traveling in the camper is exciting but is taking some time to get used to – lots of bumping around and hitting your head. | |
| July 08, 2005 06:59 AM
By Lil Lou
Location: Switzerland
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| Vully of Murten....mmm good |  | 6 July ’05, Wednesday. Medieval Town of Murten
After an impromptu soccer game with Drew last night, I awoke this morning a little stiff. I guess I’m not quite in the same physical shape I thought I might be in… I’ve found that I am the first to and out of the showers in the morning…I guess it must be they are waiting in bed for my coffee to be served. Ha, Ha, they will have a long wait…
As Mikleane mentioned yesterday, we had a good and busy day in Bern yesterday. Bern is a very pretty city that is just about fully surrounded by water. Bern is the Swiss capital, and the city does have the “classy” feeling about it. I was disappointed in the “bear pit” that they displayed “their emblems” in…it really felt like it was nothing more than a temporary hole that was dug in the ground, with a few old dead trees put in, and then completely lined with cement. This is “The Capital”, and they are “The Emblem” of the capital…give them something that represents the status they deserve !!! OK, I’m off my soap-box… Today’s drive was rather short…I think we were on the road for 35 to 45 minutes, and we were off the road looking for the turn off to the campground. We are camped on the shores of the Lake Murten, along with at least 60 permanent caravan/mobile homes. We are among 6 tops, that are temporary. There is a path from the campground, along the shoreline, that goes directly into Murten. We hadn’t hardly set-up before we were on our way into town. On entering through the gates, we were met with a very picturesque town that is surrounded with a medieval wall on 3 sides, and the lake on the other. After a walk through the main street, and looking for a place to eat, we settled for a neat little restaurant with a alphorn and castle style chandelier, called Freiburger Falle. In Switzerland, for some reason, they have quite a few businesses that have “storm door” entrances directly off of the street. The 2 old wood “Storm Doors” swing out of the way, and you go down the steep stairs, into the business. In this case, it was a restaurant with a ton of atmosphere. Our goal was to have a cheese fondue, as the weather was cool and wet, and that sounded like it was just what we needed…it was fantastic (although, like everything else in Switzerland, it was EXPENSIVE…). We were also introduced to a local wine, that was really good. Fact is, it is one that Rick Steves recommends…now, we can recommend it too…Vully Nant…a locally grown brewed, crisp, and VERY tasty white wine. After lunch, we headed for the town walls. The walls are covered with a peaked roof, and it was really needed today as it rained off and on throughout the day. From the top of the walls, you can see over the whole town and all the hills that surround the lake. Murten is just a few miles from France, so there are quite a few locals that speak French as their first language. The Murten castle, has been converted into “City Hall”. From the front, it looks very much like it did many, many years ago, but the interior has been changed to fit their needs. This medieval town does deserve the press it gets, it is a treat seeing and tasting it…Tomorrow…Avenches and then onto Lausanne
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| July 08, 2005 06:54 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| The Bears in Bern |  | | The Bears in Bern - 5 July 2005 – We hope everyone had a great 4th of July. After settling in Dragonfly for the night here in Bern, we were surprised to hear fellow Americans setting off fireworks. You are never too far from home. We awoke this morning to sunshine and after showers (each time you turned the handle you received 30 seconds of water – a heavy participation shower), we caught the bus into old town Bern. A beautiful city right in the bend of the River Aare, Bern founded in 1191, is full of beautiful fountains, sandstone buildings, and bears – the symbol of Bern. We enjoyed walking through the city, browsing the markets, and enjoying the occasional beer or Starbucks coffee (actually, a coconut Frappacino). Louise purchased a souvenir this morning – a Swiss army knife. She then promptly dropped it through the cracks in the square in front of the Swiss Parliament Building. After trying many solutions (including gum on a stick) Mom borrowed a wire tie off one of the merchant signs, and after several tries, Dad was able to hook it and bring it up through the crack in the floor – to give to a very relieved Louise. We enjoyed feeding the Bern bears (mixed fruit) – they obviously were used to this routine as they expected you to throw the food directly to them, as they lay on their backs – very funny. We returned from town and Lou went for a swim in the pool, while the rest of us relaxed out and planned our route for tomorrow. Dad and Rick heated up the barbeque and we had another wonderful dinner of sausages, pomme frites, olives, dark beer, Chianti, and fresh pressed apple juice from the market. We are really settling into our routine and enjoying our new home “dragonfly”. We bought a dragonfly lawn ornament today to put out with our awning. Many campers go all out with gnomes, flower planters, flags, lounge chairs, and sofas – we are just trying to fit in. | |
| July 08, 2005 06:52 AM
By Mikleane
Location: Switzerland
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| Did You Hear Mikleane Scream ??? |  | 3 July ’05, Sunday.
Here we are, in the land of William Tell. Luzern is a town that is split by the river Reuss, is crossed by 7 bridges (one, the oldest, wooden, and is roofed), is lush, with flowers, trees, and other various vegetation, and is more than inviting, with the beauty of the old city, the lake, and the surrounding mountains. Today we enjoyed all of them at once… We were up early to catch a boat for an hour and a half cruise around the lake. Our destination was Mount Pilatus and the location of the “cog wheeled” tram that would transport us to 7000’ above sea level, on the steepest grades in the world. There were areas where the grade was more than 48 percent, and areas where the tracks just seemed to hang in mid air, with a huge drop to the void below. The day we chose was bright and sunny, and our hopes were of the “large” views of the Alps. Unfortunately, just like Mt. Rainier, there are days that are bright and sunny, and the mountain has a cloud that circles the top. Today, was that day. There were moments, when the clouds would part just enough to give you a peak of the total view, but those were rare. This didn’t ruin our day though, as we had lots of trails to follow, and the vistas, although local, were stunning. Our ride up on the tram was really wonderful. It took us about 30 or more minutes to reach the top, and the views looking out from the tram were great. Once we reached the top, we all searched for the first place that had the best food for our taste (and took off on a lot of hiking…most of it seemed up, but it was all enjoyable. We spent more than 2 hours at the top and then took another “modes” of transportation down. Our first, was a large cable car. That took us to the location of the “luge” ride with the most stunning view of the day, but who had time to look…we all boarded our own “luge”, and set off on the longest luge ride in Europe….winding, twisting, jumping, bouncing, going through tunnels and completely out of control most of the time… I heard Mikleane screaming a lot through the hair-pin turns!!! Exhausted, we were onto the next mode of transportation, a much smaller cable car to the next port. There, we boarded a city bus to take us into Luzern. In Luzern, our final leg of our day journey was by boat. We boarded right beside the train station, and it took us on a very comfortable ride across the lake to the campground. This was a big day, and there wasn’t one of us that wasn’t dragging our butts at the end, but we did have a great outing. Tomorrow, ….Bern….
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| July 05, 2005 07:51 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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| The Chouinards Have Arrived.... |  | 2 July ’05, Saturday. Dragonfly
Hello dear friends! We have arrived in Switzerland! The flight from Seattle to Zurich was uneventful and after a restful night in a hotel in Luzern, we picked up our RV (camper) and promptly named her “Dragonfly”. We had to pick an insect bigger than “Bumblebee”, and my suggestion of “Praying Mantis” was quickly shot down. So, Dragonfly it is. Dragonfly is a 21 ft. 2004 Knaus Sun Traveller, with three beds, a toilet, shower, stove, refrigerator and no air conditioner- very European. Our first campground (across the street from Lake Luzurn) is very nice. We are parked next to Mom and Dad, and share a nice space of lawn, on which we set up our table and chairs tonight to enjoy a delightful dinner. During the Luzern Saturday market, we picked up some smelly cheeses, proscuitto, breads, chili peppers, olives, eggplant, and other treats which we enjoyed with German and Italian wines, before a wonderful pasta dinner prepared by Mom. No doubt, that this is our kind of camping! Tomorrow, we are heading to Mount Pilatus. We’ll start in the morning with a 90 minute cruise down the lake, take a funicular (world’s steepest) up the mountain, enjoy some hiking and a picnic lunch, and then travel by gondola down. Bring on the sunshine!
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| July 05, 2005 07:48 AM
By Mikleane
Location: Switzerland
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| Switzerland..Our 24th Country on this Journey |  | 29 June ’05, Wednesday. Lake Luzern
The trees are blooming, the hay has been cut and they are “sweeping” it so that it dries, and what ever else there is that could be blowing around….I’m getting so plugged up, wheezing, and coughing, I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a month. I’m not normally a pill taker, but now, I am seeking them out, and I’ve got to get this under control. The hot weather stayed with us all day yesterday and even moved into this afternoon. Yesterday, we stayed close to the pool and “Bumble Bee”, with the exception for a short trip into town for groceries and the internet. Other than that, we were at poolside. This morning we left Lindau. Lindau is an island, sitting in Lake Constance, and within about 4km from the Austrian border, and about 6 miles from the border with Switzerland. As we pulled into Austria, we noticed the long lines at a gas station, and then we noticed the prices…they were .20 euro per liter less than that in Germany (Landau). Everyone, filling up with gas, was from Germany. While we filled our tank, I went in and purchased our permit to travel on the Swiss Motorways. I think this is the 4th or 5th country that we had to purchase these permits. Today’s Swiss permit cost us $27 Euro for a year. We had heard it would cost us about $40, so we were excited to get such a “break”. Now that reminds me, every time we as travelers, get instructions, hear about the cost of items, km or miles to be traveled, it changes with reality. The cost of this permit is only one example, and another real quick is km…the distance advertised is never the distance realized. I think the standard was thrown out a long time ago. Our drive this morning took us around the southern side of Lake Constance, on our way to Zurich and then onto Luzern. Lake Constance is a large, long lake that is a beautiful blue/green in color. It reminds us of the waters of the Mediterranean. It is fed from the surrounding mountains, but it is far enough away to let it warm up enough to be comfortable and allow the water color, to clear from the opaque colors of the glaciers. As we wound our way through the lower foothills of the Alps, we even found cooler weather…it felt good for a change. Later, as we got closer to Luzern, the weather warmed up again to about 85 to 90, and the humidity was just about the same. Later in the afternoon, we got a heavy, but short rainfall. About 5, we decided to take a long walk into Luzern, along the boardwalk. This is one of the prettiest of the European cities I have seen. It also seems to have a lot to see as well, so the next few days will give us plenty of exercise. As we left the town area and finished our shopping, we noticed that the clouds were building, turning dark, and looking very threatening. Sure enough, we hadn’t made it 1/3 of the way back and all hell broke loose…we got drenched. As we walked into the campgrounds, the little outdoor restaurant/bar was open. I just had to have a beer, and there were a couple of guys standing at a tall table, so I joined them for a couple. Tomorrow will bring lots of new sites, but we can’t do too much prior to the Chouinard family getting here.
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| July 05, 2005 07:42 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Switzerland
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