Futbol Match in Neuchatel

I think this picture says it all! We had a great time. What an experience. The game was fun but the fans really made the show!

Day 3 Shopping and Gstaad

Day 3 started with Barbara heading out to Lausanne with Michael, Brenna and Aubrey to do some shopping and light sightseeing. Then in the afternoon we all headed up to Gstaad. We thought we were treading on new ground, but soon discovered that we had been there once before during the winter...I guess I should read my blog!

Still it was quite different in the summer and the views were great. We also hit the city when it was in the middle of the world beach volleyball championships. The air was festive and we had a great time, listening to music, strolling, and relishing some pretty good chicken and veggie burritos!

The train ride home was relaxing as evident in this shot...

Last shot...Is Michael celebrating being up past 10pm or the new jersey he scored from Uncle Dave!?

Day 2 - Friday

Day 2 decided to be a 'down' day and we let our guests sleep in! They all slept well but I must have picked up their jet lag as I was up at 4:00 am! Nice way to start my vacation day!

About mid-day, we decided to head out and visit the Chillon Castle. I rode my bike, the rest took the train. Only mishap was Aubrey and Brenna failing to guard the public restroom Barbara was using. Not sure who was scared more, Barbara or the poor unsuspecting woman who tried to walk in. She jumped back and slammed the door shut as Barbara screamed. Maybe it was the screaming, or the jolt of the closing door, but the event resulted in some foundation settling and next thing, Barbara was trapped inside! As Barbara pounded the door, Michael came to the rescue and managed to pry it open...Good precursor to a possible future civil engineer!

Back to the castle...I had ridden to the castle many times, had heard it was nice, but never went in.

To keep with tradition, I rode to the castle and met the rest of the pack who arrived by bus, train, and foot,

It was quite impressive and big hit with all, especially the boys.

I will say the gallows made me feel ill but the grand rooms and views from the upper floors were spectacular. Talk about rooms with a view! When Becky and family come, this will be a must see visit.

The castle visit took a few hours to take in and by the time we left we were all a bit tired and hungry...We then headed in to Montreux and settled for some healthy and not too expensive McDonalds food. (I kid not when I say healthy....they really have improved their menu).

We had a bit of a scare as we headed out...Steven witnessed a small child get hit by a car as she ran across a cross walk. Girl seemed fine, just a bit scratched from the fall. Police and ambulance came, much like after Dedi's accident. The police took Steven's account down and will probably call him at some crazy hour to ask him more questions....

We all arrived home at a good hour, and enjoyed a make shift dinner and some Swiss wine before calling it a day.

Atlanta Brennens hit Switzerland

We had a great 4 day weekend with Russ (Dave), Barbara, Michael and Steven. They arrived bright eyed on Thursday morning. Dedi and Brenna met them at the airport and I picked them all up in Morges. Somehow Dedi convinced them that it would be a good idea to extend their marathon day by travelling back to Yvoire by boat. Not only did they hit Yvoire, but they also circled to Evian, France and Ouchy (pronounced Ushy, though Steven preferred the more expressive "Ouch - y") before heading home. I got off work, shared some dinner and then we headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. They all made it up past 9:00pm which in itself is an accomplishment.

Mount Shasta BCF Climb

It was a tough multi-day climb and mother nature made it difficult. Only 12 of the 36 climbers made it to the summit. Many were turned back by a boulder fall and the weather conditions and mountain conditions were difficult.

Becky beat her money raising goal of $14,162 (1$/foot) by raising $19,258.62, and she also scraped her way up to the summit. Go girl go!!!! And a heartfelt thank you to all of you generous souls who helped pave her way.

Click on the link below titled "Becky Pictures" to see pictures along the climb. If you get a page that look s like the one below, then click on the back button (by the hand pointer) to see the film strip. You should not have to download the snapfish software!

The link is only good thru August 15, 2007! (to get back to this blog hit the back button in your browser...)


"Becky Pictures

I haven't been able to get much out of Becky so far but here's what she's written to date:

"WOW!!!!!!

Gratitude, Honor and Wow are my 3 best words to describe this incredible week!! I met the most amazing people and was able to carry out an incredible mission to the top of that 14,162 ft mountain in horrendous weather conditions! I feel so fortunate! Only 12 out of 36 climbers were able to summit, mainly due to Mother Nature, and her way of making us realize how minute we really are. Please go to: www.breastcancerfund.org to follow the blog they created while we were there for a little more info.

I’m sure I will write more later, but the whole week is still a scramble in my brain waiting to be sorted out. I am now home safely. I am rather exhausted but elated."

Hot and Stuffy

auuughh..I'm already missing winter! It was sweltering hot today and combined with jet lag I was primed to move to the South pole!

Things are going well here but after seeing Colorado, if even for a brief time, I'm feeling a bit homesick! The thin Colorado air felt soooo good.

I'm also really feeling the passing of time. Brenna is already looking into colleges and I'm realizing that the number of weekends we'll all have together before she packs up is shrinking quickly...Yikes, we will soon be down to double digits...

Unravelled travel

As good old Dave flew out to Colorado to work with a client, Dedi and the girls flew to London to combine some tourism and culture with a training course for Dedi.

As I was preparing to drive to Geneva to pick up the girls, Brenna called me from London, almost in tears...her train was stalled and she feared she and Aubrey would miss their flight.

Sure enough Brenna and Aubrey did miss their flight and were forced to try and catch a flight the following Monday morning. Strapped for cash and phone time, Brenna managed to get an airline agent to let her make an international call from their phone. We quickly got her set up with an airport hotel and I headed out the next morning to the Geneva aiport to pay the ticket transfer fees. For some reason this could not be done over the phone. So long story short, the girls finally made it back. Best of all, they both saw the trip as very enjoyable! Highlights were a tour to the Tower castle and two musicals, Spamalot and Wicked!

Oh, and thru a stroke of good fortune, I call Dedi and some train employee answers. Apparently he had just found her phone on a seat! The train was seconds from reaching Dedi's stop and somehow he finds her as she's exiting. Now that's timing!

Colorado travel

I'm just getting back from a business trip to Colorado. Instead of returning home on Friday, I pushed my return trip to Staturday. I headed down to Colorado Springs on Friday, visited Dedi's parents (they're doing pretty well) and enjoyed a nice Sushi dinner with Bob and Patty.

We then visited the Langes and Jeemai and I played a bit of piano. It was wonderfully depressing to sit at my old piano...

Wonderful to hear and feel it, but depressing knowing that I can't bring it with me!

Bob and I capped the night off with some intense handicapped ping-pong (he spots me many points to help make the games close) and we quickly forgot that one of us is really pushing 50 as we reverted to our old teen-age years!

Saturday I had a nice somewhat impromptu lunch with Dennis, Dinah, Irham, Jim A. and Michael P. It was nice catching up with them and I was happy to get the free time.

My flight back was okay...nothing wrong, just a completely full flight which translates to hot and stuffy air and long toilet lines.

Trapped

In retrospect, I'm almost too embarrassed to post this one but it's too good not share...

The 6 of us (dogs included) came up to Zurich to watch an incredible fireworks display and visit our friends Jan and Margaret.

I guess it really starts with a conversation with Jan about 6 months ago as he and his family were packing up for their move here. I was a guest at their house and he mentioned wanting to take the queen size mattress I had been sleeping on to Zurich. It was a nice mattress, albeit slightly used, and my recollection is that I advised he leave it behind...however this is contested by Jan who claims I said "pack up everything you can!"...anyways on my visits to Zurich, this is my guest bed and I guess I should be grateful! Sure beats a hard cold floor...

The catch is that they store this beast in their basement cave and it needs to be dragged up 4 flights of stairs...why? Well on my first visit, their new building had not yet installed their elevator..On this 2nd visit, the elevator was functional but Margaret and I couldn't figure out how to get it in the elevator, and Jan, who had stayed home with Yashu while we had all gone out to see the fireworks, was sound asleep...

So Margaret and I lugged it up the 4 flights...

Today, as we were getting ready to pack it back downstairs, Jan suggested we just take it down in the elevator. I looked at Margaret, and said,..."Hey there's an idea, why didn't we think of that?" of course knowing the elevator is half the size of this mattress...

So as I was getting ready for the descent, Jan surprised me by somehow working some magic and wedging the mattress inside the elevator. As Jan said, "Come on in!" I was too surprised at his feat to really think about what I was getting ready to do. All I could think of was "We carried this up yesterday and look, we could have taken the elevator!"

Only after the elevator door closed, did we both realize that something was very, very wrong. The mattress was in the elevator at a perfect 45 degree angle, nicely sectioning the limited space into two triangles.

Both of us were in the same triangle.
Both of us were in the wrong triangle.

Jan spoke first as we looked at the mattress that blocked all access the elevator controls..."do you have your cell phone?"

Fortunately I did...Okay, this will be easy, just call Diana or Margaret, and get them to open up the door for us. As I fumbled with my phone, it went into a special limited use "Emergency Calls only" mode...Now how did it know? Fortunately this had happened to me once before...Don't worry, Jan, if I power cycle the phone, it should go back to normal mode.." So I powered cycled and the phone came back with "no signal"...Oh man!

So there we were, maybe feeling pretty good about having fit both us and the mattress in the elevator, but the thought did cross our mind, that some might find our predicament more funny than unfortunate.

And of course, the thought, "How long before someone will come and call the elevator?" We both knew the odds were low. Few tenants in the new building, and most took the stairs and used the elevator only for groceries...and today being Sunday, all stores were closed...

Maybe Dedi and Margaret will come looking for us? Doubt it...they'd probably figure we got distracted with something...

I was closest to the door and tried banging on it, but these Swiss buildings are pretty well sound-proofed and this proved futile (though Dedi did later comment, "Oh so that's what Telly was whining about!"). We then tried bending, plying, punching the mattress to get around it, but if anything this just tightened the seal...It was wedged in like the bow of an arrow and was not budging...

Finally, Jan, who is a formidable climber, managed to get a foot on a safety railing, and lift himself up to the top of the elevator..There was about a 6" gap at the top between the elevator roof and the top of the mattress.. Jan used his weight to compress mattress and squeeze his head and upper torso through this gap...Good thing the mattress wasn't any taller! Else I might not be writing this blog...

Finally, I heard "Got it"...Music to my ears! We were on our way down!

We promptly loaded the now infamous mattress back in the 'cave' and headed back ... And for those of you wondering, yes, we did take the elevator back up!

As we entered their aparment, Dedi and Margaret both commented..."What took you guys so long? We figured you went off looking at bikes or cars ..."

Jan and I looked at each other, "Well not quite...have we got a story for you!"

Dent de Jaman

My friend and ex-colleauge David, who just moved here from the Springs to join our company, joined me on a hike up to Dent de Jaman this Saturday. It was a beautiful hike and TOG (the old guy) as David like's to be called taught me some neat lessons on how to climb down steep slopes. Tigger and Telly joined us on the outing and clearly were in their element.
Here are some pictures...




TOG, getting ready to head out...
The 'tooth'
Tigger, feeling good!
View from the top...
Not bad view in the other direction either!

Old traditional 'hut' roof...

Wow, it has a windshield..!

After over 18 months of life without a car, we broke down and bought our neighbors BMW 330 Diesel sedan. It's a pretty nice car that's been maintained perfectly but I must say the most noticable change for me is that it has a windshield and windows that keep out the rain! I guess you appreciate the basics when you've gotten used to doing without.

I think this will open up a new dimension for our family travels. I'm sure we will still do the bus and train routine but for many day trips this will be quite nice.

ps. And of course, the trunk is just big enough to hold my bike!

Cheers, Dave

Sunflower Paradise

Had a nice ride back up Mont Tendre last Sunday. Tried to do the climb in under 1 hour and came close...61.5 minutes...maybe next time. Did get some nice shots of the sunflowers...

It was a nice day with a much needed break from continuous rain. The rest of the week went back to the normal daily showers.

Now it's Friday and it looks like another day of good weather. Can't complain..rainy weeks and nice weekends.