Mishap with Airpods

Kristen fell asleep with her air pods in her ears. Unfortunately, she was also sleeping with her heating pad. One of the air pods fell out and found the heating pad. Kristen woke to find it melted, misshapen, and ruined.

She can still use the one air pod fortunately.

Student Ward in Denver

Kristen is getting to that point where she is ready to try a student ward. Misha has a YSA ward not too far from her house, so while Chris and I went to Stake Conference, Kristen drove to Denver to attend the ward with Misha.

It was a first time attending that ward for Misha as well.

Ypsilon Lake Hike

Chris and I decided at the last minute to go hiking. We could get into the park without a reservation IF we were at the ranger station before 9 am. That gave us 25 minutes to get and out the door...and I had just put biscuits in the oven.

We hurried to pull everything together, get snacks and lunch, and pack water.

We arrived at the station three minutes before 9 am. We didn't have too many slowpokes driving in the mountains either.

We chose to hike to Ypsilon Lake. 2,100 feet of elevation gain in 4.5 miles. Ugh. We had hiked part of this trail with our girls when they were much younger and turned around because it was too steep for them.

2,100 feet of elevation gain is no joke. I read a review on the hike which said, "It is all uphill for the first 4.5 miles. After that, it is all down hill from there!" Right.

We finally made it to the lake and were happy to sit and rest for a bit. We pulled out our lunch and noticed trout lazily swimming in the water right by the shore where we were sitting.

The aspen trees were just beginning to change. 

I sure do love hiking with this guy. Our mismatched heights don't seem to slow us down. I usually take the lead on the way up the hill and his long legs lead the way for us on the way down the mountain.

Random Llama

Misha sent a random llama picture. She was walking in the park in Denver and just came across these llamas hanging out in the park.

Cobweb Art

Look at the delicate drops of water on this cobweb. (You may need to click on the pic to enlarge it).

Flowers in the Front Yard

It usually takes all summer for my begonias to look pretty awesome. They are looking great right now. Until the first frost and then they are done for.

My hydrangea bushes have taken a couple of years to reach their full potential. I love that the flowers start out white and gradually change to a dusty rose color.

Bloodwork

I went for bloodwork for my annual physical. I was impressed with the bracelet of blood vials.

The nurse said it took a little bit to get used to being coordinated with it, but now it is easier to change out the vials. 

And yes, six vials. That was a lot of blood taken.

New National Park Pass

If you are ever needing an idea for a gift, gifting an Annual Pass to the national parks is an awesome one.

My brother sent us a gift certificate, and when our old pass expired, we input the gift card and requested a new card. 

It comes with a lanyard if you wish to hang the pass in your window.

It comes punched in the month that we purchased the card. So if you have a gift card, wait until your old card expires because it will always be punched with the current month of purchase.

You will need to sign it too.

Chris Mountain Biking

Chris went biking with two old co-workers from his CA days. One guy lives in Boulder so Chris picked him up on the way and the other friend came from the south side of Denver. A bit of a drive, but apparently the bike trail close to Blackhawk is pretty epic.

Symphony with Misha

Chris and I went to the symphony with Misha in Denver.

We drove to Denver to meet her for dinner at Pepper Asian Bistro. The restaurant was just a short walk from her apartment. She met us there and then followed us over to downtown Denver in her car. She was planning to drive home for the night with us and it was just easier to park close to the concert hall.

The music was great, especially the "Rhapsody in Blue" song. It made us feel as though we were flying on United as United uses that song for their theme music.

We had a ticket for Kristen too, but she wasn't able to get someone to cover her shift at Chick-fil-A. Fortunately student tickets are only $10.

Amy to St. George

Amy drove to St. George for the weekend to visit her friends Liz and Tanner. She had had a rough week with a broken heart and needed some consoling, a pedicure with Liz, and shooting gun with Tanner.

I'm pretty sure her heart still hurt, but I am also grateful that she has people close by who love her.

Temple Grounds

Chris and I were leaving the Ft. Collins temple and were impressed by the beauty of the grounds and the flowers.

Flat Tire - Dad to the Rescue

Kristen kind of ignored the warning light on her car to "Check Tire". She drove to school but pulled over at the gas station on the way to call her dad to say that she had a flat tire.

Fortunately, the rim was not damaged.

I am grateful for moments like these that Chris was working at home. He went to the rescue and helped Kristen change the tire and then drove to Discount Tire to have them fix the broken tire. 

He "let" Kristen drive his Audi and meet him there.

25th Anniversary - Home

Both Chris and I woke up way too early. I was up at 5:30 am. 

We had an alarm set for 6:30. We got up and started to get ready anyway. 

The hotel’s WiFi was out the entire time of our stay so we weren’t able to communicate much with kids at home or even check our mail. 

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then set off for the airport in the hotel’s shuttle.

I was pretty ticked off at the airport. They went though all of my stuff, made me throw out some liquids so it would all fit in a little bag. 

Even with our early start, we were right on time for boarding once we got through all of the rigamarole. Time to go home.

25th Anniversary - Lucerne and Mt. Rigi

I woke up at 7:30 am on Wednesday morning. Feeling better. 

We had a quick power bar breakfast as we hurried to pack up and catch the steamboat to Vitznau. We got on the boat with one minute to spare. Whew. So many last minute transfers on this trip.

The ride was beautiful. There wasn’t much of Switzerland that wasn’t beautiful. What I will say is that when you get off the boat at Vitznau and you plan to ride the cog rail up to Mt. Rigi, do it as soon as you get off the boat. Otherwise you’ll be waiting for an hour for the next rail. There isn’t much to see in Vitznau. 

Chris and I finally made it to the top of the mountain and decided to move away from all of the tourists. 

We took another cog train over to Rigi Krabel where we planned to walk back along a flat path to the Rigi Kulm (Kulm means rounded mountain) cog rail.

After getting off the cog rail train, we took a gondola up from Krabel where we stopped for a snack at a little cafe just off the path. A cheese plate and a cheese tart.

Our walk back to Rigi took us about an hour and a half. We passed a lot of cows, heard a lot of cowbells, and saw very few people. Those that we did see taught us a new Swiss German greeting, “Gruezi” for hello. 

We even passed by a snack hut with cheeses, honey, meats, and treats. You picked what you wanted and left the money on the honor system.

After a lovely day of hiking/walking through the mountains, we took a cable car back down the mountain to Weggis (Veh-kis). 

The cable car was packed so I was glad to be able to have a window view instead of being stuck in the middle with my claustrophobia. 

We gladly sank into our seats on the steamboat as it sailed back to Lucerne. Once getting back to Lucerne, we had about 30 minutes to get off the boat, rush back to the hotel and pick up our luggage, and then rush right back to the station to line 3 to catch a train to Zurich. 

This was our last train ride of the trip. Fortunately, track 3 was the first track we came to. We didn’t have to run to the furthest corner or the station like other times. It was the evening rush so the train was full. It was about 6 pm when we arrived in Zurich. We took the bus to the Hotel Zurich, not too far from the airport.

We decided to not go into the Zurich old town for the rest of the evening. It was late, it would be dark soon, and it was going to rain. Instead, we found a creperie about 4.5 miles by bus. We made it just as the downpour started! 

The crepes were delicious, the owner so nice. 

Back to the Hilton Zurich (about 5 miles from the airport). With full stomachs, we found an English-speaking channel and watched tv and tried to stay awake for awhile.

25th Anniversary - Paragliding and Lucerne

Paragliding day. 

Honestly I wasn’t too nervous. However, I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it much since Chris had made the reservations for us a month or so ago. 

We enjoyed breakfast in the Queen Victoria dining room and then met up with Marcel and Werner (Verner) our Paraglide tandem guides at 10 am.

We watched as they got the parachutes set up and then it was Chris’ turn to go first with Werner. The tandem pack attached a backpack to our backs with a seat and below that seat, padding for the landing.

I got set to go with Marcel shortly after. I was just trying not to be nervous about running toward the edge of a mountain and jumping off. The flight with Marcel was awesome. 

I'm flying.

If you look closely, you can see the head of a dragon on the side of the mountain.

Chris, Werner, and Marcel

We got to see some ibexes on our way down, a man hiking on a precarious path, and the dragon image in the side of the mountain. I even got to fly the glider. 

We came to a nice landing in a field just next to the bottom of the gondola we rode up yesterday. The hotel sent our luggage down on the gondola so it was waiting at the bottom for us to retrieve it. We picked up our luggage and said goodby to Marcel and Werner.

It was early in the day but we were able to drop off our luggage at our next hotel, Cascada. All of the rooms were named after waterfalls in the area. We set off to explore Lucerne starting with the Chapel bridge with a tower that has been used for defense over the years as well as a prison and a torture chamber. 

We wandered around old town Lucerne and found a great spot for lunch at XXL Kebab and Vegan. We found a bench and sat to enjoy a tasty lunch.

In our wandering we found ourselves at the Musegg fortification with their towers and bastions. 

The fortification was free to tour, so we climbed a tower or two and enjoyed the view. The weather forecast had predicted rainfall for the day. As we climbed down from our third tower, the rain began to pour. We found a cute little children’s farm area where we able to sit out the rain for about 45 minutes. It had pigs, chickens, and goats. The pigs were not too fond of the thunder and squealed loudly. 

Chris quipped, “There’s two pigs. I wonder if they have a blanket.” 

When the rain finally stopped, we climbed the final tower—Mannliturn—which had a parapet at the top that you could climb for a view.

Some cool cows.

We checked out a few churches and then found the Lion of Lucerne, carved by Peter Thorvaldsen, the same man who carved the Christus.

Some more great views.

It was later in the afternoon and we were feeling pretty tired. 

My stomach wasn’t feeling too great. We walked along Lake Lucerne and then found a bench to sit and watch people. I could sense something was going on with my stomach and needed to get back to the hotel. I’m not a big thrower upper. Chris could probably count on his hand the number of times I have thrown up in our 25 years. But I knew it was going to happen. I was trying to figure out what I might have eaten during the day. It was either the falafel wrap at lunch or the quick sip of water I had from a tap in the square. 

Chris went out to find me some ginger ale. He got some dinner at the Burger King down the street and brought me Sprite. That’s all that was available. I put my name on the temple prayer roll while he was gone and then he gave me a blessing when he returned.

I finally threw up after a couple of hours of pain and then fell asleep. I didn’t have a lot of time to be sick as we were checking out in the morning and had plans to visit Mt. Rigi the next day. I woke up just after midnight and felt so much better. I plugged all of my devices in to charge and went back to sleep. 

So grateful for a miracle.