Our Trip to Switzerland

Wow, what an awesome time we had. The weather was picture perfect, the crowds (what crowd's), one technical glitch with the vehicle, the beautiful sites and great fellowship with the Brown Family.

We left Wednesday morning, it took four hours of driving and about 2 hours of stops (lunch and bathroom) and we arrived. We stayed in a Bible school apartment that had accommodations for 8 with plenty of room for the kids to run around and play. There was a full kitchen with fridge and two bathrooms (thank Goodness!).

Day 1 (Wednesday) - We didn't do much on Wednesday, we left around 9 AM, and arrived at 3 PM. Checked in and went to the tourist center to plan our trips.

Day 2 (Thursday) - We started the day with a walk around Interlaken. It is a small and pleasant city but you can tell it caters to tourist. Walked around half the city looking for thrift stores, can you believe it!! We found two, only one was open and it was to be desired. We realized then that Europeans collect junk too. That afternoon, "Tex" our Suburban decided to throw a fit and the hydraulic pump couldn't take it and broke. A local garage (AKA "Money Pit") said they couldn't fix it but knew of a garage an hour away that probably could and I would have to leave it for the night. So I did. We didn't let the vehicle issue slow us down, that afternoon we went to a nearby mountain, went up the cable car to halfway up the mountain, and rented scooters and zipped down the hill. It was a blast!

Day 3 (Friday) - We started the day with a two hour hike (gradual uphill until the steep ending) to watch a Frenchman make cheese the old fashioned way. The other members of our group were Christians from the bible school we were staying at and so we all sang Praise Hymns to the Lord. It was very nice. We hike down the hill, the ladies talked, the kids played in the stream, the men napped. It was also very nice. Once we got back, I inquired at the garage. They would have to order the part from the United States and it wouldn't be here for a week (Yikes!!!). Long Story short, we have ADAC insurance (Kind of like AAA in the states) and they came to the rescue. They overnighted the part to the garage, they provided us a rental car until our vehicle was fixed and since we had to stay one night past our original plan, they paid for the last night in the Hotel. Praise God for ADAC... I picked up the rental car that evening.

Day 4 - (Saturday) - We started the day with a short drive to Grindelwald. We took a cable car up to a rodelbann (toboggan ride). It was a blast. We took the cable car down the hill and found a spot near the river to eat lunch. We were going to head back to the apartment when we decided to stop at a waterfall I spotted from the road on the drive to Grindelwald. This waterfall wasn’t on the map and was actually roped off. So, we walked over the rope, down a ravine, crossed the river, hiked up to the waterfall and it was a blast. Jonathan thought it was the best part of the trip. We spent a couple hours messing around that place seeing who could get the highest or closest to the falls.

Day 5 (Sunday) – Off to the Lake we went. We rented some paddleboats and took a dip into the cold lake water. After a while we got used to it and it was a blast. The brown family had to depart and we decided to head back up the hill to the apartment.

Day 6 (Monday) – What a day! It started with a trip to St. Beatis Cave. We hiked 1 kilometer into the mountain and back. Saw stalactites and stalagmites, underground waterfalls and pools. After lunch, I returned the rental car and “Tex” our suburban was ready for pick up at 5:30 PM. We quickly checked out, loaded up, and headed home. By 11:45 PM we were home!

What a trip!