Cave Day

Today was cave day. The first picture is actually the last cave we saw. Way up(by funnicular) and inside the mountain was a huge cave with waterfalls everywhere. I'm going to try and post some more pictures after this. The second picture is outside the cave we went into this morning. We took and hour and a half walk inside the mountain through all kinds of tunnels and caves--beautiful. Then we walked down the outside and could see the waterfall from the caves. The third picture was outside the entrance to the caves--just liked the flowers and the view. We are more than tired tonight. It's 7:30 and we are in for the night and close to bedtime. Lots of walking and climbing today.

Tomorrow we pack up and head North about 2 hours to find another place to stay--hopefully, for 3 nights.

Hello from Switzerland!!!

Sorry it's been so long, again, since the last posting. We haven't had Internet connection. At least, I thought I didn't. I tried tonight and found myself connected to someones network in the neighborhood. The neighborhood being a small village, up the mountain overlooking the Thunersee in Switzerland. We are staying near the Interlaken area of the Alp foothills or mountains. We picked Ken and Linda up on Wednesday and drove about an hour and a half to our first two nights stay. We took the cable car up Brienz Rothorn on Thursday and from there we hiked to the summit. The last two pictures show us hiking and the view from the summit. The third pic, Jim took of one of the mountain goats or Ibix that live on this mountain. There were about 25 of them grazing near the path. The picture of me bending over is actually me trying to climb up the mountain---a very narrow path with no guard rail. The first picture is of Jim and Linda on our hike today. Another cable car and another hike--absolutely, breathtaking scenery. Best, by far, so far on the trip. The second picture is from our bedroom at the B&B where we are staying for 3 nights. Ken and Linda are in another B&B down the mountain. This is a very popular tourist spot and there were just no other rooms available. Tomorrow is a trip and hike to a waterfall--will try and post more pics tomorrow night. Just got off of Skype with Jen and John. Jeff and family are away for the weekend, so we can't talk to them today. We all are bushed from all this exercise and fresh air--but what a nice tired. Can't believe we are here.

Last Two Days in Germany

We are spending the last two days in Germany packing our `stuff´. And believe me we have accumulated a lot of it. You know, presents for the kids and grandkids. And souvenirs for us. Kind of sad to think Germany will be behind us. We are looking forward to our travels with Ken and Linda in Switzerland starting on Wednesday.
We were up in the mountains again on Saturday.We thought we were going to take a gentle hike--but there wasn't one to be found--it was all straight up!! I can't show pictures--I'm using an Internet Cafe again instead of wireless with my computer. Yesterday, we went to the community pool for a swim. Beautiful facility. They have 4 big pools and a small one for the little guys. They were not heated, but were refreshing. We had fun just people watching. This morning we drove over the bridge to Switzerland to buy a travel sticker for the car. We do not want another ticket!! The sticker was about $40--ticket would be about $120. Everyone must have one to drive on Swiss roads.
Two weeks from tomorrow we head back to the good 'ole U S of A. Hard to believe. It has been an awesome experience. And Wednesday the adventure continues!!!

Fife was at it again!!

Yesterday, we drove to Bad Sackingen, Germany to find an apartment that would be near Basel, Switzerland. We are dropping Ken and Linda in Basel to meet Ken's son, Bill on the 17th of July. We are leaving most of our luggage in Bad Sackingen next week, so that we'll have room in our tiny car for the four of us to travel together and then we'll pick the luggage up after we drop off Ken and Linda. Confused? Me too. Anyway, to find an apartment we stopped at the tourist information office and got a printout of available places. We used Fifi to find these places. As you can see by the last picture above, she led us on a merry chase. We did a lot of back tracking!! We did find a very nice place and will move there tomorrow. It is right in the city and close to lots of things to do. The main thing is that Bad Sackingen is right on the Rhein River. We're hoping to find some trails along the river for some good walks. Today, we're Skyping family---my brother Scott and sister-in-law, Vicki, John, and hopefully, Jeff. Talked to Jen yesterday. Sure great having these family connections.

The rest of the pictures are from our drive back to Titisee yesterday afternoon. It probably was the prettiest part of the Black Forest that we have seen--very mountainous, lots of huge rocks. Gorgeous.

Not sure when I can post again---probably on Monday the 6th.

It is raining again--every afternoon since we arrived in Titisee. It's ok, though. We do what we want in the morning. It rained all the way back on the train from Freiberg. Another big, congested city. We did a lot of walking. I found a used book store that had English books!! Have enough,now, to ge me home. This morning, we took a walk in the Black Forest. You can tell by the pictures! Went to a waterfall and then had lunch in a cute little Gasthaus at the bottom of the falls. Then it started pouring. Tomorrow we may go check out places to stay near the border of Germany and Switzerland. Tonight, we watch tv---well, we watch CNN International. The only English speaking channel. Same news day after day. Be glad to get back to Judge Judy.

More pics from Zeeland, Holland with Henk and Corry Boomstra

Pictures from the North Sea and towns in Zeeland--sorry Corry I can't remembe their names!! Beautiful country.

Freiberg, Titisee, and 10,000 kilometers

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted to the blog. Today, is the first day the Internet Cafe has been open. We arrived in Titisee on Saturday morning and found another apartment for a week. We are about 60 km from everything we want to see. Titisee is a crater lake in the Black Forsest of Germany. The first picture and the third picture are of the Black Forsest. Just beautiful here. Weather has been a little iffy. Rain everyday. On Sunday, we drove to Brubenbach where they were having a old car/tractor/motorcycle show. A local community thing. We had something to eat and listened to the oompa band (last picture)--kind of fun. Yesterday, it rained all day so we did nothing. We just got back to Titisee after riding the train to Freiberg. Another, large, busy city. Did a lot of walking and had lunch. This town was pretty much demolished during WWII, so there were not many old buildings.

We had such a good time at Corry and Henk's house. They took us on a tour of two local towns that are very old and quaint. We shopped and ate lunch--walked the beach of the North Sea. On Thursday night we took them out to dinner and had a great meal of the local fish. They have a lovely home and we really appreciated their hospitality.

Saturday we move on to somewhere near the border of Germany and Switzerland. Ken and Linda arrive on the 8th and we tour Switzerland with them for a week. Hard to believe that in 3 weeks from today we head back home. Yea!! We're ready!!!