Mountain Biking Tamarack

This past weekend Dave and Vicki flew in and we drove up to Tamarack where we rented a condo with Mom and Dad for the weekend. We rode the trail system there and enjoyed a hearty game of Star Trek Uno and the hot tub afterwards. It was great to be together!

You can see more pictures on Dave & Vicki's Blog.






























Along Pelican Trail
















































Mom's record-breaking 200 point Uno hand

Pictures of Zürich, Switzerland

Here's a shot down the Limmat River. The Grossmünster is church with two towers on the right. It was a cathedral which later became a protestant church. Ulrich Zwingli preached in this church during the Reformation.


































Here's a view of Zürich's old town from one of the Grossmünster's towers.















Here you can see Lake Zürich and the headwaters of the Limmat River.















Here we are in the old town on the shores of the Limmat River.















You can see Venetian style gondolas in the river as well as a kayaker.




















We found this great sweatshirt in an H&M clothing store. It supposed to be a hip, relaxed American style sweatshirt. It says, "Boise, Montana -- Rambler's Rest, Highway 90." Their fact checker missed a few things, but I'm glad to see Boise getting some international publicity.

Pictures of Lausanne, Switzerland

The cathedral in Lausanne is one of the most beautiful I've seen.
















From this park you can see across Lake Geneva to the French Town of Evian (famous for their bottled water). On less overcast days you can see the French Alps as well.





















We were pleasantly surprised to find palm trees in Lausanne.

















































The area around Lausanne is known as the Swiss Riviera for it's many terraced vineyards along the shores of Lake Geneva.















We had great weather every day on our trip. It was always sunny and in the 60s, but on the French side of our evening drive around Lake Geneva we ran into quite a fierce wind and rain storm that later turned to snow. Here I am trying to keep our 500 pound car on the narrow road.















Here's a snow covered field in France.

Pictures of Grenoble, France

Here's the car we rented in Geneva for our day trips. It's a Daihatsu Sirion which is a Japanese car about the size of a Geo Metro. It worked well and was easy to park in small parking spots--which all were. Driving anywhere took 100% of both of our energies. As I dodged trams, mopeds, delivery trucks, and bicyclists, Stephanie read our map, translated the road signs, guided us through roundabouts, kept an eye out for the inattentive pedestrian, and negotiated with the surly French tollbooth personnel. It was great fun.




















Here's a square filled with cafes in Grenoble's old town. You can see the Alps in the background as well as their Christmas decorations, which are evidently a perennial adornment.




















In this park, you can see a statue of Composer Hector Berlioz above the tulips.















Here's a view of La Bastille. These ancient fortifications were built across the river high in the granite bluffs.















This is Grenoble's Little Italy. There are exclusively Italian restaurants and shops on this street.















Here's the gondola station that leads to La Bastille, framed by the old town's cathedral and the Alps.















We rode the gondola to La Bastille to get this view of Grenoble. You can see the old town located around the river with new development extending beyond that. There are 500,000 people living in Grenoble today.















Here we are enjoying a "light breeze" at La Bastille.

Pictures of Geneva, Switzerland

This cathedral (San Pierre) is where Jean Calvin preached during the Reformation.




















The building behind the Geneva's cantonal flag is where the Red Cross was founded.




















The Swiss (and perhaps all Teutonic Cultures) are fixated on clocks. I liked this unusual one.















Here's a classic Mini Cooper which is ideal for parking in medieval Geneva.




















There were a lot of swans in Lake Geneva and along the Rhone River.















Here's the Jet d'Eau, a fountain on the edge of Lake Geneva that shoots water about 400 feet into the air. You can see the outline of the Jura Mountains in the background.















Even the graffiti seems well-intentioned--if slightly incompetent.















They have a large monument to the Reformation in the park outside the University of Geneva.















They also have a lot of outdoor chess sets.















This park overlooking the lake has Roman ruins in it and it was occupied by ancient peoples even before that.















Here we are on the banks of the Rhone River on our way to dinner one night.

Visiting Switzerland and France

As many of you know we went to Switzerland a couple of weeks ago. We had a terrific time and the experience was confirming that we'd like to live there someday.

We flew into Geneva and after spending a few days around the city we rented a car and drove to Grenoble, France for the day. The next day we drove our car around Lake Geneva after spending most of the day in Lausanne, Switzerland. The following day we drove to Zürich where we spent three more days before flying home.

The following blog posts share some pictures from those cities.

Stutzman Quoted In LA Times

My college buddy, Bill Stutzman, was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times last week to discuss the move 300. He said that they bungled the facts a bit in that two different students showed the clip and discussed what it would be like to live in Sparta as a woman. Nonetheless, it's cool to be quoted by the LA Times.

The article also mentions the novel Gates of Fire which I enjoyed when I read it a few months ago.

March Madness!

The college basketball national tournament is upon us! Here are my picks, so fare I've missed about 4 games...

Home Improvements

When Dave & Vicki were here last weekend, Dave helped us fix a door molding and some mop board moldings. This weekend we painted them and rearranged the furniture. It's so nice to have those things completed!

Skiing Tamarack

Last weekend Dave & Vicki flew in then we all drove north to Tamarack where we met Mom & Dad for a day of skiing. We had a great time; the weather was great and it's fun to ski together. Tamarack seems to be better each time we visit...

Skiing Brundage

Mom, Dad, and Andrea met us in McCall last weekend where we rented a condo and skied Brundage. It was cold (-10 F) in the mornings, but it was probably about 20F on the slopes on Sunday afternoon.

It had been a long time since Andrea and I skied together; she's a good snowboarder!















In the afternoon we saw this cool pillar of light shining down into a few trees on the slope. I've never seen anything like this before.