The Last Hurrah

Well the trip is over and we are back are in the States,

but our last few days were not without lots of activities and

great sites to see.

To back step a couple of days - before we headed up into

the Alps - we were treated to one more special dinner.

Marcel & Michaela treated us to a special Swiss Dinner called Raclette.

It is made by taking a special cheese, and other ingredients,

heating them up in a small oven and pouring the melted cheese over

various ingredients in your plate.

We had boiled potatoes, numerous veggies, chicken and shrimp.

Oh..  and Hefeweizen too!

It takes 5 or 10 minutes to melt the cheese each time so dinner is a slow

and very social event.  Make a little, eat a little and make a little more.

We capped off the event with Marcels Toblerone Mousse.

A white chocolate and milk chocolate mouse.

The man is a master with chocolate and cream.

On our way up to into the alps I wanted to share this screenshot of my Garmin

GPS while traveling on A-8.   The road entered a tunnel and tunnel made a

360 degree turn inside the mountain.

When we left Wengen and headed back to M&M's place for our last night,

we made one detour to revisit the town of Murren.

Murren is located on the other side of the valley from Wengen and is also

perched on the side of the steep valley about 1,500' up from the valley floor.

The views from Murren are incredible.

Like Wengen, Murren is also a car free town.

You can reach it only by Tram.

Paragliders were taking advantage of the clear calm air.

Kate and I stayed in Murren 6 years ago.  On that visit the town was socked

in and we never go to see the incredible vistas.

Below is almost the same view as above.

Note the view once the clouds parted.

To leave Murren you take two trams

The second tram headed down is quite breathtaking.

You come over the edge of the cliff and all of a sudden you are more

than 1,000' above the valley floor.

On Thursday we headed to the airport, returned the rental car and soon were seated

on Swiss Air flight 38 headed to San Francisco.

Once again our business class seats provided lots of room for comfort on the 

long flight homeward.

We were wined and dined and given the royal treatment.

Even though the flight leaves and arrives in daylight, it travels far north as

it follows a great circle route, and this time of year at the high northern latitudes

it is perpetual nighttime, so we had a sunset, nighttime, and sunrise on this flight.

This was taken high in the sky over Norway leaving the sun far to the south.

In summer the same flight would be all daytime.

Our course took us right over Banff National Park in Canada.

You might remember Banff from our travels to Alaska last Spring & Summer.

Approaching SFO we flew right over the Golden Gate Bridge.

We arrived back at Ron & Maxines to a raucous welcome from the Doodles.

By the time we hit the sack it was a 25hr day.

We had a wonderful time.  I hope that you enjoyed visiting with us.

We like to  acknowledge and thank some special friends.

Ron & Maxine for taking such good care of the Doodles and making the trip possible.

Without them, we would never have been able to take the trip.

Marcel & Michaela for their incredible generosity and hospitality.

They really made our time in Europe extra special.

From Driving 5hrs up to Frankfurt just to greet us - to the wonderful way

that they took care of us while we stated with them in Switzerland..

Michaela parents for opening up their home to complete strangers,

they welcomed us and made us feel at home.

Michaelas mom spent a lot of time preparing special deserts and German meals.

Thanks so much to all of you.

Tomorrow - we hook up the Montana and head off for the Arizona Desert.

Ron & Maxine will be coming along with the Party Bus.

Our eventual destination will once again be the big Montana RV circle in Quartzsite.

First stop will be the Orange Grove in Bakersfield for some fresh fruit picking.

Then Lake Havasu where the 4 of us will hook up with Jim & Kristi.

Somewhere along the line I'd like to take a nap.