All in all it was a nice trip and we got to see some friends and our families. Poor Ryan had to stay back once again, while Chance and I braved the seas to make it home. We like to hold Ryan hostage in Switzerland so we can maximize his vacation hours on European travel. But he had some fun of his own which I'll elaborate on later.
The first week we spent in Dallas. Chance was in heaven with his cousins, we got to swim almost everyday, and our little swimmer started to evolve in to a fish before our eyes! I've gotta say it took about a week to get over some culture shock being in my own homeland, from people talking to me at the grocery store, to men holding doors for me. HEB was way too overwhelming at first with so many grocery options! But as the days passed, I was back in the old grove again. I'm afraid after we live here for 3+ years, the culture shock may be worse on the move home!
The most notable story of the trip was the adventure getting from Dallas to Austin. I'll begin the story by saying that I dreamed up my unrealistic idea while still in my dreamy Switzerland, land of clean, prompt, user friendly transportation that is reliable and safe to use. I thought in the spirit of becoming more earth friendly and ecologically aware, I'd brave buying Amtrak tickets so that Chance and I could not only save huge on gas and rental car prices, but somehow remain with a very small carbon footprint. I should have listened to my friend Stirling, when he subtly told me in an email that I should probably think again on that idea. Nanny and Pappy dropped us at the Fort Worth Amtrak station where we waited and waited and waited and waited for the train to pull in 2 hours late, due to the heat and expanding train tracks. Supposidly they were under speed restrictions. We finally board the train after we've waited in the squeltering heat running from track to track guessing which one the train will pull up to. We board our specified car, and as the train finally rolls away, the conductor comes by to take our tickets and informs me that due to the speed restrictions, we will now be arriving Austin 9 hours later. How on earth it could take 9 hours to go 200 miles I will never know. Thank goodness I had bought a pay as you go phone the day before, I immediately get on the phone and Pappy helps me figure out what to do. My mom graciously drives up to McGregor, the 2nd stop on route to pick us up from the hell hole and drive us back to Austin so we can get there before the next day. McGregor, for all you folks wondering, is near Waco. The train pulls up and we anxiously awaite for the ticket lady to unlock the train door so that we can get off. I couldn't see out of the train at this point, or I might would have not gotten off! It rolls to a stop and all I can see is the rocky, weedy ground, thinking the platform will appear at any minute for me to step out on. No. The lady gets her step stool, throws it out the train onto the ground with my luggage, and tells us to get off. Well, hello scene from a murder mystery......
...meet the McGregor Train station, practically condemned. One other person got off the train with us and immediately in to a car. My mom was still 20 miles out and I looked around at the dusty nothingness of this place and started to accept my death or kidnapping......I drug our luggage and car seat down the dirt road to the nearest crossroad where cars were driving by. I thought better to have someone witness my end. My mom finally arrived but man....I think I would rather crash from parachuting out of a plane than do that again :) Needless to say, I sought a refund on the return tickets and to my surprise I actually got all my money back, and quickly at that!I remember as a child my brother having a obsession with He-Man characters. Chance has a similar obsession with Nintendo's Mario and team. This obsession was only solidified with my brother's Wii which he left at Mimi's house for us to play for hours on end. Here's Mario himself with Baby Mario, both enthraled in their Mario Cart game....
Some positives to the trip were that it was much more relaxing, in that I planned much less. We spent most of the time at Mimi's just hanging out, playing in the backyard and swimming at the neighbors. We tried to get Chance out of the house but he didn't want to leave! Finally we got him out to Zilker Park to chomp down on some snow cones.
We got to spend some time at my dad's on the days' he wasn't working out of town, swimming everyday and enjoying the sun. Chance and Matthew thought they were hot stuff driving around the golf cart. We were able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him, and got to have a nice dinner with my grandparents at the County Line...loaded up on BBQ that we miss so much!
Meanwhile, while the cats away the mouse did play....Ryan had lots of things on his agenda. He got to try out windsurfing on Lake Lucern and biked up Mt Rigi one weekend, got to host his cousin Brian for the second weekend, and on the third braved a very impressive 2 day bike ride with his friend Cory through the alps. Check out their route! Also, if you want to see more pictures of thier ride, check out Cory's Pictures.
