Exploring more of the US

 Soon we will be off on another RV trip..this time to Virginia and West Virginia. We haven't used the blog in a long time but lets see how this goes!

And lastly...

We woke up to pouring rain for our final full day in Europe. After a big breakfast with all the kids in the hostel  ( yes, we were the oldest by decades) we decided to go to Zofingen one more time to get postcards for the Bungeroths. We were going to go to Grindelwald today but the weather was way too miserable. 
We took lots of photos of Charlotte's hometown but no postcards. Monday during siesta time was not a brilliant time to try..
Once in Zurich we walked everywhere despite the rain. Ate at a New Zealand cafe and hostel and now Don is dead asleep. (Not yet 7 pm) We did do about 10 miles today and his knee finally had enough.
Ready to be home very late tomorrow night.
It has been fun writing the blog mainly to keep our great memories strong.
So grateful to have had this opportunity to  travel while we are still healthy.
Who knows what is now next . .
Always an adventure!

Spontaneity

After exploring Interlaken last night and enjoying a great pub called The Barrel, we decided to just go east on the train and see where it took us. We should have just stopped in Brienz, a charming get lake town near by but we kept going to Rapperswil, at the bottom of the Zurich zee. Cute town with lots of walkers on an old, very long, wooden bridge and many family picnicers on this Sunday.
It took longer than we thought to get home thru central Switzerland but we did enjoy a quick stop in Luzern and the views of the farming communities. We went to the same spot for dinner so Don could have his final taste of curry wurst!
Tomorrow we head to Zurich and we both actually feel ready to head home.

On to the final phase of our vacation

After saying goodbye to Denise and Murren, we walked down to Grutschalp and took the cable car to Lauterbrunnen and then the train to Interlaken.  Since we got there too early we took the train to Thun,  a lake community near by. We saw the paddle wheel ferries and remembered that they were free using the Eurorail pass, so we hopped on! We relaxed on the 2 1/2 hours ride back to Interlaken and then walked to our funky hostel about 15 minute away from the station.  The Balmers Hostel is next to an Irish pub so we started our evening there. We ended with more beer and brats in town and are now fully satisfied!

The most beautiful place ever

We had a perfect day hiking the panoramic high trail today in Murren.  The weather was grand and went from spring conditions to winter as we hiked through snow, flowered meadows and mud. We saw an avalanche,  a herd of ibex, some chamois (I never knew they were real animals) many goats and cows, and after our hike we spent an hour watching the para gliders. The mountains were crystal clear on the Blumenthal Panoramic trail that led to the Shilthorn. We were tempted to get to the top of the mountain where the James Bond movie was filmed but the trail was too dangerous and the cable car way to expensive. All and all a perfect day

Snow

So we woke up to see it snowing ...quite a difference from yesterday when we got sunburns.
We had an awesome breakfast with Denise and the other guests..quite the conversation about politics..then we headed off in the snow on the North Face and Via Alpina trails to the Sprutz waterfall. Went thru 4-5 inches of snow in some parts and down a steep trail to get to the bottom of it.
Settling in now with a cup of tea waiting for laundry to dry after the 7 mile hike.

In love with this area

After waiting for the coffee shop to open. We had our breakfast in the room and walked the steep path down to Lauterbrunnen.  Lots of cows with their bells along the way.
In Lauterbrunnen we took the cable car up to Murren, a most special place.  we are staying at a perfect place: the Chalet Fontana run by a charming British woman. 
We walked down to Gimmelwald,  a tiny country town and have now returned enjoying our beers at the outdoor cafe across from our home. Mountains again are spectacular and everyone here is so warm and friendly. 
We ate out at a little cafe and had our rosti and raclette.  The whole back part of the restaurant was full of Americans and we all had great times exchanging notes.