US June/July 2012: Kandersteg, New Rochelle,
Syracuse, Mexico
The month
of June was stressful as we tried to sell what we could and pack what was left
for our repatriation back to the US. Once
the kids finished school at the end of June, we officially vacated our
apartment and traveled to Kandersteg for our last vacation in Switzerland. Kandersteg is one of the most beautiful
places in Switzerland and is also where the boy scouts have their international
scout center. Sandy’s grade goes on a
field trip every year to Kandersteg, so Sandy new the area fairly well. Upon
arriving in Kandersteg, we went for a swim in the local community pool to cool
off from the train ride from Zurich without AC.
I had an unfortunate diving accident and tore my right calf muscle. We thought about going to see the doctor, but
I knew what it was as I had done the same thing on left calf the year
before. We decided to go back to the
Scout Center – one of the scouts pick us up in a van so that we did not have to
walk. We got ourselves unpacked and then
had dinner at the Scouts Center. There
were different scout troupes from around the world and some of these kids were
really impressive to watch at the dinner table – quiet, good manners,
courteous, etc.
The next
day, we took a hike to the Oeschinen See.
The hike involved a gondola ride from Kandersteg and then about a 20
minute walk to the lake. The walk was
more like 45 min with my leg. We had a
nice picnic lunch and enjoyed the views as the kids played by the water. We started hiking back when we came across a
little shuttle transporting people back to the gondola. Given my leg, we decided to take advantage of
the shuttle. There is also a Rodobahn at
the same location as the gondola, so we let the kids take a few rides before
heading back down to the Scout Center
Day three
was the highlight. We went to the rope park,
which involves obstacles and zip lines connected to trees at high elevations
(30 feet overhead). Sandy went with the
kids the first time around, which started with a “training” course at a lower
elevation. After they passed their
training, they proceed onto the real thing.
After making a pass altogether, Sandy let the kids go on their own a
couple of times. They kids loved
it.
On Monday,
we got ourselves to Zurich and got on a plane for the US. I wanted the trip back to be memorable, so I
got business class tickets. The kids
were so thankful for the “big seats”.
When the stewardess came to take our order, the kids acted like they fly
business class all the time - real pros.
We rented a car and got ourselves to New
Rochelle. We stayed overnight at the
Marriot at New Roc City, had a meeting with our builder in the morning, and
then proceeded to Syracuse. We spent a
couple days in Syracuse and then jumped back on a plane to Mexico. I stayed in Mexico for about 10 days (split
between Mexico City and Acapulco), before heading back to Zurich to help out
with the second quarter. Sandy and the
kids stayed behind and visited family in Puebla and Querétaro. 
