Blog -- August 3 Where Am I? We biked through three countries in a matter of hours this morning. At times, we were not quite sure whether we were in Liechtenstein, Austria, or Switzerland. But this evening, we are definitely in Switzerland. We awoke to blue skies and warm temperatures. Biking along the Rhine River, we had 40 kms. in before 11:00. It was about that time that we got “misplaced” in the town of Hohenems, right on the border between Switzerland and Austria when we stopped at a store for a supplies. It was also at about that time that the clouds moved in and the temps got cooler. We eventually found our way towards Rorschacherberg, our goal for the evening. About noon time or so, the clouds opened, dumping their load of rain on ... read more

Blog -- August 1 A National Holiday Today is Switzerland’s national holiday; we will probably fall asleep to the sound of fireworks because tonight we are camping in the country’s oldest city, Chur (pronounced Core). Speaking of pronunciation, we are now in German-speaking Switzerland. I have some understanding of both Spanish and French, but no German. I’ve tried, but it just does not come to me. I apologize to all those with whom we struggle to communicate over the next three weeks. Leaving Disentis this morning, we quickly found ourselves on another narrowing mountain bike trail. Though the scenery was beautiful, our bodies and bikes are just not made for off road single track through the forest. We saw few other touring cyclists on the trail though we did leap frog with one young man on ... read more

Yeah, I know that we did not send out a blog yesterday. Frankly, we were just too lazy and we couldn’t ask Lady or the Tramp to do so because they had already had a rough day. We awoke in Grimentz to some blue sky, which gave us hope for a sunny day. By 11:00, the clouds had lifted and the roads had dried, so we loaded up the bikes and headed DOWN to Sierre. The pain of saying good-bye to Maria and Manfred was eased by knowing that we will see them again in a couple of weeks. We had about 7 kms. of very steep descent, followed by 5 kms. of very steep ascent, then 10 kms of EXTREMELY steep descent. We stopped every half kilometer or so to allow the wheel rims to ... read more

As I sit here this evening listening to soft classical musical, I am looking at the Swiss Alps topped with clouds that bring the rain that makes the flowers here so lovely. Fortunately, it did not rain all day. Again today we hiked in the mountains, from the town of Zinal to the Petit Mountet. Zinal is nestled amidst a majestic mountain landscape that includes the Weisshorn, which at 4506 meters is the fourth highest peak in Europe. The old village of Zinal consists of a number of chalets built of Swiss pine. At one time, the village subsisted on a nearby copper mine. Today, the area is a mecca for tourists who wander the 300 kms. of hiking trails, some of which families enjoy; others of which require mountain guides as they head over peaks ... read more

Eat your hearts out because when you see these pictures you will wish you were here. Today we hiked up into the Alps, into the Val d’Anniviers to the Moiry Glacier. This glacier is now 5 km long and situated in the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. In 1973, it had an area of 5.75 km. Obviously, like other glaciers around the world, this one is shrinking. This area attracts both summer tourists, for the hiking, and winter tourists, for the skiing, both downhill and cross country. There are also 120 kms. of snowshoe trails open in the winter and 15 kms. of tobagganing trails. I believe that some major ski, etc. competitions are held here frequently. We started the hike from just below the Barrage du Moiry, the Moiry Dam, which ... read more