Meg's Video Chat

Meg's doing a little video chat with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Cindy who are all in Spain. However, Meg was a lot more interested in our own face that appears in another window on the computer screen.

Weekend in the Mountains

We had an incredible weekend! We went to the mountains and stayed at a place for one night. About an hour into our drive, the snow peaked mountains began. They were gorgeous! We were amazed ... thrilled ... stunned at the sight of them. Here's our first glimpse of them.
After more driving, we arrived at the top of the range. We took more pix here. We totally weren't expecting these views, but we joyfully welcomed them.And of course, the bus driver wanted to get a picture with the girls. Not a shocker.
After just 2 1/2 hours in the bus, we arrived at our ... uh ... "inn." Not sure what to call the place. Again, we were pleasantly surprised with it.
Oh, look ... lunch! Mmmmm.
Temps were in the upper 60s, and after a very fresh lunch in the sun, we set off for a short hike. Many photo opps ...
Dad and Meg - in black and white.
Lia hikes in style.
I was diggin' this here tree.
And of course, a favorite hiking activity - throwing rocks into the river. Val's form isn't bad.
Would be nice minus the shadows.
Hiker Meg.
Smiling goat. Saw lots of goats on the hike ... but they left a personal, natural trail so watch your step!
Later that night back at the "inn", our room was a wee-bit chilly so the girls sported their hats as they got into bed.
Our room had a sitting room where the innkeepers started our heat - burning coal. Not the healthiest but it did get warm. However, we had a bit of a problem late that night when the "boiler" portion of the system overflowed resulting in scalding hot water being dumped into our room. Fun! A metal wastebasket caught some of it, and Mr. Innkeeper finally arrived to fix it ... kind of. He kept pointing at the burner and saying in English over and over - "too hot." Indeed. It overflowed a couple more times but finally stopped. Whew. Sleep.

The morning brought us much colder temperatures. There was a path we wanted to explore so we bundled up the kids. As we set off, it began to snow. Perhaps this will be a short hike.
But really soon it cleared, and we were all shedding our layers.
A view of the "inn" from the trail.
Saw some piglets. Val didn't want to leave them.
More goats ...
Rams. Nice horns.
Yaks. I like this guy. If it looks like we're close, well, we were.
Found a "tractor" - not exactly a John Deere but it made a nice photo opportunity.
As we headed to our inn, we saw a couple interesting things. We ran into this guy with his pigs. I like this picture.
Look out, kids! Don't get hit by that hay hauling car-truck-convertible-motorcycle-cart thing. [huh?!] Sweet ride.
Before we left the inn, we went to a nice waterfall. Come on everyone, final family pic!

Four on a Bike

I've seen these guys before, and I finally got them with my camera. That's a moped/motor bike with four guys on it. Amazing! I wonder if they're practicing for a circus.


Argh! The window bar got in the way!!!

Pond at a Local Park

10 minutes in a bus takes us to the edge of town where there's a really nice park. It's a bit elevated so there was a short hike up a steep hill. But at the top, it was worth it. The air felt cleaner, and the leaves are turning color. We took some photos at this "pond" area. About this pond water, let's just say you would not want to fall into it.