The Events of Wednesday, July 27, 2011

                Our final day in Europe! When Dad woke us up this morning, we were full of energy. After devouring a delectable breakfast, we prepared for our short hiking outing. With only two backpacks full of water and snacks, we wanted a short, two-hour walk. Dad led the way through town to a gravel road, which slowly climbed through the trees and alpine flowers. Since we had no destination in mind, we walked slowly and simply enjoyed the beauty around us. Every so often, we would come to a bench and sit to enjoy a water break, a snack, or a fantastic view.

                After an hour of climbing, we turned around and meandered back down. All of us had fun laughing, singing, and simply enjoying family time in the Alps. When we arrived back at the chalet, Mom began preparations for our dinner. During the next day and a half, our bodies will be completely confused by jet lag. Mom wanted to start the confusion now, so she prepared a full hot meal for our lunch. Over the past couple months, we have accumulated quite a bit of food, and this meal was a desperate attempt to get rid of most of it. Mom served up a smorgasbord of pasta, sauce, delicious sausages, Chinese vegetable mix, and bread.

                After the meal, we carried all our suitcases into the main room and began to pack. It was a giant organizing, shuffling, and packing mess. After an hour and a half of hard work, all our souvenirs, clothes, leftover bathroom supplies, and laundry were packed into only nine suitcases. Much of the sorting involved making sure things were evenly distributed so none of our checked bags would be over the weight limit, and that none of our carry-on bags would get us in trouble at customs or security.  After multiple thorough checks, we were pretty sure we didn’t leave anything behind. However, throughout the afternoon and evening, we had quite a few “Oh yeah! We need to find room for that!” statements.

                For the rest of the afternoon, we relaxed in preparation for our long, stressful travel day tomorrow. The girls wanted to rotate through the shower, but after three showers (Caitlin, Dad, and I), there was no more hot water. After a couple hours and a bit of text tag with our host, the water reached a manageable temperature, and Mom, Lindsey, and Abby quickly showered. After we had solved the great hot water problem, we began preparations for our linner. Like our lunch, this was an attempt to finish off all our miscellaneous supplies. It turned out to be pretty good! To top off the meal, Mom made up some hot chocolate. The hot milk made us all really sleepy, so we made a couple of final checks and headed to bed around 6:30. Although we are incredibly excited about returning home tomorrow, we need all the sleep we can get for our early departure and long day.