Another Gerstelgrat traverse

Since the weather was great and very non-February, we went up and did the Gerstelgrat again. As usual, it was a ton of fun. This is a great little tour and awesome to have so close by.

We were pretty efficient this time and only did static belaying on the two bits with actual climbing. The total time on the ridge, not counting breaks, was about 2 hours.

A note to our future selves, if/when our climbing skills improve significantly, the south wall here looks like a great winter climbing area.

Track:

Visiting Leiden and Amsterdam

Visiting Leiden for a day for Holly's defense and then spending the rest of the week with greg's family in Amsterdam.

Family Visit in Boston: May 14-18

Wednesday, May 14:

Greg has dinner with Gary and Sally at No.9, Andrea arrives late and crashes at the hotel

Thursday, May 15:

Greg has to work, Andrea spends the day shopping and wandering around Boston;

we meet up later for a joint family dinner at East Coast Grill with Gary and Sally, Jim and Kay, Greg and Andrea and stroll through Cambridge with Gary and Sally afterwards to finish the night with drinks at Catalyst on Tech Square

Friday, May 16:

Greg has to work, Andrea has a lazy morning, then moves bags to Gary and Sally’s Hotel in Downtown Boston, strolls with Gary and Sally and Jim and Kay and Grant through town; we all meet up with Greg at Kristens in the afternoon and go to watch the Red Socks in the rain at night.

Saturday, May 17:

Lazy morning at Kristen’s, walk through South Boston to the beach, Head Island, Castle Island and back with Kristen and Grant and Kay and Greg and Andrea; hang out at Kristen’s for the rest of the day

Sunday, May 18:

Late brunch with the bunch, Greg and Andrea have a stroll through trendy SoWa and Shawmut areas, back to hang out at Kristen’s, drinks and pizza-dinner before Greg and Andrea head to the airport for the flight back

Christmas and New Years in the US

Plenty of travel:

• 23rd: fly to Reston
• 25th: drive to Holly and Clint's in Richmond; big family doings
• 27th: drive to Ashville; immediate family + Gary and Sally; hiking; eating.
• 29th: drive to Gary and Sally's; relaxing; hiking in the snow; eating.
• 1st: drive back to Reston; shopping.
• 2nd: fly back home

Too much time in the car, but otherwise very good times. 

The Christmas holidays

A couple days in Aachen/Hergenrath, a few days in Bad Lippspringe, then a few more days in Hergenrath.

We even did a couple hiking trips in the Hohes Venn:

Greg's Parents Visit

A nice week-long visit by Greg's parents.

Highlights:

1. Through the Chaltbrunnental to gather Bärlauch (done this before).
2. Basler Fasnacht
3. A Saturday visit to Thun.

Hiking and sledding in Wirzweli

Underway with Kristen, Greg, and Grant.

Weekend in Paris

We took the TGV to Paris on Friday morning and spent the weekend there with Gary, Sally and Lindley.
Some notes:

1. The catacombs are closed due to vandalism. That sucks.
2. The lines to get ice cream from Berthillon on the Ile de St. Louis are insane. The ice cream is good (the salty caramel was *damn* good), but still.
3. L'As du Falafel is still great.
   
4. Restaurant 1, Mon Vieil Ami: Good, but not very good.
   
5. Restaurant 2, Itinéraires: We had a very good meal here.
6. The Hôtel Devillas (4, boulevard Saint Marcel) was not expensive (Euro 90/night), but not great either.
7. We really need to go spend a week in Paris in a rented flat and do the whole cooking from the outdoor markets thing.

13-22 Feb: Washington DC area

Visiting Greg's family in Reston.
Valentines dinner.
Meeting baby Simone.
Hiking in Great Falls Park
Museum trip.
Gary and Sally and dinner at the Warehouse.
Big combined birthday party.
Emily's baby shower.

Christmas trip: Aachen and Wegberg

We spent a couple days with Andreas and Elke in Aachen and then headed up to Wegberg to spend Christmas with Andrea's family.

Back to Basel on the 28th.

Boone, NC: 19 June-22 June

This wasn't a hiking trip, but a long weekend back in NC for Lindley's wedding.
The trip was too short, but we saw family and friends and ate very well whilst there.

Christmas in Wegberg

Christmas in Wegberg and Greg's birthday with Elke and Andreas

New Years Fondue

Christmas in Reston

Backpacking in Henry Coe: 9-10 October, 2004

We took Greg's parents backpacking in Henry Coe SP. We did the tried and proven trip to Kelly Lake, where we pitched the tents. The boys went fishing. The fall colors were great. It was tarantula season, but we only saw a couple in the parking lot and a single one close to our camp site. "too bad" or "thank god" depending on who you'd ask....

camping at Kelly Lake

In Provence: 12-19 September, 2004

- night train from Venice to Nice, walk around Nice, old town, harbor, fancy dinner
- rental car to Avignon, camping Ile de la Barthelasse, visiting Andrea's parents
- city of Avignon
- market day in Carpentras with Andrea's parents
- wine-tasting trip with Andrea's mum
- tour of little provencal villages with Andrea's parents (Pernes-les-Fontaines, Venasque, Abbaye de Sénanque, Gordes, Bonnieux, Lacoste,...)
- trip to Pont du Gard and Arles (nice, long lunch in Arles), Les Baux-de-Provence on way back
- St-Raphaël

Christmas in Wegberg: 17-27 December, 2003

Same procedure as last year.
First: a couple of days in Aachen, cooking Tom Ka Gai and Huhn mit Koriander with Andreas, Elke und Ludgar, of course a visit to the Glühweinmarkt, meeting Bernard, Stephan, Michael, Lya, and of course Andreas and Elke. Christina came up from Zurich, so Andrea spend a day with her, while Greg went with Andreas and Elke hiking in the Venn.
Then: holidays in Wegberg with Andreas parents, Claudia, Rene and Matias.
We were back in CA for New Years....sleeping off the jet lag.

Thanksgiving in Reston: 25-29 November, 2003

We went to Reston to spend Thanksgiving with Greg's Family.
Greg's dad had gotten tickets for the Redskins game on Sunday, so the three of us went to see the game live on/in FedEx Field. The Redskins lost against the Saints in the 4th quarter 24-20. :-(
It was still a great experience.

2nd down on the 35

Christmas in Wegberg

After the obligatory visit to the Glühweinmarkt in Aachen, for the first time we spent the holidays together in Wegberg with Andreas parents, her sister Claudia, Rene and little nephew Matias.

Aachener Rathaus

Greg's family visiting: 27-30 September, 2002

Kay, Holly and Emily visited us for a couple of days in Palo Alto.
We did some sightseeing in the City and went up to Sonoma Valley for a day of wine tasting.