Switzerland

Gosh. I just hate that I haven't blogged in so long. But you see, I have been in Switzerland.

O,K....well... thats not exactly true....I HAVE been in Switzerland....but not the entire time since my last post.

But my trip was pretty much the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. I just haven't been able to distance myself from it enough to pour it out here, in mere words. But you deserve to KNOW. You deserve to HEAR of this wonderful, capitalist utopia, set in the most magnificent background known to man.

Let me back up a bit. Race and I were about to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. I know, right? 20!!! 20 years!!!It is incredible. It seems like just yesterday, Race got down on one knee, in my parents living room and asked me to marry him right in front of my pesky little sisters and my folks.(FYI, I died. I died right there. It was one of those out-of-body experiences that you hear about, only there were fireworks and showers of hearts and flowers and for a brief second everything turned pink......at least....thats how *I* remember it.)

With Race's schedule, we gave up years ago trying to celebrate special occasions on their actual day. We learned (for some of us, it was the HARD way) to celebrate when we were all together and let the rest slide with a simple, happy, acknowledgement. But this was a big one. 20 years!! Holy Cow! We felt we should celebrate it properly.
Let me also add that with Austin starting college this year, we also knew that financially, it seemed now or never!! (It may be a lean Christmas, but who cares? Sometimes you gotta go for it when you can. And besides.....I've been meaning to start that whole 3-gifts per kid thing for a long time...guess what kids? SURPRISE!)

Race, being Race,....faithfully reads Backpacker Magazine. He reads it from cover to cover. And then enjoys perusing the adds, and all the clever marketing (that gets him every.time.) right up until the next issue arrives. He is a bit of a gear hound and this feeds his addiction.
Anyway, his beloved Backpacker Magazine did an article on the Worlds Best Hike . Race saw sunbeams shining down magnificently on that article. He showed it to me, with this huge grin on his face. "THIS is what we should do for our 20th Anniversary"

So naturally.....we had to do it. When he gets that smile on his face about something, I am already compelled to follow, just to see how things turn out. I smiled back. "Let's do it!"

We were SOoooo excited!!!! This. Was. It!!! A symbol of the culmination of our 20 years together in one giant, cool, bad-ass, amazing trip. We were hooked. It was on.

And you MUST make your own plans to go. You MUST. Be it now...or some time in the future. You MUST GO.
So I am going to attempt to tell you all about our trip backpacking across the Swiss Alps. All the sordid details that everyone else always leaves out. The love, the hate, the kissing, the screaming, the packing as well as the all important gear-list.All the stuff that goes along with travelling with your spouse of 20 years to the worlds most amazing destination. Switzerland!

Cheers!

Melissa