stop-over in zurich

We dragged ourselves to the train early this morning and arrived in Zurich for an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at Hiltl - perfect post-race recovery. We walked along the lake and relaxed in the sun as we returned to summertime. Zurich hosted a marathon this morning, and we felt a little left out not wearing medals like many others. Maybe we should have planned to run too, but eating a long meal and lying on the grass was enough activity for today. After a few hour's stop-over, we continued the journey home, dozing on the train. 

cheers

We had a quick visit from a friend this weekend. Jonathan arrived in time to celebrate Swiss National Day with fireworks in Satigny, and stayed for a Jura hike, some walking in the vineyards, and a few bottles of wine before leaving us early this morning. After a a few late nights (by my standards) Derek and I rallied to get back on the trail for a run today, slow and painful, but we did it.

morges

Today I joined Allison and Gavin for an afternoon in Morges. We arrived at a giant inflatable carnival before strolling along the lakefront, playing in the fountains, and admiring the dahlias in bloom along the walkway. It was a beautiful summer day and felt like a big vacation, just a short drive down the road.

since we've been back

Since we've been back, it's been too hot and sunny, and I've been missing cool rainy days, and waiting for friends to get back from their trips to share some Reyka and travel stories. Mostly I've been missing the raw landscape, walking, and just being with Derek in an amazing place. We had a long trip back, waiting at the airport, luggage delay, a nearly-flat tire in the long-term parking, trying to find a gas station to pump enough air into it to make it home, too many adventures too late at night. Pinot greeted us at the door when we finally arrived, and our only task before crawling into bed at two in the morning, was to dump our packs and open the window in the spare room to let everything breath and dry. Wow, that room was fresh when I opened the door to gather the laundry the next day, separating it into piles to be washed with similar odor levels.

We spent the weekend washing and reorganizing, starting to wade through our trip photos, getting back to some runs, and taking walks to check the progress of the vineyard and the height of the corn. 

I finally got around to restocking the groceries. As much as I wanted to avoid the crowded supermarket, the endless piles of every-color fruit and vegetables were incredible. We are lucky to have such variety of produce at low prices, that might be the thing I'd miss if we packed-up and moved to Iceland tomorrow. I'd almost forgotten we were back in time for plums in a rainbow of colors and my favorite, nectavignes. Berries were ripe for picking for muffins, and perfect French melons, and we ate a ton of everything.    

On Saturday afternoon, we had a crazy hailstorm. The huge ice balls wiped out my tomato plants, but most things survived once the ice melted. 

Since we clearly didn't get enough cold water in Iceland, we spent Sunday sitting by the river, picking more berries, and enjoying the sunshine

5th of july

World cup, thunderstorms, rainbows, swimming, running, late nights, bbqs, and Iceland preparation have been the stuff of summer so far. Today we celebrated the fifth of July, combining the Canadian and American July celebrations into one awesome riverside cookout with our Eurofamily. We were lucky to have a perfectly sunny evening after a stormy forecast. 

The river current was strong after the heavy rain this week, so we were all a bit nervous as the kids were drawn into the water. I was the one who got carried away though when I waded out too deep to retrieve an escaped bottle downstream. A bit of a struggle, a brief panic, but pulled myself onto a rock, and got the bottle. Allison got pictures of my hard-earned victory. That was enough excitement for me, time to eat flag cake! 

aravis & annecy

Today we ran the Aravis Trail finishing in Thônes. We headed out early for packet pick-up and to catch the bus to the start. We left Erik to explore the town at the finish line for an uncertain number of hours, not knowing exactly what the course had in store for us. 

It was a beautiful, warm day, and a fantastic muddy, rocky route. I plan to write a full race report with all the details, but for now I'll say that it was tough terrain, difficult footing, killer climb, and crazy-steep descent over scree. Loved it! I had a surprisingly decent run, finishing in 03:35:01, 6th place for women, but more to that story later. Of the 5 runners we know, 4 of us finished the 25km and 1 the 52km routes. A good day all around, but the best part was the cold beer at the finish. Thanks Erik, best water boy ever! 

As the day grew hotter, we gathered a picnic and headed to the nearby shore of Lac Annecy to lounge in the shade, eat ice cream, rent a paddle boat, and take a dip (finally a chance to wash off the sweat and blood and mud from the race). The lakefront was especially lively with the fête de la musique, and kept us entertained well past dark. The perfect start to summer! 

sunflowers

I was afraid I would miss the few weeks of yellow fields this summer while we were in the U.S., but everything is a bit behind schedule. We are finally enjoying the sunny-sun flowers and running through the happy fields.

in the middle

We are back from two weeks in the Midwest, mostly spent in our home towns in Illinois, but with a few stops in Michigan and Indiana. Two beautiful weekends separated by sultry weekdays, but swimming kept us cool on some humid days. Looking back, I didn't have my camera out as much as I'd like, but I guess we were just a bit too busy for that. We spent most of our time visiting with family and friends, BBQs, and catching up on all that is new back home. I did manage to get quite a few shots, chasing around a curly-haired cutie. Settle in for a super-long two-week summary.

Flatland.

After our first couple days with family, we rented a car to drive up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a wedding. It was wonderful to see our DeKalb family and celebrate such a special day for a beautiful friend and her gorgeous wife. The evening was perfect - every detail - right down to the weather. 

Congratulations Michele and Becky!

Next stop, Ann Arbor. The next morning we drove east to meet our friend Justin for brunch in his new town. I ate the best vegan club ever (with toasted coconut, aioli, tofurky, avocado, a side of sweet potato fries and cherry cider). If you go to Seva, please mail me another! After I quit raving about my sandwich, we spent the afternoon exploring the downtown, swanky eateries, searching for fairy doors, and soaking in some Bastille Day pride. The day passed too quickly and we had to hit the road again for one more stop, visiting my Grandma.

We arrived in Shipshewana, Indiana for a late dinner and an evening sitting on the back patio. After a visit with grandma, we made the final, exhausted drive back to Illinois...a lot of driving for one day, GR-AA-Shipshe-Shorewood, about two and a half hours each.

We made a trip to Beecher during the week and swam and visited with my three godparents and some cousins. My "little" cousins are adults, and when you're way for a while, it's fun to come back and meet new family- these two cuties.

We had a lovely visit with Grandma Strom, full of strength and insight at 94!

And we met Theodon (Teddy), a new nephew, and baby brother to our goddaughter Rika. He's a handsome, laid-back guy.

 Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool:

And then there's Rika.

Amber and Brandon had the family at their new house for a dinner and some time playing outside with the animals.

Rika loves the kitty, and the kitty takes it pretty well.

Tyler and his girlfriend have started an exciting venture growing organic vegetables on the farm and setting up a stand in Elburn. If you're nearby and want some delicious veggies check out Strom Family Farm to find out what's fresh.

I like to think we helped out while we were there, but I'm not sure eating what we pick really counts. We couldn't have planned our trip home much better- everything was ripening as we were there...but we missed sweet corn- should be ready in just another week.

Next stop, visiting the prairie - growing strong. We saw bluebirds nested again!

There's so much I missed in photos: a big family pool party, a BBQ and backyard games with college friends, and some splendid evenings sharing amazing dinners with more...and the best vegan-raw key lime pie that there ever could be!

Our last morning on the farm, we walked with Rika. Ate some tomatoes and snap peas, visited the prairie, and chased butterflies in the hoop house, before going out for an ice cream covered good-bye.

Thank you to our family and friends who shared lots of laughter, made us fantastic meals, let us crash their wedding, played trains and basketball and kubb and swam, opened moët to celebrate our being together, went for walks, gave us vegan goodies and hugs and rides and a place to sleep between adventures. Bisous!