Switzerland - July 2004

Oeschinensee in Kandersteg

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of getting engaged, we decided to go to Switzerland back to the romantic location where it all happened - Kandersteg.  This is also the place where Keith spent two summers when he was 19 and 21 years old - volunteering at the International Scout Center.  We were joined by Keith's parents which made it a truly romantic vacation!  During this trip, we spent time in Kandersteg as well as around Lake Constance (a lake that lies between Switzerland and Germany).

Accommodations:

Bernerhof Apartment (Kandersteg) - We rented a two bedroom apartment which was clean, roomy (had a dining area, kitchen and living room) and functional.

Gasthaus zum Hecht (Mammern) - A cute B&B located close to the lake.  The owner was very nice and hospitable.

Activities:

Shawna and Keith flew in from the States into Zurich and met up with Keith's parents who flew in from Scotland where they were visiting with friends and family.  We arrived in the evening, rented a car and drove straight to Kandersteg where we arrived at almost midnight.

Kandersteg

The next morning (Sunday), we walked up to Oeschinensee which is a beautiful lake nestled in the mountains.  It is the location where Keith proposed to Shawna 5 years earlier (in a row boat after drinking enough wine to drum up the courage).  We ate lunch at the restaurant located on the lake, then did a bit more of a hike to another hut above the lake. Dinner at the Doldenhorn was fantastic.

Doldenhornhutte

Monday morning, we first stopped by the Scout Center to try and check email - which was brutally slow.  We then started off on a hike to the Doldenhornhutte which looks over Oeschinensee.  It was a bit wet as we started, but mostly cleared up until the end when the clouds came in.

On the Tuesday, we met up with Peter and his son Henrik.  Keith was on staff with Peter in Kandersteg in '88 and it just worked out that Peter and his son were in Kandersteg.  We took the cable car with them up to Oeschinensee, took the trail to the right, and headed up to Frundenhutte.  The hike starts slowly as it hugs the lake, but then begins a zigzag through the rocks all the way up to the top - including some pretty steep ledges that Shawna was not totally wild about.  As we were walking, the snow and sleet came in, though we were dressed for the occasion.  A hot chocolate at the hut was much welcomed.

With Peter and Henrik

Gallihorn Hike

Wednesday was "romantic hike day" - meaning we stayed away from friends and parents.  We picked the Gällihorn hike, which is often done as a dawn hike (though not for us!).  It was yet another beautiful hike, with stunning views of the valley.  We also passed a few sheep friends along the way.

On Thursday, we left Kandersteg and headed north, through Interlaken.  We wandered around there a bit before driving up to Lake Constance (aka Bodensee).  We were so close to Liechtenstein that we stopped there for dinner before arriving at the guesthouse late that night.

Friday was spent sightseeing all day: Rhine Falls, the medieval town of Shaffhausen, and then up to Stein am Rhine - a stunning town with hundreds of murals on the facades of old buildings.  Lunch was at a restaurant on the banks of the Rhine, then off to the island of Mainau which is one big botanic garden.  Dinner was on the patio of the B&B in Mammern.

Stein am Rhine

Saturday was our last day so we headed back to the lake and took the 20 minute ferry to Meersburgh on the north side of the lake.  We headed over to Freidrichshafen where we saw a museum dedicated to the Zepplin factory that was in the area - really cool.  We had an early dinner at the guesthouse, retired early, and went to bed so we could get up for a 4:15am start to head to the airport. 

Restaurants:

Hotel Doldenhorn (Kandersteg) - Keith and Shawna had celebrated their engagement here 5 years early and so we returned with Keith's parents to have a wonderful meal.

Crystal (Kandersteg) - A casual place that serves traditional Swiss food.  Keith knew the manager at the time so she treated us well.

For more photos of this trip:

Brock's 85th Bday - Louisiana - April 2004

Shawna's Home in Louisiana

We went to Louisiana for the weekend to celebrate Brock's 85th birthday.  We had invited all of his kids along with their spouses and children.  We had a crawfish boil in the back yard of Shawna's parents house during the day on Saturday.  On Saturday evening, we all went to Red River Grill for dinner.  And on Sunday, everyone came over to the house for brunch when Brock also opened up all of his gifts.  It was nice to have the whole family together.

Oma, Shawna, Shawna's Mom (Honey) and Brock (Ed) - Crawfish Boil

Yum - Crawfish!

Dubroc Clan - Red River Grill

Danny and Nicole

Brock and Shawna's Mom (Honey)

Brock Opening Pressies

Hawaii - January 2004

Maui Beach

We took our first week-long beach vacation together to Hawaii to the islands of Kauai and Maui.  We were looking forward to hiking and relaxing on the beach, especially given that we had been working like crazy before this trip.  However, luck was not on our side and it rained almost the entire time - the kind of rain that the locals had not seen in decades!  So what was supposed to be a cheap trip (hotel and flight on points), ended up being quite expensive as we ate/drank at the hotel and watched quite a few in-room movies.

Accommodations:
Doubletree Alana Hotel - Located in Waikiki, Honolulu.  We stayed here one night before we flew to Kauai.

Sheraton Kauai Resort - Great hotel located in Poipu.

Westin Maui - Another great hotel located in Lahaina.

Activities:
We flew into Honolulu and stayed one night before we took a local flight to Kauai.  In Kauai, we took a boat cruise along the Napali Coast and snorkeled.  We attempted to do a hike on the northern part of the island.  However, the rain put a damper on these activities.

Napali Coast

When we arrived in Maui, we had hoped that the rain would have subsided but it did not.  We attempted a helicopter ride three different times but each time it was rained out.  So instead, we hung out at the hotel and watched movies.  We did drive the road to Hana but didn't get to see too much because of the rain.

On our last day there, the rain stopped just as we were entering a luau which was scheduled to be in doors due to all of the rain.  So we quickly ran around and took photos.  The luau was not as exciting since it was indoors but we enjoyed it.

Kauai

On our last morning, we went to the pool for an hour before we had to head back to the airport to fly home.  This was the first sunshine we had seen on the trip since the first day that we had arrived.

Unfortunately, while we were there, Shawna found out that her grandfather had passed away.  She tried to get an earlier flight home but because it was the holidays, all flights were booked.  So we flew home as planned and then she immediately flew to Louisiana the day after to attend the funeral.