October Temple Trip

Dear Family and Friends,

The past week has been a holiday for the Onstott kids, who have benefited greatly from a break from their daily routines. For them, the best vacation is the one in which they get to stay home and play with their toys and friends. Unfortunately, the combination of their holiday and Joe's short reprieve from preparations for ITER Council meetings made this the ideal time to take a trip to the Bern, Switzerland Temple. It was also a good opportunity to take Nicolas for the first time to do some baptisms for some of his Tams ancestors.

On our drive through the French Alps, we were amazed at the incredible fall colors that were much brighter than prior years. Joe stopped to take pictures several times, which along with a late start meant that we didn't arrive in Zolikofen until late at night.


Unknown Ruins

Partly as a result of not getting enough sleep, Nicolas was ill the following morning. While he recovered, Joe, Elyse, and Nicolas explored the forest behind the temple.



Forest Behind the Zolikofen Temple

The damp, cool conditions turned out to be perfect for growing fungi. The kids, who had recently visited a mushroom cave in Northern France, were excited to see how many varieties of mushrooms and toadstools they could find. Joe was also amazed at the various shapes and colors they found during their short hike in the forest. Although there were probably some that were edible among those they found, the rule in all cases was no touching!  Lilia, you will have to give us a lesson!



Fungi in the forest by the Swiss temple.

In the afternoon, we took a trip into Bern to see the bears and window shop. The bears were in good form, climbing trees, chasing each other, and otherwise amusing the kids.

 

Bridge into Bern

Joe and Nicolas were able to do baptisms in the evening. Nicolas had a good experience and made friends with some of the French youth that were there. Joe liked being able to use his French skills and also meeting a family from the U.S. working for NATO.

Traffic Jam

Late in the evening, we drove south to the village of Laterbrunnen in the mountains above Interlaken. This turned out to be a perfect starting point for hiking in the Alps the following day. We started our hike by taking a cable car half-way up the mountain and then travelled along the ridge to the city of Gimmelwald.


Force Five from Manosque

The temperatures in the morning were quiet brisk. However, by the middle of the afteroon, all had removed their coats and were enjoying the Swiss indian summer. The kids liked the trail and gave it high ratings. They didn't even mind hacking their way through tiny threads left by inch-worms hanging from the trees.



Mountain Hut

After several trips to Switzerland, we have decided that the country is like a mult-story building. On the bottom floor, you find the larger cities like Interlaken where the main industries are located. On the second story, there are towns like Laterbrunnen with some retail stores and hotels. The third floor houses small villages like Gimmelwald filled with cows and sheep happily grazing at seventy-degree angles. Finally, there is the roof at around 10 thousand feet on which there are observation posts and bases for extreme skiing and mountaineering.


Hiking in the Alps

The overall result of all of the different levels is to give one the impression of living in 3D. There is always something above or below you to look at.

Mountain Pastures

On the way down the mountain, we stopped to look at the cows and sheep. Elyse made friends with a particular group of black sheep that followed her for some time until they decided she didn't have any treats.



Church in Laterbrunnen

We ended up hiking between six and seven miles. Though not close to our record, it was still a good effort by the kids. Afterwards, Julie, Elyse, and Nathaiel went shopping while Joe and Nicolas climbed up to the Lauterbrunnen falls. The trail took them up along a narrow, wet trail to a point where the water finally connected with the rocks.



Falls in Laterbrunnen

At the end of our hike, we took a tour of Trummelback Falls. Unlike the other falls we had seen along our hike (there are literally hundreds of them in this area), this one is concealed inside a mountain. To view it, we had to take a funicular railway hundreds of feet up and then walk through a series of caves and caverns. Along the path, we had an excellent view of the water falling and swirling its way downwards.
    

Trummelbach Falls

We stopped in Interlaken to attend church on our way back to France. As all of the meetings were in German, it was a reminder of how far we have all come with our French language skills. Fortunately, all of the members either spoke French or English, which allowed us to understand some of what was being discussed.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel