A week in the Alps

We had plenty of snow this last week, but not so much Internet. So here's the report-in-brief. After a half-day of fairly unpleasant skiing in blizzard-like conditions, with several days of that remaining in the forecast, two-thirds of our group said, "No thanks!" and turned in our skis. Jeff and Weston were the only ones brave, or crazy, enough to continue, and were rewarded later in the week with lovely, though not warm, ski weather. The rest of us spent countless hours huddled in our warm little chalet, sitting around in our pjs, watching French cartoons, drinking hot chocolate, reading, working Sudoku puzzles, playing games, and snacking. But, we weren't just complete slugs. We also took advantage of some of the other fun activities in the little resort town, like swimming in the huge indoor pool, ice skating at the indoor rink, visiting some of the cafes and shops, and, when the weather was nice, sledding, building snowmen, throwing snow bombs, and playing on the playground. One evening, we were all able to attend an ice skating show, which was a lot of fun. Now, we are in a little town near the French/Swiss border, preparing to catch a plane to Moscow in the morning. It's so hard to believe that our time in Europe is coming to an end! But, we are looking forward to new adventures in Asia and beyond!

The place where we rented our skis said we were the first
Americans they have ever rented skis to.
I guess the town was so excited, they hung a banner out for us!

The view from our chalet on various days

Skating

Good thing I was quick with my camera!
I didn't have much time to capture everyone on their skis.

Snow Fun

It's never too cold for ice cream!

The finale at the skating show