Jersey with the Fam

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting with my parents in Jersey. My parents live in a small town near the Jersey shore and we tried to visit the beach as much as possible. Rand also had a great time just running around my parent's property and playing with his cousin Heath who was able to come down from Brooklyn. 

Here are some of my favorite pics of Rand at my parents house. I do hope we get to visit again soon... but with Rob.

 Rand loved helping Grandpa mow the lawn.

World War II Veterans Memorial Park

While we are visiting my parents, its been fun taking Rand to the parks I grew up playing all. This one park was reconstructed about 10 years ago. The centerpiece of the park is a monument to the Veterans of the Second World War consisting of a bronze statue of a WW2 infantryman, affectionately referred to as the “Grunt,” and seven granite walls dedicated to each branch of the service.

Around the park is a maze of walking trails and a playground with pieces resembling WW2 military equipment.  You can also find some vehicles and equipment from the war along the pathways.

Seaside Beach

I grew up at the Jersey shore and since we lived in Germany, I have have greatly missed the ocean. One of the first evenings we arrived in Jersey, my parents took us out to Seaside to show Rand the ocean. At first, Rand wasn't a fan of the sand but LOVES the water so he gave in to the sand and now loves it too!

We all had to chase after Rand who kept running into the water. 

Jersey Mike's, beach trip and ice cream... Best Day Ever!

Today we had fun outing with my Dad and Pop-pop. We went out to Point Pleasant to have lunch at Jerset Mike's sub (#13, Mike's way) and ran up and down the shore nearby.

After collecting shells and chasing waves, we headed over to Hoffman's to get some homemade ice cream. Rand loved seeing all the flavors and picked (and devoured) a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Flight to America

The day I have been dreading has arrived... our flight home to America. My inner child was throwing a tantrum in the terminal because I did not want to leave Germany. The past 4 years in Europe have been amazing and I did not want it to end. We got to see and experience so much and I am going to miss it all. 

We checked in early at the Ramsetin PAX terminal and checked A LOT of bags. We had some time to kill before our flight so walked over to the KMCC (Kaiserslautern Military Community Center), a HUGE AAFES mall to kill some time. We grabbed some lunch and did some shopping before heading back to the terminal. On the 2nd floor of the terminal is a Family Lounge room for kids 5 and under. They have a large room full of toys and seating along with a restroom, a nursery with cribs and a nursing room. The family lounge also contains a small kitchen with a fridge, microwave, sink and bottle warmer.

Besides having to wait for HOURS to board our flight, it went pretty well. We flew a huge double-deck aircraft that was a Patriot Express flight.  Rand even napped for a few hours! We arrived late at night at BWI and stayed at a nearby hotel. Rob had to catch a flight early the next morning but Rand and I stayed at the hotel to wait for my family to pick us up.

Our first morning in the USA, Rand learned a new word "air conditioner." While I was getting ready for the day, I heard Rand laughing hysterically. So of course I grab my camera and peak around the corner to find him laughing at the air conditioner. 

Welcome to America Rand!

Camden Aquarium

Today we took a drive out to visit the Camden Aquarium... oh and that is my mom with Rand, not me ;) I know, we look like twins. 

 I suggest going right when they open. It got very packed within an hour after we arrived. I also recommend buying your tickets ahead of time online. When we arrived we made a B line to the kids area. Rand had the floor to himself before we backtracked and Parking was $10 and tickets are around $27 for adults and kids ages 2-12 are $20. 

On the top floor is a great little interactive kids section. 

Address:

1 Riverside Dr 

Camden, NJ 08103

Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

Now that we are living out of a suitcase in TLA waiting for our flight to America, we thought we would squeeze in one last hooray before we leave Europe. 

Rob and I LOVE the Alps and with this move being especially stressful, we knew a getaway to the mountains would help put our hearts at peace. 

We decided to head back to the Jungfrau area in Switzerland. We visited this area once before last year and fell in love with the area. Last time we stayed in Lauterbrunnen at Camping Jungfrau but when I tried to book for this trip, they were booked up so I looked on Airbnb and found an adorable little chalet in Grimelwald. Our visit was right at the end of the “off season” (between the winter ski season and summer hiking season) so most places were closed. I lucked out with this place and got a great price. The chalet we stayed at in Grindelwald was only 80€ a night. It was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a full kitchen and parking space. It had an awesome outdoor area with a wood burning stove but we didn’t get to use it because it rained everyday :( The views from our chalet were spectacular and we were right next to a restaurant and bus stop. 

The drive was only about 5 hours from the KMC area. We made sure to fill up one last time in Germany at an ESSO station and bought a Switzerland vignette (about 36€) right at the border.

Now Switzerland is VERY pricey. The Switzerland Franc is very close to the US currency (1CHF=1.03USD) but things are just way more expensive over here. For example, a cheeseburger in town is 19 CHF, a coke is 6 CHF, glass of orange juice 6 CHF, souvenir magnet is 7CHF...  you get the idea. Since we were driving there, I filled up the car with groceries and we made most of our meals in Switzerland. The last day we did splurge and ate a small lunch while on our hike and grabbed dinner in Grindelwald. 

Our first day we drove into town paid WAY too much for parking (16.50 CHF) and went to the train station and bought the Jungfrau Travel Pass. They have the option to buy a 3, 4, 5, or 6 day pass. We bought a 3 day and it was perfect for us. It was 180 CHF pp (kids under 6 are free) but it paid for itself in 1 day. 

We took the train from Grindelwald to Kleine Sceidegg to Wengen. We were planning on getting on the cable car there to Mannlichen but it was closed for maintenance so we got back on the train to Lauterbrunnen.  It rained all day so we enjoyed seeing the views while being sheltered from the weather. 

In Lauterbrunnen we took the cable car to Grutschlap to get on a train to Murren. We hiked from Murren to Grimmelwald and took a cable car down to Stechelberg. We did this exact hike last year but it was just as much breathtaking as the first time. Walking through the little villages on the mountain sides is such a eat experience. All the little farms and cute chalets. Many have little shops and restaurants that you can pop in to grab a cold beverage or a quick snack.

When we got off the cable car, we walked over the river and followed the trail back to Lauterbrunnen. We walked by dozens of cow fields and Rand "mooing" at each one.  

The next day we took the bus (there was a stop right in front of our chalet) into town to get on a cable car to First.  First is a popular hiking spot and is 2,166 m (7,106 ft) elevation.

It is at least a 20-25 minute cable car ride and you will go through (and have the chance to get off at) Bort and Schreckfeld. When we arrived at First, you couldn’t see much. It was foggy and everything was covered in snow. We took a few pictures and grabbed a cup of hot chocolate at the restaurant there before heading back to Grindelwald. In the summer, they have a few activities, like a zip line down to Schreckfeld or you can rent a scooter/bike to ride down the trails. 

 After we got off the cable car, we walked over (but could have taken a bus) to get on another cable car to Pfingstegg. We grabbed a delicious cup of hot wheat soup at the restaurant there before hiking down to Grindelwald. 

I was super bummed because they had an alpine slide but it is only open during the summer. The trail we planned on taking was closed due to an avalanche... but we took it anyways. 

The hike was stunning and had some beautiful views. There we came across something we have never come across before, a (creepy) tunnel through the side of the mountain for us to walk through. Usually it lights up from a sensor but I guess it was turned off because the trail was closed…. so we used the light on my phone to guide us through. 

While in the tunnel we ran into a bit of a snowy situation. There was a lookout hole in the middle of the tunnel that allowed a bunch of snow in from an avalanche that blocked the pathway. Luckily we had enough room to make it around the snow. We got through the tunnel and continued hiking for a little bit more until we ran into another avalanche but this one we could not get around so we  had to turn back. 

The rest of the hike was very simple and pretty 
much followed an access road. 
At that point it started pouring rain and we (luckily) came to a bus stop and caught the bus back into town. We passed the Glacier Gorge (Gletscherschlucht) but it was closed due to 
it being the off season so we headed to the train station and 
jumped on a train to Interlaken Ost. 

Unfortunately, Rand had an accident so we had to take the next train back to Grindelwald to head back to our place. 

Our last full day we took the bus again to the train station to head to Kleine Scheidegg where we grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant at right at the station.

Rand enjoyed watching all the trains pull in. During lunch Rob and I finalized the details of our hike hike only to be shot down with the news it was closed due to avalanches. 

Rand found a pinecone at the bus stop and carried it around all morning. You can see him holding it tightly while watching the conductor drive the train.

Afterwards, we headed towards to Wengen but made a last minute decision to do the hike anyways so we got off at Wengernalp. 

The beginning of our hike was a bit chaotic. The hiking map we had showed numerous hikes starting from Wengernalp but could not find the trail we wanted. We wandered around a snowy, flooded field for about 30 minutes before finally finding the right trail. Our shoes and socks were socked and we were already out of breathe but we were determined to do this hike. 

We hiked on trail #42 that took us trough Mettlenap, Staldenfluh, Biglenalp and Innerwengen before ending up in Wengen. A good portion on the hike was through some beautiful forests where we got to look out over Lauterbrunnen and the waterfalls. The views from this hike were absolutely break taking. 

We also got to see numerous avalanches (don’t worry, they were all far away on the other side of the valley) from Jungfrau and Silberhorn. The sound of the crackling snow did make our hearts beat a little faster though. 

 We passed by numerous waterfalls that continued down through the woods and out off the cliffs into Lauterbrunnen. Rand enjoyed throwing pinecones into them along with peeing into the waterfalls. 

The hike was a bit steep and slippery (it has been raining nonstop all week) and we only ran into one fallen tree on the trail. The trail did have some snowy/ ice patches and the trails were more like rivers than pathways but we made it all right. No avalanches though :)

We made it to Wengen and took the train back to Windelwald (had to change trains in Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken Ost). 

We took the bus back to out cabin to freshen up for dinner. We drove down (the bus only ran to 1900 that day) into town and ate dinner at Bistro Mystery. The mystery was finding this place, lol. I think we drive by 4 times before we actually found it… and it was because we gave up and just walked down the strip to find another place. The only signage was on the side of the building, not the front. BUT this place was delicious! I found this place on tripavisor. I knew prices everywhere would be high so that is why I wanted to do some research on picking a restaurant. Rob got a burger and I got cheese fondu. Rand just ate off our plates. We all enjoyed our meals and the atmosphere was very cute. The staff was very friendly and the owner even came out to great us and check on our meals.  

Some of my favorite things to snack on while hiking is chocolate, especially Callier when in Switzerland.

We came across so many beautiful chalets while roaming through the Alps. 

During our hikes I was keeping an eye out for some edelweiss but never saw any :( But we did come across other beautiful flowers.

We had such a wonderful time in Switzerland! I am so glad we got to squeeze in one last trip before we start a new chapter in America.