Je vais en Suisse!

In case you don't understand French, the title of this blog translates to, "I'm going to Switzerland!"

I think that's what it means, anyway. I'm a little rusty.

But it's true! I booked the trip yesterday. My parents had a week at a timeshare resort that was going to expire in January. They weren't going to use it, so they donated it to me. Can you believe the generosity? Well, I had the choice of hundreds of resorts around the world, and after hours of searching for the right place, I decided on a tiny resort town called Champoussin in the canton of Valais. I am pretty freakin' excited.

The trip isn't until October, so it's going to be a long wait. Boyfriend and I are arriving on October 1st and leaving on the 8th. October is sort of a weird time of year to go to Switzerland, apparently, because people mostly like to enjoy summer hiking or winter skiing. But, since it's already summer and since the trip must be used by January and since I have zero interest in skiing, we'll be going in autumn. There won't be many tourists, and it will be cool but not freezing. I hope there will be lots of sight-seeing, cheese eating, wine drinking, and relaxing.

I think that Switzerland sounded so good because we're in the middle of an outrageous heatwave here in Richmond. Mexico or the Bahamas sound kind of unbearable when it's 100 degrees. I think I'll still like the idea in October, too.

So, I'm going to spend the next two months vigorously planning our trip, boning up on French language and European geography, and fantasizing about what staying in this little town for a week might be like. Exciting, right?

Visit to Natural Bridge

A few posts back, I said I'd write about visiting Virginia's own Natural Bridge. So here we go!

The Natural Bridge is pretty cool. It's bigger than you think it's going to be. The company that owns it uses its awe-inspiring size to sell religious experiences. There was a sunrise service there on Easter morning, the day I visited. There is also a regularly scheduled light show titled, "The Drama of Creation," which takes place on the stone of the Natural Bridge at dusk. But it really is beautiful. By purchasing online, I got tickets to Natural Bridge and its related attractions for half-off the normal price of $28 per adult.

There's also a nice path that goes on for a mile or so past Natural Bridge, following a stream to the "Lace Waterfalls" (pretty, but not awe-inspiring). The path is brick and crushed stone and is a good thing for the whole family. I took my dog, who enjoyed the adventure and managed to poop on the sidewalk next to the scenic stream. 

Stream and Lace Waterfalls

There is a reenacted Indian village on the grounds, to which we paid little attention. There are two other tourist traps also on the property, including a toy "museum" and a wax museum. Please skip the toy museum. It is not worth the time required to walk through the room. Unless you are really into toys maybe. 

The wax museum, you may take or leave. It's interesting as long as you like tacky, animatronic wax people created during the 1970's--which I kind of do, it turns out. There's also a museum in the wax workshop where they sculpt the wax people, though it doesn't seem that it has seen any use in the last 15-20 years.

The gift shop at Natural Bridge is HUGE and TACKY! We did have sandwiches there which were not terribly expensive or bad (or good).

Underground River in the Cave

 

Some Kind of Big Cave Rock Formation

I think my favorite part of the whole Natural Bridge experience, though, was Natural Bridge Caverns, just a short drive (or tram ride) away from the Natural Bridge site. I hadn't been inside a cave as an adult, and I really enjoyed it. It's hard to take any good pictures inside a cave without some crazy National Geographic equipment, so you can't see how beautiful it was by looking at my pictures. Our cave tour guide could have been less irritating, but the dark, stony, cold awesomeness made up for it. And it IS cold in there! Take your sweater, and wear sturdy, non-slippery shoes. Boyfriend was wearing moccasins (not smart).

The entire economy of the Natural Bridge area must revolve around tourism and crazy tourist traps. There are a number of weird roadside attractions nearby, like Foamhenge. We were really happy with our experience, though, and I definitely recommend the National Forest campground where we stayed near Natural Bridge Station at Cave Mountain Lake.

Getting Ready for My Root Canal and the Collapse of Society

It's a rainy Friday morning, and I'd usually be at work by this time, but I'm not going in today because I have an appointment to get a root canal at 11. I'm not very excited about getting a root canal, but I've had a tooth ache for several days, and the whole ordeal has severely dampened the mood of the week. I will be glad to have it over with. It's going to require 3 appointments--one for the actual root canal, one for some kind of filling that will go in the root cavity, and another to get a crown on the tooth. Just typing that sentence made me feel exhausted.

But there is a bright side. I don't have to go to work today, and I'll get to spend the afternoon being lazy as I recover from the distress of the dentist's office. And also, from the standpoint of a survivalist, it's smart to have any needed medical procedures completed before the shit hits the fan.

I've been reading James Wesley's book on survivalist techniques, How To Survive the End of the World as We Know It. He's definitely something of a coo coo nut, but I dig it. It's fascinating and full of some very smart ideas. I don't want to base every life decision on a fear of the end of civilization, but it's interesting to think about and it also makes sense to have some skills for self-sufficiency.

So I've decided to learn how to use and shoot a gun, how to bake bread from scratch, and how to can and preserve food. For starters. I'd also like to turn a nice mountain farm into my end-of-the-world retreat. And I might join the Tea Party, because our government is clearly going to expand its power until it becomes oppressive.

Just kidding! About the Tea Party, anyway. That would just be crazy.

But there is something so appealing about going back to our primal nature, abandoning the desk jobs to start fires and kill elk and harvest our own food. No more commuting. No more treadmills. No more e-mails. I can understand why people invest so much energy into planning for the collapse of our society. They're hoping for it to happen so that they can prove to themselves and everyone else that they are, in the truest and most natural sense, effective human beings.

A Rainy Day Adventure in Natural Bridge Station

Back in April, my boyfriend and I went camping at Cave Mountain Lake in the Washington-Jefferson National Forest near Natural Bridge Station, Virginia. The National Park Service campground at Cave Mountain Lake was really nice and had a lot of the original stonework done by CCC workers still in place. It was early in the mountain camping season and the campground was only a third full and very peaceful but a little cold and also rainy. Our spot was on a little stream, which was lovely.

Anyway, there were two main objectives for the weekend: seeing Natural Bridge and hiking in Goshen Pass. The hike in Goshen Pass turned out to be a little disappointing, and Natural Bridge was lovely, but I'll discuss those in another post.

Half of the weekend was rainy, so we did a little wandering in the car. Driving near the campground, we happened across this beautiful train bridge (and track crossing). The tracks are crossing the James River here.

Right across the street from the train tracks was this CRAZY house! It's set up like an old gas station and general store, complete with a fleet of vintage cars, gas pumps, and like a hundred old advertisements.

The confusing part is that this place didn't seem to encompass any kind of commercial enterprise. I think somebody just lives there and has a serious collection of this awesome stuff. There were no hours posted, though there was a big sign that said CLOSED. There was no sign saying what the hell this place was about. I think someone just lives here.

I felt nervous about being on this property staring at the train bridge and then at this possibly insane person's house, but then I figured whoever lives here has to be used to gawkers. This place looks like it hasn't changed in decades. Whoever lives in the gas station house sure is a lucky person to have an incredible view of the train bridge and the James and the Blue Ridge Mountains.