Turtmanntal and Gasenried

We are once again at Martin's parents', after once again visiting Turtmanntal over the weekend. This time it was with all of Martin's sisters and their kids and husbands, except for the one who has to take care of twenty odd cows. From that family, just the four kids made it together with their mom. Altogether eight kids. Unlike the last time, the cows did not come home when we had all eight kids in bed. (Score!) But they came running to us on Sunday when we did a dayhike to the upper hut. Once again a ding-dong-ding-dong everywhere from the huge bells around their necks, as they came on all sides of the hut. The kids that have the twenty odd cows at home said that these were small cows, though. Looked big enough for me.

Afterwards we came again to Martin's parents because Martin was taking some journalist up to the local glacier yesterday, Tuesday. The journalist wanted to see a glacier not as well known. Martin and the guy went up to Bordier Hutte. Apparently, the guy then did to Martin what Martin did to me on one of our first dinners out.

At that time, I was heading out for the AGU conference in San Francisco, Martin was staying behind. Since I had the late flight, we went out to dinner at the Lemongrass (Thai) restaurant that we like a lot. We ate, he wanted to pay, so he took out the credit card... and they said sorry cash only. So I had to pay.

Yesterday, the journalist apparently invited Martin for lunch at the Bordier Hutte, but like Martin so many years earlier, did not have enough cash. Nearest ATM was four hours down the mountain, then five hours back up (or with a car, three hours down, a short car ride, then four hours back up) and so Martin payed. Sounds like they had a wonderful lunch, especially since Martin knows the hut warden, who kept filling up his glass with wine.

I hiked up to the glacier with the Funks and their three daughters in the afternoon. The kids frolicked there in the water, both in a small lake and a small water fountain made out of a tree trunk. When Martin managed to get out of reach of the wine-enabled warden, he and the journalist made it back down the glacier and hiking trail and joined us at the bottom of the glacier. Then a bit later, when we were coming down the hill to the village, Martin had the joy of helping Sonja jump from big boulders down. A fun activity, except when you see rain that's going to catch up with you soon. Fun time was had by all. And now, I am going to watch a night thunderstorm roll through. It had already shaken the window panes a couple times this evening.