Bludenz & Kitzbühel, Austria

Back in July this past summer, Lana and I organized a trip with two families from our church / Wednesday night Bible study to a small ski resort in Bludenz, Austria.  Then, a few months later the squadron planned a ski trip weekend to Kitzbühel, Austria the same time we had already planned on going.  So, we spent four days in the western part of Austria, then drove on Friday to Kitzbühel for a couple of days with the squadron.  It's great to be just a six hour drive from the Alps!

Sadly, this winter is proving to be one of the worst for snow in recent years so we were only able to snowboard two days of the trip and the kids weren't able to do any kid skiing.  They were able to sled one day though, so at least they were in the snow some.  It was a great time of relaxing with family and friends and enjoying some Christian fellowship!

We snowboarded in Sölden, Austria (where I learned to snowboard back in 2006 while stationed in Italy) and then in Kitzbühel (where we had our squadron Christmas party in 2008).  Part of the slopes were closed in Sölden because they were filming a scene from the next James Bond movie...maybe we'll be seen snowboarding through the background?!

Kitzbühel is quite close to Lana's grandparent's place and we were able to meet up for a coffee and walk along Lake Chiemsee.  It's one of the most picturesque locations in all of Europe and we're always in awe of God's creation when we visit!  We hit the road again and stopped by Munich to see Lana's mother, where we ended up dropping off two of our kids for a week.  This wasn't planned and really appreciate Gabi taking the kids for a few days!  Next up...Christmas 2014!