Quick trip to the temple and camping

"sono un leone"

 This is Jordan pretending to roar like a lion.  His face was way too funny!

 For a walk in the forest by the temple.

A quick summary of our trip.  We had about 4 hours to sleep Sunday night before getting up at 2 a.m. to head out.  Isabel cried about 2 out of those 4 hours.  I was able to sleep a little bit the first few hours of our trip driving up.  We got to Bern about 9:30 in the morning.  We parked at the hostel (right in front of the temple), and went exploring in the woods nearby.  At 2 p.m. the reception desk opens up so that you can check in.

There is something amazing about being by the temple and on the grounds.  There's such a spirit of peace and calm.  It's like leaving a very busy street with lots of noise from the traffic, and walking into a place where all of the noise is blocked out.  It's quiet.  It's calm.  The noise and business, and horn honking is immediately cut out.  You're all of a sudden more aware of your senses and your feelings.  It's amazing.  When thinking on this difference that I felt, I remembered that I felt those same feelings when I met Paolo and needed to figure out what to do.  It was that that helped me decide to marry him.

Those feelings don't last forever, and aren't always constant, but we get to peek in at them, feel them again, taste it, and really, really enjoy it when we do.  It's like eating your favorite food once in a while.  It's good to savor the taste.

That night Isabel cried a lot again and we were EXHAUSTED! But it was worth it.  Even though we didn't sleep, drove a lot, listened to a lot of crying, to step out of time and space for a short bit and be able to feel love and peace was worth it to me!

Tuesday about 1 p.m. we headed out.  We took a few new routes and roads to head back towards Italy with our only goal to find a campground along the way.  Switzerland is full of them and so it wasn't hard to find a lot of them.  We drove past Interlakken (along side a beautiful lake) and then took a winding road over the top of a mountain to get where we needed to go.  It turns out that it was an inspired choice.  The drive was gorgeous.  Even though we were in the car for a lot longer, the kids held up well.  And it also took us to the pass/tunnel that you have to go through to head towards Italy.  It took us along the side road instead of the freeway to the tunnel.  As we approached, there were kilometers and kilometers of cars parked on the freeway.  People were standing outside of their cars doodling around.  Apparently the tunnel was closed and people were stuck in the freeway for lots and lots and lots of hours.  We took the side road up and down that mountain too.  It was pouring rain, but the sun came out after we got past the mountain.

We got to a pretty scarse campground at almost sunset and got the tent up just in time.  It was hotter than Hades in the tent, and Aaron wouldn't go to sleep.  He fell asleep after 11 p.m. (from not moving around all day long and taking a nap in the car).  The rain and lightning and thunder that we drove through earlier caught up with us that night.  Miraculously the rain didn't make it through the tent, we didn't get wet, and we didn't get struck by lightning.  It was really hot though in the tent and hard to sleep because of that.

The lake that we camped next to was really warm.  Like bath water warm and beautiful.  After 2 nights of not sleeping we decided to head home.  We drove past another lake, Lago Maggiore (I think) and made it home Wednesday afternoon/evening.  It was 1,200 km in 2 days.

Over all it was really worth it, even if exhausting.  I discovered that I really think we could do the camping thing... in 1 or 2 years when Isabel is a little older, sleeps better, and can listen and obey.

My spirit of adventure was re-awakened and it made me want to try new places and things again... in a year or two... when Isabel is older.  :)