Grandpa Jean had big plans to drive all over Switzerland and Italy, but he quickly discovered that that wasn’t quite feasible anymore. Which was a huge relief to me because I was very worried he would end up seriously hurting himself or others, and that’s no way to go on vacation. But this meant he now had many empty days to fill. I suggested a boat ride on either Lake Luzern or Lake Zurich, and when that went over so well, we decided to join him.
We almost didn’t make it, though. Oma and Opa left earlier to pick him up at the bed and breakfast, and I left a bit later to meet them down in Luzern. I got to the train station and parked just fine, I have done that before. But we couldn’t figure out how to get out of the train station and end up in the right spot, until after we had gone up a few different exits. Then there was a really long line to buy tickets at the pier, and by the time it was our turn, we had about 1 minute until the boat was supposed to leave. And this is Switzerland, which meant that the boat was probably already leaving the dock. The ticket agent told me he couldn’t sell me the tickets, I needed to buy them directly on the boat. He pointed me in the right direction and the kids and I took off running. We had been in phone contact with John, so he went out to the dock to wait for us and let the captain know we were coming and to not take off without us. It was a pretty crazy couple of minutes, but we finally made it. Whew!
It was totally worth it. The weather was perfect, and the views were incredible. Nick wasn’t sure he was happy about joining us, but after a few minutes he relaxed and realized how nice it was. The other kids had a blast exploring the boat and taking pictures of every little thing that caught their eye.
I really miss being out on the water. It’s not like we went all the time, but we did go out on my Grandpa’s boat every summer, and I always loved it. Despite the queasiness I sometimes felt. He would even let me control the rudder when we got out into more open water. I loved steering the boat around one of the giant pylons holding up the Coronado Bay bridge. Such great memories!
So this boat ride was very special and brought back lots of happy feelings for me. It was fun to share that with my kids as well. I know have a goal to go on at least one boat once a summer with them.
I think Grandpa likes the salty sea air in his face as well. 🙂
The ride was also made nicer by the fact that no one fell in the water or got seasick. bwahaha 
We saw some really fancy houses and hotels lining the coast, and had fun imagining what it would be like to live in one of them.
We also played a fun little game. Every time we passed another boat with people in it, no matter how big or small, we would smile and wave really enthusiastically until at least one person waved back. A few people waved right away. Others stared at us for quite a while before finally raising their hand to wave back. Only one small boat, with two people in it never waved back. We called out a cheery greeting to them in return. 🙂
Sophie and Alexandra were very worried they would starve to death on the two hour boat ride, so I brought plenty of snacks and water, including a whole bag of dried apricots. Ever since, whenever I offer them to her for morning snack Alexandra will remind me that she learned she didn’t like them on the boat. I wonder if she was feeling queasy and associates that with the dried apricots?
Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and I only wish Chris would have come along as well. Maybe next time…