Innsbruck Arrival

Walking to Hotel (Innsbruck) - Austria

Street (Innsbruck) - Austria  2019

So, we hadn't meant to visit Innsbruck.  Our original plan was to fly from Zurich to Slovenia and afterwards drive to Vienna. But the day before we were due to depart from SFO we discovered that the airline company that services the Zurich-Lubjliana route had gone bankrupt! Yikes.

Our quickly revised plan (once more with Margaret's help) was to take a train to Innsbruck, rent a car there and drive south to Slovenia.

So, here we are walking to our hotel in Innsbruck.

Train to Innsbruck

Bludenz - Switzerland  2019

Train Stops - Switzerland  2019

"Juergen Spagolla, executive chef at the famed Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont, grew up next-door to a chocolate factory in Bludenz, a small mountain town in western Austria." 

Travelling on the train from Zurich to Innsbruck we passed through a number of small mountain towns. After some after the fact research they turned out to be places that would have been worthy of an extended stay. Oh well.

Also, the train route happened to take us through Lichtenstein! So we can add that to the list of our visited places.

Lucerne Train Station

Lucerne Train Station - Switzerland  2019

Lucerne Train Station - Switzerland  2019

A transfer point on our way back to Zurich. Taken with a Canon G5XII, most likely using the flip-up LCD screen feature. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Train Leaving Lauterbrunnen

Train Leaving Lauterbrunnen - Switzerland  2019

Coffee Drinks - Switzerland  2019

So, we had gotten up at 4AM to catch this train. Not that many people around at that time in the morning.

Note the pre-bought coffee drinks . . . one big problem that we hadn't anticipated was the overall lack of morning coffee options throughout our trip. The drinks pictured were our clever workaround. No, not hot, but kind of OK.

Monday Bufflehead Blogging

Bufflehead Ducks - Marin County  2019

OK, maybe they're buffleheads. We'll say they are. (Click to enlarge.)

Taken on an extremely foggy morning at the Richmond Bridge scenic overlook

Truckee

Building, Tree (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2019

Windows (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2019

No trip to Boomtown would be complete without a short walk around Truckee. It seems as if the small dilapidated structures are slated for a development project.

I also went on a short hike along Sagehen Creek. Will post some photos at some point. Maybe.

Verdi

Road Turns Left - Nevada  2019

Full Service - Nevada  2019

The town of Verdi is located in a valley just north of the casino. The road takes a sharp left then drops down a steep decline towards the town . . . Union Pacific tracks run through there. Alas, it's too hard to tell when a train is going to come. No rail traffic when I've been there so far.

Someday I must check out those 20 beers.

Boomtown Sightems

Harley, Moon (Boomtown) - Nevada  2019

KOA (Boomtown) - Nevada  2019

The KOA seemed to me to be more of a trailer park than a campground. I saw a school bus dropping some kids off there, which seems to imply semi-permanent residency.

Boomtown Casino

Lil Red (Boomtown) - Nevada  2019

Balloon, Chairs (Boomtown) - Nevada  2019

As I might have noted before, there are no gambling machines that take actual coins. So don't give me some quarters and tell me to gamble them, 'cause I can't.

There was some odd-looking uncanny valley art on some of the machines, but I was particularly attracted to the traditional stylings of Lil' Red.

Nevada Plants

Sagebrush - Nevada  2019

Sidewalk, Plants - Nevada  2019

I always go on a walk around the area, going down towards the KOA, then looping back to the casino.

Please note that I tend to call all desert plants "sagebrush." Also, it seems that the desert plants are definitely encroaching on the sidewalk.

Boomtown!

Boomtown, Trucks - Nevada  2019

Masonite Factory - Nevada  2019

After we got back from our European trip I wanted to revisit an old familiar location: Boomtown! An easy drive going west on Highway 80, crossing California and then into Nevada. Taken in November, 2019.

So, there is definitely development going on in the area. This Masonite factory wasn't there when I first visited.

Monday Goat Blogging

Goats - Switzerland  2019

Goats and flowers! Wow!

Check out an earlier Marin County goat post.

Leaving Murren

Tree, Snow - Switzerland  2019

Gondola, 5 AM - Switzerland  2019

We got up at 4 AM in order to catch the first gondola ride down to the valley. There had been a light dusting of snow during the night.

Autumn, Alps

Autumn Leaves - Switzerland  2019

Trees, Stream - Switzerland  2019

Further on up we started seeing the start of autumn colors. Eventually we reached Murren and our hotel and started packing for our next day's departure.

Fog

Tree, Mountains - Switzerland  2019

Hali, Fog - Switzerland  2019

We hiked up and out of Gimmelwald, into the fog.

Gimmelwald Flowers

Flowers - Switzerland  2019

Flowers - Switzerland  2019

Luckily, it was overcast for some nice diffused light.

Gimmelwald - 2

Gimmelwald Buildings - Switzerland  2019

Firewood - Switzerland  2019

Good photography weather, clouds and fog concealing, now revealing, distant snow-enhanced mountains.

Gimmelwald - 1

Gimmelwald Gondola Station - Switzerland  2019

Gimmelwald Sign - Switzerland  2019

Gimmelwald is a small village located below Murren, made famous by a glowing Rick Steves review. We wanted to go for a hike, but not a downhill hike, so we decided to take the gondola down to Gimmelwald and walk back up. A nice, somewhat blustery day . . . rainfall early on prompted us to don our raingear.

Monday Horse Blogging

Horses - Switzerland  2019

Two horses seen in Gimmelwald.

Murren Views

Buildings, Eiger (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Hikers from Gondola (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Wow. Are there similar locations in the U.S.? Not in the Sierra Nevada, but maybe in the Rockies?

Restaurant Stagerstubli

Food (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Menu (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Nice restaurant in Murren, but only open for one of the days we were there.

Alpine Hike - 4

Rock Wall - Switzerland  2019

Cattle Shed - Switzerland  2019

Photos taken as we descended to the little station where we caught the train that took us back to Murren.

As I said, the final stretch consisted of very steep downhill sections, through crumbly soil and tree roots. If we'd known, we would have started from that end (footing much easier to maintain while going up.)

Alpine Hike - 3

Ferns - Switzerland  2019

Tree Trunks - Switzerland  2019

Descending into the woods.

Hmm . . . these photos are very similar to others I've taken in Marin County!

Alpine Hike - 2

Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau - Switzerland  2019

So, the Mountain View hike provides plentiful sightings of these impressive peaks. From left to right: Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. (Click to enlarge.)

Interesting that during the hike I didn't know exactly what I was seeing . . . got the names only after doing some internet sleuthing.

Alpine Hike - 1

Hali Hiking - Switzerland  2019

Hali Hiking, Eiger in Distance - Switzerland  2019

We wanted to do some hiking in the Swiss Alps, so after some cursory research we decided on the Mountain View trail. From Murren we took a small cog railcar up to the trailhead, then started out. Our starting point was pretty high up - that meant that the rest of the hike was downhill. That was OK for most of the distance, but became disadvantageous later on.

Monday Horse Blogging

Horses (Gimmelwald) - Switzerland  2019

Horses seen during a nice little hike we took from Gimmelwald up to Murren.

Murren Flowers - 2

Flowers, Wooden Door (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Flowers, Wooden Bench (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Reminded me, a little, of Mendocino.

Murren Flowers - 1

Clematis (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Flowers (Murren) - Switzerland  2019

Very pretty.