The line

This line in front of the Friendly Center Greensboro Apple store was maybe the longest line I stood in for a while. All in all about 1:45 from the time I arrived there until I finally walked out the door with the new iPhone4 in hand.

The cutiepies

Yup, the title says it all. This blogpost is about the 2 cutiepies in our house.

Pete in the kitchen after a walk



Sylvie in her room (Amy's office)

You have been warned

We noticed this warning sign a couple years ago when we were in Panama City Beach, Florida for the Ironman triathlon event there. Not surprisingly, we did not see any unattended kids running around in the coffee shop where this sign was posted.

XTERRA Tsali 2010

Decided this week to race XTERRA Tsali and went to Bryson City, NC for the weekend. Amy had to work and could not join me. I wasn't sure what to expect but mostly wanted it for training motivation anyway. The Santa Cruz Blur Carbon worked fantastic and I ended up with a very solid race.

The second transition of XTERRA Tsali was set up right near the MTB trail head of the Tsali Recreation Area.



Took this image for fun the day before the race and missed out to step on it the next day. Not because of performance though, but because I washed myself in the lake at the time.



This is where we swam.



The view from the Ridge Top Motel in Bryson City wasn't shabby.



The bike set up in T2 in the morning. Note the fine transition towel



Quite muddy after the race



Tim and his wife drove up from Chattanooga

New neighbors

Recently a new family moved into our neighborhood, or to be more specific, they actually moved into the birdhouse on our front porch. So far we have not seen a rent check or any other form of payment and we are holding our expectations very low along those lines.
They are very cute though.

Man and his friend

Last weekend we went to the beach in Litchfield by the Sea and Amy snapped this very nice image of Pete and I strutting on the beach. Pete though is not crazy about the water and long walks are not going to happen either. But he is so adorable and sweet.

Vegetable delivery

We get a nice selection of vegetables delivered each week and this week's box of goodies included Swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, beet greens and Asian greens.

Making sure you get what you pay for

While getting gas at a gas station in Germany I noticed an interesting vehicle right next to us. 2 fairly unofficial looking guys in that vehicle had connected a gas hose to their very high tech measuring device within the VW bus and were making sure that the gas station was actually giving the exact liters of gas or diesel customers had actually paid for. The German government looking out for the little man. Nice.

A few more pics from Switzerland

After a great week in Oberschwaben it was time to say goodbye to my mom, family, friends and Ostrach as we headed to Zurich, Switzerland for the final 2 days before our flight back to the USA. It was a bit of the shame to leave now as the weather was finally coming around, but word had it that we would have good weather in Zurich too.

On Friday morning we had a little bit of time to walk into downtown Ostrach to grab pastries for the trip and a pack of smokes too. Not really. :-)



We stopped at the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen/Neuhausen on the way to Zurich



On the way to check out other view points



A view of the falls from higher up



This slight detour was certainly worth it



Shopping for post cards at the Rheinfall



We arrived in Zurich after lunch and were greeted by great weather and blue skies



Hmmm, I wonder which one of those would look good in my home



That is one cool Citroen



Lots of cool narrow streets can be found in Zurich



Our hotel is on the Niederberger Strasse which is sadly a bit loud at night



Another beautiful day greeted us on Saturday



The Fraumuenster on the left has amazing Marc Chagall stained glass windows



The Grossmuenster in Zurich is just about to open the doors



A stunning view from the topafter a long hike



It was quite windy up there



The view from the top towards our hotel, which is just to the right of that bridge



The beautiful weather made surely for a better fleamarket



When living in downtown Zurich there is seemingly little need to own a car



So many shoes so little time

Even more May Germany trip pics

Wednesday was a big family visit day and we started the day early with a drive to Rottweil where my dad's side family lives. We had lunch at Aunt Lore's, saw Granddad Gustav and Hanne after that and then got cake at the house of my aunt Gerda. After a long drive back we went to m cousin Albert, his wife Waldtraut and daughter Isabelle for dinner. Thursday we traveled to Sigmaringen to see the castle, check out the downtown and after that visited Sigmaringen.

Upon arriving in Rottweil, Cheryl made a new friend



My cousin Anja and my aunt Lore with Amy



Amy in front of the Schwarzes Tor (black gate) in Rottweil



With my 96-year old granddad Gustav and his wife Hanne



Approaching aunt Gerda's house



Cheryl and Georgia fascinated with miniature Fasnet figures from Rottweil



With my godmother aunt Gerda in front of her house



Isabelle got a big hug from Cheryl and we got a great dinner of Fleischkaese, potato salad and mixed salad for dinner, plus the great company of Albert, Waldtraut and Isabelle



The semolina with cream and strawberries desert was fantastic



With Albert, Waldtraut and Isabelle after a great meal



On Thursday we went to Sigmaringen where Amy measured up against a knight



Looking beautiful in the entry hall of the castle in Sigmaringen



Georgia stood guard in front of the castle



With the stunning castle in Sigmaringen in the background



The swan came by to see if we had anything to eat



Our lunch stop on Wednesday was at the Gasthof zum Bach in Bad Saulgau



A very pleased Georgia after she managed to open the tight Pilsner bottle fliptop



Amy enjoyed Swabian bacon Duennete for lunch



The May tree in downtown Bad Saulgau looks quite sad against the cold gray sky



Before dinner, Amy and I ran through the countryside around Ostrach. Amy decided to wear her traveling compression socks because it was so cold and we brought only shorts.