Catching up

So after a long haitus from blogging I figure it is now about time for me to get it caught up again... not that there were throngs of people eagerly awaiting my next post or anything like that. But the three of you that do check this thing regularly: here ya go!

I guess I left off after Christmas. Well for New Year's Eve we took another snowboarding trip up into the mountains of Austria again. This time we went to the tiny little town of St. Veit. We spent I think 4 nights up there hanging out with a small contingent of the Aviano Ski Club, most importantly our friends, Aaron, Jess, Crystal, and David. The package included snowboard lessons, and a new years eve party. It was a pretty good time. I'll spare you the details of the trip but the highlights included:

* Jess taking every possible wrong turn on the way up

* Donuts the size of my head at a secluded snack bar on the mountain

* Watching guys try to flirt with the Edie, the hot Austrian snowboard instructor

* Not breaking any bones

* All you can drink at the new years eve party

* Susan winning the limbo contest

* Shooting off fireworks at midnight

* Sleeping late on new years day to rest and NOT going up to the mountain

Sunset in St. Veit, Austria

So that was pretty much that trip.

Since then, we haven't done any real crazy trips. Just the typical day trip to Ljubljana; ate Mexican food, watched Casino Royale - which I think is the best 007 film I've seen!

We also had a couple other uneventful snowboarding trips in January, but not much more to say about that.

Church in Alleghe, Italy

In January I started ALS - Airman Leadership School. This is where the Air Force teaches us how to manage and lead troops. It is a month long course that is coming to its end here this Thursday. I guess I've learned a few things, but honestly I just can't wait to get back to work. I've had enough of all the busy-work they give us and some of the stuff they teach is just very "utopian" and things just don't really work like that in the real Air Force. So our graduation is a big semi-formal event at the base club, followed by crazy drinking and chaos out on the town. Good times!

We also spent President's Day weekend up in Austria. Yes Austria again! This time we went to Innsbruck which is a really cool city right across the border. It is surrounded by mountains and there are tons of ski resorts all around it.

The winter over here has been really mild. Not a lot of snow at all. You have to go up to the higher elevations to get to any real snow. So we found out about this one place called Kuhtai, about 35 km west of Innsbruck and headed there for the day.

On the way up through the mountains

It was indeed pretty nice. Tiny tiny tiny!!! One road through the town, and horses hanging out right by the slopes. Sunday I got my boarding time in while Susan explored the town and enjoed the beautiful weather.

Slopes of Kuhtai


So that pretty much brings us up to now. With only about 8 months left to enjoy Europe, we plan to take lot more trips. Should be a hectic summer. If you want to come visit, your time is running out...