Our European Adventure

If you purchase items online, you need to read this.  This was a email thread I just had with a reseller on Amazon.com.  I ordered 3 of the same item in this pic.  Start at the bottom and read to the top.

Recently I have noticed a lot of talk about the concept2 rower on blogs and fitness sites, I have been checking out.  I did a search and low and behold, I know what that thing is, it is the piece of equipment in most gyms that is very under utilized.  It is very popular with the Crossfit guys, so i figured why not give it a try, I used one many years ago.  I did an interval workout of 1 min at high intensity and 1 min of slow intensity.  Again, got my shit handed to me.  It was a intense workout.  My 421st brothers would be proud to know that I have moved away from the Hercules lifting style to the fitness style.  I might even admit, I wish I could take part in some of the workouts that happened in the HOP.  Yea I know hard to believe, but true!

For all those that workout, this is one cool toy.  For 15.00 you can buy one of these and set it for intervals.  1 min of exercise, 30 seconds of rest, 1 min exercise etc.  Wow, keeps you honest.  Got mine and used it today, got my ass kicked, by that lil piece of shit!

We left Saturday, 7 Feb for Garmisch, there is a military resort there.  We drove through Austria and headed to Linderhof Palace, this is one of King Ludwig II's homes.  It was awesome to see the detail that went into the palace, and to think how long ago it was built.  Then we made our way back through Austria to the resort.  Tracey really enjoyed the area.  I have been there on business and was really hoping for some snow, since it looks so different with the snow.  We woke up on Sunday morning to about 3-4 inches of snow.  Off we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle, this is also one of Lugwig's and it also what Disney modeled the Princess Castle after.  It was incredible and beautifully snow covered.  There is no photography inside, but I snuck a few shots.  We had an incredible time, and look forward to many more adventures in Germany.  I will be skiing next year!  Hope you enjoy it.

I attended a conference at the Edelweiss Lodge this week.  It is a military lodge where you can stay, kind of like the one at Disney.  The rooms were nice, and the lobby was awesome, wide open with a huge fireplace.  I went out late one day to the Ettel Monestary, they brew some incredible beer and liquor.  There are pictures of the view from the lodge and also the church at the monestary.  Just click the title of the post to go to the gallery.

We finally have all our stuff from the states, now we just have to unpack it all.  We got alot of it done yesterday, but still have quite a few to go.  We are waiting for our furniture to be delivered, takes 2-3 weeks.  If some of you are wondering why we have not been on the net, we are waiting for our internet to be turned on, 3 weeks, should be 7 Jan 09 now.  I have a data card for my laptop, but it is really slow and does not like Skype since it is so slow.  If there is one thing you all can appreciate in the states is when you want something, you usually don't have to wait weeks to get it.  Hope you all are well, we are going to find a hotspot on Sat or Sun to reach out to you.  Talk to you soon, Chris and Tracey.

Just wanted to share a few photos taken from our Balcony.  House is coming along.  I have all the lights hung and we are cleaning.  Our Air Shipment should be delivered on Tuesday and we will be able to move in.  Check back often for more photos  Click the title "First Snow" to be taken to the pics.