Okay, a few more pictures of our hike.

Here’s Becca on the tippity-top of Chicago Peak, shooting the opposite direction of the image I posted yesterday. This one gives a better sense of altitude.

Here we are on the trail, heading out. The ridge above leads to Chicago Peak, so named (I assume) because the jagged blocks that compose the ridge resemble a city skyline.

And did we yodel? Yep. I told the kids that since we’re of Swiss stock and we’re up on a mountaintop we might as well yodel. And with all the cliffs and rocks about, it worked pretty well. If the wind wasn’t stirring, some of our echoes reverberated four or five seconds. It doesn’t sound like much, until you time five seconds on your watch. That’s pretty good for an echo!

We teach our kids to be proud of their Swiss heritage. My line comes from the wooded countryside outside Bern–honest, hardworking people from a venerable line extending back for centuries. Our people built their own home and raised children, animals and a garden on a hillside where they also picked huckleberries (sound familiar?). Jessica has Swiss in her blood too. When our house gets messy we do a five-minute “cleaning blitz,” where each child has five minutes to tidy up a particular room or area; and I tell them, “Swiss clean!” That means as neat and clean as they can make it.

Someday when we can figure out where to put it, I’ll raise an American flag outside—and right underneath, a Swiss flag, the red square banner and white cross of our fathers. We’re Americans first, but we honor our heritage.