Alls Well That Ends Well.....Part 2

With our plans for ski & snowboard instruction set, we were excited to try our next ski resort, Brunni on Sunday morning. It is about a half hour from our house and substantially smaller than Flumserberg...perhaps THIS mountain is actually the Vernon Valley/Whitetail/Cascade of Zurich.  It was a lot easier than last week getting out of the house - we all knew what to wear, and where it was, and everyone was more confident and less nervous than before.

So, we get into the car, turned the key....and its DEAD. UGH! It would just be nice for something to be easy....
So, J&I scrambled for a bit, realizing everything is closed (except ski resorts!) on Sundays. Who do we call? I remember meeting a nice woman from the kids school who lives closeby and she sent me a text this week inviting me to "call her if I need anything"....anything?...as in a Jump on Sunday at 8:15am?! So, again, I entered into my discomfort zone, I called her, surely waking her (ugh!), and asked if she could offer advice. She laughed as this had just happened to her a couple weeks ago, but not on a Sunday....she could not offer to jump us as she has a very small car which would not be powerful enough to jump the RR. She suggested we call a taxi...yes, Taxi cars will Jump a battery. We heeded her advice and sure enough a taxi showed up 15 minutes later, jumped our car and we were good to go....and made it to the lessons on time!


The Brunni Resort was MUCH SMALLER than Flumserberg and was much easier to maneuver with no cable cars. We just pulled up, parked, and walked to the ski schule. K&J took a ski lesson with Riko and the boys went to a beginners snowboard group. K&J made great progress, and after an hour on level ground, they progressed to the Tbar slope. J hadnt been on skiis in 20+ yrs and said it was tough. He added  that the Bunny Hill was bigger than any mountain he had been on before and it was quite intimidating. He & K had some laughs as they fell into each other getting off the TBar. J cracked up telling me about how R taught him to ski down the hill - R was  backwards and holding J's hands.  He was very relieved when he worst fear was NOT realized - he hadnt barrelled into any groups of ski schule kids and knocked them off the mountain.  K told me later how much she loved it. She loves rollercoasters and said that going fast down the mountain felt like being on a rollercoaster. J said that she made great progress and I was so happy for her!

Since I got everyone off to their lessons, I decided to try my luck at Swiss Skiing. I was a bit nervous, I must admit, but I felt that this was my best chance to try it, alone, without having to worry about 4 other people. I am  not a great skiier, but I enjoy gliding down the mountains, slowly and carefully. I realized I was the only one without at helmet...darn...why hadnt I bought one ? I ran to the rental place which was as busy and hectic and confusing as the floor of the stock exchange, further complicated by the fact that everyone was speaking German. I muddled my way to renting a helmet....it must have been some kid racer helmet, as it had a large #28 on the front. I felt silly, and was glad I didnt know anyone. I think I looked like Speed Racer. Next, I had to figure out how to get the lift ticket. In America, you get a sticker to attach to your zipper pull. I was surprised they gave me a credit card type thing and with all writing in German, and everyone speaking German, I wasnt sure what to do with it. I jumped on the queue and started watching everyone carefully. They seemed to wave it in front of a machine - so I followed suit, got on the Tbar lift and sailed up the mountain - just to the first station. It was fun, and the scenery was beautiful. The weather was gorgeous with a clear blue sky and the bright beautiful sun shining, it was wonderful.  There were several restaurants just sitting on the mountain amidst the trails...cool! Then, I smelled something a bit pungent and familiar....and sure enough there was a farm with a bunch of cows along these trails...interesting. I had only time for 2 runs, but it was lovely, and difficulty. The slopes were very steep, hilly, and icy. I was glad to have completed them in one piece.

We gathered after lessons and put our equipment in the car, and started to choose a ski lodge/.restaurant for lunch, we put our key in the ignition and .....it was dead again. Bummer. Good thing I had anticipated this possibility and had backed in. I went to the First Aid station for help and J managed to find a good samaritan to jumpstart the car. He jumped it for us, and we drove home, and worked out a plan for Monday.

We spent most of Sunday night researching garages in the Zurich area that work on British cars. After a lot of internet searching and email sending, we stumbled upon a garage....in our neighborhood ! We called them at 7:30 am, they sent 2 apprentice mechanics to jump the car, but it would not start....completely kaput ! We left them our key....they said that they would return with a new battery and install it at our house...no tow truck needed.....wow!

Hmmmm....now we were in a pickle. How would we get the kids to school?  J took the train/bus with A to get him to school. I called a new friend....and what an angel, she was kind enough to drive us to their school. Whew ! I then took the train/bus back home. 

It was 11am I was on the bus, waiting for it to discharged/pick up passengers and we were across from the garage whose mechanics were working on my car. It occurred to me that the garage would likely be closing for their lunchtime (did I mention most businesses and schools close from 11:45- 1:15 or so each day?! seriously...). I became concerned that if they didn't already have the battery, it might not be done in time for me to use the car to get the kids at school. ugh.... So, just as I was staring at the garage, I saw the mechanic passby driving my car. I know it was my car because it is the only silver RR I've seen in town, and the hood was not fully closed as he sped by. I was SO happy !! Its running !

Sure enough, I called them when I got home. They were finishing some additional diagnostic work to ensure it was only a dead battery and not some bigger problem. It looked fine. I was free to pick up the car after 1:30, which was perfect since I had my German class at 2pm. whew!  Das ist gut !