Saratoga News Saratoga Sampler Mary Ann Cook Saratogans fall in love with Switzerland DREAM TRIP: So impressed were Jim and Carolyn Graham with their month in Switzerland that they'll do a repeat next year. After research via Karen Brown's Bed and Breakfast in the Saratoga Library, they faxed their requests to the most appealing little apartments and hotels. Confirmations came by return fax, and thus speedily were they set up. Swiss Rail passes cover transportation by rail, boat or gondola--reasonable and handy to explore small towns throughout the Interlocken area. Weather was mild, scenery breathtaking, wildflowers in bloom, and people were still skiing in the higher elevations. For Jim, the most exciting part of the trip was paragliding, a sport he is thoroughly hooked on now. In California he could paraglide in the Bishop area or on Mt. Whitney, and he may. But the California trek is more arduous than the Swiss because everything has to be packed in by foot. In Switzerland you take the cog rail up the side of the hill, then get tucked into the 40-pound parachute with an instructor by your side. Both bodies are attached to bar supports. Then you run in tandem down the mountainside until the wind bears you aloft. Jim and the instructor spent an hour and 17 minutes "catching the thermals and circling with the birds." So glorious was this soaring that Jim says, "Now I know why birds sing." The instructor even handed over the controls. "It was really exciting. I've flown gliders before, but this was my first paraglide." But not the last. After riding a vertical train toward Guarda near the Liechtenstein border, the Grahams requested a taxi to their hotel. No taxi, they were told, but the hotel will send down a horse and carriage. So a 40-minute horse and buggy ride up the steep mountain completed that trip. The Grahams checked out farmers' markets for many meals, but when they did eat out, Swiss food got high marks, particularly the meals at Hotel Tovlick. The flight from home went directly to Zurich, no stopovers. SCALING MT. WHITNEY: A trio of Saratoga women scaled Mt. Whitney and two of them made it to the top. The third, Sally McElravey, got altitude sickness the day before the final part of the climb and couldn't quite manage those last few hundred feet. But companions Nancy Witthaus and Lynn Wedel did complete the climb. This group has vacationed together before, usually in adventuresome pursuits, usually with husbands. A couple years ago, Roger and Lynn Wedel biked across the country and Roger wrote a book about that experience. Now retired, Roger works for Habitat for Humanity several days a week. THANKS FROM ARIS: Generous donors to ARIS (AIDS Resources, Information and Services) were honored with a dinner in August at La Estancia, the Spanish-style estate of David Stonesifer and Larry Arzie, owners of Los Gatos Porch. The dinner paid tribute to those who had contributed $2,500 or more to the AIDS benefit for the past fiscal year. Those honored from Los Gatos Porch were David and Ervie Brewick, Ed Mireault, Diane Van Vorhees and Judy Jaeger. Others included Shantel Howards, Jackson Green; Sandra Moll and Rick Holden; Tim and Laura Harris; Ray and Sandra Farris; Vicky and Steve Kellogg; Valerie and John Hopkins; Anita and Kevan Del Grande; and Deborah and Dan Rubnitz. BEAMING THE BRITS: Wilma Thompson, half of the two-person Los Gatos history team (Bill Wulf is the other half), is now doing research for BBC TV. The BBC called the LG Chamber of Commerce recently inquiring about land once owned by film director Alfred Hitchcock, and the call was eventually routed to Thompson. She doesn't know what the BBC wants to do with the information, but after doing the research, Thompson sent on photocopies and printouts about the parcel. Now we have some suspense wondering what they're up to. "It was exciting getting calls from the BBC," Thompson reports. MOON VIEWING: The annual moon viewing at Hakone Gardens will be Oct. 2, 5-9 p.m. This year the moon won't be full, but it will rise low in the sky, so chances of sighting it are better. Last year clouds obscured the honoree. Cost is $25 a couple, $12.50 for a single. Bento box meals will be served, and an Okinawan classical music and dance group, Kariyushi Kai, will entertain. For tickets write to Joan Gomersall, 19817 Veronica, Saratoga, 95070. You don't have to be a Sister City member to attend. FIRST AND LAST: Saratoga News office manager Lois Hower marked her last day at work at the same place she started 21 years ago. That would be Bella Saratoga, now a Big Basin Way restaurant, then the headquarters of the Saratoga paper. Colleagues toasted her retirement, which promises to be full of travel and dance, since she's reached the silver level in ballroom dance. Silver level in the golden years--sounds like a rich vein to strike. Hower was once a pin-up girl for the U.S.S. New Jersey during WW II. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.