Hi from Alpnach, Switzerland

Hi everyone, we have been visiting Alpnach, home of Stans parents. This is just below Lucern. Its a small village and Stan has loved visiting with a cousin he didnt know if he was still alive.
Yesterday we went up the mountain Pilatus. Wow and wow. We rode up a cog wheel tram car up to 7000 feet. At times this car was climbing at almost 50% grade. We got higher and it was much colder than below. We finally came out at the summit and the weather was iffy when we left but we lucked out at the top. There were still clouds blowing in and out (and I mean blowing, it was very windy and cold up there) but as the clouds moved through you could see off in the distance the beautiful snow capped mountain peaks of the Swiss Alps. We climbed more stairs up to an observation tower and it literally took your breath away. To the south and east were the mountain ranges and to the north and west were the green (green everywhere) valleys of Lucern. I have taken so many pictures but they will not do it justice. It was one of those moments you wish you could freeze in your memory forever. No smog, no pollution, just crisp, clear air and sharp visions of raw nature. I didnt want to leave up there.
We then took off in a small tram on a cable to start out descent to Lucern. This took almost a half hour and we came down near Lucern. We were high enough to look down on top of the fir trees. Several of them were loads with cones and tall here. It was wild to look down on the tops of such huge trees. We then took a bus to the ferry docks of Lake Lucern and caught a ferry boat to come back to Alpnach by boat. We rode the ferry boat for 90 minutes as it made several stops along the lake shore. It was cold on the lake and windy but we didnt want to miss any of the views. There are several hugh lakes here that are all interconnected. And on many shores there are no shores. Along the water line in many places man made rock walls line the shore. Some places you can see the mountain drop down and disappear into the water. The forests here are thick and you can tell up the mountainsides how hundreds of years ago trees were cut to make room for the farms. There are farms everywhere around here. Dairy dominates and the Swiss brown cows are everywhere. I have fallen in love with the bells around their necks. Supposedly when they go up to upper pastures during the summer the bells stay below. But when they come down for the winter, the bells go around their necks and as you walk around town you can hear the bells jingling all the time. I will always remember the bells here. Plus there are churches everywhere and their bells go off on a regular basis. Charming things like this I wish we had at home.
Today I am not sure where we are going. We might double back to Interlaken so that we can see the Jungfrau mountain. (Its suppose to be a sight not to miss) but the weather has been unpredictable. We had everything from rain, wind, overcast, to clear. Or we might decide to just move on and go to new territory.
We love and miss everyone. Hope all is well with you. Love from all of us to all of you.