62. March 27th, 2011 Picture.

I woke up on Sunday morning pretty exhausted yet sad the weekend was coming to an end.  It was an awesome 'vacation' and I really wanted to stay indefinitely.  I made it a point to get ready and pack up all my things right when I woke up so that I could relax and enjoy the last few hours of our trip.  

I was really excited when I went to the kitchen after packing up the car and found Sue making Bloody Mary's.  The weekend was not over yet!

Note: I don't even LIKE Bloody Mary's, though I wish I did.  My family apparently has an amazing family recipe, so gallons and gallons of it are consumed at every family party.  I am more of a mimosa gal, which also classifies me as a black sheep.

After helping clean up the house and throwing our sheets in the laundry, we headed outside with the mounds and mounds of children to go sledding down a hill on the property.  Who am I kidding, we were on a mountain, the WHOLE thing is a giant hill.

Ratty giving Sue and Cora a push down the hill.

Races!

Okay seriously, that green plastic one absolutely FLEW down the hill.  I was borderline scared because at the bottom of the hill was a barbed wire fence that gingerly protected us from flying into the street.  You know those crazy busy mountain roads!

The only way to stop yourself completely was to pretty much throw yourself onto the ground.  Not the most graceful way of disembarking.

Then Ratty got brave and tried to surf on the sled like the little kids were doing.  This ended poorly.

But I still had to try it too.  I moved all of 3 inches and thought that I was going to plunge to my death.  As if that was even possible.

Ratty was flying down the hill on this little sled.  If you could zoom in on his face it would be hilarious.  I'd do it but it will get all pixelated.  Trust me, I already tried.

After sledding, most people started backing up and heading home before it got too late, it is a 3 hour drive back to the city after all.  This was about the time that me, Sue and Timmy went off to learn how to fire guns.  Read all about that awesome time HERE!

After that it was REALLY time to go, so we all said our goodbyes and packed ourselves back into the car.  My mom and I had plans to take Sue and Ratty around Mittersill, the small village where my Uncle Bill lives that is on the side of Cannon Mountain.  I love Mittersill, though I've always thought that I slightly missed it's heyday.  It's still beautiful and awesome, don't get me wrong, but when my brothers and sister were growing up the slope behind my uncle's house was an active run for Cannon.  There is still the old chair lift base at the bottom of the mountain, and last I heard Cannon was going to reopen the trail.  I hear stories of how the adults would sit in the restaurant of the hotel at the base of the mountain, having drinks and watching all the kids ski.  My uncle could also ski right from the slope onto his back porch and in the back door.  It just sounds so picture perfect, I wish I could have been there for some of that!  Maybe I'll be around for it's second coming...  

My Uncle Bill drew the plans and built this chalet when my mom was my age, actually probably younger!  In order to build a home in Mittersill, which I don't think you can do anymore, the house has to be a certified Swiss Chalet.  In order to submit the plans for the house, my uncle needed to have the architect sign them.  Thing was, my uncle was the architect [even though he had no real formal training], so as to not create suspicion, he signed my brother's name, Ronald A. Fetter Jr.  Ronny was only 1 at the time.  Isn't that awesome?  I love that Ronny's name is on the official blueprints, filed away somewhere in Europe.  Pretty cool.

The view from the front door.

View from the upstairs landing, overlooking the living room fireplace.  That is a massive Downey family coat of arms hanging on the wall along with my uncle's collection of steins.  Ugh, I love this place.

I think it's funny how much I love it now, though when I was 11 and visiting with my parents I still loved it up there, but would find myself fidgety.  No TV, no radio reception, well that's not true, we could get the oldies country station, which back then was my nightmare.  In the summer we'd swim in the pool at the inn at the base of the hill or go to their game room and play ping pong.  What seemed kinda boring back then is exactly what I'd love to do right now.  Does that mean I'm getting old?

This was the first time that either Ratty or Sue had ever seen the house, so we spent a good while look at all the things my uncle has displayed.  He collects ski resort pins, and has scarves hanging on the wall with hundreds of pins on them.  Most are places he's skied, places in Europe and the US, and some pins are gifts that people have brought him.

He also has all the pencils from each golf course he's ever golfed at.  Isn't he so cute?  They are glued to a ribbon and hang in the front room of his house.  Hm, I'm starting to wonder if this whole 'I save everything' thing runs in our family.  Both my mother and I 'suffer' from it too!  It's not a bad way to be, if you ask me.

See all those slats/spindles/balusters in the deck?  My mom and her sister carved each one by hand.  They are all curved and each one is exactly the same, or rather, designed exactly the same - they're all obviously a little different since they weren't cut outs from a machine. There is some pretty awesome character in this chalet - like the carved lion Downey sign that matches the family crest hanging above the fireplace.  And the birdhouse!  Everything is just so awesome.

Before you turn into Mittersill this is the sign that you see.  The whole village has so much character!  I highly recommend driving through if you're ever in the area!