[stupide moment]

Somedays, well, I'm just not that bright. I'm slightly amazed that I'm still alive, at times.

Anyways, today, it was 4:00 and I was already anticipating youth group coming up that night at 8:00. I thought of how I could make the time waiting not seem so long. I decided to walk there.

I headed out at 6:22 PM.

For those of you unfamiliar with Switzerland, the entire country is filled with these yellow "Wanderweg" signs that show you how many minutes it is to walk to anywhere. You could get to pretty much any place without having a clue where it is, just by following these signs. I decided to put them to a test.

I left from Arzier and my destination was the Gland trainstation, and then to my church.

First reason why it was stupid for me to do this - I still have a brace and was on crutches. The crutches were real life savers, this evening. I used them to hop and run much of the way. They also were handy because...

I ended up with bloody, blistering heels. Just 25 minutes or so in, I realized my shoes were rubbing my feet wrong. Now these are the hiking boots I wear all the time in America without a problem, so I didn't imagine they could do the damage they did. But see the above picture. Blood isn't extreme.

The pathways I took this time weren't always friendly. The path soon decended down hills into a valley and I watched as the sun went down. I picked up my pace as the path lead me deep into the woods. A few times I would surface up to civilization and breath a huge sigh of relief before the path carried me back into the darkness. A little path that curved with each turn of the creek.

I always hoped that my eyes would adjust to the dark quickly because misteps could twist my ankle, which would slow down my pace by half. The path forced me to go up and down steep slopes and underneath tunnels on tiny pathways that I couldn't see.

After and hour and a half of wandering, I reached a bus stop. It was dark and my ankles were causing me grief. I asked the kid ther if the bus was headed to Gland, he said no, so it was back to the train for me. Another hour, the sign said.

Finally, I felt like I reached Gland. I knew I hadn't completed the path but I was sick of the Wanderweg at night so I just left. Then I was in a city with no sense of orientation. I just started walking based on how I felt. Where I thought I should go. It must have worked (go feelings), because after 20 minutes, I ended up at my destination - Youth Group.

Wandering is one of those things I missed a lot about Switzerland. It's addicting, something I could do every day. In fact, I have done it every day since I did that initial 6 mile trek to Gland. It makes me feel fresh, accomplished, and to some extents - free.