Switzerland Road Trip + Ben's First Father's Day Gift

Our second full day in Switzerland was completely oriented around Ben's Father's Day gift. It looked a little something like this:


Eeek! When we were in the early planning stages of our trip, Ben mentioned wanting to do a James Bond bungee jump at the Verzasca dam. I immediately said "heck no!!" and described how not in a million years could he do a bungee jump while I stand helplessly holding our newborn baby. Not gonna happen, sorry but no. :) He mentioned it several other times, looking up costs and watching youtube videos of the jump. I kept telling him that I didn't feel at all comfortable with the idea.

Fast forward to just a few months before the trip. It had popped into my head that if I could be brave enough, it would be the best Father's Day gift ever... he would be so genuinely surprised! I sat on the idea, researched the amount of deaths from bungee, etc. I'm crazy, I know. Just being honest. :) My friend Kayla found me a graphic that showed how much more dangerous cars are than bungee jumping. That had me almost convinced, but not fully. Then I was talking with my friend Jackie about something completely different, I can't even remember what. She asked me if I had listened to the message from our church about how "God determines the quantity of your life, but you determine the quality" and I was immediately jumping in my head towards the bungee.

So I booked it. Surprised a very shocked Ben on Father's Day. And our second full day in Switzerland consisted of road tripping around the country on our way to the dam for the bungee jump. I should have known from our previous two days, but the country is beyond stunning. Should have maybe put on some makeup or not dressed like a scrub, anticipating that we'd stop for photos. But whatever. Mama was tired. :)

The following view was a spot where we randomly pulled over to feed Beau. No biggie! It wouldn't be  a road trip without a little snack for the road, I tried these gummy hairbo strawberry candies and they were so yummy!

Nail polish: Essie

Then, we got lost. Real lost. We were being guided by the modern joy that is Google maps and paying $120 for an international data package. Because we were driving through the mountains, a lot of times there was only one real route, and we encountered some traffic that we tried to dodge, and then a closed road. We ended up driving for several more hours. But it was AMAZING. We saw parts of the country that we wouldn't have, parts that truly couldn't be captured in photos. Well certainly not our photos. :)

tee shirt: support Heartgrown Baby Cole here!

We loved it, and felt the climate growing warmer as we moved south towards the dam, and the Italian border not too far afterwards. Right before we got to the dam, we spotted this amazing sunflower field. I insisted that we pull onto a tiny one way road and stop for a few photos. This is a spot that would have been so fun if Beau was a little bit bigger!

Soon after, we pulled up to this: 

Yikes. Ben then signed some paperwork, and I fed Beau while we waited for it to be his turn. We made friends with a girl from Delaware who was traveling by herself. What a brave chicka! I can't wait to show Beau the photos of him at the jump site one day. He's going to think his parents were much cooler than they were. :) It was quite the environment. Reggae music, people filming on go pro cameras, taking selfies, etc. We watched 5-10 jumpers before Ben went. Seeing the jump being done so often really calmed my nerves. They had it down to such a science. I am sure that the other jumpers were like "what are these loonies doing here with a tiny baby?!!?" Haha!

Before we knew it, it was Ben's turn and he was up on the platform. Enjoy the video and my nervous laughter. It really was such a fun experience overall though. Ben said he was a little nervous right before he jumped but that it was a ton less scary than he thought it would be. He said at the beginning of the free fall his stomach jumped but then he just enjoyed the breeze. Not me!! Ha!

After the fun few hours at the jump site, we finished our drive to Lake Como, through Lugano, which was fun to see. We arrived in Menaggio, and were staying in Varenna so we had to take a ferry across the lake, which was an experience in itself. I had never driven on a ferry before (well Ben drove, but still!) and thought it was really interesting. It was so windy, but the view was amazing. 

I was literally CLUTCHING onto Beau as we cruised across the lake. 

The following photo is one of my favorites from the trip, Beau in the wind! Haha!

And then we arrived! Let's make this post a cliffhanger and save Lake Como for another day! :)