Autumn 2005

Autumn has been stunning. We had another beautiful weekend and this meant getting outside for a hike and a bike ride. Daylight saving time ended on Sunday and left me depressed. The reduced daylight hours marks the end of the warm months and the start of the coming winter. I'm looking forward to winter, but not finishing work when it's pitch dark outside.

On Saturday I joined Rahel, Karin, and Bryan for a hike around Wattwil (google earth). I found the hike information on the Kantonal St. Gallische Wanderwege website that proposes a hundred different hikes in the kanton of St. Gallen. I'm surprised that I hadn't found this site earlier.

On Sunday I went cycling through St. Gallen, Stein, Appenzell, Gais, Teufen, Speicher, and back to St. Gallen (google earth). I saw many cows and kept marveling at how gorgeous Appenzellerland is. What I didn't see were chickens. I believe the Swiss government has passed law requiring chickens to remain indoors in fear of the bird flu. Most of the ride was on designated bike routes that were shared with the main roads. I dislike riding on roads but fortunately the traffic was light. All-in-all it was a perfect weekend.