Insanity

If it's true that we turn into our parents as we get older, I am in for some interesting times. I love my parents; they're great, but sometimes I can't believe the things they do! I'm down visiting for a few days and my dad asked me yesterday, "So, did Mom tell you what I'm doing on Thursday?" After I gave him the "What the heck are you talking about?" look he told me he was flying to Zurich, Switzerland but just for the weekend. Now, my dad travels a *lot* for work. Zurich is an odd destination for his work with the US Navy though. So I ask why he's going and he says "I need the frequent flyer miles!"

Since he travels a lot most years, he really racks up the miles. He actually had enough miles in 2003 to fly my mom, himself and me round trip to Zurich via business class to meet my sister and for all of us to stay at the Marriott there. He says he won't be traveling as much this year and he wants the miles to use this summer. You see, my sister is going to Spain for 3 weeks to improve her Spanish and my parents are thinking of going over one week while she's there. They kindly invited me along as my graduation present if they do end up going (as a translator since I took Spanish in school lol). The problem? It's peak tourist season and hence is pretty expensive miles-wise.

So my dad hatched this plan to get more frequent flyer miles. Actually, he hatched this plan last fall for a different reason. He got spoiled with his "premier" status on United after flying so many miles. Last fall, the government switched to American as their preferred carrier, so he was going to have to start all over again. He noticed that flights to Zurich were relatively inexpensive (for trips to Zurich), and so he thought about taking my mom on a quick weekend trip just to get the miles. She nixed that idea as adjusting to the time change for just a day in Switzerland was a bit...um...insane! He soon dropped the idea when he found a way to "transfer" his status from United to American.

But now we have the new dilemma: the trip to Spain. So he's once again on a mission. And when United had a good fare to Zurich, he jumped on it. Evidently, he tried to talk my mom into going once again, but evidently, insanity isn't catching from spouse to spouse (though my mom has her own insane moments), so she declined. So on Thursday, he's off to Zurich for the weekend. He will have just enough time to take one train trip to a locale we didn't make it to the last time we were there. He's threatened to go to Zermatt, but he better not! That was where I wanted to go the last time to see the Matterhorn, but everyone else in the family vetoed it. I'm still determined to get back there one day. But I digress...

I can't believe my dad is actually going to Zurich for the weekend. It's insane, but so like my dad. I wonder if I'll be like this when I get to his age...It may be crazy, but it sure sounds like fun!

Oh, and in case you've made it this far and wonder about the pictures I've included, they are from the trip to Switzerland back in May 2003. I may include more throughout the next couple of days as I have a ton! I wish I had had my digital camera then...