Waking up in Austria Sunday

I woke up early Sunday morning because we had to catch a van to go to the Salt Mines. I heard the wind whipping around and I did not want to get out of bed, but I did. We had another great breakfast, packed our bags and said good-bye to Ms. Elizabeth. Our van arrived and we were off for another exciting day. We drove up to the Eagle's Nest, but only made it part way up the mountain due to snow. The Eagle's Nest was closed for the season anyway, but it was nice to get that close. The bus ride up the mountain was another interesting ride. Next we headed to the Salt Mine. We got to the salt mine and rode the train deep into the mountain. After walking awhile we came to the first 'slide.' The miners used a wooded slide to go deep into the mountain quickly. I was all excited to go down the slide, that was until I saw how steep it was. CAPT Doll went with one of the first groups. One of our members walked down so there were only 3 of us left to slide down. I climbed on the rail and then stood up at the last minute. The other two ladies went without me. The guide said, 'no problem you go with me' so I had to suck it up and get on. I grabbed his shoulders and kept my eyes closed the entire time. The mine staff took a picture and in it I am pulling so hard it looks like I am choking the guide. When I got to the bottom the rest of the group asked what happened. They said you talked about how much fun the slide was. I told them, well as soon as I saw it I remembered how much I hated it!!! We laughed, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. There was a second slide and I did it without any problems. Finally we headed home. It took us 7 hours to make it back to Vogelweh. We had high winds, the kind you can't walk in. Heavy rain. And I think a little bit of snow. I got in around midnight and went to bed. I was very happy to see my apartment. One more day off and then it is back to work.