When the Ego Landed it Went Splat

Well, I woke up in Grenoble with a head cold. Since I have used all my PTO days it makes sense to get sick during vacation. So, I will not waste my time looking for new running shoes since I do not have the energy to run. I also have an Alpine drive ahead to get to Turin for the night so it makes sense not to push it. The fact that it is rainy, cold and gray does not help my whiney attitude. It was supposed to be sunny.

Leaving Grenoble:

We stopped in Bourg D'Oisans at 11:00 for something to drink to warm us up.

Searching for a warm drink at the Cafe de Paris:

Arlette took the Leffe Blonde and I the Leffe Brune.

Views along the road:

We took a short detour to climb up the Col de Galibier which is a very famous pass used in the Tour de France, including this year. It looked steep on TV but in reality it is even steeper. Over 12% grade in places.

Here are some sheep along the road. I understand they are bred to have one legs shorter on one side so they don't fall off the mountain.

At the summit:
A storm rolling in across the valley. It was about 42 DegF here. If you look closely you can see a car coming up the road we just climbed.

Welcome to Italy: 36 DegF and raining. Wha.......?

Of course, I had to hit Turin at rush hour......Not bad compared to Phoenix.

I found a hotel (constructed in the old Fiat factory) The Fiat test track is on the roof and was used in the original Italian Job movie. It is now used for the hotel's running path. If I had only remembered my shoes and weren't sick. Sigh. Not everything was smooth however, the room keys would not open the doors and the internet would not work. When I asked for a new key for Arlette, they promised to send one up right away. Two hours later we were still waiting. Hey, it's Italy. They did not care much that the internet didn't work either. But in a true Three Fingered Moment I decided I should have turned the comm port off and then back on. And "Voila," everything started working.

Si, era un momento dalle dita tre. Ciao!