And the winner is...

The moment you have all been waiting for...the winner of the TexaGermaNadian First Annual Winter Wonderland Blog Header and Button Custom Designed Extravaganza (Wow, I don't remember it being that long when it started out. That really got outta hand!).

Before I announce the luck lady who won, I want to thank you all who participated and also thank all my readers and followers who have been so great this last month. You're (What a dumbass, I made the mistake that I de-friend people for making, sorry!) Your comments really keep me going. It makes me smile every time I look at the blog. So thanks for making my January not quite as bleak and dreary as it could have been!

Now, onto the the announcement...drum roll please. The lovely winner was:

Yenta Mary at Food Floozie!

Whoohoo! I wrote all the participants down, added any extra entries they might have had for extra postings on their own blogs, and then used a random number generator to do the dirty work. The number 5 popped up, and sure enough she was  listed on that line. (And for those of you who don't believe the validity, I will promptly send you the proof and an internet punch for doubting me).

Congrats again to Yenta Mary, I can't wait to get designing for her!

So, onto our little mini trip today (Hey, that's one thing that I have actually done for my Project: Do Me!)

Mondays in the German hockey world are pretty quiet. It is the day that most teams don't have practice or meetings or anything. A pure day off. We tend to lay around, nurse our Sunday night hangover, and general stretch the Zombie Sunday into a Zombie Monday.

But today, with it being the HUBS' BIRTHDAY (See, I did make a shout out to ya!) and with his parents in town, we ventured our for a mini day trip.

Although it was quite cloudy and hazy - it has been such a damp cold lately, those days when you can't do anything to get your bones warm - the hubs insisted on hopping over into Austria to ride on the Pfänderbahn, the local mountain gondola. I kinda figured we wouldn't see much on the ride up with this weather. I mean, we couldn't even see the Alps from our place; our friendly neighborhood mountains that line the southern horizon. I know right, boohoo for us and our sad and sorry life.

Yeah, a clear winter day....not.

But regardless, it was birthday boy's choice. So we made the quick drive to Bregenz, Austria, an absolutely beautiful lakeside resort town right on the German border. This town was actually featured in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. The Seebühne, or lake stage, made an appearance, and apparently one of the movie's chase scenes was filmed right there in the middle of town. I can tell you one thing, this town has some mula!

Source

Ok, back to the gondola. The Pfänderbahn takes you on a quick six minute ride up to the mountain station on the Pfänder, which is just over 1000 meters. So not too high, but the view, at least when clear, is absolutely stunning. In one glance you can see the panorama of Lake Constance, the Austrian Alps, the southern shore of Germany on the Bodensee and the northern shore of the Switzerland border. It really does make Pfänder one of the most famous lookout points of the region.

Gorgeous. And obviously not a picture from today's trip.

From the top, apparently, you can go skiing, snowboarding, sledding,  snow shoeing, or, as they put it, "fun cross country skiing", which I think is an oxymoron. We did none of these. We walked out the exit, got disoriented in the cloud of fog for a minute or two, and promptly went ran back inside the waiting area for some delicious coffee-automat hot chocolate. Mmmm-mmm. Such troopers.

Really, what would you have done?!

I have been up there on a clear day, and it is worth every penny to see the sights. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, I would consider it a must-see! Check out the website (in English, awesome) HERE.

All bundled up waiting for the gondola

Tonight, we are headed to a steakhouse for the hubs' b-day dinner. My stomach is already growling at the though of some good ol' American style grub.

I promise more fun things for the beginning of February. I have some great ideas for posts this next week. Be sure to look out for "Things that Germans think are American, but just have missed the mark by a mile", "Recycling in Germany: The best way to get yelled at for doing something wrong", and "Why every country we travel to goes broke or riots within the year".

Have a great Monday bloggyland :)