We’re heading south quickly now as our big Norsk road trip is coming to an end and it feels like winter is fast approaching this northern part of the country. We were driving awfully close to the snow line today and it made me a bit nervous. Everywhere is so remote here if the car broke down it feels like we would freeze or starve to death or both. There is only one main road going north and south throughout this part of Norway and we only saw a handful of cars or trucks all day. We changed our plans and decided not to go to Bodø afterall, but rather continue on the inland route to Mo I Rana, which is closer to tomorrow’s destination. I didn’t want to be stressed for time tomorrow so we put in a few extra hours of driving today. Poor Kory – he’s done all the driving. I’m not comfortable yet with all the Norsk traffic signs so I haven’t taken up the charge – and I don’t think Kory’s heart could handle me behind the wheel anyway as many stretches of road are just one lane with no center line and rarely a guard rail. Uff da.
We saw herds and herds of caribou today up in the mountain passes – more of them than cars, that’s for sure. We also saw a lot of beautiful scenery again as we had blue sky and bright sunshine most of the day. I did a lot of “drive by shootings” rather than make Kory stop the car to take a picture and even in a moving vehicle I got some incredible shots. And I’m just kicking myself that I recently discovered the “foliage” setting on my camera that makes the fall colors really pop out. Had I known about that while on the Lofoten Islands my photos would have been more like what we saw – rather than a bit washed out. Oh well, live and learn.
Kaleb kept us entertained most of the day reading us “interesting facts” from one of his science books. He likes to take a fact, blank out some detail in it and then form a question so that we have to fill in the missing piece. For some reason, this is great fun to him. Kory and I usually pick extreme opposite possible answers to these weird questions just to let him do the math and figure out who wins. He also likes to just read us interesting facts and I got almost as good as him in saying “WOW!” without even tuning in to what he was saying. Oh the joys of a road trip. He won the competition we set up as to what moment we would cross the Arctic Circle too – he got within one minute of the time and won a cookie for a prize (he was negotiating for something more substantial but I wouldn’t cave.) Last week we crossed the Arctic Circle while heading north on a ferry boat – today we did it going south by car (see photos – the small marker over Kaleb’s head is the “line” in the ocean). Kory and Kaleb both had to pee while we were pulled over to take photos of the Arctic markers. They each picked one side of the line to pee on. I think they were looking for which way it would flow. It’s not like it is the Continental Divide or anything, but Kaleb is always looking for experiments to perform. He then had immediate regrets he didn’t “save it” to try and melt some of the frozen puddles he discovered in the parking lot. He was quickly pacified with “skipping stones” on a frozen pond, however.
We arrived in this cute little town of Mo I Rana right at dinnertime, but we delayed eating so Kaleb could go swimming (we accidentally discovered they had a pool as we were driving around looking for a hotel.) It was super nice but not as decadent as swimming in a cave but it sure helped him to burn off some energy after sitting in the car all day. This town reminds me of a New England coastal town – nicely kept wooden salt box style houses with picket fences and little lamps burning in all the window sills. It has a wonderful downtown area, too. There is a lot of new construction here so I’m not sure what the big income source is but they tout themselves as being the jumping off point for the Arctic Circle. Considering half the hotels in town are shut down right now, they must do a lot of tourism at one time of the year or another. We passed dozens of ski lifts and camping grounds today so I’m sure there is a lot happening around here in winter and summer. I guess we are in the “shoulder” season. I like that feeling of not being around in the heat of things, and it especially works well for me now being in Norway with all that’s brewing in the U.S. God’s timing is perfect.
We saw herds and herds of caribou today up in the mountain passes – more of them than cars, that’s for sure. We also saw a lot of beautiful scenery again as we had blue sky and bright sunshine most of the day. I did a lot of “drive by shootings” rather than make Kory stop the car to take a picture and even in a moving vehicle I got some incredible shots. And I’m just kicking myself that I recently discovered the “foliage” setting on my camera that makes the fall colors really pop out. Had I known about that while on the Lofoten Islands my photos would have been more like what we saw – rather than a bit washed out. Oh well, live and learn.
Kaleb kept us entertained most of the day reading us “interesting facts” from one of his science books. He likes to take a fact, blank out some detail in it and then form a question so that we have to fill in the missing piece. For some reason, this is great fun to him. Kory and I usually pick extreme opposite possible answers to these weird questions just to let him do the math and figure out who wins. He also likes to just read us interesting facts and I got almost as good as him in saying “WOW!” without even tuning in to what he was saying. Oh the joys of a road trip. He won the competition we set up as to what moment we would cross the Arctic Circle too – he got within one minute of the time and won a cookie for a prize (he was negotiating for something more substantial but I wouldn’t cave.) Last week we crossed the Arctic Circle while heading north on a ferry boat – today we did it going south by car (see photos – the small marker over Kaleb’s head is the “line” in the ocean). Kory and Kaleb both had to pee while we were pulled over to take photos of the Arctic markers. They each picked one side of the line to pee on. I think they were looking for which way it would flow. It’s not like it is the Continental Divide or anything, but Kaleb is always looking for experiments to perform. He then had immediate regrets he didn’t “save it” to try and melt some of the frozen puddles he discovered in the parking lot. He was quickly pacified with “skipping stones” on a frozen pond, however.
We arrived in this cute little town of Mo I Rana right at dinnertime, but we delayed eating so Kaleb could go swimming (we accidentally discovered they had a pool as we were driving around looking for a hotel.) It was super nice but not as decadent as swimming in a cave but it sure helped him to burn off some energy after sitting in the car all day. This town reminds me of a New England coastal town – nicely kept wooden salt box style houses with picket fences and little lamps burning in all the window sills. It has a wonderful downtown area, too. There is a lot of new construction here so I’m not sure what the big income source is but they tout themselves as being the jumping off point for the Arctic Circle. Considering half the hotels in town are shut down right now, they must do a lot of tourism at one time of the year or another. We passed dozens of ski lifts and camping grounds today so I’m sure there is a lot happening around here in winter and summer. I guess we are in the “shoulder” season. I like that feeling of not being around in the heat of things, and it especially works well for me now being in Norway with all that’s brewing in the U.S. God’s timing is perfect.
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