Kory was complaining about the stop and go traffic this morning, yet there wasn’t another car in sight. Every time we rounded a corner I’d yell “STOP!” as the picture in front of us was begging to be forever captured on film. Stunning. (Actually, I’ve been doing that for days, but today he finally decided to complain a little.) The storm brought snow to the highest peaks, yet the fall colors in the lower elevations remained. Bodies of water interweave with vast landscapes at the base of all the mountains with just the perfect building or two added for effect (see photo). It’s an absolute dreamland and I hesitate to even add photos because they are so lame at representing the majesty of it all. Kaleb has kept his nose down and head in a book throughout this trip and we are constantly pointing out things of beauty and asking him to look up at them so he’ll have memories of this place. I saw him in the car window reflection today and he didn’t even turn his eyes from the page he was reading, yet he yelled out, “Wow!” without even knowing what he was commenting on. Anything to pacify the parents, I guess. Smart boy, however, frustrating. One mountain must look like all the others to him.
We left our cushy hotel this morning after several cups of coffee and a relaxed breakfast and drove even further north – as far north as we will be on this trip – to Harstad. Tomorrow we start the journey south. Rain came and went today but the scenery was still beautiful in every way as the waters were so calm I took many photos of mirror images. The clouds just added dimension and the rain made us glad we were warm and dry in the car.
We officially left the Lofoten Islands today and we’re back on the mainland of Norway. On the first ferry we parked next to a fish truck (big business up here). It smelled nearly as bad as Kory smelled after he ate some dried fish last night for a snack. I almost made him sleep in the lobby. They hang all the fish to dry on outdoor racks here in the winter and then they eat the darn stuff. I can’t imagine being that hungry. And based on all the racks I’ve seen and how many fish they each must hold, I find it hard to believe there are still any fish left in the sea.
Kaleb made it well known today that he’s come to realize this trip is more for me than him, as there hasn’t been a thing we’ve done that would qualify as a “vacation” to him. He’s been such a trooper in the car, no complaints, just reading the same books over and over. I told him when we get to Harstad we’ll find something special to do just for him. Little did I know that Harstad has the best swimming facility in all of Scandinavia! How lucky was that? We even found out about it by chance at a second hand store we stopped at – the guy there told us about it (thank you, Jesus!). Then when we went to check into the hotel, I asked for directions to the pool, and I found out there was a package deal for the hotel and pool so that we got 30 kroners knocked off the hotel price (about $6) and free entry to the pool (which would have cost about $60), so that was an unexpected thrill. Then as we left the hotel to walk in the direction of the pool I was looking around this quaint little town and wondering just where oh where could that little pool be, since all the buildings were old wooden things with a lot of charm and I couldn’t imagine a pool in any of them. And then we saw the entry doors, went through them, and walked down, down, down into a deep tunnel, only to discover the pool hall was completely carved out of the base of a rock that made up the hillside here in town. It was the coolest thing, as they sprayed the entire cavity they made with some kind of white stucco so it seemed we were entering into an ice cave (and I’m sure in the wintertime this town is rather icy being so far north.) The pool facility has every feature imaginable, from the river current pool, hot tubs, wet and dry saunas, spraying water features, wave tank, water slide, kiddy wading area, and a separate huge Olympic size lap pool with all the high dives. It was quite the sight (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb raising their hands in praise to God.) We stayed for two and a half hours and Kaleb was so exhausted when we left he nearly fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel. He needed some exercise, and it sure got me off the hook for entertaining him. I told him not many kids have gone swimming in a cave north of the Arctic Circle before. But then again, probably not many adults have either.
We left our cushy hotel this morning after several cups of coffee and a relaxed breakfast and drove even further north – as far north as we will be on this trip – to Harstad. Tomorrow we start the journey south. Rain came and went today but the scenery was still beautiful in every way as the waters were so calm I took many photos of mirror images. The clouds just added dimension and the rain made us glad we were warm and dry in the car.
We officially left the Lofoten Islands today and we’re back on the mainland of Norway. On the first ferry we parked next to a fish truck (big business up here). It smelled nearly as bad as Kory smelled after he ate some dried fish last night for a snack. I almost made him sleep in the lobby. They hang all the fish to dry on outdoor racks here in the winter and then they eat the darn stuff. I can’t imagine being that hungry. And based on all the racks I’ve seen and how many fish they each must hold, I find it hard to believe there are still any fish left in the sea.
Kaleb made it well known today that he’s come to realize this trip is more for me than him, as there hasn’t been a thing we’ve done that would qualify as a “vacation” to him. He’s been such a trooper in the car, no complaints, just reading the same books over and over. I told him when we get to Harstad we’ll find something special to do just for him. Little did I know that Harstad has the best swimming facility in all of Scandinavia! How lucky was that? We even found out about it by chance at a second hand store we stopped at – the guy there told us about it (thank you, Jesus!). Then when we went to check into the hotel, I asked for directions to the pool, and I found out there was a package deal for the hotel and pool so that we got 30 kroners knocked off the hotel price (about $6) and free entry to the pool (which would have cost about $60), so that was an unexpected thrill. Then as we left the hotel to walk in the direction of the pool I was looking around this quaint little town and wondering just where oh where could that little pool be, since all the buildings were old wooden things with a lot of charm and I couldn’t imagine a pool in any of them. And then we saw the entry doors, went through them, and walked down, down, down into a deep tunnel, only to discover the pool hall was completely carved out of the base of a rock that made up the hillside here in town. It was the coolest thing, as they sprayed the entire cavity they made with some kind of white stucco so it seemed we were entering into an ice cave (and I’m sure in the wintertime this town is rather icy being so far north.) The pool facility has every feature imaginable, from the river current pool, hot tubs, wet and dry saunas, spraying water features, wave tank, water slide, kiddy wading area, and a separate huge Olympic size lap pool with all the high dives. It was quite the sight (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb raising their hands in praise to God.) We stayed for two and a half hours and Kaleb was so exhausted when we left he nearly fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel. He needed some exercise, and it sure got me off the hook for entertaining him. I told him not many kids have gone swimming in a cave north of the Arctic Circle before. But then again, probably not many adults have either.
1 comment:
Wow -- what spectacular scenery!! and What a pool!! We so enjoy your blogs.
Post a Comment