The weather took a major turn for the better this morning and it was just too nice to stay indoors and organize a single thing. Kory called his cousin Odd (pronounced “Ode”) and asked if he and his wife, Turid (Turr-ree) and daughter Hege (Hey-gah) wanted to come with us. They thought it was a fine idea, so we all headed out to a nearby island and hiked along the beach then up to the highest mountain, which fortunately for me, wasn’t TOO high. It was an incredibly warm and beautiful day, even being right down by the ocean. We also ran into another cousin (the one whose daughter had her Confirmation last weekend). So many people were out enjoying their sunny day off that it felt like NOW we are really in Norway. Staying inside a condo all day unpacking boxes felt like I could have been anywhere, but today was pure Norsk.
We all wrote our names in the book at the top of the mountain. Each peak has a book and pen tucked inside a weatherproof box at the summit and everyone who makes it must write their name, the date and time, and how many times they’ve made the trip. They use those books as a way to keep track of how much certain trails are used to help allocate money for their upkeep. It was all of our first time to the top, but the guy right before us, it was his 90th time. I can’t believe people can remember those kinds of things. But they also remember the exact time it takes them to make it up. Just as we were descending, some guy was heading up the trail. He looked down at his watch (a familiar sight at the trail head) to see the current time. Everyone always try to beat their best time. These Norwegians are a hardy lot, that’s for sure.
I called Kaleb this morning to see if he wanted to go on the hike with us. He didn’t, so he stayed over at his friend’s house all day. Come to find out, the entire neighborhood where he was at knew about some events happening at the State Church right next to our condo, but not Andre, where he stayed. When Kaleb and Andre went outside to play with all their pals, they were all gone to the church, but they didn’t know it. Kaleb cried buckets when he told me about it later as there were all kinds of competitions and the kids got to use the climbing tower we see from our front door (they attached climbing holds to the bell tower and for special events, they hook up the safety harness and let the kids climb to the top.) Kaleb was so jealous all his friends were doing that while he was just waiting for them to come home so he could play. When I went to pick him up at seven tonight, he just cried. He wasn’t ready to come home, he was sleep deprived, and he was sorely disappointed in how his day turned out. Poor thing.
Odd and Turid invited us over for dinner tonight so I zoomed home after the hike (we were gone nearly six hours), and made some pecan squares with ingredients I brought with me from America. That dessert is the total bomb here and everyone loves it, especially Turid. We ate a late dinner out on their deck and after dessert, headed home to watch “Alt For Norge,” (Everything for Norway) a TV show that Tobias highly recommended to us. It’s like a Norwegian version of “Survivor” only it’s all American people with Norwegian ancestry. They compete in real Norwegian experiences and the winner will get to meet some of their relatives that still live in Norway. It was very funny. There is one guy from Seattle on the show but the bulk of them are from Minnesota. They filmed it last summer and it’s a big hit here in Norway as everyone enjoys laughing at the American buffoons who can’t even light a fire to save their lives. At least I made it to the top of a mountain today, and no one voted me off the island.
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