We made it! We were up at four this morning and out the door 43 minutes later. I only slept about three hours so I was pretty rummy, but I made up for it later on the plane. It was a six and a half hour drive (locals said it would take at least eight, but they always factor in lots of stops to drink coffee along the way.) Kory drove the first two and a half hours and we ate and drank coffee American style, while we were driving, then I drove the next two and a half. We finally stopped to stretch our legs for half an hour next to a lake and had a little food, then ninety minutes later we were at the airport – more than three hours before our departure time. It’s never a bad idea to allow some flex time, especially when driving over three hundred miles to get to a destination. We decided to drive to Oslo, rather than fly, because it cost as much for us to fly to Oslo from Aalesund, as it cost to fly to Spain from Oslo (we got a screaming deal on those tickets – under $500 for round trip for all three of us). And because of the volcano’s uncertainty, we thought it best to have just one flight cancelled, rather than two. It was a good decision.
Kory and Kaleb both slept a little on the drive to Oslo, but even though I was tired, I just couldn’t bear to close my eyes and miss any of the Norwegian landscape. It’s not like I haven’t been on those roads before, but every time we drive them, it’s a different time of year, or day, and the lighting changes things so much, I still wanted to take it all in. The saddest part for me was we couldn’t stop to take any pictures. I did my usual “drive-by shooting” out the window, but not often, as we were going pretty fast. There wasn’t another single car on the road for the first four hours. Unfortunately, there were several traffic speed cameras so we couldn’t go more than fifty miles an hour, but that wouldn’t be smart anyway because then one would miss all the landscape. (See photo of our drive through the ultimate “Grand Canyon” in Norway about 5:30 this morning – with steep mountains all around – those are tall tree tops at the bottom of the photo, to give some perspective – I pointed the camera UP, not OUT. )
While we were driving we saw several deer and elk and even a moose right next to the road. I’ve seen hundreds of warning signs for moose, but never once seen one in Norway, but sure enough, they aren’t just an advertising prop. We even saw what looked like wild emus. It’s hard to believe they are just roaming around Norway, but I think they are. The places we saw them were far from any farm land so they couldn’t be pets. We also saw two red foxes, which got Kaleb excited – both times they were crossing the road. Unfortunately, we killed two birds on our trip. Life is tough in the fast lane.
Our flight to Alicante, Spain was about three and a half hours long. We arrived tonight right on target at seven – no ash came our way so everything was as smooth as it could be. Thank you, Jesus! Kory’s Tante Berit met us at the airport and drove us forty minutes to her house in Torreviejo in Southern Spain, right next to the Mediterranean Sea. She left Norway several years ago in favor of the year round sunshine and warm weather this place offers. It was nearly 80 degrees when we landed and she is sporting a rather dark tan for a Norwegian.
Aunt Berit is now a widow and lives alone with her little pup, Carmen. Carmen took to Kaleb right away, which was a good thing for both of them. We don’t know Berit too well, as she is a half sister to Kory’s mom; the daughter of Kory’s grandfather he never knew. His mother was illegitimate and she never knew her father – she was raised by the father to her other sisters, Ruth, Kari and Aslaug. So this is branching into a whole new world for us to meet people Kory is closely related to, but has no history with. Berit couldn’t be nicer or more hospitable and we are looking forward to our days with her – and the sunshine and warm weather. So what do you call a vacation, when you are already on one? I feel guilty sometimes our life is so good, but when God says he will pour out so many blessing we cannot contain it, He really means it.
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