A Majestic Day

Last night when we went to see Odd and Turid, I was lamenting over the fear that rises up within me when I have to drive on certain types of Norwegian roads. The one lane road with no centerline and sheer drop-offs on one side make my blood pressure rise and my heart pound deeply within my chest.  They are also frequently punctuated with hair-pin turns which make it impossible to see what size death machine is coming at me full force from the opposite direction.  Often there is no way for two vehicles to be on the same piece of road at the same time, so someone has to back up.  If the oncoming vehicle is a bus or truck, then the backing up to the nearest wide spot in the road would have to be done by me.  This is not an enjoyable experience. 

These roads also have very lame looking, short guardrails, which are only there for the driver’s confidence (and not safety) because if a car were to actually bump into them, they could not possibly withstand the impact.  I’ve suspected this for a long time but my suspicions were confirmed by Bent-Jarle when in fact, he hit one and went careening over the edge and down into an orchard.  His wife and child were with him and thankfully no one was hurt, but the car was totaled.  This is why we now have new tires on our van – because they came off that car. 

So these roads, which I’m not the least bit fond of, cover the bulk of Norway.  It’s impossible to go on a road trip anywhere in the land without encountering them.  It’s more stress than I can bear.

Turid asked me what our plans were for today and I told her I really wanted to take Amanda on the ferry down the Geiranger Fjord and go see the famous Trollsteigen road (with many switchbacks and death defying hairpin turns.)  But as she gathered, I wasn’t about to drive on Trollsteigen anytime soon, and Kory driving us anywhere was out of the question, so I was in a bit of a quandary.  Usually when I’m in the car on Trollsteigen, I have to close my eyes, hide my head, and lean over in the car to be sure I won’t be the cause of it tipping over the edge.  It’s more than a little freaky.

So Turid, sweetheart that she is, piped in with “I’ll drive you!”  She just loves a good road trip and I’ve been on a few with her, so I know for a fact, she’s a good driver and these insane Norwegian roads are her forte.  She also offered to use Odd’s car (a Mercedes), so the offer got even better.  It was hard to turn it down.

This morning Amanda and I were out the door by nine with Turid as the master chauffeur.  It couldn’t have been more perfect. 

Kory and Kaleb stayed home, so it was a real chick trip.  Kaleb intended to go hang out with friends, but changed his mind for some reason and just stayed home with Kory, who was fairly useless all day since he was told to not move his arm.  Kaleb helped him out a little and I’m sure they were both glad for some guy time without me barking orders around the house.  Kory took a long nap in the sun and enjoyed the peace and quiet, so for them they had a good day, but they had no idea what they were missing.

Amanda, Turid and I sailed across more than one fjord in our loop around the most picturesque parts of Norway.  We took the ferry into the Geiranger Fjord, then got off and walked around town a bit cooling ourselves with some ice cream as the day was actually warm!  We ate lunch at the end of the fjord in yet another beautiful setting.  I think there should be a poster of “picnic spots in Norway” as the places they put these tables have the most dramatic and awesome backdrops, it feels like we’re in a movie scene that can’t possibly be real.

One funny thing that happened today is that Mandy ran into someone she knew on the ferry to Geiranger!  They were a couple that stayed at the Manor in England where she works, as their was a wedding there a few weeks ago and they were guests there.  They both recognized each other and figured out where they knew each other from and then had a little chat.  Small world.

I’d never been to Dalsnibba before – it’s one incredible lookout above Geiranger that a person doesn’t even have to hike up to – the road goes up to the tippy top of a mountain that’s over 1500 meters (over 4500 feet) high.  Turid obviously did all that driving, but even being in the front seat was a bit much for me. 

Up top, we could see the fjord and the town of Geiranger far, far below (above photo).  It was incredible, but freaky at the same time as people were standing in dangerous places to try and get cool photos.  I was sure a rock would slip and someone would die, but I survived the gut wrenching experience, took a few photos and we were off to the next adventure.

Trollsteigen is an amazing feat in road engineering (above) and I’ve been on it plenty of times, but Amanda obviously hadn’t.  She showed no fear all day as I believe she was so awestruck by the beauty of what we say that she didn’t say much at all.  She did wear out her camera battery and fill her memory card though, so hopefully those pictures will speak a thousand words, later.  It really is hard to describe or even capture the essence of all we saw today.  The Norwegian coastal landscape has scenes of indescribable beauty that in no way can be captured on film or explained with words – it simply must be experienced.  And experience it she did. 

It was especially exciting for Mandy to follow in the footsteps of her father, who was here in Norway in the 1970s with Kory – they were on a six month motorcycle trip through Europe and they came to Norway to visit Kory’s family.  We tried to take a few photos today that were the same layout as some that her dad had, but with her in the photo, 40 years later.  Kinda cool.

It was pure tourism today as we hit all the hot spots that tourists like to go, but the sun was shining the whole day and we couldn’t have had it any better.   Kory even felt better by day’s end, even though the swelling on his hand got worse throughout the day, the pain meds were kicking in so he actually had a smile on his face again.

When we got home, I didn’t even have to make dinner, as Kory and Kaleb had everything ready.  (Well, technically I guess I did make dinner because they just heated up stuff I’d made ahead and put in the freezer.) Kaleb had even picked blueberries (over 3 pounds!) for two hours today so we had wild blueberries and vanilla sauce for dessert.  It was as sweet, as the day was long.