We're Back!

After all our “adventures” on this trip, we kept saying we were glad nothing else has happened. Kaleb kept asking, “What else could go wrong?” and our answer was always “plenty.” Well, the “adventure” continued today as we began our journey back home. It was raining hard when we left Kory’s cousin’s house in Oslo. I had driven straight into her long driveway yesterday, but was unable to turn around this morning so I had to back out. Sigrunn was helping guide me back UP her driveway (as I was going uphill and backwards in the rain and difficult conditions), and I was going very slowly until I reached the street then had to give it a bit more gas to get over the ridge of the road. That’s when I heard the crunch. I didn’t see the car parked on the street right behind me, nor did Sigrunn. I did some serious damage to the other vehicle because our van has a tow hitch on the back side and it put a good sized dent in the lower cowling on the front of the Volkswagen that was unfortunately parked there. I couldn’t believe it. I’m thankful we have insurance but it was still no way to begin the day. Kory didn’t say a word.

After that unfortunate event, I was glad to be the hero today in Kaleb’s eyes. I drove over eight hours from Oslo to Aalesund with only one stop and we made it back in time for him to say good-bye to Henrik (one of his friends) before he left on vacation tonight. The trip home didn’t go exactly as planned because I trusted the GPS to get me out of the city, and just like my laptop – it suckered me in to trusting it too much and then let me down. For some reason the GPS routed us out of Oslo heading to Bergen and then up the coast to Aalesund – taking a route that would use four ferries and many unnecessary hours. I didn’t realize the mistake right away as I was so worried about getting out of the city – but when I saw the signs to Bergen, rather than Trondheim, I knew we were in trouble. It cost about an hour to take a road over a mountain pass to get back on the highway heading north, not west, but that road was incredibly beautiful and there were no other cars to deal with – which was a good thing because it was a one lane road and I had to dodge many sheep along the way. I didn’t go the speed limit, hoping to make up some lost time, and as it turned out it was the fastest I went all day. Once I actually made it to the longed for Highway 6, I never went more than forty miles per hour – which is typical for traveling around in Norway. Most of the main roads have a speed limit between 25 and 40 miles per hour so it’s painful driving – especially since there are never straight stretches long enough to pass the inevitable motor home or truck in front of me. It’s quite the opposite experience from driving the German Autobaun, but that’s the “charm” of driving in Norway.

Kory and I had the same feeling today, driving back to Aalesund, that we had when we were heading back to Seattle after our two year honeymoon motor home trip. We loved driving all over America and Canada and seeing all the nice places, but when we drove back into western Washington we realized that as pretty as other places are, there’s no place as beautiful as the Northwest. Well, it’s the same for Europe. There are many beautiful places, but once we got back to the west coast of Norway we realized there is just no place that can compare with the beauty we have here. Kory was also glad to have something to look at other than the sky, as every place we’ve driven is pretty flat and he can’t see the landscape lying flat on his back, but once we reached Norway all of a sudden he had a view, as the farms up on the mountainside are almost touching heaven.

Once we got back to town we drove right over to Henrik’s house so Kaleb could give him a hug good-bye. His father was busy rotating the tires on their motor home so it gave Kaleb a few minutes to tell Henrik all about the amusement park rides he must not miss, as Henrik is going to all the same places we’ve just taken Kaleb. They also talked Pokemon moves and all that’s happened on our trip, so it was good to see Kaleb having a few last minutes with Henrik before they had to take off and drive out the road we’d just driven in on. After we left Henrik’s we drove down the street to see our old house. Nothing’s changed except the grass hasn’t been cut. Kaleb is already talking with a sentimental lilt to his voice when he talks about living there. Oh, it will be hard to leave.

Cousin Odd was waiting for our arrival and was quite protective of Kory as he helped him to the couch. Odd’s only plans this weekend is to be Kory’s personal physician. Kory said Michael Jackson had a personal physician and it didn’t work out too well for him, but Odd promised not to give him any drugs. It is good to be “home.”

(The photo today is a “drive by shooting” taken from the car while we were leaving Czech Republic last week.)

Trusting God

We looked at a few places today and made an offer on a house (half a duplex) at Moa (where our condo is). It’s in God’s hands as we offered 15% less than they were asking. Our offer was for 2,000,000 kroner (that’s $400,000 to me and you). Another person had offered the same price a month ago but the owners turned it down but we’re hoping they’re more eager to sell by now. They are asking 2,290,000 kroner ($60,000) more than we offered, but it’s a slow market for sellers as the interest rates in Norway are climbing and many people can’t afford these prices. We can only manage it if we get an interest only loan at the bank, which we were told we could get. (Kory’s old childhood neighbor is the president of a bank here and he can fix us up with whatever we need. It is nice to know the right people.) But it’s all a bit scary as we have tried so hard to get OUT of debt, now we’re going back in. And the house is about 920 square feet– tiny thing, but really cute inside.

Anything we rent would be 10-12 thousand kroner a month ($2,000-$2,400) so we figured we might as well “rent from the bank” as our payments would be about 12,000 kroner. It’s a bit of a risk that in a year we can maybe break even, but at least we get the tax advantages of owning and being able to deduct the interest from our income. We gave the seller 20 hours to make up his mind so we’ll know by noon tomorrow (3am Seattle time). We are nearly out of options. School starts in less than 3 weeks and we must know where we are living in order to know where Kaleb will go to school. He’s already registered with this school district and this house is almost as close to our condo as the house where we were going to rent – it’s just a few doors down from it and right in the same neighborhood.

I told Kaleb today about the housing dilemma we are in and he was more than excited that we might have a place of our own, so he took the news rather well. Thank you, God. There is a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 on the other side of this duplex and a boy about 7 or 8 in front of it – and there are several trampolines in the neighborhood, so it’s rich with socializing opportunities. We are praying God softens the hearts of the people with the house and they will be willing to sell at our price. The best thing is – it’s not sinking!

On the way home from the “megler” (real estate) office, we stopped by Odd’s other brother’s house to look at some furniture. He’s moving in with his girlfriend and they are each throwing out all their stuff and getting new furniture together. So, assuming we get a house soon, we will also have a nice couch, love seat, coffee table, and dining table with six chairs to go with it. Other cousins have been holding beds and dressers for us, knowing we are coming. They don’t do much recycling here – or trying to sell things used (it’s a little bit beneath them to take hand-me-downs) they’d rather just throw the stuff out. But we’re Americans and we have no shame.

Hopefully our search for a house will end tomorrow and we can start looking for jobs. We are trusting God for all our needs….