We managed to buy a few treasures today before we left Harstad, some “antiques” (probably not older than Kory however), as reminders of the trip. The prices are so high if we were to buy anything in a regular store it almost takes the joy out of owning it, so we go for bargain prices at second hand stores and then like it all the better. Besides, they don’t make things like they used to. I’m trying not to think much about money on this trip as it would certainly pull the plug on all the fun we are having, but tonight Kory wanted to stay in a bed and breakfast rather than a nice hotel. It only saved us about $50 but somehow that made him happy. Kaleb on the other hand, was devastated as there is no bathroom in the room – we have to walk down a hall to use the toilet. He cried and pitched a fit about it and even offered to pay the difference on the room rate himself, but Kory wouldn’t budge. I’m not sure the logic in it all, but Kory thinks he’s teaching Kaleb a thing or two about being flexible and being responsible with financial choices. I think Kory has reached the “life shouldn’t be this good” limit and now wants to feel a little less decadent… I’m not sure. I’m steering clear of them both by typing this in the sitting room of the B&B waiting for them to go to sleep. Life is good no matter how you slice it if you ask me.
We had a lot of grey clouds today but not much rain so the drive from Harstad to Narvik was a piece of cake (easy for me to say, as Kory did all the driving.) The scenery changed significantly as we were up IN the mountains, not down below looking up AT them. We saw a lot of rainbows today – even at high noon! It was only about a two hour drive, so we decided to take a side road and go check out Sweden. The width of Norway this far north is surprisingly narrow, so we wanted to add a little novelty to the day and let Kaleb cross the border into another country. At first he wasn’t that thrilled about the idea, but once we got there, he thought it was cool – literally. We were in a high mountain pass, close to the snow line, in a topography unlike anything we have encountered before (see photo on left). There was bare rock everywhere with little shrubs at best, growing in the cracks. On the Sweden side of the border is a big ski resort so there were many unoccupied cabins up in the mountains. I guess the snow up there lasts until mid-summer so we hit it at its deadest time but were thankful a little store was open so we had some destination point. In all of Norway, no matter what store you go into, you find the exact same products. There aren’t too many variations on the Norsk palate theme, so it was a huge thrill for Kaleb when all the products were different. He’s tried every kind of ice cream cone Norway has to offer, but he was faced with a freezer full of choices he’s never encountered and that threw him for a loop and made the day quite exciting for him. As we left the store and headed back to Norway, we got a lick by lick account of just exactly what that ice cream tasted like as it had flavors Kaleb wasn’t familiar with and he was trying to tell us what it was “kind of like.” The fact we could carry on a conversation for twenty minutes about the flavors in an ice cream cone is some indication of the kind of day we had – not much else going on. I think the highlight of the day for all of us was seeing reindeer in the wild on the road to Sweden (look for the white speck in the center of the other photo and if you double click on it, you’ll see it better.) There was an entire herd of them just off the road – huge antlers and all. It was just like watching a National Geographic special on Arctic wildlife. Very cool indeed to see them up close and personal.
Once we got to Narvik, our destination for the day, we walked around this somewhat dreary town. In some ways it reminds me of Astoria, Oregon because it’s old, on a hill, has water at the bottom, has a lot of potentially cool old buildings but not well maintained and it looks like it might have seen its better days. The next city with a hotel is a five hour drive so we had to stay put for the night here and make the best of it. Luckily, they have a bowling alley so we went bowling, which made Kaleb happy even though he lost. Afterwards we took him to a climbing wall place and let him climb the walls and ceiling until he was good and tired. He had great fun there as he had the place all to himself and it was only ten bucks for as long as he wanted to stay. What a blessing that was. We were just thankful we found some places open, as many places we’ve encountered this trip are either closed for the winter or they close at three o’clock and we arrive five minutes after that. Today we found a nice restaurant for dinner but they stopped serving food at 5:30pm. What’s up with that? Even the store in Sweden closed at two in the afternoon – and most places don’t open until eleven in the morning. I know the days get shorter here in the winter, but I find it odd that opening hours would also be that short. What else is there to do? We’ve yet to figure that one out.
We had a lot of grey clouds today but not much rain so the drive from Harstad to Narvik was a piece of cake (easy for me to say, as Kory did all the driving.) The scenery changed significantly as we were up IN the mountains, not down below looking up AT them. We saw a lot of rainbows today – even at high noon! It was only about a two hour drive, so we decided to take a side road and go check out Sweden. The width of Norway this far north is surprisingly narrow, so we wanted to add a little novelty to the day and let Kaleb cross the border into another country. At first he wasn’t that thrilled about the idea, but once we got there, he thought it was cool – literally. We were in a high mountain pass, close to the snow line, in a topography unlike anything we have encountered before (see photo on left). There was bare rock everywhere with little shrubs at best, growing in the cracks. On the Sweden side of the border is a big ski resort so there were many unoccupied cabins up in the mountains. I guess the snow up there lasts until mid-summer so we hit it at its deadest time but were thankful a little store was open so we had some destination point. In all of Norway, no matter what store you go into, you find the exact same products. There aren’t too many variations on the Norsk palate theme, so it was a huge thrill for Kaleb when all the products were different. He’s tried every kind of ice cream cone Norway has to offer, but he was faced with a freezer full of choices he’s never encountered and that threw him for a loop and made the day quite exciting for him. As we left the store and headed back to Norway, we got a lick by lick account of just exactly what that ice cream tasted like as it had flavors Kaleb wasn’t familiar with and he was trying to tell us what it was “kind of like.” The fact we could carry on a conversation for twenty minutes about the flavors in an ice cream cone is some indication of the kind of day we had – not much else going on. I think the highlight of the day for all of us was seeing reindeer in the wild on the road to Sweden (look for the white speck in the center of the other photo and if you double click on it, you’ll see it better.) There was an entire herd of them just off the road – huge antlers and all. It was just like watching a National Geographic special on Arctic wildlife. Very cool indeed to see them up close and personal.
Once we got to Narvik, our destination for the day, we walked around this somewhat dreary town. In some ways it reminds me of Astoria, Oregon because it’s old, on a hill, has water at the bottom, has a lot of potentially cool old buildings but not well maintained and it looks like it might have seen its better days. The next city with a hotel is a five hour drive so we had to stay put for the night here and make the best of it. Luckily, they have a bowling alley so we went bowling, which made Kaleb happy even though he lost. Afterwards we took him to a climbing wall place and let him climb the walls and ceiling until he was good and tired. He had great fun there as he had the place all to himself and it was only ten bucks for as long as he wanted to stay. What a blessing that was. We were just thankful we found some places open, as many places we’ve encountered this trip are either closed for the winter or they close at three o’clock and we arrive five minutes after that. Today we found a nice restaurant for dinner but they stopped serving food at 5:30pm. What’s up with that? Even the store in Sweden closed at two in the afternoon – and most places don’t open until eleven in the morning. I know the days get shorter here in the winter, but I find it odd that opening hours would also be that short. What else is there to do? We’ve yet to figure that one out.
