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Road Trip

The road trips in Norway made for some priceless family moments withstanding the many frustrations we experienced.  And by many, I mean three.  We ended up in a compact car for the trip.  Unfortunately, this didn’t afford the boys  much leg room.  You can imagine three boys (18, 13, and 11) trying to fit in the back of a compact car for 7 plus hours.  Unfortunately, there is no room for manspreading in a compact car.

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For the younger two, the trip was particularly difficult as each boy felt the other had more leg room.  The argument got so heated they even broke out math: proportions.  Damn freaking proportions.  I couldn’t help my laughter when one began shouting at the other that their legroom was greater in proportion to their size ergo he should be able to have some of said legroom.  I should point out that this was all occurring as my husband was driving on rainy, mountain road or deep within the bowels of a 15 mile long tunnel.

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With the confiscation of their phones, the fighting subsiding and they started to enjoy the scenery.  This was true of every drive we had in Norway.  Nonetheless, we were always thrilled to get to our destination and out of the car.

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When we got back to Oslo the second time, Goalielock’s and the Mayor’s toothbrush were nowhere to be found.  The joke was we would have to drive back to Stavanger to get them from the hotel where we left them.  Who wouldn’t want to do the 14+ hour drive to Stavanger and back?  Of course we were joking.  However, we had to chuckle when they woke up the next day to ask when the hubby was heading to Stavanger.   Fortunately, we found the missing toothbrushes, which “saved” my hubby a trip.

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It’s That Time Again

I can’t believe it’s that time again. Time to get new clothes, new backpacks and copious amounts of school supplies. The only people in more shock, devastation really, at how fast the summer went is my boys.

This year we’re only shopping for two as Jake. Jake starts college next month, so his shopping will be a bit different.

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Heading South to Stavanger

After a wonderful stay in Bergen, we are headed South to explore Stavanger and the surrounding region. We loved Bergen and cannot wait to go back some day.

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Heading South to Stavanger

After a wonderful stay in Bergen, we are headed South to explore Stavanger and the surrounding region. We loved Bergen and cannot wait to go back some day.

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Fun at the Bergen Aquarium

This morning the weather was a bit rainy, so hiking the mountain as we had planned was a no go. The old cobblestone roads were slippery enough, I couldn’t imagine how slippery the trail would have been. In lieu of hiking, we took the kids and went to the Bergen Aquarium with my brother and his family. The aquarium was a quick ten minute walk from our place and reasonably priced.

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The aquarium wasn’t huge, but it was perfectly sized.  It had a nice array of animals all of our attention including some familiar species from back home.  My personal favorite was the flamboyant sea lion that kept making eyes at us as it swam by the group. It was a fun morning.

 

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9,000 steps before noon

We started our morning of 9,000 steps with a ride up to Mt. Floyen on the funicular.  Once up the mountain, we hiked around the lake and through the forest. The views of the city, nearby islands and the North Sea were incredible. Thankfully, they had some coffee and cold water in the gift shop for a post hike refreshment.

Post Mt. Floyen, we got on a bus and headed to Mt. Ulricken. We headed up the gondola to see Bergen from the city’s highest peak. Once at the top, we hiked up to the mountain’s peak. The mountain top was home to a farm and several small lakes. The hike was exhausting, but well worth the hard work.

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Sunset in Bergen

I can’t get over how late the sun sets in Norway. For example, the sunset in Bergen is after 11:00 pm.  It really throws you for a loop as it never gets darker than nautical twilight during July.   Here are some pictures in Bergen on our way to meet family taken around 9:30 and on our walk back to our apartment taken around 11:30.
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Catch of the Day

Our boys were thrilled they could fish as soon as we got to Laerdal.   Immediately, they were able to go fish on the fjord.  They started off their fishing adventure by walking through the cold water of the fjord on a narrow rock bar.  They had no luck in the shallow water.  We found a little inlet in the fjord where the water was calmer, deeper and closer to shore.  Here using only rooster tail lures both Goalielocks and the Mayor were able to catch their first sea trout.

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The Mayor’s was too small to keep, but Goalielocks’ fish was large enough to keep and also didn’t survive its re-entry to the water.  Since we had a nice fresh catch from the fjord, we cooked it up for dinner along with Norwegian meatballs with kjottkakesaus, jasmine rice, and corn.

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My hats of to my hubby the chef as the meal was more than edible, it was delicious.  We bribed Goalielocks and the Mayor since they are picky eaters.  We bribed them with the promise of an after dinner fishing session.   Dinner went well and they were quickly back on the fjord fishing.   What’s cool here in Norway is that fishing on the fjord is free.  If we wanted to fish the rivers for salmon or trout, we would have to get a special license from the government and potentially from the owner of that particular section of river.

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While the younger two and dad fished, Jake and I explored the town on foot.  We enjoyed a beautiful walk near the fjord and down the Laerdal River, where we’re hoping to run sometime tomorrow.

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Journey Southward

After a couple days bumbling around in a fog courtesy of jet lag and a long travel schedule, we’re all starting to feel a bit normal. We started our day with a killer hotel breakfast at the Radisson Blu in Trondheim. More options than one could possibly imagine at a free breakfast buffet and all of high quality. I quite enjoyed the crepes and the petit pain au chocolat. While my boys enjoyed the eggs, fresh fruit and croissants. Post breakfast we hit the grocery store and made a quick Starbucks run where we met a nice barista from Brazil, who ended up in Trondheim after meeting a boy in California.

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The weather was cooler this morning, but drier so it felt warmer out than the thermometer suggested. We headed south through some light rain for a bit before we hit some sunny weather. We took a different route back to Oslo that had incredible vistas of mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and valleys. The beauty of the drive is impossible to describe adequately with words, so I’ll add some photos.

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The downfall of driving so far is that the kids get stir crazy and start to fight over things like who has more leg room proportionately and who should have more leg room based on their size. Needless to say the Mayor and Goalielocks were without their phones for much of the drive.

 

We stopped in Lillehammer to have a picnic lunch at Olympic Park, which looks almost abandoned although we did see a team come in for training. It was a nice break in the drive and the boys enjoyed the opportunity to see the ski jumps and the torch. We hit the road again for the final leg of our journey to Oslo, which included our first experience with an undersea tunnel and AirBNB. It took us awhile to find the key pick up place and navigate the city, but we made it and our apartment is fantastic. We’re looking forward to our stay in Oslo.

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Adventure Beckons

Greetings from 37,000 feet!  After two years of anticipation and planning, we’re off on our Norwegian adventure.  This trip promises to be quite the caper.