2016 May: Lillehammer & Lom

May 20, 2016

In the Maihaugen museum parking lot

With visions of the 1994 winter Olympics dancing in our head, we picked up our rental car and headed for Lillehammer.  The day was overcast with occasional rain or mist.  We were glad that the less perfect weather waited for a day we were driving.  We pointed our gray Opal Corsa north on route E6.  It was 112 miles (180 K) and took 2.5 hrs at their speed limit of 70K/hr.  The road was decent, but two lane much of the way.  






In the Olympic museum we were immersed in Olympic history from the Norwegian perspective.  You may remember the "snow" outfits from the 1994 Olympic ceremony.  We remember watching the '94 winter Olympics with our exchange student Anya.  We were on vacation up in Magog Canada at the time.

Adjacent to the Olympic museum, the open air museum at Maihagen was similar to Oslo with many farm buildings preserved.  This museum also had some more recent neighborhoods.  Being early in the season none of the building were open, but we enjoyed the walk around even in the light rain.




I included the plowed field in front of this set of buildings to show the black soil.  When we were flying in to Oslo we were struck by the light color of the soil in the unplanted fields.  They looked almost tan with shades of gray, like sand or gravel.. 

The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel with our friends Carl and Linda from Anacortes.  You may remember them from our trip to Alaska last year.  The were visiting with Carl's Norwegian cousin.  It was Carl and Linda's description of their trip to Norway two years ago that encouraged us to plan this trip. 




From Lillehammer we headed northwest to Lom.  Lom is a traditional region in Oppland county.  It is near the Jotunheimen National Park.  As we drove we could see the change in  landscape.  There ere more forests and eventually snow topped mountains.

Our destination was a farm stay on a sheep farm called Strind Gard just outside of Lom.  We stayed in a cabin that was built under the barn ramp One wall of our cabin was adjacent to the sheep pasture.  We had a good view of them out our window.  They seemed to like checking us out as well.

Our cabin at String Gard outside of Lom on Rt 55

We chatted with some Swedes staying there.  They were going skiing.  There are no ski lifts they were on telemark skis.You will see some snow shots soon, but first I have to introduce you to "our" sheep.  They were cute and fun to watch.  The bells on the ewes became slightly annoying as we went to bed.   We think the lambs were getting a kick out of running up and down the ramp that was part of our roof. 

Driving west of Lom we went up in altitude and entered ski country.  I shouldn't be surprised to find snow in the mountains and roads that are closed in the winter and plowed open in the spring.  We have that in Washington, but somehow it always amazes me to see snow in the end of May.

Driving Rt 55 west of Lom

If we had kept going over the mountain we would have come down in the Sognefjord valley.  We turned around at the viewpoint.  We will get to the fjords another way

Looking west toward the fjords

Scenes in and around Lom

Back to Oslo to begin our trip west by train.  Stay tuned.

2016 May Oslo

Moving from Iceland with an entire population of 330,000 to Oslo where the city has a population of 620,000 was like moving from Iowa to Philadelphia.  Oslo is bustling and modern with much to keep the tourist occupied.  We arrived on May 14th and had 6 nights booked at the Oslo Apartments.  It was just what we needed with refrigerator, stove and washer.  I was delighted to be able to do laundry, but had some trouble finding laundry detergent.  I did my first 3 loads in fabric softener, before I translated the label and realized I had not gotten laundry detergent.

We were maybe a 10 minute walk from the waterfront in the center of Oslo.  Close to the trains, trams and buses.

Oslo waterfront

We purchased a two day Oslo pass that covered public transportation and most museums.  Off we went to experience Norway.

Our first outing was to the Bygdoy peninsula for the Norwegian Folk Museum.  In addition to the museum with artifacts representing the cultural history of Norway, there is an open-air museum with 150 buildings relocated from rural towns and districts.

Building from a farm and a Stave church from the 1200's were among the exhibits at the Folk Museum

The Kon-Tiki Museum, The Fram museum and the Norwegian Maritime Museum put us in touch with the seafaring spirit and the most famous Norwegian explorers.  Men like  Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Roald Amundsen, and Thor Hyerdahl and ships like the Fram  the Kon-Tiki, and the Ra.  I had recently read "Ice Ship:  the Epic Voyages of the Polar Adventurer Fram" by Charles W. Johnson. Knowing what that ship and the men on it went through, I was honored to stand on its deck.

Thor Hyerdahl went on expeditions to show what ancient people were capable of with boats made of balsa wood (Kon-Tiki) and reeds (Ra and RaII).  He proved that travel across the ocean was possible in simple boats.

Thor Heyerdahl with reed boat, Ra II and balsa boat, Kon-Tiki

Joanne at the helm of the Fram - the actual boat that was used in the exploration of the Artic and Antarctic

Holmenkollen is the location of a large ski jumping hill a bit northwest of Oslo center.  The museum documents the evolution in ski design as well as ski clothing.  There was plenty of information on Norwegian ski champs and a crazy film on "free form" skiers.  The final thrill was to ride to the top of the jump and take in the view.  I don't know how Eddie the Eagle got up the courage to take up ski jumping. 

We were like tourists on steroids.  We would visit one site and then hop a train to the next.  We wanted to make sure we got our money's worth from our Oslo Pass.  I think ours paid for itself the first day.  Public transportation was  convenient, on time, and clean.

Frogner Park is the site of 212 sculptures distributed across 80 acres of park.  Gustav Vigeland's lifework is displayed in the park.  The nearby museum covers his life, how he made the molds, and how the sculptures were made.  He had a team of stone masons who helped with the carving using his molds as guides.

The city of Oslo made a very good deal when they offered Vigeland a studio and residence in exchange for him donating nearly all his works, previous and future, to the city.  He moved into the new studio in 1924 and continued to work there until his death in 1943.  The monolith, at ~ 51' high, is the tallest sculpture.  It was carved from a single granite block.  It is said that the column shows man's longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine. Or does it show that to get to the top you have to climb over a lot of People?   I included the runner for all my running friends.  The "circle of life" is a bronze sculpture and possibly the most technically difficult.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all live our lives realizing how interdependent we are? 

That's what happens in the park, you become a philosopher.

Norwegian Independence day, the 17th of May arrived.  We had tickets to watch the Children's parade from in front of the Royal Palace.  More than 60,000 children and teachers march through the city to the Royal Palace to be reviewed by the King, Crown Prince and their family.  Norwegian flags are in abundance as are folks dressed in their finest bunads (traditional folk costumes).  We walk much of the parade route early to get to our seats in the 3rd row.  Trivia:  The crown prince was educated at Berkley.  No one knew who he was until graduation when he was called to accept his diploma with his correct title.

A little history:  Denmark controlled Norway for over 400 years.    This was due to the devastation caused by the bubonic plague in the mid 1300's.  By the 1800's Norway had grown strong again and a new nationalism was taking hold.  On May 17, 1814 The Norwegians signed their constitution.  However they were forced to unite with Sweden from 1814 until 1905.

May 18, 2016
This beautiful day made a trip through the Botanical Gardens seem like a nice interlude.  Rhododendrons were blooming and the whimsical maple seed pieces made me smile as I remembered cursing them when they filled our gutters in Pennsylvania.

With our Oslo Pass expired, it was time to do all the free (except for the Nobel Peace Center) city buildings that we could walk to.  City hall with its two towers is very recognizable down near the waterfront.  Murals on the inside walls interpret Norway's history.  The Nobel Peace Center covers the life of Alfred Nobel, a dynamite expert who willed his estate to creating the Nobel Peace Prize.  The actual prize is presented in City Hall.  The Oslo Cathedral had some pretty amazing organ pipes.  The Parliament building had no tours the day we were there, but we enjoyed the architecture from outside.

The only art museum we visited was the Munch museum.  The exhibit compared and contrasted Munch with Robert Mapplethorpe.  Munch, a Norwegian, died in 1944 .  Mapplethorpe, and American was born in 1946.  Munch's famous painting "Scream" is not at the Munch Museum but rather at the National Gallery in Oslo.

While we didn't see everything we felt we did Oslo justice.  Our last night we were running out of steam, so we opted to go to a movie at the Saga Kino.  We knew that English language films would be in English with Norwegian subtitles.  We found the movie "Mother's Day" a comedy with Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson along with a host of other stars.  It wasn't great, but we were comfortable and laughing.  A good way to end our Oslo visit!

2016 May in Iceland

Iceland, the land of fire and ice, had not been on our travel radar until we realized that Iceland Air allows up to a 7 day layover on any flight to Europe.  "Why not?" we said.  Hence, this 2016 trip to Norway added a week in Iceland up front.

Iceland has a population of ~ 330,000 with more than 200,000 of that population lives in the Reykjavik area.   Just to put things in perspective,Oslo in Norway has a population of ~620,000.  While Iceland is the world's 18th largest island it is slightly smaller than the state of Kentucky.  Nearly 63% of Iceland is tundra, thus the large population in the Reykjavik area.  Iceland was settled in the 9th century and has a colorful Viking history. The rift associated with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which marks the division between the European and North American tectonic plates, runs across Iceland from the southwest to the northeast.  Iceland has the most active volcano area in the world and  the largest waterfall and glacier in Europe. There are no polar bears in Iceland.  The artic fox is the only native mammal.  Reindeer and mink have been introduced.  We didn't see any reindeer, but think we saw one mink.

Reykjavik from the Hallgrimskirkja Church tower

Our Icelandic tour was a do-it-yourself trip.  We rented a car and visited the south, north and then west.  We spent two nights in each area and the last night near the Keflavik airport just south and east of Reykjavik. 


Our very first stop after picking up our rental car was the Viking World Museum.  We went there because it was close, they offered an inexpensive breakfast and all that Viking information would put us in the right frame of mind.  This reproduction of a Viking ship sailed across the ocean in 2000 to Newfoundland, Canada and then to the USA.  The boat was in the museum, but it was big and there wasn't enough room to back away and get a full photo.  This poster was much better.

One of the things the Vikings introduced to Iceland was the horse now known as the Icelandic horse/pony.  The breed is the only horse in Iceland and is kept pure by not allowing any horses to be imported.  The Icelandic horse is 5-gaited (walk, trot, canter/gallop, tolt and pace).  I went for a ride in the South.  We walked and then sped up to the tolt (smooth and quick).  The place where I rode  has 300 horses.  They are close enough to Reykjavik to get lots of tourists.  I rode with a group of 30.  A large group this early in the year.  Everywhere we drove we saw horses out in the pastures.  They are the only animal that stays out in the winter.  Locals said cows, chickens, and pigs were kept inside until it was warmer.  Temperatures were in the 40's so I don't get it.  They do raise horses for food as well, but we never saw horse on the menu.

Some of the horses at the Eldhestar riding stable

Horses we saw along our drive or where we stayed

Iceland position atop the rift between the North American and European plates is the cause for the volcanic activity.  Nearly 87% of all homes get their heat and hot water from geothermal.  Electricity is produced 74% hydro, 26% geothermal and less than 1% fossil fuels. 

Strokkur Geyser in the South

In the north:  Skutustadir crater, Namafjall thermal area, Krafla power plant

Volcanos create mountains, mountains trap snow and make glaciers, snow melts and comes down and creates waterfalls.  There were plenty to be seen.

Urridafoss (S), Gullfoss (S), Reykjafoss (N), and Godafoss (N)

As we drove the countryside we marveled at how neat the farms were.  The isolation in the rural areas was a bit like Montana.  Occasionally we ended up on gravel roads, but all the roads were in  good shape. 

Blue roof, red roof, green roof, grass roof

Along with water and geothermal comes hot pools.  We stayed away from the Blue Lagoon tourist spot and opted for the Fosslaug pool not far from our Farm Stay in the north and the back yard pool of our 1X6 Guest House in Keflavik. 

Both pools were a nice warm temperature

I mentioned our farm stay in the north.  We were on a sheep farm which had 300 sheep.  Many were giving birth.  We had a room in the "old" farm house.  Actually we had the house to ourselves since we were the only guests.  We took breakfast up at the main house and were shown the sheep barn.  They preferred the lambs to be born outside, but then took them in to let mother and lambs bond. 

Our Susuki Splash outside the farm house; Momma and newborns, David counting sheep without looking!

There were several things we noticed about Iceland.  There aren't many trees.  Apparently the early inhabitants cut them down and eventually left themselves with no wood.  They now are planting trees (more per person than any other country), but they are slow to grow.  They use drainage ditches extensively in their fields.  We were lucky not to experience anything more than a shower, but it must get quite wet there.  Everything was clean and neat.  No need for highway clean-up crews.  Many mountains were flat-topped.  Those must have been some mighty glaciers.

Rugged peaks vs. flat topped mountains

We enjoyed our week in Iceland.  The people we met were very friendly and English was commonly spoken so we didn't have language problems.  The places we stayed were mostly B&B type with a good breakfast included. 

Goodbye to Iceland from us and the Diety of Snaefellsas, Bardur

The First Quarter Jan-Mar

David ahead of Judy & Joanne at Sam Owen Park

We returned from Christmas in Iowa and started the new year with a week at Pend Oreille Shores Resort just east of Hope, Idaho.  Our friend Judy, from Anacortes joined us for some cross country skiing.   This year we started the week with better snow than last year.  The weather warmed during the week and no new snow was forecasted.

Near the resort we skied in Sam Owen park (a free non-groomed area).

Judy & David @ Western Pleasure Ranch

We also skied at Western Pleasure Ranch outside of Sandpoint, ID.  The ranch charged a fee to ski the groomed trails, but it was worth it.  We enjoyed the skiing there as well as the guest house with hot chocolate.

The ranch is a year round vacation destination.  While we were skiing others were enjoying a sleigh ride.






When we weren't skiing we enjoyed the pool at the resort, thrift shops in Sandpoint or the Clark Fork elk herd.  A local puts hay out for the elk and they come each afternoon to eat.

Clark Fork elk herd

After four days at home we packed our bags to head to Fort Lauderdale, FL to catch the Island Princess for a cruise to the Panama Canal.  We cruised with four yacht club friends from Anacortes.
After two sea days we stopped in Aruba.  David and I joined Ken and Carol on the snorkling excursion.  The water was lovely and we saw some nice tropical fish.

David pops up to look around

Pretty Angel fish over the white sand

Cartagena Columbia was our second port of call.  David and I walked into the old town and enjoyed the sights and some refreshments in a local bar.

Looking down a Cartagena street

Finally we arrived at the Panama Canal on January 19th.  The Island Princess went through the 3 locks from the Pacific Ocean to Gatun Lake.  We then departed the ship for a tour of the locks, a walk in the rain forest and a boat ride on the lake.  While we were experiencing Panama, the ship was reversing back to Colon on the Pacific side.  The canal is an engineering marvel.  The French took on the task of building a canal across Panama starting in 1881.  The French figured their experience building the Suez Canal prepared them for the job. They couldn't have been more wrong.  They stopped work in 1889 with the canal two-fifths complete.  The US took over the project in 1904.  The project was broken into three divisions:  Pacific, Central and Atlantic.  All divisions were worked on simultaneously.  Ridding the area of malaria and yellow fever was crucial to the success of the US effort.  The canal today works much as it did when completed in 1913.  The new canal (buildt to handle bigger ships) will open soon.

Entering the Panama Canal

The Panama Expansion Lock

The canal has two "lanes".  One lane for west bound vessels and one for east bound.  Train engines called "mules" attach lines to each ship and hold them centered in the canal.

The land you see in the front of this photo will be removed to connect the new lock with Lake Gatun.  They are expecting to begin using the new locks around the end of June, 2016.

Our cruise ship paid around
$375,000 to go through 3 locks, turn around, and go back.  That was about $125 pp.

A sloth hanging in the tree

Limon, Costa Rica was our first port of call on our return trip from Panama.  We opted to go ashore with Ken and Carol and explore on our own.  We went to the park hunting for sloths.  It took a while to get our eyes tuned to the furry little guys just hanging up in the trees, but we did spot several. 

Pig heads at the market

We left the park and walked through the local market.  There were lots of things to see, clothing and food items.  A collection of pig heads grossed me out, but makes an interesting photo. 

Grand Caymen public beach

The beach called out to us when we stopped at Grand Caymen Island.  We took a cab down to the public beach with Ken and Carol.  Coming back into town we took a local van (even less expensive).  We used our savings to buy refreshing drinks once back in town.

A green iguana among red flowers

David, Joanne, Penny & Les

Back in Florida it was off to Longboat Key to visit some friends from our years in Yardley, PA.
Les and Penny are enjoying retirement with lots of tennis.  It was great to see them again!

David in front of an "interesting" snow form

The first Saturday in February found us packing the car for the 260 mile drive north and east to Kelowna, British Columbia.  We wanted more cross country skiing.  The favorable exchange rate in Canada was a bonus. Our friend Judy joined us.  We stayed at Holiday Park Resort on Ellison Lake.  Driving in, it looked like a huge mobile home park.  We stayed in a condo on the lake.  It was great!

You can tell from the snow on the roof it is warming up

We quickly decided Sovereign Lake Nordic Park was our favorite place to ski.  They had an abundance of groomed trails.  We enjoyed most of them.

Judy doing some one-on-one with Michael Jordan

Walking around the resort we found that there is a big Chicago Bulls fan living up there.














Near the end of February, we packed our skis in the car again and drove just over 200 miles to Manson, WA on Lake Chelan.  Judy joined us and we met up with Jeff and Joyce from Yakima and Rose Ann and John from Leavenworth to cross country ski at Echo Ridge.  The weather had warmed, but their was still snow up on the ridge.

Echo Ridge Panorama

David, Jeff & Joyce at Echo Ridge

The group playing Wizard after dinner

We took one day off from skiing and took the Lady of the Lake boat up to Stehekin .  Stehekin is a small unincorporated community (about 75 permanent residents) just south of North Cascades National Park.  There are no roads to Stehekin,   You either come by boat, foot or horseback. 

Wapato Point as viewed from Lady of the Lake

Chihauhau with the Sierra Madre mountains in the background

Several years ago I read a travel article on Copper Canyon.  It sounded interesting so I put it on our bucket list.  March was our time to go.  We flew into Chihauhau, Mexico where we spent a night before boarding the Chihauhau - Pacifico train, better known as CHEPE.

View from our Hotel Mirador Balcony

Copper Canyon is a system of canyons larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon.   Our first night was spent at the Hotel Mirador Posada Barranca. The view from our balcony looked directly down into the canyon.    Actually you are looking at a place where three canyons join.

The Hotel Mirador - the coral colored building on the edge

Adventure Park suspension bridge

Copper Canyon Adventure Park awaited us after breakfast the next day.   We chose to see the canyon via the 5 kilometers covered by 7 zip lines and 2 suspension bridges.  We were pleased with the safety precautions and the equipment.  After all the zipping down, a cable car returned us to the starting point. 

Copper Canyon cable car

Zip, zip - now back to the train as we head to Hotel Mision Cerocahui.  It is an old hotel in a small town with a ton of character.  Before our dinner we take a hike through the countryside to a waterfall.  Our guide was an older local named Juan.  He stopped often and encouraged us to take lots of photos.  Juan didn't speak much English, however the other couple from Guadalajara translated. 

Juan takes our photo at the waterfall

A couple of local "torros" as Juan called them

A wonderful breakfast readied us for the van trip to the overlook of the Urique valley.

View of the Urique Valley from the Cerro Gallegos Overlook

The last leg of the train ride took us to El Fuerte where we switched to a nice car for the drive to Los Mochis.  We were aware of El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord, being captured in Los Mochis.  All looked safe and normal around our hotel.  Needless to say we didn't go out at night and we stayed out of the back alleys.

Our Copper Canyon train route

As long as we were on the western side of Mexico we decided to fly south about 800 miles to Nuevo Vallarta on the Bay of Banderas.

Villa del Palmar, Nuevo Vallarta from our balcony

pre-Easter crowd enjoying Sayulita waves

Painting with his finger at Puerto Vallarta Marina

JJ