Sun!

It's definitely Springtime in Norway. The sun is currently rising at 3:25am and setting at 11:08pm.

Norwegian sunbathers don't need it to be 75 degrees F before they strip down to their underware but it doesn't hurt.

Åre, Sweden

Last weekend we took another trip to Sweden with our favorite Swedes. First we rode the bus to Stjørdal, Norway (where the airport is located) so they could rent a car. Then we drove it to Sweden and filled it up with cheap groceries and booze. We saw two moose, stopped at Sweden's largest waterfall, and ate lunch at Sweden's best fast food burger joint. It was awesome.

Åre is an upscale, resort town that caters to skiers during the winter and mountain bikers during the summer.

We saw this cycling suit in the Specialized store but we didn't purchase it because we didn't know what size Jason wears.

Becca visited the gift shop of this old church even though the door was locked and there was no one there.

Grocery stores in America need more taxidermy. There was also a black bear and some kind of mountain cat.

Tiny pineapples - or giant watermelons?

The car had hidden smuggling compartments!

Tännforsen is Sweden's largest waterfall and it only requires a 15 minute detour to see.

The sun was shining and all of the snow is melting so there was a lot of water crashing over the falls.

All of the sprayed water keeps the air moist enough to support an endangered species of lichen.

The hallmark of any great road trip: a freezer filled with reindeer.

Sjoelen

The May payday beer event took place at a very old pub in Trondheim that has Sjoelbak tables. Sjoelen is an easy to learn Dutch game that is a fun way to spend an hour or two in a pub.

The scoring is similar to bowling. Players are competing for high scores without interacting directly (i.e. you don't ever get a chance to knock another player's discs around).

During your turn you try to slide these 30 discs into the 4 different slots at the end of the table. The maximum score is only achievable if you are able to evenly distribute the discs amongst the slots (with the two remaining discs placed into the highest scoring slot).

Each of the slots has a different point value (1 - 4) but the most important thing you can do is form sets consisting of one disc in each slot because each set is worth double points.