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.

There are several lakes in Bymarka (the recreational area to the west side of Trondheim) that are stocked with trout. A 24-hour fishing license can be purchased for $6 with your phone or by visiting a convenience store. Anders has fishing gear to spare (thanks, Anna!) and the weather was gorgeous so we couldn't resist spending an afternoon fishing for trout and grilling sausages. We didn't catch anything that we could eat (Anders caught a pike and spent 2 minutes verbally assaulting it before releasing it) but the weather was great and we had a lot of fun.

This is the most-accessible lake in Bymarka and it is stocked with trout (legend (Anders) says some of them are 12lbs+)

We rode our bikes there just so we could hang out in our favorite cycling apparel

This girl has difficulty kicking a soccer ball but she can cast a lure way better than me

Norwegians love these little disposable charcoal grills. It's a common misconception amongst Norwegians that they are biodegradable and can be left ALL OVER THE COUNTRYSIDE WITHOUT REGARD TO OTHER PEOPLE

Norwegians celebrate Constitution Day on the 17th of May and they take it very seriously. It's basically a scene from one of those sci-fi movies where the good guys end up in a parallel universe that looks almost exactly like the one they came from except ... the boys all wear business suits and the girls look like they just stepped out of an illustrated Scandinavian fairy tale. Also there are a lot of little Norwegian flags everywhere.

In Trondheim the day's festivities include a couple of little carnivals around town, many people trying to sell you a hotdog and a soda for $10, and three parades: school children, clubs/organizations, and the Russ kids.

We hate the Russ kids so we skipped that one.

The weather was 74 degrees and sunny.

Becca had a lot of fun marching in the morning parade with her school. The afternoon parade was quite entertaining and included colorful costumes, very athletic little Norwegians (i.e. gymnastics clubs doing flips for over an hour straight), and some fun props (i.e. sailboats on wheels). After the parades we went over and grilled some meat with Anders and performed some maintanance on one of his mountain bikes to get it ready to ride over the long weekend.

Becca's school during the children's parade. If you look closely you can see Becca!

Some men were better dressed than others

Even Harrison Ford participated in the parade

Little Norwegians are show-offs

Fancy shoes and tiny flags

It was like the carnival rides had replaced the height requirement with a dress code

Fnutt supervised the grill from the kitchen window and only tried to escape once

The whipped cream on Becca's cake was no match for the sunny weather

Mountain Biking in Bymarka

I went mountain biking with Anders for the second time today! Trondheim has two recreational areas (kind of like state parks): one on the east side of town and one on the west. We have been biking in Bymarka (which is the larger of the two and is located in the west).

The mountain biking in Bymarka is far more difficult than the trails I used to ride in Oregon. However, Anders has generously lent me a great mountain bike as well as shown me how to do things like cross frozen creeks and bounce down rocky staircases.

The dying snow turns interesting colors.

Crossing creeks like this is easy when giant blocks of ice aren't involved.

Ice-covered water is still foreign to me. However, I've heard rumors of an albino beaver living in this particular lake (just like home!).

 

This looks like dry land but it's a trick; if you try to walk on it your feet will get wet up to your ankles.

 

The bike that Anders lets me borrow has 170mm of suspension and is not afraid of anything. It basically has an autopilot so when things get scary I just close my eyes until the handlebars stop shaking.

My friend Jason gave me this sweet Thor Hushovd jersey. It has the Norwegian flag on it and that is a good thing because it has a calming effect on the Norwegians that I run into on the trails.

Happy Mother's Day!

We love you and can't wait to see you both this summer!