Wild River State Park

Taking the day off of work Monday, October 8th to enjoy the quickly disappearing fall colors, we decided to take a nice, long drive away from the city. First, we made our way to the incredibly charming Aamodt's Apple Farm to stock up on some Honey Crisp's and cider. Originally, we were going to go pick our own apples, but since only Haralson baking apples lain on the ground, the winds were a brisk chill and the morning was quickly getting on, we opted for premium eating apples out of the bin and to move along to our destination.

We made out for Wild River State Park, which is a sublime retreat along the St. Croix River. Since the recreation of summer is done, there wasn't a single boat on the wavy, writhing river, and nary a two-legged creature but for one man walking his beautiful, fluffy white dog who had enjoyed himself by taking a dip in the cold waters and getting his feet all brown with sand from the beach. Friendly and cute, after letting us pat him, he trotted off looking like he had on his own pair of doggie Wellies :) I wish I had gotten a photo!

Dried fluff against an October sky


Fall Colors Waning


Autumn's Beauty


The Mighty St. Croix


Eagle's Nest


Fall Palette


Prairie's Golden Hair


Tree's Dotting the Wisconsin Shore


White, Gold, Brown


A Mighty Oak With Annatto-Red Leaves


Pathways












St. Croix River










Berries & Fungi














Leaves














Blue Jay


The Masked Bandit Robin


Beaver-Chewed Tree


Faerie Doors




Horsetail (I think)


Our walk was leisurely, quiet, tender. As we age, so does our relationship, and things change and morph with us as they ever did. But now it's more solid than the tumultuousness of youthful love, rife with doubt and fear. I'm always pleasantly surprised by how much there is always yet to know and learn about my life partner, my John. He keeps me always laughing (or rather, snorting and making sudden guffaws that startle everyone in the vicinity) with his spontaneous humor. When we take these little roadtrips to walk quietly together, awakening our senses to nature's every mood and season, it fills and replenishes us from within, individually and as a couple.

The Man Who Holds My Heart <3

Minneapolis With Open Arms

We made it home. It's now Saturday, and I feel like I can finally recount our final day without too much trauma. I can't sugar coat it, the travel home sucked monkey balls. It was a seemingly unending day, with us having been up a full 24 hours by the time we stepped beyond the condo's threshold. It was 24 hours of very weary, stinky, delayed everything. It was pouring when we had to leave the To Sostre, so though the bus was only a block away, we were drenched by the time we reached it. Our first flight left Bergen for Copenhagen, and after they served the drinks, the dude seated in front of John flopped into his seat, spilling John's coffee all over his legs. It was thankfully a short flight, but since we had only an hour layover, we had to haul serious ass through the Copenhagen airport to get to the proper gate. I had to choke down a peanut butter sandwich because my blood sugar was falling, but I have such problems eating too early that I was feeling too nauseous to enjoy it.

Flight to Copenhagen, choice spot on the plane!


Soon, we were boarding our flight to DC.
Flight? Did I say flight? Ha ha ha. It wasn't a 'flight' so much as a 'ride into the depths of hell'. It was a full house, it stunk like feet, B.O. and dirty diapers from what seemed like half of the passengers who were children under 6, most of whom were actually very well-behaved, and their parents seemed caring and knowledgeable about how to actually care for them. Unfortunately, the aisle next to us had parents that were not knowledgeable about such things, and had two children with them, one about 5/6 and one about 2/3. The smaller kid cried, screamed and shrieked for the entirety of the eight hour flight. THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. And the parents did nothing to alleviate this poor, bored and squirrely child. They had zero toys, zero books, zero electronic gizmos or tactile stimulation for either kid, they didn't even get up out of the seats to walk the kids around. They sat there, forcing the poor kids to sit there for eight solid, torturous, horrible, cruel hours. At one point, the little boy was entertaining himself by slapping the fold-down tray, and those blissfully quiet few minutes were cut short by the mother slamming the tray shut and locking it. Unbelievable. I was ready to fork over my house keys for the kid to play with. Despite the display of all the other parents walking their kids around the plane with stuffies and books in tow, and the happy smiles on their kids' faces, these two only got up once and that was when both children were screaming bloody murder so loudly that every other parent on the plane were shooting daggers out of their eyes at them. I felt so bad for those kids. Even with my earplugs in, headphones on with volume at full throttle, I could not get the screaming to silence.

Hell Flight


At least this flight had the personal entertainment system at each seat, so we watched Snow White and the Huntsman, Brave twice, and then I watched The Full Monty while John played Suduku. Amazingly, I was able to get a few Z's early in the flight, read some of my book and watched with amazement as we passed over the frozen, snow-covered Greenland. Finally, the flight came to an end, and I thought things could only get better. Oh, how mistaken! The security at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC is embarrassingly inefficient and full of cocky, power-hungry dickwads who take pleasure in condescending people. It was a three-tiered system, and took forever to get through. First, the ginormous line to get our passports checked (and some people were even getting fingerprinted! I was appalled at this colossal violation!). Second, the ginormous line to have our customs papers inspected which entailed a person looking at the piece of paper the first guy already looked at and stamped. Third, the ginormous and slow-as-molasses security screen. Finally, we were done with that and had to haul ass to our next plane, home to Minneapolis. Delayed. "No aircraft" the board said. Ugh....another stinky, hot, body odor-stankin', dirty waiting area to sit in. Thankfully, the wait wasn't too long, and though the flight was agonizing in its own right, it was only three hours, and we didn't have to wait for luggage, we could zip right over to the light rail, and walk home. We walked in the door about 9pm. We had originally thought we'd be home more like 6:30-ish, but whatever, we were home.

Greenland!!


Map


Last Flight! Onward to Minneapolis!


We snuggled our kitties, cracked open the two beers left in the fridge and sat out on the balcony before we finally had to just flop into bed. My awesome mother had left us a little care package, so we were able to make a nice breakfast the next morning of eggs, toast, raspberry lemonade and coffee with cream. Norway was unbelievably beautiful, and Balestrand is definitely on the short list of places we'll consider retiring, but there really is no place like home :)
Love, hugs, and thanks for reading everyone! Til next time!
R&J

PS: I inserted photos into each post, so be sure to check past posts to see some sights! We took over 1100 photos, so this is a very small snippet!

Leaving Bergen

Last day in Norway!
Our last full day in Norge! We slept in a bit, slowly waking to the sounds of a hard rain falling outside. A small breakfast of very scrumptious vanilla bean yogurt with some trail mix and tea was on order for the day. And guess what else? MORE IRONING!!! These clothes are still not completely dry after two days of hanging. Whatever. They are getting packed and tossed in the dryer at home within 24 hours. At least they are clean so we'll only have one load to wash when we return. And I'll tell you what, the first order of business is snuggling my kitties, and brewing a fresh batch of French pressed coffee, made Schmoopie-style!!! For dinner, I want me some Kindho and a big ole beer! Or maybe just head down to our favorite watering hole, Fulton Brewery, and grab some food-truck food. We are ready to come home.



The weather cleared up, for the most part, for a lovely last day. We wandered around looking fruitlessly for Dashiell Hammett novels translated into Norwegian again, perused the fish market that lies right along the pier and took photos of the smoked whale. Yes, they eat whale here, as well as horse, which seems odd to me as ecologically aware as Noway as a whole seems to be, apparently hunting endangered species doesn't niggle at their collective conscience? Speaking of niggling consciences, mine has been in overdrive since we first saw how many women are destitute on the streets here. As we passed one aged women, I finally resolved to give her all the change in my pocket, which was the very least I could do. As I dropped it in, our eyes and smiles met, and I felt pangs tugging at me. Pangs about what I believe in, and how to live up to those beliefs. I fear I fail at it. I know it wasn't much, and the problem is a complicated one that my spare change won't fix, but perhaps it bought her a meal tonight.









On a lighter note, there was a man feeding the birds, and as they flocked around him, we took photos of the gulls, wrens and a funny kind of bird that is everywhere here that John dubbed the "Crowgen", which literally looks and acts exactly like a crow crossed with a pigeon. They are quite interesting and funny to watch, I wish we had video snippets of them. There's another elusive bird here that is so cute, but they flit away the minute we get close enough to snap the shutter. They are tiny and have really long tails that twitch up and down every time they land. Cuteness!

We then hit the kino (cinema) to see Brave, the new Pixar movie. We LOVED it!!! It's awesome and touching and fun. It made me realize, once again, how important it is to make memories and love in life rather than money or status or stuff. That following your dreams isn't merely doing what you want to do or finding the right path, it's making every thing you do important, worthwhile, joyous, meaningful, loving, honorable, fair, just. It's creating the path, not simply stumbling upon it. I got all verklempt at the poignant scenes, and we were gooey-eyed Schmoopies afterwards feeling free and thankful for each other <3 After the flick, we strolled along enjoying the on and off again sunny-sprinkles, and decided since it was fairly clear, we'd take the Floibanen again. What a great decision! The views were beautiful, the whole bay and boats and old fashioned cityscape can be seen from the top. There are tons of hiking trails with impressive Norwegian woods, the forest floors covered in thick, bright green mosses and huge mushrooms, the trees stretching their leafy arms to the skies and their bark coated thickly with lichen, and tons of troll carvings, totems, and play areas built into the trails for kids to play and dream. I've never seen so many trees with true fairy doors! You know, the little openings at the base of trees that lead into mysterious and tricksy portals into Elsewhere? All the tiny doors had moss and clover and perfect mushrooms growing in them, looking like miniature gardenscapes in a fantasy land :)



















Taking the return journey down the Floibanen was interesting with the entire thing packed with boisterous Italian tourists, we laughed with them all the way down. Wandering back through the now-familiar route to the hotel through the garden gate, having our last meal here at the To Sostre, snuggling together watching our programs over tea, then heading to bed with our books, eager to step over our own threshold again to our wonderful life in Minneapolis. Leaving home and seeing the wide world is a great adventure, and when I was a younger person, it felt stifling to return to a city that seemed ever to shrink knowing there was so much more out there. But now? Now we return knowing there is so much at home to explore, that every walk we take we see new things and share new thoughts together, and that our home is the perfect place to always return, for that is where we make our universe :)