Moen and Oslo

Norway is a spectacular place, filled with some of the most amazing rock formations, lakes, wildflowers, and trees. It is called the land of the midnight sun, the following pictures were taken at about 11:30 at night on July 3rd. It is amazing how our bodies are in tune with the sun. Since arriving here, we have been up extremely late, as we are used to going to bed after the sun sets. Some nights, the sky never went completely dark. I have yet to see a starry sky here in Norway. It has made me pause and think about the Vikings and how they must not have been able to use the stars for navigation during the summer months. It is interesting that they could raid and plunder at all hours of the day and have the sun be their guide!

Just like in the States, we were able to celebrate our July 4th swimming at a lake. We went to a little campsite called Moen to go swimming. The water was COOOOLLLLLLDDDDD. We really did not venture in past our knees. It was a beautiful warm day though and our surroundings were magnificent. As you can see in one of the pictures, we had a visitor hanging over the lake, relaxing as well.

I thought that this was too funny! Can you see our visitor in the clouds? It looks like he is laying on his back relaxing. His elbows are bent and his feet are poking out above the tress on the left.

This is a picture of another farm Dan can buy for us after he retires. It was too idyllic with the swans swimming across the lake. This was still while we were swimming at Moen. This was the warmest day we've had here. The clouds have since come in along with the cool weather. I am grateful though that we could go swimming.

*** SOAP BOX ALERT***

It was interesting celebrating a 4th of July outside of the States, well because no one else was celebrating it. As everyone else back home, it was a day to think about our wonderful and beautiful country. I miss being home, where there is so much. The grocery stores here are small and some things are extremely expensive- for example cheddar cheese costs 100 krone, or $25.00. I'm not talking a huge pack of cheese, just a tiny 4 oz package of it. Here a lot of Norwegians only work from 3-4 days a week and many live off of the government and also pay about 50% of their income to taxes, and more if you consider all the other taxes: sales taxes and property taxes, gas taxes, energy taxes, etc. As a result, they depend heavily on other countries for their goods (except some of the farmed products here) and have little desire to work hard. They are also very reliant on the government for many of their services. In thinking about our nation, who once was so industrious and self-reliant, being here has made me sad for the direction our country is headed and has been headed for the last several years. I often wonder when did we become a people that looked to the government to solve our problems rather than to ourselves. Our leaders are corrupt and morally bankrupt, yet we still look to them as the problem solvers. Now I'm off my soap box.

While here, we had a visit from the Norwegian Tooth Fairy. Instead of a dollar being placed under the pillow, we had 6 krone, which is the equivalent. Hiram was just watching a movie and it popped right out. His other front tooth will be out very quickly as well.

Yesterday, the 7th, we headed to Oslo to see the Viking Ship Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum. We had a great time. The Viking Museum was amazing because everything in it was from the 800s. So much of it has lasted and is in such good condition, which is incredible. I think of some of the things in our home and wonder if they will survive 1200 years.

These ships were amazing. The Vikings used a style of building called Clinker-building, which made the ships planks kind or ribbed and overlapping. It was truly an art. Also the carvings were intricate and truly beautiful.

Leather shoes found in an excavation site from the 800s.

I thought this carving was interesting. I have no idea what it was, but the eyes are very intriguing, are they not?

After the Vikings, we went on to modern-day vessels, well to the Kon-Tiki Museum. This was interesting because back in the 40s a Norwegian man set out to prove that the Ancient peoples could have sailed on trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic voyages on the old reed vessels. He made several rafts and boats and was successful on his voyages, proving that the Ancients could have sailed to new lands in these vessels. On one of the Pacific Islands, the chief of the village told him his ancestors came from a far away land, so this sparked his interest in proving that it was possible.

This is the RA-II, made of reeds. 8 men sailed on this vessel from Africa to South America.

I just thought this was a cool Tiki statue.

This raft was the one that took the men from I think Peru to Polynesia. It took them 101 days to complete the voyage and proved that people could have reached the Polynesian islands using sea-faring vessels.

This was just a cool exhibit that showed the marine life the men on the raft saw.

This is just one of the many bays around Oslo, and was just outside the Kon-Tiki Museum.