All Things EARTH... part 2

[MJC]

We were going to be overnight in Alta, where we had booked a late excursion for the Northern Lights. We met our tour ashore at 5pm, and were back at 12:30am, a bit early, because the full cloud cover meant nobody saw any NL at Alta. We visited three locations and saw bupkis.

 

This is how I dressed for breakfast on the ship. With the tenders going all day, it was cold on board except in the cabins:

 

 

Look who was waiting for me when I got back:

 

 

The sail-in to Alta was beautiful:

 

 

Coming back after midnight.

 

 

Our second day in Alta we just stayed on the ship and rested. Tomorrow would be a full day of touring on our own in the Lofoten Islands.

[MJC]

The Lofoten Islands were the port highlight of the trip IMO. So beautiful. We rented a car for 8 hours. I had planned out our route to avoid the tour buses and get off the usual route a bit. I had used my driving app to plan out how long it would take to get from point to point, included a lunch break, and left a good cushion for pickup/dropoff. It wasn't difficult navigating because there are only a few main roads where we were at the very end of the island chain. We had at least an hour more to tour than I had scheduled for because rather than driving the attendant back to the rental agency, they had the car at the pier for us and then at the end of the day we just left it there with the keys hidden. I also studied Norwegian road signs! 

 

This was another instance where layering was so important. The tender was very cold. The car was warm. We spent a lot of time outside, where it was sometimes windy. Most of the day was sunny which was helpful though still cool in the shade.  Then it got very gray and chilly later in the day. I wore a base layer, lightweight tunic sweater, down coat, scarf hat gloves, wool socks, insulated boots. It was perfect.

 

We both have so many pictures. Here are some of my favorites. We did get to do a little hiking in the woods at one point. And we had to clamber up some boulders to get that last shot in Nusfjord. It wasn't bad going up, but coming down was a bit tricky, what with my two bum knees and Mark's two metal hips, but we did it!   🙂

 

You can see why this is a popular spot for mountain climbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[awhfy]

Fabulous pictures Margaret!!

[MJC]

Thank you Melody. It's easy to take good pictures there. Now I want to visit the Rocky Mountains. When I was a child we drove through in the dark on our way to California, so all us kids slept through it.

[laurspag]

those pictures are stunning!  Did you find it hard to stay warm enough?  I am always cold, it seems.  My husband and I often talk about cruises that are not tropical, and how we would need to really focus on being warm.  It isn't just me, my husband has the issue also.  His issue is a little different, in that it is all related to his rheumatoid arthritis, which causes many other things. 

 

I love how you had layers that you used.  I love using scarves, and keeping my neck warm can really make a difference.  I've outgrown my vest, sigh.  Eddie Bauer usually has some nice ones, so I am going to look and see what they have.

 

You and Mark look so happy!

 

 

[awhfy]

11 hours ago, laurspag said:

those pictures are stunning!  Did you find it hard to stay warm enough?  I am always cold, it seems.  My husband and I often talk about cruises that are not tropical, and how we would need to really focus on being warm.  It isn't just me, my husband has the issue also.  His issue is a little different, in that it is all related to his rheumatoid arthritis, which causes many other things. 

 

I love how you had layers that you used.  I love using scarves, and keeping my neck warm can really make a difference.  I've outgrown my vest, sigh.  Eddie Bauer usually has some nice ones, so I am going to look and see what they have.

 

You and Mark look so happy!

 

 

Check Chicos for vests they had at least 6 different ones (puffy, velvet. Etc). Costco has 32 degree vests ($13). Athleta also had great vests

[MJC]

Thank you Laurie, yes we were happy and having an awesome day. You know, you plan and plan and hope things go well, and stress over the details, so when it exceeds your expectations it's just a very special time together.

 

The only times I was cold were at night. I do have to be conscious of my feet and hands which get cold easily and then get stiff. So having layers for gloves and socks was key. I had brought instant hand warmers but forgot to bring them ashore for our night excursion. They would have helped I'm sure, but it wasn't so bad that I stopped doing what I was doing. If you don't plan to be out at night, then it's easy to dress for the weather. It wasn't much worse than the coldest days in NYC which are gray and blustery. Our temps didn't drop below 20 but the wind chill was another 10 degrees or so.

 

Our lunch was at Anita's Seafood, commonly recommended online. We stopped just before noon which was a good thing because it was quiet when we got there, and our food came quickly. By the time we left the parking lot was full. I had also read that some excursion buses stop there but we didn't see any.  I had the fish burger, it was amazing.

 

 

The chandelier features dried codfish:

 

 

This was about 4pm. Because we were far north, the sun was always low in the sky to the south of us, and the daylight was short.

 

 

That night after dinner, about 9:30pm, the captain announced lights up top. We scrambled to dress and everyone was rewarded with some beautiful northern lights for an hour or more. The pictures don't do it justice, and I am not a practiced night photographer. But they were streaking across the sky and also appeared to rise up from the mountain in the distance. Spectacular end to a fabulous day.

 

 

 

 

[laurspag]

Oh, those are stunning pictures!  It is such an amazing phenomenon.

 

I have been using my phone for pictures for a while, mostly because my camera  is pretty dated and my phone is small and easy to have on me.  What kind of camera do you use?

 

 

[MJC]

I have a very nice Canon SX60HS that I got specifically for our African safari in 2019, but believe it or not I ended up using my cell phone mostly on this trip. It is a Samsung Android phone. It was just easier to carry around, especially in London.  I did use my camera all day at Lofoten. But after all the tinkering we did this summer practicing our night photography, we both got the best pictures of the northern lights with our phones on night mode. Had we been ashore, without the movement of the ship, they would have been sharper with either phone or camera because we could have used our tripods and timers for the NL.

 

One reason I bought the camera I have is because it has a really great zoom capacity. I thought I would need it in Africa, but it turned out all the animals were so much closer than we had expected. The only time it was necessary was when we saw a rhino way in the distance, it was the only one we saw and it is veeerrryyy tiny in the photo. I had to put my camera on the car roof and set the timer to keep the camera still enough to get it. 🙂

 

 

[laurspag]

14 minutes ago, MJC said:

I have a very nice Canon SX60HS that I got specifically for our African safari in 2019, but believe it or not I ended up using my cell phone mostly on this trip. It is a Samsung Android phone. It was just easier to carry around, especially in London.  I did use my camera all day at Lofoten. But after all the tinkering we did this summer practicing our night photography, we both got the best pictures of the northern lights with our phones on night mode. Had we been ashore, without the movement of the ship, they would have been sharper with either phone or camera because we could have used our tripods and timers for the NL.

 

One reason I bought the camera I have is because it has a really great zoom capacity. I thought I would need it in Africa, but it turned out all the animals were so much closer than we had expected. The only time it was necessary was when we saw a rhino way in the distance, it was the only one we saw and it is veeerrryyy tiny in the photo. I had to put my camera on the car roof and set the timer to keep the camera still enough to get it. 🙂

 

 

That is encouraging to know, as I use a Samsung Galaxy 21S Ultra...or something like that!

[laurspag]

19 minutes ago, MJC said:

I have a very nice Canon SX60HS that I got specifically for our African safari in 2019, but believe it or not I ended up using my cell phone mostly on this trip. It is a Samsung Android phone. It was just easier to carry around, especially in London.  I did use my camera all day at Lofoten. But after all the tinkering we did this summer practicing our night photography, we both got the best pictures of the northern lights with our phones on night mode. Had we been ashore, without the movement of the ship, they would have been sharper with either phone or camera because we could have used our tripods and timers for the NL.

 

One reason I bought the camera I have is because it has a really great zoom capacity. I thought I would need it in Africa, but it turned out all the animals were so much closer than we had expected. The only time it was necessary was when we saw a rhino way in the distance, it was the only one we saw and it is veeerrryyy tiny in the photo. I had to put my camera on the car roof and set the timer to keep the camera still enough to get it. 🙂

 

 

That is encouraging to know, as I use a Samsung Galaxy 23S Ultra...or something like that!

[awhfy]

Margaret, how exciting to see the Northern lights! 

[MJC]

Our last port was Alesund. Our plan was to taxi up to the top of Mount Aksla where there is a viewpoint with a cafe and lookout. You can climb to it... you can see the zig zag of stone stairs (418 of them!) in this picture. We heard later that they were very slippery. It was snowing up there when our ship arrived.

 

 

There were no taxis in the parking lot, so we opted to take the tourist train up to the top.

 

 

We sat on the train for about 15 minutes. Eventually someone came to tell us that it was so icy up there that the other train couldn't come back down, so they didn't want to risk it and were cancelling ours. We got a refund and changed plans. I had maps, of course, because our second planned activity was to walk around the historic part of the city.

 

It was interesting in every city how they managed to have flowers and color even this late in the season. Many homes had window boxes and planters in all the places we visited.

 

 

At one point during our walk, it started to hail. Hail the size of chickpeas. We were expecting a bit of rain but I could hear it hitting the car roofs so I grabbed Mark and we ducked into a doorway until it passed. So cool, bouncing around, people exclaiming. We rarely get hail in NYC.

 

 

We later met someone on the train that had been stuck up the mountain, and he said they crammed everyone on a doubledecker bus to come down, so he and all the others up top in the open were hailed on. A great adventure story to tell when he got back to SoCal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MJC]

Another beautiful Norman church. It was Sunday so we couldn't go inside.

 

 

The canal area is very pretty with some beautiful old boats.

 

 

 

 

 

A large part of the old city center was destroyed by a terrible fire in 1904, so the new buildings were built in the Art Nouveau style. Lots of charming details.

 

 

The last time we board the Island Princess. Two sea days until Southampton.

 

 

End of a sunny - cloudy - sunny - cloudy day in beautiful Alesund. Every place we visited in Norway was so clean and tidy and lovely.

 

 

[laurspag]

I can't imagine what that bus ride was like for those people in the hail!  You are right though - they will have some great stories to tell.

 

Everything is so beautiful.  Your pictures all look like something you could enlarge and frame. I'm very fascinated, as I'm not exactly what you would call well traveled, and I realize how much there is to see and explore. 

 

I hope to be able to see so many places, such as Norway.  In the meantime, it's fun to travel along with you.

[awhfy]

Margaret, fabulous pictures & adventure. 

[MJC]

Thank you Melody. How are you doing?

 

[MJC]

We opted for the Princess bus transfer to Heathrow that included an excursion to Stonehenge. Mark had been there as a child when you could walk among the stones and touch them, but I had never seen it. It was easy to find the bus, it had plenty of stowage for luggage, our guide was informative without being too chatty, and the seats were very comfortable and had usb ports. As much as I am not a fan of buses, it turned out to be quite enjoyable.

 

We drove through the New Forest and saw the wild ponies, donkeys, and some cows, but I also spotted a wild pig and some pheasants along the way. We drove through the charming village of Downton with its thatched cottages and inns. We were given excellent instructions at Stonehenge and had plenty of time but not too much to enjoy the site. The Visitor Center (which is very new and modern) had nice bathrooms, a big gift shop, and counter service food area. We were given a QR code for a tour you can listen to on your phone, but neither of us could get it to work, but there were lots of placards with information so we didn't mind.

 

It was raining when we arrived. A lot of people opted to sit on the bus and wait it out. We did not. 🙂

 

 

There is a pathway around the roped-off area. Above, on the right next to Stonehenge in the distance you can see a knot of people. On that side you can get much closer to the stones. We went around the other way to avoid that little crowd and its rather loud guide. I'm wearing a long sleeved tshirt, fleece, and raincoat. I left my camera in the bus and just took my phone. After a bit the rain subsided.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the side where you can get a lot closer. I am not shy at all about asking people if they want me to take their picture, and they often offer to take one of us in turn. But even if I don't want a picture, it's fun to offer so someone in that family isn't missing from the photo. It makes people happy. A very nice Japanese couple took this picture after we took one of them:

 

 

We had a bit of time to grab a coffee and cookies and use the wifi. We were at LHR with plenty of time to spare and hung out in the United lounge. All in all, it was a very stress-free travel day, which is a nice way to end a great vacation.

 

So, that wraps up my posts about our trip to Norway!

 

 

 

 

[awhfy]

4 hours ago, MJC said:

Thank you Melody. How are you doing?

 

I’m doing ok, mouth is healing. Thanks for asking

[Anita Latte]

Hello Ladies!

 

It has been so long since I have posted but I have been reading along and mostly enjoying everything...Melody...so sorry to hear about your trip to Boston...my belated condolences to you and Les. And also some of your continuing health challenges...but also I thought there were some successes in there...anyway...glad to read your healing...

 

Laurie...loved seeing all your photos from Harmony. I can empathize about weight, or more actually, body shape...and having some wardrobe struggles because of that. I feel like, looking at your photos...I didn't see ANY angst...you and DH look SO HAPPY and relaxed. I just took another look at your photos and seeing them almost makes me want to cruise with DH JUST so we could get some updated couple photos...I think you have some real winners and that is such a wonderful memory trigger to have.

 

I also enjoy seeing your house projects...it's inspiring because we have our own house projects still very much in progress...it can feel overwhelming over here...more on that in a second...

 

MARGARET!!! OMG...Norway is definitely on my to do list. It has been for a long time...IDK how accurate my family knowledge is but according to what I know I'm just about half Norwegian...and not only because of that...but also because in general, that type of landscape is soul soothing for me...I SO enjoyed all your photos and hearing about your trip. I'm so glad that you did get to see the aurora...I'm almost shocked that the ship would turn the lights down/out for you to see them...I would have thought in today's world that the safety issues of that would have overruled...and I'm so thankful on your behalf that the master of the ship let it happen. What a wonder. Where we were when we saw the NL...there was still some city lights...it wasn't perfectly dark...and I'm just imagining being on the dark water and how amazing that must have been. I get the disappointment in the photographs because you couldn't use your tripod but all the same...I would say that my photos of the aurora aren't the best, but the result has been that my memory of the event is stronger and my memories aren't getting overridden by the photographs.

 

Has anyone else had that happen? Where your memory is almost reduced to the photograph...and you can vividly remember the photograph more...that still-life representation of an event more than the picture reel of action memory? 

 

Anyway...so enjoyable to read along...especially with the stress of my life at this moment...

 

So...it will likely not come too much of a surprise for me to share that we are MOVING. Once again. Sigh. This one is going to be a doozy...because we will eventually be relocating to the Seattle area. It will take time...because our house is no where near ready for others to be occupants...and that's fine in a way because DS is home and he needs a place to live while he sorts out graduate school, which he is applying to for next fall admission...and who knows where he will be accepted? No sense in moving all his stuff AND him to Washington...so DS and kitty will be home bodies in Florida while DH starts his new job on 11/29...

 

We're starting the new phase together. Flying out on 11/27 and I will be there until 12/10. We'll be together again for Christmas and New Year's/DH's Bday (Jan 1) and then back together again for DS's Bday (Jan 17) and after that it will all depend on whether or not DH is really needed here to help with projects vs I travel to Seattle area to be with him...

 

Here's the insane thing...except for the airport twice...and a road trip with Mom when I was a child and have impressions more than memories...I've never been to Washington. LOL. 

 

I've located a decent enough studio apartment though...and I think it's a safe enough area. I've been studying crime maps, real estate, AirBnBs, local businesses, where the tent camps are, local community blogs, local YMCAs, traffic patterns, and everything else that I can possibly think of to try to sort out a living accommodation that we can afford as a two household family. OMG. I've done the best that I can do and I'm pretty confident in my choice. Waiting to hear about our application and should hear early this week. 

 

And that's what's been happening with me...

[awhfy]

Anita!  Seattle is an interesting city, fabulous coffee & seafood. I think you’ll enjoy living there. Lots of good areas but some really scuzzy at night.  You were just getting your FL house where you were comfortable, you move as often as we did when Les was active duty!  My record is 4 moves (or was it 5???) in one calendar year (I try to forget that year!!  Melody

Edited November 6, 2023 by awhfy

[Anita Latte]

Thankfully, I haven’t had to move more than twice in one calendar year…not counting the time we voluntarily went “homeless” and couch surfed friends and family with all our stuff in storage while we waited to hear about DH’s job prospects after graduating grad school…but that’s totally different. My longevity record is 4 years…occurring 3 times in my lifetime…and I had hopes that FL would beat that…ah well…it sort of will but not really because officially we’ll be in transition and possibly changing residency before plans for our house are finalized. Such is life.

 

I think we’ll enjoy Seattle. DH and I are more west coast than east coast…I have likened my life so far to a typewriter…the story beginning in California and with just one slight return from Texas to Arizona…I’ve steadily marched across the states…and now we’re hitting a hard return…crank and pull on the handle *ding!*…back to west coast. I think distance wise going catty corner across the lower 48 is about as long a move as you can do…

[slidergirl]

Wow Anita!  Another move!  And about as far as you can in the 48 and what a weather change!   I think you'll love Seattle and surroundings.  Lots of different nature to visit.  

 

MJC - Your Scandinavian cruise sounded very nice.  Congrats on not letting any weather get in your way.  Living up in the mountains, I understand about that road and train/bus.  The roads can be like a bowling alley - once you start sliding, you can't stop, regardless of 4x4 and winter tires!    I'd be a weirdo if I went to Norway.  I'd want to go to the Holmenkollbakken to see the large hill ski jump and to Lillehammer to see the sliding track!  I'm a winter Olympics person and love to see old venues.  

[laurspag]

Anita!  It is good to hear from you!  Wow, Seattle!  Were you contemplating a move?  You must have so much on your plate right now, with getting ready to move, your son, the existing house, and so forth.  You are an experienced mover, so I know you will get a lot of things situated quickly.   I would be so lost planning something like that.  

 

I look forward to hearing about the process.

 

They have some nice cruises that sail out that a way!  Speaking of which, I always love planning out my cruises but the current cost of things is really making me anxious.  We got a decent deal on a 7 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale on Freedom.  The excursions, dining and so on are just so ridiculously priced right now. 

 

I was tempted to cancel and try something different, but I really love to cruise.  I find that I control my spending well because I plan ahead and have everything paid for with just a few out of pocket expenses.  When I start thinking about buying three meals a day, renting a car, paying for things to do, and so forth, I usually find that I do much better with cruising.

 

A few things have literally doubled (or more) from the cruise I just took a short time ago. 

 

Slidergirl, I'm a big Olympics fan.  I have traveled to Lake Placid a number of times for long weekends, and we always go to the ski lift, museum, and so forth.

 

Our home projects continue.  As we get to the holidays, I do plan to finish painting the stairway and will likely have the laundry room painted.  The laundry room isn't certain though.  We purchased new doors for the cabinets, and they came in this week.  They are going to look really great and it was such a huge savings over ordering all new cabinets.  The hardware is in also.

 

Our biggest thing was that I decided I wanted a solid surface countertop in there.  We finally got an estimate, but between booking the appointment and having the person visit to view the area where the countertop is being installed, they somehow "forgot" to tell us that there is a minimum purchase of 25 square feet.  They even gave us a verbal quote in person.  Needlessly to say, we had some sticker shock when the estimate came in.

 

We are still figuring it out, and plan to check around to a few more places this weekend.   This is really throwing a wrench into our plans, but we will keep shopping and figure it all out.

 

Anita, it must be nice having your son home, even if it is only until he goes back to school. 

[Anita Latte]

It's nice to have DS home for sure...we're having a good time together...

 

We were not contemplating a move...it's just that the new job that DH took last year with a start up hasn't been going well. They did a reorganization in late spring and DH's boss decided to leave and the effects of that...well...it just made for an unhappy and rather unstable feeling work situation. DH looked and looked here but he wasn't getting any response...there weren't too many really good opportunities...it's harder as you get more responsibility to move around and keep your seniority level of leadership. I opened up the job search to the west because I would enjoy being closer to my parents in AZ...and this is what happened lol.

 

We have a lease finalized on a studio apartment. We're flying out 11/27 and moving in that same day. It'll be the equivalent of camping in our own apartment until the end of year holidays. We'll all meet in AZ...DH flying...DS and I driving. Holidays...DS will fly back to FL and then DH and I will drive to Seattle. It's how we're moving the car out there and also how we will be moving a bit more of life's conveniences...more wardrobe and things like a TV...believe it or not I have such a stock pile of cleaning products here...LOL...maybe a trash can? Just things that can add up if you have to buy them for a second residence but that you kind of need...

 

Anyway...that's the current plan...still something of a work in progress on the how...but we know that we need to get a vehicle out there because the rental fees are a budget killer. Looked into shipping the car but it's basically a break even situation, and with the holidays... trying to deal with the timing of it all is problematic. And then we miss out on being to move more things out to Seattle.

 

I haven't looked at cruising in a while but definitely one thing that I will probably try to sort is another Alaska cruise. Through the years I have seen incredible deals on Alaska cruises, especially last minute but I haven't been able to take advantage being on the opposite coast...that and deals on just flights up there...I would love to go anywhere there was a decent deal and just enjoy Alaska...