Bob the Birthday Boy!

It's been 80 years since my Dad was born. It must have been an interesting journey from 1928 to 2008! Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Billy and the Whale

Sounds like a movie doesnt it? It's a little story about my cousin Billy. Billy always had a knack for getting into trouble even though he never did anything all that bad. Back when we were kids our family had a reunion at our house. My dad carves and has a lot of wood carvings around the house. Somehow, and Im sure Billy wasnt the only one involved, Billy managed to break the tail off of my dads whale carving. Now, my dad wasnt upset by it but Billys dad was furious. I dont know what his punishment was but Im sure it was something big! We have been giving Billy grief about this incident fo the last 30 years! Finally at this year's reunion my dad presented Billy with the whale. It seemed so fitting since none of us can look at it without thinking of him! (Oh, and by the way, my dad repaired it and you cant even see the crack!)

Back From Norway

I just got back from a 2 week trip to Norway. I was visiting a friend who lives there. I must say that my expectations werent too high regarding the enjoyment Norway would bring me. It seemed like a country that was beautiful but not much else going on. I was pretty much right on that account but I have to say it was starting to grow on me.

Because there was so little going on there, my friends and I decided to do a couple of crazy hikes just so we could take the pictures at the end of the hike. (I dont care for hiking so I must have been desperate!) Now, these hikes were more like rock climbing. All of us were ready to quit after the first segment (15 minutes into a 6 hour hike!) but none of us wanted to admit it to the others so we kept going!

These two pics were taken at Kjerag. That rock is just wedged in between these two cliffs with a crevice that goes down to the botton. I think the hike up to this place was so hard that we were determined to stand on that rock if it killed us!

The picture below was taken on our second hike at Preikestolen or what is also referred to as Pulpit Rock (we needed 4 days to recover from the first hike before we attempted this one!). It was 2 hours up and 2 hours back. Thats me standing at the tip of the cliff. I have to admit that part of the reason I did these hikes was just to prove to my niece and nephews that I do still have a little adventure left in me! Wish they were there to do them with me!

I added this picture just so you could get a different perspective.

Here are just a few items I noted about Norway:

- there are NO Starbucks in Norway! (Stephanie you better avoid this country!)
- Whoppers are $15 (yes, that wasnt a misprint!...just for the Whopper!)
- they dont put ice in anything (you can kiss your iced mochas good-bye and dont expect any ice in you McDonalds fountain drink!)
- they have something called Hotdog sauce. While I did have a hotdog, I wasnt brave enough to try the sauce!
- everything closes down on Sunday.

Stay tuned for more later!