Our final full day here in Finland was mostly spent driving back to civilization. We slept in until the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon (so, around 9am), and then had fun playing for a couple more hours in the snow in the “Everymans land” around the camper. It was flurrying off and on and feeling quite pretty at -5C. The camper is so snug and warm, though. Continue reading “Out of the Arctic”
Woke this morning to a beautiful white wonderland, and this kids couldn’t wait to bundle and head out to play. While I cleaned up breakfast Avi came running that I must see something! A snow rainbow! Over the camper, too. It was the sign of a good day. Zoe made 100 snow angels in the pristine powder. Continue reading “Lappland”
Woke up quite a few times last night to check for aurora, with no luck, and Avi joined me in the early morning to stare at Venus. He and Zoe slept in a double pull down loft while I slept in the main bed. It’s such a nice small drive camper! Everything is so well contained and easy to use for wild camping… The guy we are borrowing it from didn’t even think we would need the electric cable for hookups (which is as hooked up as possible). Continue reading “Snowland”
I’m snuggled deep in a comforter in the warmth of a little camper van parked beside a rushing river in Finland. It’s only 7pm. But we are all exhausted.
… At least that’s a quick crappier version of an amazing intro sentence to a wonderfully long and detailed blog entry before it disappeared into the void in my WordPress app. Doesn’t do well offline….so here is a less inspired redo: Continue reading “The real Santa Claus”
The kids and I got to the Tallink cruise port early, and as we sat watching the disembarking passengers it became quite apparent that many people use the ferry as an opportunity to buy their legal import limit of booze. People were carrying cases and cases of the stuff stacked high in wheeled carts. The few novices carrying their clanking bottles in bags kept having to stop and shake their poor squished fingers. It was an intergenerational and happy crowd; lots of young adults and old folks and a few families sprinkled about. There was excitement when a drunk old man was being carried out by police (his luggage following in a shopping cart). There was another guy who literally fell out of the exit, and then there was the spilling of a case of beer that brought together crowd camaraderie as stranger helped drunk stranger retrieve their precious duty free.
The island we’ve stayed on is incredible. There are fall leaves everywhere, beautiful lanes around old Russian apartments, and wild grassy hills with canons above and bunkers below.
Avi puked all over his travel outfit a half hour into the drive to Madrid. I had to move him up front and give him some Dramamine to avoid more vomit smell. Luckily our hotel near the airport had a blow dryer, so I washed his pants really well in the sink, rang them out in the towel and blew them warm before hanging to dry on the shower. In the morning they required a bit more 5am blowing, that I’m positive everyone else appreciated, to be wearable. It was an eventful start to our trip north.
