Our Ride Home from the Mountains

Coming home was slow-going...but the view was spectacular. We even found a few odd things to look at...like two young men getting ready to go scuba diving (walking through a path of snow a foot deep!). Only in Norway.... and then there was the Christmas tree lifted up by the two backhoes....:o)

More Sirdal Stuff....

Inside the Hytte

It's not big...but it was nice and cozy for 4 days of fun in the mountains. We were there from Dec 18th thru the 22nd.

Snowy fun in Sirdal

Ice falls

Joe and I hiked up a nearby hill/mtn to these ice falls we could somewhat see from the road. Here's what we found....

Winter Fun in Sirdal

On Dec 18th, it started snowing pretty hard here in the Stavanger area. We had several inches on the ground by the time we were ready to head up to the mountains to stay in the Norwegian military hyttes they have in Sirdal. A hytte is a cabin. It has a kitchen and bedrooms, etc. You have to bring linens and towels, food, etc. There are two burners in which to cook on and pots and pans are provided. It's a nice set up. We have gone up to Sirdal (about 2 hrs drive inland from here) every Christmas season. The cabins are always booked and you have to have your name drawn each peak season. We have been pretty lucky. However, no one else made it during our stay! We had the entire hytte park to ourselves! It was blizzard conditions for the first two days we were there with blowing snow and severe wind chills. We mostly stayed inside and played Settlers of Catan (an awesome board game!). We did venture out a few times to sled (we didn't bring snowboards because we were told they didn't have enough snow - which was true...the slopes weren't even open!) We had a great time though! Little did we know that we were all alone because the roads leading up to where we were had been closed! :o)

Lily had a little Christmas play in her classroom. She told me ahead of time that she had to be a "cheeky Nisse"....because they laugh so much! They did a little skit with each of the kiddos being Nisse on Christmas Eve and then ended the show with their "torches" (I had to actually ask the teacher about this - she meant flashlights!) for the Northern Lights on the ceiling. Santa came in to visit after the show. Lily wanted NOTHING to do with him. (it was our American AF Chaplain, Michael Howard). When he left, he peeked back into the classroom and said,"Bye Lily!" The kids were so suprised that Santa knew Lily's name! (so was Lily!) :o)