Hello Jessica, Bill with Zoe!! Greetings from Christer to you all, here is very calm with Zam, the cat. I may say that it is very high class website taavo.com…
Today we drove to our passport appointment in San Francisco. We had an appointment at 10am, which we were actually on time for (amazing). When we got to the 5th floor the guard said we could not bring any food or drink past the security checkpoint. So, down the elevator we went. Jess and Zoe finished the smoothie while I ran back to the car to put away the other snacks. In the mean time at least 10 other people passed the girls headed for the elevator. We finally made it to the check in window and received our number. It was #80. Apparently the appointment time meant nothing. They were currently processing #24. After at least ten minutes they were on #26. Yeah, it looked like it was going to be a very long day.
A quick calculation indicated that we could be stuck there for close to five hours, so we decided to leave, get some coffee, and walk around SF. We found a Starbucks a block away and a Quiznos, so after a downing the coffee and splitting a sandwich we decided to go back and check the number. Fortunately they were processing a little faster than once every five minutes. After almost thirty minutes they were on #55, so we figured we could leave for another thirty minutes or so and be safe.
There wasn’t much to do nearby, so we just hung out by a fountain. After 25 minutes of standing around on a street corner in downtown San Francisco we’d had enough, so back we went to the passport office. Now they were on #64 if I remember correctly. We grabbed a few seats and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally #80 popped up on the screen and off we went to window number twelve. Ten minutes and $145 later we were out the door, without Zoe’s passport! Because of a new law that requires people to have a passport to visit Mexico and Canada, the passport office is overloaded and we were told to come back the next day to pick up the passport, if it was approved. Jessica and Zoe were leaving on Friday, and this was Wednesday. Needles to say we were both a little panicked. Well with nothing else we could do but hope it was ready on Thursday we walked to Yerba Buena Gardens so Zoe could play a little before we drove back to San Jose. Yerba Buena has a nice play ground with a 25 foot tube slide! It was a nice way to end the trip to SF. After a while we headed back to the car and returned to San Jose.
Tomorrow, Zoe and I will drive back to SF to pick up her passport.
Last night I took the dog out for a walk. It was around 10:30PM. The sun was near the horizon but it was still an hour away from dipping below the hills. The golden color from the low sun looked really nice on the buildings, flowers, and sheep!
Today we went the a Swedish midsummer party in Kuivakangas, a village just south of Juoksengi. The day started off with some games, and a quick pony ride. Jessica got three out of five baskets, and Zoe was not too excited about being on a horse so we cut the ride a little short.
Next came the raising of the May Pole. Zoe really enjoyed being thrown up in the air, again and again and again. After that it was time for a soda and burger while we listened to the band play Swedish Folk songs, and I rested my arms.
After the band packed up and drove off on a lawn mower (Hey I don’t make this stuff up!) the kids played a few summer games around the May Pole and then it was time to go.
After checking out the river and the ‘beach’, I thought I’d ride north to see if I could find anything interesting.
After a few minutes I found a cool looking ‘road’ that I figured would lead down to the river so I decided to walk down to the river’s edge for a little different view of the Torne River.
The water was so high that the road was flooded and I could not reach the river, so I turned left and headed into the trees and bush, climbing over blueberry bushes and some kind of spongy ground cover. Finally I came upon a small secluded pond, climbed up on a rock to take a few photos, then headed back to my bike.
From there I rode north again until a found a dirt road that headed up into the forest. This brought me up to the cross country ski loop and eventually to the top of Littisvaara, the hill where the shooting range and the radio tower are. There was a nice view of the Torne River and I found many young berries growing along the trails. From there it was all down hill to the house.
Took the camera and rode my bike around the village today. This is the first set of photos.
I started by heading down to the river. It’s amazing to see how high the water level is now. The water was very calm and the cloudy sky was just beautiful.
Then I headed up the road a bit to the ‘beach’. I snapped a few photos on the way. Well, I arrived at what is usually a beach, but with the water level so high there was no sign of sand, so I took some photos of the flowers. Maybe next month the beach will be visible again.
Today the river ice began to break up and float down the Torne River here in Norrbotten. It does not look as though it will be as sensational as it has in past years, but this will be my first time experiencing it, so I’m excited none the less.
Every year they place a small boat out on the ice just north of the bridge in Övertorneå. People try to guess when the ice will carry it under the bridge. I guessed the boat will pass under the bridge at 4:16pm on May 6th, which is tomorrow. I might actually be close.
Well Spring finally came to Norrbotten. The river water is rising and the ice is breaking up. Here is the first set of photos from the ice break. These ones were taken about 45 minutes south of Juoksengi at a place called Kukkolaforsen.
Kalle just installed a webcam at the Arctic Circle in preparation for Walpurgis Night, a holiday celebrated on April 30 where people light huge bonfires.
The camera faces North toward the center of Juoksengi and will be left up after the celebration. Now everyone can see for themselves how long (and short) the days are way up north!
That is when I noticed that the swans had returned. There were several standing along the edge of the ice and others floating around in the water.
As I stood there two of the swans began to flap their wings and prepare to fly away. I was able to capture them running across the water and taking off. Then they turned toward me and made a beautiful pass. The sun behind me lit up their wings against a fantastic blue sky.
Today Kicki and I entered two ice fishing contests out on the Torne River in Juoksengi. The ‘Juoksenginappet’ and the ‘Polcirkelnappet’.
The day started at 11:00am down at badstranden, ‘the bathing beach’. It was a beautiful morning with a few clouds and just little wind. Two hours later it was time to weigh the fish and award prizes. Kicki and I were 0 for 1 so far, so we just watched and ate grilled korv, ‘sausage’.
After the prizes were handed out everyone took a short walk or drive down to isvägen, ‘the ice road’, literally 800 yards south for the next contest.
By now the clouds had thickened and the wind picked up considerably. If you hadn’t guessed, that means it was COLD!
Well Kicki and I stuck it out for another two hours, along with many others, but again we came up short. Really short. we were 0 for 2 for the day, and really cold. There was another weigh in and prizes were handed out.
It was fun to see everyone from the village out enjoying the bright spring day, even if it did end a little cold and gloomy. In fact, as I write this at 9:00 pm, it is just getting dark and beginning to snow.
Pullinki Ski is the closest, (um… only) ski area close to us. It’s less than 10 minutes north of Juoksengi, in Svanstein.
Our friend Victoria and her son Jordan just moved back to Sweden from New York, so before they headed down to Stockholm to live, we all went to Pullinki for the day.
The weather was perfect. The sky was beautiful. The sun was nice and high with few clouds and no wind at all. The kids had a great time too, well… most of the time.
Tornedalsloppet is a 45 kilometer cross country ski race from Svanstein to Övertorneå, held on the last Sunday in March. The track goes through the fields right behind our house in Juoksengi, so we walked down to cheer them on.
Hey! The company I work for, Searchme, Inc. just announced the release of a new Visual Search Engine! It is still in Private Beta, which means you need to request an invitation to access the site, but I am giving away 100 instant Beta Accounts. Just click this link and grab one before they are gone. Instant Access
There were some really nice Northern Lights last night. Despite the -22 degree weather, I decided to stand out in a foot of icy snow to try and capture them with my camera. I managed to get a few good shots, and the Övertorneå Community posted one of them on their home page.
I think this is the first time I was able to photograph the lights from the southern side of the house, so you can get an idea of the size of this light show. It wasn’t the brightest lights we’ve seen here, or the most active, but the shapes were amazing. At one point the streaks of light came together in one central point, making a kind of ring with star like rays shooting out from it.
As noted in the previous post, Kalle, Kicki and I drove to the ‘Coldest Market in the World” yesterday. The Jokkmokk Market.
The market was huge, packed with visitors from all across Lapland, and yes, COLD. I don’t know how the vendors were able to stand around their booths all day. I was absolutely freezing after only a couple hours in the -15 degree weather, but after a little time in a heated museum/restaurant, we were back out on the streets checking out the rest of the vendors… well, for a little longer anyway.
After a quick bite to eat it was time for the drive home, this time there would be no bright sun light. In it’s place was glowing clouds and a light dusting of snow.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning and thought it would be nice to climb the Aavasaksa Lookout in Finland to enjoy the view, so we drove across the ice road and headed south.
Aavasaksa a small town at the base of a small mountain, about 24km south of Juoksengi. It is just across the Torne River from Övertorneå. On the mountain is a camping area where you can rent cabins in the summer, a market, and a small ski area with one lift (that we could see anyway). At the top of the hill there is a large radio antenna and a nice lookout tower where you can look across the river to Sweden.
Jessica’s brother took us up there on my first trip to Sweden in 2002 and I really enjoyed it, so I thought it would be cool to take Zoe there too. When I went there it was June. The sun saw shining, ground was covered with wild blueberries, and it was warm. Today, things are a little different. The temperature is somewhere around -15c, and the ground is covered with at least 2 feet of snow, but at least the sun was shining.
We drove as far as the road was plowed, then we started our hike. It would be a 500m walk along the snow covered road. Fortunately there were some snowmobile tracks which made the walk a little easier. About 200 meters up the hill Jessica and Zoe decided to play in the glistening snow. I just stood and soaked up the view. The sun was shining through the snow dusted trees and the ice crystals on the ground sparkled like diamonds.
After the quick break we continued our accent, taking turns pulling Zoe on her snow racer. The view just got better and better, and I kept telling Zoe how cool the view from the tower was going to be.
When we got to the stairs that I remembered from my previous trip, I started to worry. They were completely covered with snow, and I was beginning to think the trip was going to be a total waste of time. As we reached the top of the hill, I realized that I was right. There would be no tower climbing today, unless we wanted to walk through the two feet of virgin snow. I was tempted, but I knew Jess and Zoe were not going to do it, and looking at the windows on the Lookout, I don’t think we would have been able to see anything anyway. Oh well.
So just when I thought the day was a complete loss, I heard the joyful laughter of a young child coming from behind me. Looking over my shoulder I saw Jessica and Zoe happily zipping down the hill on the Snow Racer!
Jessica spotted a moose standing along the side of the road today while we were driving to Haparanda to do some shopping. We zipped passed it but decided to turn around to get another look so I pulled over at the next parking spot and turned around.
From the other direction we noticed there were actually three of them. Two were standing just past the trees. Jess snapped a few photos through the windshield before they started running into the forest. The closest one to the road looked drunk. It’s tounge was hanging out of its mouth and one ear was kinda droopy. It was pretty funny looking.
This is a series of stills taken at noon on January 6th 2008. It was the first time this year that we could see the sun came above the horizon here in Juoksengi, Sweden.
Today the sun popped above the horizon for the first time in over a month. The first sunrise of 2008! It was only visible for about a minute, then it was gone.
Well today is January 1st 2008. Jessica and I are wiped out from last night’s New Years Celebration on the river, where we stayed until past 1am, despite the -20 degree weather, so today was more or less a lazy day, except for when Zoe and I played ‘Monster’ more times than I wish to remember. Jessica finally got a chance to sleep in, which was nice, even though she had a hangover.
I’m really looking forward to the coming months. This is my first full winter in Sweden, and it will be nice to see the transition from winter to spring. The days are already getting longer, which means more time to play outside, in the snow. Now we just need snow!
It was -22c this morning at the house, and the sun was still just under the horizon. There were just a few clouds, or maybe it was fog, and all the trees were covered in frost, so like a fool I went outside to take some pictures…
I walked down to the river first, hoping to get a nice shot of the sun as it came up from behind the mountain but it jest kept moving to the right, never really getting high enough to see. It did manage to light up the tips of the trees though. The frosty white trees along the river were beautiful.
Then I walked south toward the Circle until I saw an open field that screamed “walk out here for a nice shot”, so I trudged through a foot of snow into the middle of the field, and waited… This is where I took my favorite shot “Arctic Sunrise”.
Once it was obvious that the sun was not going to come above the horizon, and the -20 temperature started to permeate my clothes, I decided to take a self portrait continue on my journey.
The sun finally passed behind the tip of the mountain near Övertorneå and began to shine on the tips of the trees. More birds were out enjoying the day, like this bird in the trees.
It was a beautiful winter morning indeed. It is days like this that make the short winter days tolerable.
Today we drove about 10 minutes south to Kuivakangas and walked down to a place where we were going to cross the river. We have done it in the summer time, but this time the water was too high to cross.
Too bad because just on the other side of the island there is a nice sandy beach to sit and enjoy the view.
Today Jessica’s Grandfather Elof brought us a HUGE bucket of fresh picked wild blueberries. These are the real blueberries too, the ones that really are blue inside, not like the organic ones we buy at Whole Foods that are really expensive and clear inside. And the taste… Mmmm!
The past two days have been the worst two days of my life, but I need to put that behind me and move on. We have been packing for a month, but severely underestimated the amount of time and storage we needed to get everything out of our old house. It has been two solid days of non stop action, with a lot of help from family and friends, but this is it, we are on our way to the Arctic Circle for one year.
We are all a little nervous about leaving California, but at the same time very excited. I will be working remotely for Searchme.com, Zoe and I will have a chance to learn Swedish, and hopefully Jessica will get some rest. I know Jessica’s parents are excited to be able to be with their first grandchild for such a long time. (I wonder how long that will last)
This time next year we will be returning the the US, most likely to Northern Colorado where we will be able to continue experiencing snowy winters and warm summers, though obviously not as extreme as what we will experience in Sweden.
Today we left for Sweden, for a one year long adventure. We will be living in Juoksengi with Jessica’s parents, Kalle & Kicki. We made the decision less than one month ago when the opportunity came up to work remotely. I could not pass up the chance to see the full seasonal cycle form the Arctic Circle. We also believe this will be a great experience for Zoe. This journal, the sixth in a series, will contain all the highlights of our adventure.
I arrived in Sweden by myself this time. Jessica and Zoe have been here for a month already, but I stayed home to do some work. I’m glad to be out of the heat wave and more glad to see Jessica and Zoe again.
When they left I still had no job, only some contract work. Times were tough but what Jessica did not know was that two days before leaving fro Sweden I secured an amazing job as the web developer for a start up in Palo Alto. SWEET!
Tuomaan Paja is a really cool gift shop/ restaurant on the Finnish side of the Torne River. In the winter you can drive across the frozen river to get there real quick, but in the summer we have to drive 20 kilometers down to Övertorneå then back up the Finnish side. It takes about 30 minutes but it’s a nice drive.
Jessica and Zoe left for Sweden a month before I did. I was still looking for a job, and finishing up a contract project.
Kalle and Kicki were thrilled to see the girls again, and it didn’t take long for Zoe to start playing and having fun. After a nice long sleep Jessica took Zoe down to the river for an unplanned dip.
Today we almost died! I tried to pass a really slow car while driving to Övertorneå with Jessica and Zoe. I waited for what I thought was a good spot then I moved over to the opposite lane to pass. When I accelerated, the rear wheels began to spin and the car fish tailed. We we going about 95km/hr, which is 60 miles per hour, on ice! We slid to the left, then to the right, then back to the left where we went off of the road and into the snow.
Somehow the car came back on the road and we slid sideways across the road where we finally came to a stop in the snow on the right shoulder. Then the car I ‘passed’ passed us, and kept on driving. Fortunately someone else finally pulled over to help us get back on the road. He had a tow strap so we used it to try and pull the car back onto the road. I had to dig the snow from under the car and wheels, but the car was stuck.
Several other cars passed but no one else stopped to help. Finally one stopped and two Finnish guys helped push from the front of the car. We eventually got the car back on the road, facing the wrong way. What an ordeal.
We were very luck that we didn’t hit anything and that the guy behind us didn’t hit us. Next time I get behind a slow car while driving on ice, I think I’ll just stay behind it and enjoy the view.
8:30AM Jessica’s Uncle Ronnie came by with the dog to say hello.
We walked to the market with Zam & Zoe.
Had some lunch
Slept again
Kalle made a Birthday cake for Zoe, so we had a little party.
9:30PM Zoe & Mom Sleeping
1:55 PM Zoe fell asleep nursing.
2:05 PM Just finished our first Swedish hamburger of the trip.
2:10 PM Zoe’s up.
2:15 PM Then we split another one.
3:10 PM Jessica turned on the sauna. Zoe is still asleep.
3:55 PM Zoe finally pooped! She was very fussy, but after pooping she was smiling (we were not).
7:45 PM Jessica took a sauna first.
8:10 PM I took a sauna next. Ah! It’s nice to sit in the hot sauna after such a long trip.
9:00 PM Bed time, FINALLY!!
12:38 AM Boarded the last plane. The girl with the window seat sat somewhere else with her boyfriend, so we had all three seats.
12:48 AM Departed from Arlanda. Zoe cried just a little on the take off, then fell asleep.
1:23 AM Just finished our breakfast YUM! Cheese sandwich and yogurt. Oh, and coffee!
1:34 AM Starting our dissent. Looks very cold outside.
1:44 AM Landed in Lulea
2:14 AM Kalle and Kicki were waiting for us at the gate. Zoe slept while we waited for our luggage, then we started driving toward Juoksengi.
4:15 AM Stopped at the Konsum market for some hamburger buns.
4:29 AM Finally arrived at Jessica’s parents’ house.
5:30 AM Jessica’s parents called to wake us up.
6:19 AM Mom came by to drive us to the airport. Zoe was still very warm and fussy, but we decided to go anyway.
7:10 AM Mom drove us to airport. It was Saturday morning so there saw no traffic and the airport was fairly empty.
7:30 AM We arrived at SJC. Checked in less than one hour before the flight and the check in lady complained that we were late and she might not get the paper work done in time. We made it though.
8:24 AM There was no one in the security line, but Jessica had an SIS ticket so they searched her. It didn’t take very long and we boarded the plane on time. For some reason we got Economy Extra, so we had a little more room than we thought we would.
12:09 PM We started the final approach to Chicago. Zoe slept all the way.
12:20 PM We landed in Chicago. I had to buy some new sunglasses because I left mine I the car. Whoops!
1:35 PM We checked in at the SAS counter then went to wait in a huge line to get through security.
2:23 PM Jessica tried to upgrade our tickets. Nope. So we waited in line for nothing. OK, time to board the plane.
2:24 PM Jessica started nursing Zoe as soon as we got on the plane.
2:28 PM Yeah! Ready to take off. Bye bye
4:46 PM We just finished eating some crappy lactose free vegetarian food. Steamed veggies and rice. Zoe finally fell asleep nursing. Only 6 hours to go on this flight.
5:02 PM Jessica said ‘I hate flying.’
5:10 PM Zoe woke up! Jessica said ‘I hate flying!’ again, and her tail bone hurts.
6:47 PM Zoe fell asleep again.
7:00 PM We hit some turbulence, so I somehow managed to fasten my seat-belt with Zoe sleeping on my lap, then attached the child belt around Zoe.
7:07 PM Zoe woke up again.
8:30 PM Jessica nursed Zoe again.
9:16 PM Lights on. Breakfast is on it’s way. I hope it’s better than the crappy dinner we had.
10:40 PM Landed in Stockholm.
10:58 PM Made it through Passport Control then organized our carry-on luggage and made a bathroom stop. Jessica bought a sandwich.
11:53 PM Checked in our baggage at Arlanda.
12:00 AM Went through ‘Security’, Swedish style, which means you just walk out. Jessica bought some candy and we ate the sandwich.
Yesterday was June 21st, the longest day of the year. Below the Arctic Circle that just means the day is longer than the rest, but above the 66th parallel mid-summer is more significant.
At the Arctic Circle, this is the day the sun does not sink below the horizon. It just touches it and starts to climb again. It is the true turning point of summer. From here on out the days will become shorter and shorter, bringing darkness to the northern lands.
This is a time to celebrate, and to appreciate, the power of the sun and the beauty of the summer months.
Just before midnight Kale and I drove to the lake in Svanstein, and up to Pullinki Ski, then we drove south of Juoksengi to Niskanpaa.
Our last day in Sweden. We took a taxi to the airport, then hung out at a bar for a couple hours. After a quick de-icing of the wings, we were on our way to Chicago. Lunch in Chicago included a couple beers with silly labels.
We slept in till noon today! Nice. Then we drove out to Görvälnområdet, which is a huge lake. (I think so anyway). Henrietta had two cats that seemed to like having their pictures taken. Later that night we decided to walk to a local burger joint called Sibylla.
Henrietta and her sister picked us up at the airport in Stockholm and then we were on our way to Jakobsberg. After a rest and something to eat we jumped on the train and went to Gamla Stan, which means Old Town. This place is really great. We then had a great meal at the house and headed out to a club where we had a few drinks and headed home.
I got up early this morning and climbed up on the silo for a panoramic view of Juoksengi. Then at 3pm we jumped on a plane and headed for Stockholm to visit Henrietta and Björn.
We are leaving for Stockholm on Friday, so today we walked around with the dog and took some more photos of Jessica’s village. At around 9:30 Jessica noticed some green lights in the sky through the window. She ran outside and saw the Northern Lights!
We both threw on out jackets and gloves and hurried outside. I was able to capture the lights with my camera. This was so amazing to see on our last night up north.
Today we took off on the snowmobile again. This time we went way up into the hills where we got some great views of the northern mountains. At the end of the day, we decided to go out for one last spin before we had to return the snowmobile. I had to pee but thought we would be back in 5 minutes.
What luck, we go for a 5 minute ride and Jessica makes one wide turn and we sink in the snow and get stuck! It took Jess and I almost an hour to get the thing back on the trail. We were exhausted and sore and bruised. It was hilarious and we didn’t even have the camera with us. We really enjoyed the sauna tonight.
This morning we borrowed a snowmobile from a friend and Jessica and I cruised around the many snow covered trails behind her parent’s house. We were out for hours at a time.
We left the house at 6:00am and headed for Jukkasjärvi, a small village in Northern Lapland, Sweden that builds an entire hotel out of ice every winter! It’s called the Ice Hotel.
It is at a beautiful location beside the River Torne. About 200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. We made several stops at other interesting places, like the worlds largest wool mitten, and a huge sundial, and a snowed in paddle boat. It was a 12 hour day, but well worth the drive.
Kalle and I drove an hour and a half to watch a car race on a frozen lake. When we arrived at the town we found a small hand written sign that said the race had been moved to another town another half an hour away, so off we went. We got there in time to see the start of the first race. On our way home we spotted two wild reindeer in the forest and stopped to take a photo.
Today there was a big ice fishing contest on the river, so we walked over to check out the excitement! When the gun went off all to competitors ran to their ‘lucky’ spot. After they drilled their holes and sat down we just had to wait and see who would catch the biggest fish, so we left!
We did come back two hours later for the raffle though, and Jessica’s mom won a hat & some other stuff.
Today we drove to The Arktikum, Santa Claus Village and Santa Park in Rovaniemi, Finland, about an hour and a half away. We showed Santa where San Jose is on his big map and he said he’ll be sure to bring us plenty of gifts next year. We had some great Chinese food in downtown Rovaniemi. It was so cold there I thought my nose would crack if I sneezed.
Then we drove back to Sweden, grabbed a few cold beers and hit the sauna to relax for the evening… but it snowed 2 or 3 inches after the sauna so we bundled back up for some nighttime snow play.
No clouds in the sky this morning but it is -16C degrees! I made some strong coffee then Jessica & I watched the news about Iraq. I hope they get the hell out of there soon so we can fly home safely.
Today we walked on water! Well, frozen water anyway. We walked from the house in Sweden to a gift shop in Finland via a road made of ice. The ice on the Torne River is about three feet think now. A few hours later we were off to Finland again, this time in a car. We stopped to take photos of some ice sculptures, then we visited another gift shop and had a snack. The view of the frozen country and river is amazing.
Next was a visit with Jessica’s Grandparents where we had coffee and pastries, then we took some photos of their reindeer.
The temperature was -3.5C/27F this morning! The sky goes from bright sun to dark and cloudy every 15 to 20 minutes, with short snow flurries thrown in between. Now it’s time to just relax for a week. No cars, no planes, no work, just rest & relaxation.
This was another busy day. We returned some clothes and bought some more, then we packed our bags and headed for Juoksengi at the Arctic Circle. Our 3 hour drive turned into 5 hours after stopping twice for burgers and once to buy more clothes. We arrived at Jessica’s parents house in Juoksengi at 5:00pm, just in time for an evening walk with the dog, then it was time for dinner, beer, and a sauna before bed.
This was a busy day. We took several photos, ate more burgers, bought some new clothes at H&M, toured an old military bunker deep inside a mountain, went bowling, watched more television, played a trivia game in Swedish (I lost), and ate some more great home cooked food. Then it was time for a couple melatonins and a soft pillow.
Well we arrived in Stockholm, grabbed our luggage, and checked it right back in. Then we hopped on another plane to Lulea. I sat next to a man from Murmansk (northern Russia) who had been visiting his daughter and new grandson in Stockholm. He pulled out a big bottle of whiskey and poured me a glass. Needless to say when we arrived in Lulea I didn’t need a jacket.
Jessica’s brother Charlie and his girlfriend Lisa met us at the airport. After a Swedish McDonald’s burger we were on our way to Skelleftea, an hour and a half south west of Lulea. We hit the local ICA Super (a large Swedish supermarket chain) for some beer and some fresh salmon. After a fantastic dinner we watched a Television then it was time to get some much needed sleep!
Here we go again. Another vacation in Sweden. This time we left San Jose at 6:00am. The flight was on time and went well. We had a few hours to wander around the airport in Chicago so we decided to buy a couple sandwiches. $19.00 (and two crappy sandwiches) later we were on our way to Stockholm. We arrived at 7:30am, the next day, 16 hours after leaving San Jose. Were we tired? You bet, but excited to be in Sweden again, and this time I get to see SNOW!!
Last night I took the 
Today we went the a Swedish midsummer party in Kuivakangas, a village just south of Juoksengi. The day started off with some games, and a quick pony ride. Jessica got three out of five 
After checking out the river and the ‘beach’, I thought I’d ride north to see if I could find anything interesting.
Took the camera and rode my bike around the village today. This is the first set of photos.
Today while driving to 
Today Kicki and I entered two ice fishing contests out on the Torne River in Juoksengi. The ‘Juoksenginappet’ and the ‘Polcirkelnappet’.
By now the clouds had thickened and the wind picked up considerably. If you hadn’t guessed, that means it was COLD!
Well we finally went to Pullinki to 
Well today is January 1st 2008. Jessica and I are wiped out from last night’s 
Tuomaan Paja is a really cool gift shop/ restaurant on the Finnish side of the Torne River. In the winter you can drive across the frozen river to get there real quick, but in the summer we have to drive 20 kilometers down to Övertorneå then back up the Finnish side. It takes about 30 minutes but it’s a nice drive.
Jessica and Zoe left for Sweden a month before I did. I was still looking for a job, and finishing up a contract project.
Today Lisa and Charlie brought a shiny new quad over to the house for me to ride. Lisa’s brother just imported it from the US.
Yesterday was June 21st, the longest day of the year. Below the Arctic Circle that just means the day is longer than the rest, but above the 66th parallel mid-summer is more significant.
