July 25th 2009 - Norway

Wow what a difference a couple of weeks make. Alicia is feeling much better, which in turn is making Linda and I feel much better. Our Norway trip was a great way to get away as a family and relax, recover and bond.

We left on Friday July 10th at 10:00 pm. We thought it would be a good time to take off because it was the first time that we had seen Alicia start to smile in about 5 weeks. The trip did not get off to the start we were hoping for. It rained hard for the first 7 hours of the trip, and Alicia was still not up to her usual standard of excellence. She had trouble falling asleep and she was not able to hold her head up very well. She also had episodes of crying, which if you know Alicia is not normal for her. When we got a little past Oslo the rain stopped, and we decided to keep driving up to a little town named Gol. We finally arrived and set up the tent at 1:00 pm on Saturday the 11th. The tent was set up perfectly overlooking a fjord. From our tent you could see the fjord, and in the distance mountains with snow on them. We were tired so we all took a nice long nap. We then were able to go on a little hike, cook a little dinner and get some much needed sleep.
The next day I went fishing and we went on a hike. At the end of the hike was a river where I fished and Linda and Alicia laid out and rested up. We then walked back and ate some dinner and sat by our camp fire and then slept.













The next day we decided we would go for a long drive to a new fjord. The weather was still nice and the view was absolutely beautiful. Alicia was starting to give more and more smiles and she just seemed to be overall content. On the drive out to Balestrand in the Sognefjord we would take little stops to feed Alicia, take pictures, and I even braved the cold water and got in for the second time. The end of our journey was right in a very simple cabin with two single beds, a tiny table, and a hot plate. Where it was located could not be beat. Directly outside of our cabin was a huge cluster of mountains with snow on top and waterfalls trickling down the mountain. After a long day in the car we were ready to go to bed by 9:00 pm.



The next day we got up bright and early and just snuggled with Alicia, who was smiling and moving her arms a lot. It was crazy to see the difference each day made in terms of Alicia's recovery. We then decided we were going to go on a hike. The hike was one of the most beautiful, and definitely the toughest hike we have ever been on. Norway is not flat like Skåne. The first half of the hike we went up 575 meters. This would normally be hard, but it was even harder caring both Alicia and the backpack, and another backpack on my front. Alicia seemed to be mocking us. Whenever we would get to a point where we had to go up a really step part and we would say, "Whoa this is going be tough," Alicia would start laughing just to rub it in. I was really impressed with Linda; I thought we were going to have to quit after the first 50 meters, but she perservered and kept climbing. The view from the top was superb and we warmed up lunch for Alicia and ourselves with our little outdoor cooking set. We used the cooking set everyday. It was so handy. We would drive somewhere relize it was time for Alicia to eat, warm up some food or water and then feed her. Besides Alicia's meds, it was the most important thing we had on our trip. After eating we took a couple of pictures and started the long decent. Altogether the hike took about 5 to 6 hours. Needless to say we were exhausted when we got back.









Throughout the whole trip it seemed like we were outrunning the rain. We pasted it once we got to Oslo. The first place we stayed it was supposed to rain the next day, then each place we stayed at it seemed like it was going to rain on the day that we were leaving. Luckily we had beautiful weather everyday except for the last day. The nights were usually cold, but the sun was up until midnight and then back up around 3:30 am. It never really got completely dark which was cool to see.

The next day we went on a long drive. First we went Northeast to go and see a glacier. The drive there was magnificent. Large mountains, beautiful waterfalls little villiages were everywhere. We then went northwest and drove out to the coast. We drove until about midnight going on about 5 ferries until we got to a ferry crossing where the ferry was closed. We decided to sleep in the car. I put my seat all the way back and put Alicia on my chest. Unfortunately, Linda could not put her seat back because Alicia's car seat was in the way.







When Alicia woke up, I had a feeling Alicia was about to do something. I said for Linda to watch Alicia. With her chest on my chest she lifted her head up looked around and smiled. It was great to see her do that. Just a couple of days before she was unable to keep her head up in her car seat. Everyday was like this watching Alicia do something a little new. It could be hard to catch sometimes, but then we would notice that she was a little bit stronger or a little bit happier than the previous days.
After watching Alicia we got back to taking ferries and driving. It was so pretty going from little island to little island. We stopped in a little town that was having a festival in the morning, then we headed out around lunch time and drove up to a place called the Atlantic highway. It is a 5 km long highway with lots of bridges that link little islands together. From one of the bridges you can fish right off of it. The crazy thing is that there is no little pathway, you just kind of stand in the road and hope the cars go slow enough that you don't get hit. Linda and I had a really nice evening fishing and Alicia was on our stomaches in the baby björn. We then buddled her up and put her to the side of the bridge in her stroller until she fell asleep. Like the rest of the trip it was just nice to take it easy and have long talks with Linda while taking in all of the scenery. When Linda went to sleep in the car I went our and fished off the bridge until about 4 am. During that time I talked to an older norwegian fisher woman. It was funny because I spoke Swedish and she spoke Norwegian. I think we probably only understood about 50% of what was said, but fishing is a universal language.







The next morning we decided to go to a salmon fishing river. It was another long day of scenic driving, stopping in a little town for an amazing pizza lunch and then arrival at our destination. We decided we would find a cabin the next day so we slept in the car again. The next day we ended up finding a beautiful cabin and stayed there for the next two nights. I did my usual fishing and really enjoyed the excitement eventhough I did not catch anything worth writing about. Meanwhile Linda and Alicia were right next to me laying out in the glorious sunshine. It was great seeing Alicia gaining some of her strength and happiness. The last day at the cabin the rain finally caught up to us in the evening. We had another great pizza dinner and went to bed.







We were going to go to one more river for one more night, but when we woke up it was pouring down rain. We decided that we had had enough fun in Norway and thought it would be good to head back to Malmö. I drove for the next 16 hours. It stop raining right as we were passing Oslo and then it was easy sailing.



All in all it was a perfect trip. Alicia was a doll and she did a great job of getting stronger and being more like the Alicia we know and love. It was relaxing eventhough I did 3200 km (2000 miles) of driving. The drives were not just a way to get from here to there, but a way to see an amazing country. It was great that Linda and I had so much time to talk and relax. The trip was a little rough at times, but with that comes a big sense of accomplishment. We know that if we can do a trip like this right after all of the problems Alicia has just gotten over, we can travel anywhere, anytime with anyone.