Snow in Sirdal!

I took my parents and Sidney up to the cabin in Sirdal this weekend. The drive up was very nice and the weather was cool but sunny. When we arrived, we saw the higher mountains had snow, which was a pleasant surprise. We had a nice dinner of roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for dessert, and settled in by the fireplace for the evening.




We awoke Saturday morning to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. The view was quite lovely, and Sidney and my dad went out and built a snowman on the deck. The snow gave way to rain, and we set out on a drive to Lysebotn so my parents could experience the Sirdal mountains.

We stopped at the museum in Sirdal to see the exhibits and the panorama films, which are very nice. The films are done on three screens and are similar to an IMAX, without the difficult filming process. Some parts are done from a person filming by hand, some by a vehicle mounted camera, and some by helicopter. The helicopter parts are particularly good, as it almost makes you feel like you are flying down over the fjords.


We left the museum and started up the mountains toward Lysebotn. We made it about 1/3 of the way up and started losing traction, as the snow was much deeper and the roads much slicker at altitude. We decided to turn back at this point, as the memories of having to turn around seemed much more appealing that the potential memory of sliding off the side of the mountain.


We drove south instead, stopping for a little picnic along the way, and then on to Tonstad. There were fantastic waterfalls due to all the rain. The weather also cleared long enough to give some nice views of the lake with the sun shining on it. We stopped and saw the oxen we had seen on our first trip to the cabin in July, and they looked pitiful, but still kind of cute.








We got back to the cabin and had dinner, listened to the rain, and spent the evening reading by the fireplace. This morning, we cleaned up and headed back, stopping at the candle factory and the wool outlet. The rain continued and the wind increased, causing some of the waterfalls along the way to blow backwards.










My parents head to Tromso tomorrow morning early and are staying there until Wednesday. We depart Wednesday night on the ferry for Denmark. Papa has had a good time relaxing as well, and has been able to do a little reading (though I am not sure how he understands the Norwegian!)




Some people have asked for some updated pictures of the apartment now that all our furniture and everything is "in place." Here you go!