Whoa, another blog post!

Wow, I just realized how egregiously I have neglected this blog! But I have reasons!! Good ones too ;-)

- My first child is due in February!!
- Work stuff (lots of travel, a promotion, and lots of new work)

Excuses out of the way, let's have at it ... I think we left off with driving across Norway, visiting the Aasland farm and some relatives and waking up in Sandnes. And now for the highlight of our trip: Pulpit Rock!

To get to the Rock we had to backtrack about 60 km north, across a ferry, and into a parking lot. At this point Jennifer was a couple months pregnant. Not enough to really show, but enough to feel the early effects. This would be become evident soon ...

After parking, gearing up and seeing blue skies behind the dreary clouds, we set off on the trail. It was not a long hike, merely 4 kilometers each way, but the terrain is quite rugged. It is not paved, nor even a dirt path. Where it crosses a marsh there was a boardwalk. The rest was either stepping on boulders or on the granite mountain itself. It started easily enough, with little ascent. It was a cool 60F and occasionally drizzly ... and crowded. Very crowded. We learned that the park authority moves the trail around on a regular basis to avoid erosion. There were no restrooms and few trees to hide behind. And the trail steepened. Normally this would not be an issue for us on such a trail, but this is where Jennifer's pregnancy played in: a lack of breath, a shrinking bladder, and an altered mood made for some frustrations. But as we ascended we found motivation in "If that old greek couple can do it, we can do it!"

And so we did. We made it up the grueling sections, into the cloudy mists. We hiked along cliffs with 1800 foot drops to the fjord. But we couldn't see the fjord ... the mist and fog obscured it all.

It was a major disappointment. This was a highlight of the trip and we saw ... nothing. It was like flying to Paris to see the Louvre, only to find it closed for cleaning on the only day you can go.

The russians with a portable tin foil grill which the non-chalantly left on the mountain, and other trash, was also a disappointment. We had a short lunch, grew cold, and left.

On the way back, there were occasional clearings but not at he top. I resolved that if the weather was better tomorrow I would return. Jennifer would have none of it, as she was very frustrated with the fetus consuming her stamina.

Six hours after left the car we drove back to our hotel in Sandsnes and had a quiet night in town. The downtown streets were blocked off for a ski-shooting competition which we watched for a bit before retiring for the evening.