Shore Excursions!

They are now booked. We don't usually book excursions unless something pops out, preferring to putter about ourselves. There were a few indeed that popped out. So, here's what we expect to see.

Geiranger, Norway

The road to Mt. Dalsnibba. I expect Neesh's eyes will be closed the entire way. That means I get the window seat.

user Jennykelly at travelpod.com

The view back to Geiranger.

Andrew Batchelor's Travel Journal

 

The view from Eagle Road.

http://home.comcast.net/~srweiss/scandinavia09/norway.html

I think it's obvious that since the scenery is so spectacular, it'll be socked in when we're there. 

Ålesund, Norway

 

 Whoops, that's Sweden, not Norway. Oooom, bork bork bork.

How about the view from Mount Aksla instead? An excursion saves Neesh from walking up 200 steps. Such a nice guy I am. 

user Sterkoder at http://www.captainsvoyage-forum.com

The largest aquarium in Scandanavia, the Atlantic Sea Park. As soon as I arrive here, the clouds will lift and it'll be sunny, because it won't matter.

Atlantic Sea Park

Figuring out the nature theme yet?

Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

My selfish side surfaced on this one. A hike, so Neesh is out, but we'll have plenty of time to fart about town. So I'm paying $89 to hike. There's only one hike in NH you have to pay to do, and that's $50 for the privilege to hopefully see an elk and to not be chased by a boar, as well as hike one of the ledgiest ridges in New Hampshire. No, I am not kidding.

But hey, with scenery potential like this, gotta do it. Not sure where the hike goes, but this is just a sample of some scenery of Streymoy Island.

http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/stream/photoID/1075537/features/countries/Faroe%20Islands/

Glenn57 at virtualtourist.com

It'll probably rain with 20 foot visibility. Or maybe I should bring snowshoes.

Bar Harbor, Maine

How many horrible versions of Bahhhh Hahhhbahhh will I have to endure? Why don't people recognize Kathy Bates and even more so David Straithairn in the movie Delores Claiborne as brilliance for actors who could actually nail down a Downeast accent. Sigh.

Well, it won't be a fancy $100 lobster bake for this excursion. $10 at Mahket Baskey (or as I still end up calling it, Dahmooless) will fix me up straight for that. We are doing Acadia. I went there 27 years ago and was amazed. Time to show it off to Neesh.

View from Cadillac Mountain.

http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/category/travel/

That's on a nice day. Undoubtedly this will be my view.

Don't believe me? Here's my reward for hiking the NH/Quebec border. Trust me, I've seen pictures, the views are fantastic on a nice day. Not this day. Go figure!

And yes, I am legally on the US side. At this particular spot. We won't talk about elsewhere. And yes, the skies cleared just as we got out. And no, I am not kidding.

Fashion, Phones and Burnt Hair

Bear with me, this is related. Neesh and I went up to the Woodstock Inn this weekend and had a great time as always. Went on a long bushwhack hike on Saturday, said I'd be shooting to be out by 2 PM. Woods were horrible (and soaked) pretty much the whole way, had to skip on the second peak, and still didn't get out until 3:50. Oops. It's her weekend away, too. Heavy dose of self-guilt as usual, so I tried to make up for it with a stop at Tanger Outlets in Tilton.

Well, that worked out for me. I needed a decent sport jacket (my dressy clothes selection is pretty bad), ending up finding a great one at Van Heusen, plus a couple nice shirts and ties for cheap. Stylin'. Just need a new suit now, which I just noticed one of the companies my work has a discount with had a sale that just ended today. Sigh, have to wait and watch now. It's been so long, I'm having sticker shock at suit and jacket prices.

In bad need of a haircut soon. Like this week soon. I actually torched my bangs this week. Seriously. I was trying to kill a tick I found crawling on my neck after I laid down to sleep, grabbed my lighter to burn it to Smithereens (I wonder if anyone knows where Smithereens is), but I'm blind as a bat without my glasses. Leaned in close to see what I was doing, and foompf! Yep, I'm that stupid. Fortunately, I have too much hair for it to be noticeable, save for the burn marks on my forehead, which raised too many questions at work. That and the burnt hair smell in the bedroom was awful. Have I mentioned how patient my wife is with me?

Got a phone that will work in Europe! This was tough. Verizon will rent them, but not for 5 weeks. Knew I had to have a SIM card (whatever that is) and a GSM phone. Tried to find something decent and finally stumbled on Telestial (geez, I sound like a big advertisement now), which has decent rates and a phone for $19. Good enough for me. Staying in touch is huge. My daughter, along with her two kids, will be watching our two dogs, one of which is a 13 year old Newfoundland cross, whom I will be very concerned about. They go crazy when we come home from a weekend away, so I'm definitely worried about how the pups will be doing, and of course, everyone else.

It really seems like time is compressing now. Just over two months away, and still so much to do. Fortunately, I'm going to be working 2nd shift this week (our testers at work at heavily booked, and my family situation allows me to work 2nd without any issue), so we're going to be getting ATM cards this week to be able to get local cash, and run down to a place in Concord to check out portable wheelchairs. Neesh's MS limits her walking, so her neurologist suggested this for when she gets tired. As I understand it, it's something that can be folded up and carried. Shouldn't be an issue since I usually hike over 10 miles with 20 pounds on my back. And oh yes, I need to schedule a haircut. Yeah, definitely. Definitely a hair cut.