What an amazing day! At 2 am when we were returned to our apartment by our "Chasing the Green Lady" Northern Lights exploration operator, we felt we had squeezed several days' actions into one. We were completely wiped out but insanely satisfied!

Before we get into the adventures, I'm sharing a little more about life here. It snowed 6 inches overnight Wednesday night and added another three inches yesterday (March 30) on top of an existing two feet??. It's light and fluffy. No ice. People drive-on with studded tires as if the roads were dry. Homeowners have to remove snow from porches, walks and driveways every day. They use a tool that looks a little like a garden wheelbarrow except it has now wheels and the "bowl" is barely off ground. They scoop the soft snow and drag a big pile to a dumping place out of the way. Some folks use snow blowers. There is very little wind so the snow mounds and thickly sits on bare tree limbs. It looks magical but requires abundant work.

Yes, people do drive a lot here, but there is ample public transportation in the city. People who don't live in the city must commute in to work unless they farm. People bicycle a lot to get around here as well. Bikes too have studded tires for the snow. And of course, walking is an important mode of transportation, and do they walk! They move in a deliberate manner standing tall, making quick, long strides and swinging their arms broadly. Their distinctive, powerful walk may be because they are hurried but could result from their trying to stay warm. It is cold here.

Meanwhile the snow stops no one and it makes the landscape become more and more majestic. I keep thinking, "Take it in. Take it in. You will never see snow and water and mountains like this again."

So off we go on the day's adventures.

Dog sledding in the arctic is an incredible bucket list item! It wasn't on ours but after experiencing dog sledding, everyone should do it! The scene is set in a beautiful snowy white setting. Just before we arrived at the camp, the dogs could be heard. They were already harnessed to the sleds and they were jumping in a frenzy of boundless energy, smiling, barking and howling. Nothing could be heard over the cacophony of the 24 happy dogs barking and howling in anticipation of the moment they can run!

The camp is an hour's drive up into the Lyngen Alps. Our drive took an extra hour due to a detour around a huge, early-morning avalanche on the main road. Three cars were trapped but thankfully there were no fatalities.

When we arrived at the camp we were greeted by the dogs They know when van arrives, they soon get to run. We were outfitted in Arctic suits and given a five-minute lesson in sled driving and off we went following our leader. Stan drove our sled and I rode like a lady, cozy and all zipped-in the sled and looking like the Pillsbury doughboy or the Michelin man in my far-too-roomy Arctic suit - but I grew to love that thing. I never want to be in cold weather again without one!!!

The moment the sled master said "Mush," the dogs stopped barking and went to work, running in tandem in the most orderly way. It suddenly became very quiet. Only the sounds of the dogs' panting plus my giggles could be heard; I just could not help myself—it was so exciting! We had not gone long before each and every one of the dogs took turns pooping as they ran without missing a beat. I guess running stimulates the system.

Guiding and controlling the speed of the sled is a bit of an acquired skill. Our instructor said you learn by doing. Well we did, but not before flipping over, with Miss Priss, the zipped-in lady, going face first into a mound of thankfully soft snow. After that we got the hang of it and decided that if we lived in a place like this, we'd definitely get a sled and some dogs.

The dogs are very interesting. These were Alaskan Huskies, mixed breed; not Siberian Huskies. These smaller than we expected, but compact and very powerful, friendly, eager-to please animals have bloodlines from Huskie, Greyhound, and Bird Dogs. We were on sleds for at least an hour if not more. The dogs trotted along (not a true run) the whole time, up hills, down hills, around curves, through the woods, and through open fields pooping and peeing on the go, and grabbing chomps of the snow banks as they ran along. snow. They were impatient when we stopped for a moment but seemed happy again when the sled master said go. We noticed that one dog on our team did not seem to pull her fair share. Her tether was seldom taught. We mentioned it and the owners explained this lady is nine years old and has a bad back but she still wants to run. The other dogs accommodate her.

The ride was gorgeous, and it was exhilarating! Dog sledding is one of the most fun things we have ever done.

We had only a two hour break between the dog sledding adventure and our Northern Lights quest. We had a nice dinner since we had not previously eaten well all day.

Back into a van we went and proceeded to drive at least two hours out of the city to another island and past the town of Somerey (Summer Island) to a high, flat, very dark and very cold, I might add, place. We traveled with several couples from Germany and two young women who were students from Massachusetts. Along the way though, we truly were granted a special sight - we saw three moose and several white reindeer just of the road!!! Again we were outfitted with Arctic suits and we set out to simply wait for Northern Lights with no promise of seeing them at all. The sky was cloudy and snow fell intermittently. It was colder than . . .!

We had been told that if you see stars and if KP index is high (whatever???), and if this and if that, you might see the lights. We waited. We chatted. The operator gave us tips on making proper settings on our cameras in order to get photos in case we see them. We built a campfire. Suddenly I saw a single star, and then we all began seeing more and more stars. We became excited and went about testing our cameras and finding a place to set our tripods. All set, we waited. We began chatting again. After a while, Stan looked up at what looked like a long thin streak that went across the sky from east to west, and remarked. "now what can that be?" The leader looked up and said, "that's a Northern Light." Wow, the group suddenly looked like a swarm of bees, all pointing and shouting and running to our cameras. As Linda Whitaker remarked on Facebook comments today, there must have been great rejoicing! Oh yes!

The lights came and went several times. Some were simply streaks of green; some looked like swirls and flames with green and tinges of red. Some danced. We had a magnificent show. One thing I must point out is that the human eye does not perceive color well at all at night. Camera lenses do however. So whatever we captured in photos is actually a bit better that what we saw with the naked eye. Still, we saw them. We saw the real deal in grand fashion!

As I mentioned earlier, we did not get home until after 2 am, fully happy and thoroughly exhausted.

Next morning - March 31, 2017

We walked to the city center to board the boat, the Olav Ringdal, Jr. on the floating pier. There we met the Captain, Kenneth, and his assistant, a competent and articulate and pretty young lady whose name I practiced over and over again, but for the life of me cannot pronounce or even spell phonetically now at all. She is Norwegian. Our fellow passengers were a couple and their daughter from Spain, a couple and a single lady travelling alone from Australia and a young pair from Germany. In spite of our varied homes, by the time the four-hour cruise was done, we all had had lively conversation and had certainly if nothing else made short-term friends but long term memories.

We cruised the North Sea up into the Ramforden (fjord). Seeing the landscape from the sea and from the water provided a totally different and beautiful, breath-taking perspective. The ship had a roomy inside cabin with windows and heaters. Hot coffee and cocoa were available throughout the cruise. This allowed us to come and go to the outside decks to watch the sights and take pictures and then return to warm-up and defrost. Yes, it is wildly cold in Tromso, but in the wind and on the water, the cold is ferocious! I think perhaps the photos are worth it though.

Our trip to Norway has been successful. We have experienced all we set out to do and much more. We are happy. We have learned so much - and hopefully I will get a chance to record a bit more about Norway before we start our next adventure in Copenhagen. We have thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful country and its lovely people. We hope to return some day - in summer.

I will say this, while we have loved every moment here, this is quite likely the last cold-weather vacation we will take until our Mount Everest expedition (ha!). We have had enough winter in the past ten days to last a long, long time. Some say, oh, I couldn't go there; it's just too cold. Admittedly it is hard, but one can chose: endure the environment or simply miss it all.