Well I have definitely tested my patience. We both have, because more than a month later we are still waiting for our train fares to open up for the days we need them.
Apparently there will be some line work happening in and around Stockholm in July, which is why we are unable to book tickets into Stockholm and then out again 2 days later. Our trip is 7 weeks away, and even though and we still haven't been able to procure the transportation that we need in order to be able to be the explorers, adventures and travelers we really wished we could be on this trip, it won't stop us from trying. But we are quite disappointed. The idea of the train was so exciting , and even romantic. To travel together, watching the world whisk by in the comfort of our train carriage, the way millions of Europeans do every day. We truly want to immerse ourselves in the country and culture, that wish was almost exhilarating to us. So without these tickets in hand ... Where does that leave us? Well, definitely not stuck. We are never stuck. It just means that I will start researching airfares, and airlines that fly in Scandinavia, with affordable flights and times on the days we need them. This is Plan B- the back up plan! Copenhagen Airport is a great place to have a plan a and a plan b. If we can't obtain the PLAN A- ticket on the train station side, then by simply walking across the airport concourse we can then put PLAN B - tickets into action and book a two seats on the next airline out.
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![]() My patience can use some help sometimes, okay maybe a lot of the time. I am especially impatient if I have a problem of "making something happen right NOW!!!!". Here's the problem: Yes, I know it's a spoiled first world problem, and I completely understand that. But when you are excited and anxious, and impatient, things that stand in your way of moving on, of being completely organized, become PROBLEMS. Our problem is filed under : transportation reservations. In Europe, car and rail are the most affordable and convenient options, and we have just excitedly chosen to use both. The car will take us out of the city in Norway and Iceland for some geographical and geological adventures and scenic detours. But for the majority of this trip, we have decided to embrace the European way of travelling by rail. Without the stress of the drive, we can put our feet up and enjoy the Scandinavian surroundings, eliminate the astronomical hotel parking charges, and let someone else do the driving. We would love to book our tickets and seats from Copenhagen to Stockholm, and from Stockholm to Oslo. But, alas this is where my patience is being tested. Sweden has a 180 day open booking window, Norway has a 90 day open booking window, and Denmark has a 60 day open booking window. AHHHH. What does this mean? It means I would love to book the Stockholm to Oslo portion of our trip and have our reservation and seat ticket in early April ( the 90 day window), but then I wouldn't be able to reserve the Copenhagen to Stockholm portion of the journey until May ( the 60 day window). If I patiently wait and book the entire journey all at once as a multi city journey instead of two one way tickets booked on different days it will also save us an addition 20.00 booking fee. This is only a small part of the frustration. Because it is tourist season, there are many other tours and reservations we would like to plan and reserve, but until we have confirmed our travel schedule, with our train tickets in our hands, or at least in our email inbox, we can not move forward with many of those reservations.... you can now see my frustration and impatience. Dear: raileurope.ca I am trying so hard to be patient I really, really am. I know that it will all work itself out magically, after all Europeans do this everyday. Many travelers don't even book reservations, they just grab their backpacks and hop on the next train and take their chances. But I am a planner, a very organized and thorough one at that, and I have to take step back from our North American ways of urgency and start to slow down, to a European way of life. (WOW...Even as I just said that in my head and typed it into the keys I think my heart rate slowed. SERIOUSLY!!!!! ) Perhaps Europe will be good for me. Slowing this busy bee down to relax and enjoy everything at a slower pace. This trip is sounding better by the minute. But I wish it would hurry up and get here then! ... Just kidding!!! Okay, maybe just a little. :) When I found out about our fantastic summer adventure, it was 6 months away and we had a lot of time to plan and figure everything out.
Then E2's play production schedule stepped up, we were having nightly rehearsals, and then two weeks of show performances. Then it was a week of strep throat for our little actress and then her mother, and then a week recuperating with antibiotics and a snowy march break. But here we are.. the last week of March and suddenly it seems that 3 months just slipped away, meaning the next three will go just as quickly for us. So J and I have sat down and started to plot out each day, each km, each city and each $. ... the trip is planned. The calendar is set. Now time just needs to fly, and then we can. For some reason I am particularily excited about Norway. What I knew about the country was... Olympics related, Viking Related, and Cookie Related. LOL I grew up next door to the most wonderful Norwegian Woman who baked the most amazing cookies, and breads. So I will say that tasting my way through Scandinavias bakeries is very exciting for me. I have also recently learned through my mom's Ancestry.ca DNA test that I have Scandinavian ancestry. COOL! Getting out and seeing the country is a priority for me in Norway. Not just seeing Oslo. And the country we want to see are the world famous fjords. 4 hours from Oslo by car, that's how long it will take us to get to them. We are planning a great day trip to see them, that will lead us into the mountains and valleys, through tunnels, boarding ferries, and possibly even a train ride. The list of things we are excited about on this trip is growing.
Jason is excited about the Vikings. Not just the tv show. The boats, the people, the history. He is determined to visit a museum, or settlement to learn some more of their history. I on the other hand am excited to visit this region to see some architecture that every little girl dreams of. The Castles. Denmark, Sweden and Norway all have Royal Families, and Royal Castles. There are many of them to see, to even tour. Because we wont have a lot of time in each place I am doing my due dilligence now and finding out which Castles are the ones I will add to my must see list. Can't wait! So it's been a week since I received the most amazing gift. And after a week at the cottage with no wifi, I am home again and I can start to look up all the amazing places that we can visit. Our journey will start in Copenhagen and then heading north to Stockholm, west to Oslo, and then back south to Copenhagen. We will get just a few days in each area so we are looking up the things to do there ahead of time to make sure we see the things we are most interested in.
For instance, as much as we would love to do many things in Oslo, getting out of the city and doing a daytrip to the fjords will be important to us. On the way home, we are doing a 3 day layover in Iceland. We are very excited about this stop. After only a day of research I can tell we will love it there. It feels geographically and geologically like Yellowstone in some ways. One of our favourite places we have visited. I am also very excited that I am finally getting my chance to return to Europe. I am excited to visit the history, to see new things, to even try their foods. I am excited that this is Jason's first trip there. His longest flight. His first experience with real jet lag. The fact they speak English and drive on the same side of the road as us will make acclimating easier right of the plane. I have just under 6 months to keep researching. I have just under 6 months to learn as much as I can before we get there. I have just under 6 months till my feet touch new ground and I can be a traveller in a new country. I have just under 6 months until .... well who knows because once we're there anything is possible. happymapping! Never in my wildest dreams.... Truly... Never in my wildest dreams.... When we were first married Jason had mentioned to me about an exciting trip he dreamed of taking. Of course at that time we were kids, paying off student loans, paying off our mortgage and our first cars, and then of course our amazing kids came along.... Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that he would book that dream trip for us to be adventurers and explorers for our 20th anniversary. Those who know us well know that we like visiting cities, but we truly prefer the natural elements of the great outdoors. And the adventure we are about to have in just 6 short months is that amazing dream vaction Jason always wanted and I could only dream of taking with him. .. are you ready? My husband has planned us the most exciting journey across the sea to Scandinavia.
He has presented me with a binder- inside it is our trip. He has booked the hotels (Thank you Hilton Travel Points), our flights and our car rentals. He has talked to my parents and made plans for them to spend time with our kids and our dog. He has already exchanged some money, he has already printed some maps. He has thought of everything! He has also today made me cry from this truly amazing and beautiful gift he has prepared for us. So today the wonderful journey begins, helping him finish the fun planning for our days and our routes and experiences we hope to have to make the most of every day we are there. This maphappymom is so excited about the adventure, about the the time with Jason, and about how dreams can really come true. In July Jason started hinting about needing to save money for a trip next year.
In September he told me I was not allowed to go on our Hilton or Southwest accounts so that it didn't spoil the secret. In October he told me I wasn't allowed to open the credit card bill for the next few months. In September, October, November and December he would give little hits to me, always teasing that it was Milwaukee that we would be travelling to. I even received a Milwaukee travel brochure in the mail. He's so funny!!!! My husband was enjoying the process of planning something wonderful for us, and having a tremendous amount of fun keeping it a secret from me, and even teasing me about it. There was a date in which he intends to tell me what this wonderful surprise will be... TOMORROW! CHRISTMAS MORNING! For over 100 days I have patiently waited, and have been very good about not wanting to guess where it is we are going or what we might be doing. My thoughts have gone to perhaps - Alaska, or perhaps the National Parks in Utah. My thoughts have gone to Costa Rica, or perhaps even Cape Cod or Hilton Head Island. All places that our Southwest Airline points would take us. But honestly I haven't wanted to think... I just want to enjoy! I just want to have true joy at the thoughtfulness, sweetness and love that my husband has put into planning this adventure for us for our 20th anniversary next summer. So stay tuned.... it's about to be revieled to me. I can't wait!!!!! J and I are currently in Orlando, Florida.
Not for pleasure, by work instead. Jason has a conference and I came with him this week to keep him company and to spend his birthday with him. Because it's his birthday, and because the kids are back home at school and hanging out with their grandparents we decided to go out for a treat tonight. We do not eat out very often because.. We'll for a family of 4 to eat out is expensive. And also the fact that Jason eats a lot of meals out when on the road for work that when he's home he wants to stay home and eat with us, a home cooked meal, as they say. But tonight is special. So it called for a special meal. Birthday Boys choice.. www.fogodechao.com Brazilian Barbeque was how we decided to go! What an experience. An incredible buffet of salads and sides, and soups, and then the meat is delivered hot and sizzling on spits to your table. Just flip your service card over telling them of something you would like to try, and seconds later there it is. It was a lovely meal, and very tasty. Glad we tried something new tonight. Happy Birthday Love! Today is American Thanksgiving!
Today is also the Deadline for us to book Space Camp! Today is a tough day! We are not sure if we will be returning to Alabama this summer. Quite simply, it comes down to the $$$$$$$$. As alumni, we receive a discount. But as Candians we also have to pay the exchange. And with the exchange rate being what it is, even the discount still has us paying 25% more than last years rates. We haven't said no entirely. We haven't quite made the decision. But today I think we are letting the alumni discount deadline pass by in hopes that over the next 6 months the exchange rate will balance itself out enough that we feel it is affordable to pay not only for camp, but for the hotels, gas and food along the way. Ethan loves Space Camp! We love him! But we also love the idea of spending that money on a different vacation this year a little more wisely if that's what it comes down too. You never know what could happen. When when door closes another definitely opens!!! Jason has been hinting.... and hinting... and hinting... Sending me pictures like this!!!! Jason wants another dog! And after the last few months he has had I understand why and I understand what it would mean to him. So I wasn't sure I was ready for a new dog because lets be very real... the dog would be my resposibility. It would spend more time with me than anyone else. I don't want to be tied to the house, I wanted some freedom too. But then he took us for a drive to meet a family who had some puppies... and the next thing I knew we were the new parents of this beauty! She'll come home with us in a couple weeks. Can't wait!
The travel wall is up! We love it! Hope you do too!
Finally feels like a little bit of us is on the wall! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this post finds you all well and spending time with the ones you love the most. Enjoy every second with them.
As some of you know this Thanksgiving weekend is a hard one for our family. Saturday morning we unexpectedly lost Jason's dad. Though we knew the disease was progressing so quickly, we thought we were getting a chance to help him. The benefit was planned and doctors had said that they were actively looking for lungs for him. But he just ran out of time, and my husband will never get to truly know the man who was his father. :( If you have your loved ones with you, tell them how you feel, call them when you can, give them a hug. And be thankful for every day you have with them. D
I am sorry for the delay of some new blog posts. But as many of you know, we returned from our summer vacation to learn that Jason's dad's health issues had progressed rather quickly. This had us jumping full throttle ahead with planning on the best way it was that we could help him.
We have planned a pasta dinner benefit to take place the third weekend of October, to help raise money to reduce the stress from debt that may occur while he awaits his double lung transplant. So until the craziness of the benefit planning is over, maphappymom will not be doing much wandering... but stay tuned. It won't take me long before these feet are ready to roam!!!!! Yes I know! Bad Mom!
Not only do we live only 4 hours away from the falls, but my kids have seen the Atlantic, Pacific and even the Caribbean before seeing something so close right here in our same province. Honestly I have a good reason...really I do! We are not TOURIST TRAP people. We enjoy seeing new things all the time, we enjoy seeing the greatness of geography and what the earth has for us to behold. But we prefer to see if in the great outdoors, surrounded by nature and gorgeous scenery and not 100,000 people pushing their way past you. Yes, Niagara Falls is powerful and beautiful and everyone should see it. Both Jason and I did with our parents as kids and once again together just after we were married. But...... When we asked the kids what they thought of it, we were not surprised when Ethan said it would be so much better if it was in a National Park somewhere without all the Wax museums, and hot dog venders and money grabbing tourist shops around it. He agreed that a few days in Niagara would cost the same as a whole week seeing something getting to go somewhere else. They really have learned something from their parents!!!! But with school starting shortly, we arranged a couple little weekend getaways to enjoy the last few days of summer. Niagara Falls is now checked off the list... WHERE TO NEXT?
The ghost town we chose to visit was Garnet.
http://www.garnetghosttown.net/backcountry_byway.html Garnet has been saved, protected and preserved by the non-profit Garnet Preservation Association, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management. Sometimes when you are out on the road, you get to experience something completely magical. Usually it's the unexpected. Today was one of those days! We are in Yellowstone National Park! The very first US National Park. We knew we would have a possibility of finding an American Bison on this trip, we knew that they were often spotted in the Lamara Valley region of the park. What we didn't know is that we would see them by the Thousands!!!!
Em's biggest hope of this entire trip was to see a Bison - Wish Granted!!!!!!!! We saw Mama's with their young, we could even hear their grunts from the road. we knew the Park Policy...stay way back from them. They are WILD animals after all. But sometimes you get really lucky, because they come to you ( In the safety of your car!) !!!!! The tide went out , and so did we! Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park was our playground today.
Very fitting for two kids who have just been cast in next years production of the Little Mermaid. We didn't find Ariel or Flounder, or even King Triton, but we did make a lot of discoveries of our own. A perfect day exploring the bottom of the Pacific! If you know me well you are very aware that I like southern things...
I like sweet lemonade, pralines and macaroni and cheese. I like front porch swings, and hearing y'all, But mostly I like the history, Whether it's the civil war, or the underground railroad,, I like the ghost stories that accompany them. I like learning as much of it as I can. Today Em and I emmersed ourselves in that history. We met up with Margie Thessin, owner and tour guide of Franklin on Foot http://franklinonfoot.com/about/ Margie escorted us around this little Tennessee town, that lies just south of Nashville. On our tour we were introduced to the ghosts of Franklin, Tn and the scandals and battles and even love stories of the citizens past. We saw gorgeous antibellum homes, civil war memorials and met the residents of the town along the way. Walking tours are a fantastic way to learn more about an area you are visiting. He's home!
Okay so it's not home, but there is a boy who lives in our house who loves this place! We have arrived at The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This will be E's 3rd year atrending a Space Camp, and every year he can't wait to get back. He's usually pretty quiet on the long drive down to Alabama from Canada. But as soon as he catches glimps of that Saturn Rocket...he know's she's arrived at his happy place. For a boy who can be shy, timid or overly cautious usually... it amazes us at the love, freedom, and courage he has when it comes to Space Camp. He loves getting to meet new people, trying new things, and just getting to be himself without any worry about what anyone else thinks. Each year I have watched him grow, mature, and become a leader. So very proud of my rocketboy! |
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