Changes in Latitudes

Friday we headed up to Stranda from Oslo and had some great weather. Pancho had torn his toenail on a run last Monday, so we didn't go on any extensive hikes since he decided to limp because he didn't like the bandage on his foot. The views as we got closer to Stranda were full of steep mountains. We stopped by Trollveggen (The Troll Wall) and Trollstigen for some pictures before I checked in for the race and got my kit. Trollveggen "Look at how pitiful I am with my paw wrapped in a bandage. Give me attention" A troll hiding out at Trollstigen Saturday I ran the Stranda Fjord Uphill Race in a part of Norway called "Sunnmørsalpene." The course was originally planned to be a 10 km uphill race ascending 1300 meters; however, due to unexpected bad weather (mainly high winds on the mountains), the course was rerouted to be what they thought was 13 km and still an elevation gain of 1000 meters. The race route and elevation I did n...

I threw together a video from my GoPro clips I took when I was working in Tromsø earlier this month. Tagging herring in Kaldfjord, Norway from Justine Diaz on Vimeo .

Pancho did much better than expected on the plane from Bergen to Oslo! He got out of his crate and was so happy, and I was glad to not find puke in his crate. When we got to the Engebrethsen's house he had so much energy, and we finally got to bed around 11:30. At 5:45 my alarm went off. Rigmor was dropping me off at the bus stop for the airport bus at 6:15. I landed at Tromsø a little before 10AM. There was light in the sky, but the clouds make it quite dark and gloomy. I was picked up by a girl working for the yachting company we are renting the sailboat from, and we drove about 25 minutes outside of Tromsø to an area called Kaldfjord. She and I waited by the dock for probably at least an hour while the fishermen brought some herring over to our nets for marking. And we spotted a lone killer whale. He hung around for a couple of minutes, and not long enough for me to get out my camera. We are sleeping on a 50 foot sailboat for this tokt/excursion. It's tight, but quite n...

Today I revisited the race which was my first half marathon. One of the races that started it all. I was there for two things: get a new PR on the course and become a Fjord Viking. Marius dropped me off and we took a quick look at the sports expo (not super impressive), and then I rushed outside to start warming up. We were really lucky with blue sky and warm temps...well sorta lucky. I really don't like running in the heat because I need more water. More water stops = slower finish. Marius cheered me on at the start and then had to go because he has a soccer game today too. Between the 4th and 5th kilometer, I saw Marius' car driving towards me with the sunroof open and he was holding a little American flag out of the roof of his car. I got a good kick of adrenaline then, but then I was really starting to struggle. Bigger races have more runners, which also usually means more people cheering. It's amazing how much cheering pumps you up when you're racing. So I...

Marius and I are about 90% moved in at the apartment we are renting in an area of Oslo called Sagene. The living room is mostly finished, except for the bare walls. There's some open holes from the previous owners that I'll cover up with pictures that we have. The kitchen is much smaller than we're used to, but it's good at making us clean up right after cooking to have space to do other things. The couch is a pull out - visitor ready!  [Those boxes should be gone once we get a bookshelf and TV table] [Old pictures from the early 80's taken by Mom and Dad are on display - how Hipster of me] The bathroom just needs a shelf and towel rack, but it was messy so I didn't take a picture of it. The bedroom is also a bit of a mess with clothes that have to be sorted into summer and winter clothes...this is a dilemma for Marius since he has so many shirts.  The area is really nice. Only about 2 miles from downtown Oslo. I have yet to master the pub...

 Tron and Rigmor took us on a trip to the Lofoten Islands, and luck was on our side! We had clear, blue skies all three days while we explored Svolvær, Henningsvær, Nusfjord and Reine. The accommodation was amazing and a real treat! [Dried fish was a common site and smell in Lofoten] [Cooking burgers and hotdogs in Trondheim] The trip back south began with an overnight in Trondheim again, and then a day spent in the city and the cathedral was the highlight! Following Trondheim, we swung down to Ålesund - great city for architecture buffs, and the museum was worth going to. Lucky on the weather again!! No rain during the day! [4 people living out of a car = constant repacking]  Following Ålesund was the famous Trollveggen and Trollstigen (the Troll wall and road). The landscape was spectacular and a great entry into Geirangerfjord. In Geiranger we went on a fjord cruise and took a hike up to a waterfall. However, we were not very impressed wit...

Mom and Dad came to visit Norway on August 3rd - "No luggage, no status..." upon arrival to Bergen. So for two days they explored some of Bergen in hopes of news of their suitcases by Sunday so that we could begin our adventure. Sure enough, Sunday afternoon, the next flight in from Iceland had landed with their luggage and the tour of Norway began. Our first night we stayed in Geilo, where Marius' company has a condo. The first hike of the trip was the next day with a trip up behind Prestholtsetter, where Marius and I had skied earlier this year. The trail was being worked on by Nepalese Sherpas, and at the bottom we enjoyed some rommegrøt just in time to dodge the rain. [Gjelvågan summer home] The next afternoon we set out for Synnfjell (the Engebrethsen's winter cabin) for an overnight, then continued on to Trondheim. We camped at a town called Levanger, just north of Trondheim. Each day we were fearing the rain, but we were really lucky and did not have a...

Thursday to Saturday morning I was aboard the Håkon Mosby, a ship collaborated with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and the University of Bergen. [Seagulls waiting for us to dump the sample] Thursday, we took the bus up to Masfjordnes to meet the H. Mosby. We were taken to the vessel via a small orange boat that was then connected to a rope and we were lifted out of the water to get aboard. That was a treat! I will try to upload the video when it is available from my professor. When we got on board and settled after the safety briefing, we sorted through a bottom trawl sample. We were then given baskets of multisample trawls to sort, weigh and measure the fish, shrimp and krill. At 12:30AM we finished our samples for the day and were allowed to go to bed once we had rinsed the floor. The next day began at 7:30 with breakfast before another 10 hours of sampling trawls. The final trawl, a bottom trawl, was the most diverse (and most interesting). There was a type of invertebrate t...