To Flam & A little about the kids & random things

To Flam & Back
Yesterday we logged 400km (figured we should just give in and think in metric and Celsius - it was a comfortable 16C), in our Toyota Yaris and headed out to Flam, a mountain town at the end of the longest Fjord in Norway.  The drive was through a mountainous terrain, very reminiscent of the Sierras.  In fact, if you could imagine the sea level rising by about 2,000ft, Placerville was Bergen, and the American, Stanislaus, Toulumne, and Yuba Rivers were spilling in to the ocean thru Fjords - that's what it's like.  Our drive was like driving up 80, down 89 past Lake Tahoe, and down 88 back home, and somehow mysteriously driving through Yosemite Valley with a fully in tact Half Dome (I shall call it Full Dome).  Check out this picture.

The main difference.... the tunnels. I had intended on counting how many we went through, but lost count at a dozen and decided it was effectively 50% of our drive was in a tunnel.  One tunnel in particular was 11km.  Yeah, about 7 miles long.  Followed immediately by another 5km tunnel about 300 meters later.

The other difference.... the single lane roads slapped on the sides of cliffs and shorelines that created some white knuckle driving.

Our destination was the Flambana, a train from Flam, up a 900 meter valley with waterfalls, to a roadless train station called Myrdal.

Our next stop, was "NOT TO BE MISSED!", according to our Airbnb host.  Not sure if his intent was malicious or if Norwegians are a more brave species of humans.  He had us drive up the side of a cliff, on a one lane road (with oncoming cars), to a plank that extended out 50 meters to a plunge of 1,000 meters.  Indeed it was a wonderful view, protected by a thin piece of glass.  As it turns out, I have what can only be described as an unhealthy urge to launch myself off of high places.  It's not really a fear of heights, but rather, and infatuation with it.  I can't really explain it well, but suffice it to say, I could only venture out halfway with a death grip on the rail.  

Our Kids in Operating Software terms:
Autumn = Windows = Slow to boot up in the morning, and shutdown in the evening.  Is very useful and multitasking throughout the day, but is prone to random Blue-Screen-of-Death moments, only cured by a re-boot and downtime.
Bryce = iOS or Android = Requires no sleep, Instantaneously turns on, and goes down with a click of a button, and loves Youtube.
Zane = Linux = A mysterious open source operating system that has unlimited potential that nobody is aware of and is constantly evolving and learning.  Also prone to random fits of sickness triggered by overuse.

Schooling:
We will be launching our year abroad education plan in a couple of weeks.  At the moment, we're easing in with some mandatory journaling, and pestering them with questions on how to convert 40 NOK in to USD (it's 8 to 1 at the moment).

Ferry Ride up a Fjord:
While yesterday was a journey along side and above the Fjords, today was a ferry ride on one of the many local Fjords.  Again, very picturesque; And again, we begin to suffer from fjord fatigue.  Most of our trip was getting to chat with a lovely young couple (get married already!), one from Ireland, the other from Sweden, that met in Guatemala, lived in Canada, and now live in Norway - a global relationship!  The fella's parents were in town from Dublin, Ireland, and they were spending a couple days in Bergen.  Great conversations.  Learned that Nordic people (present company excluded) are not chatty, but those Irish folk have the gift of gab.   Look, they made the blog!

Who is making this stuff?
What do you see when you quickly glance at this picture?  (Excluding Pleepleus)  Not entirely sure what First Price is, but every time I go to grab anything in this apartment, I question whether it's a toy or not.