And then it ended

It took me some time to recover from my trip so that I could write this last post. But I need to conclude before moving on to the next adventure.

My last morning in Oslo was an early start. We needed time to make sure we could pick up Lefse before we headed to the airport. It turns out that the box of Lefse to make up for the moldy package was left at the grocery store just down the hill from where Hanne lives. So that made for an easy stop. When she came out with the box it had a lot of Lefse in it. I decided to put in what I could and leave the rest for Hanne and Bjornar to enjoy, although Hanne kept telling me to take more. I'm sure when security checked my bag they were surprised to find frozen homemade Lefse from Bernie's mom, frozen Lefse that was packaged similar to getting a pop tart and then the non-frozen packages. I definitely had plenty of options for Carolyn and her family to try when I got home.

I was sad to say good bye to Hanne at the airport. I also realized that we had never gotten a photo together. So I asked a nice man inside the terminal to help us out.

Hanne and Me

Getting checked in and through customs went well. I still had some Norwegian money to spend before I left so I headed for the duty free shops. You cannot go wrong buying chocolate and postcards. By the time I was done I only had their equivalent of 50 cents left. Not bad. While I was in the Duty free shop I ran into Jenny Holden that used to be a co-worker and is now the Executive Director for Women's Ski Jumping USA. We discovered that we were on the same flight to Amsterdam so I said I'd watch for her at the gate. I was early enough to get a couple of seats near our gate. Turns out the chairs in Oslo are some of the most comfortable I have ever found in an airport. Jenny joined me a bit later and we caught up on things. At one point we realized that they might have moved our gate. I went to check and sure enough we had moved down a couple gates. So we moved down and found a new place to sit. Then the flight was delayed due to the weather. First it wasn't going to be until 11am instead of 10am. Then it was going to be at 10:30am but switched gates again. This time the gate was across from us so we just stayed where we were. Who would have thought that getting a flight out of Oslo could be such an adventure? The one thing Jenny and I never checked was where our seats were on the plane. So imagine our surprise when we ended up next to each other.

We made it to Amsterdam in time for our connecting flights but were rushing a little. I was determined to pick up tulips and alcohol before I departed. Jenny stopped with me for the tulips. And since we knew we wouldn't make it through customs with the real ones we bought wooden tulips which are just as pretty. That is where Jenny and I parted ways since she was headed for Boston and I was going through JFK. I made my stop for alcohol and then made it to my gate in time to sit and wait. Love that part of traveling. At least I had my kindle and a good book that I was finishing.

I have to say that now that I have done Minneapolis to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to JFK, I prefer the first option. The plane was bigger with more room on the first flight. The JFK flight was three on each side with four seats in the middle and completely full. I was unfortunately unable to get switched to an aisle and ended up in the middle. On the bright side I was sitting between two very nice women. One was from Holland and has her own jewelry store. The other was an American who is in the Peace Corp in Macedonia. She was headed to New York to celebrate her daughter's 30th birthday. I think I have a new plan for my retirement years now that I have heard her stories. I will also be adding Macedonia to my list of places to visit.

It is a lot harder to get through customs in our country than it is in Europe. That isn't to say that I had any trouble. But I did not have to fill out a form that just seems to try to trip you up when I reached Europe. Fortunately I made it through and was able to recheck my bag fairly quickly. Then came the confusion. I was so jet lagged that I allowed myself to get on the train between terminals without knowing where I needed to be. Once I was on I realized I needed terminal 2/3 and was headed toward 5. So I got off and took the next train back the other direction. Then it turns out the terminal I walked into was 2 and needed 3. I had the option of walking outside and down the hill to terminal 3 or I could go through security and then over. Since option two had moving walk ways I went that route. I was already tired of carrying my backpack and walking through airports with a knee brace on. It might not have been the quickest way since they had 2 lines for security and a lot of people, but I made it. My only mistake was not picking up dinner at Wendy's sooner. By the time I got around to it the line was too long. I ended up taking a bagel and apple juice on my flight. The JFK to SLC flight is almost as long as the Amsterdam to JFK flight. This time I ended up next to the window with two big guys between me and the aisle who both fell asleep. It was a LONG flight home. And I was trying not to completely fall asleep so that I would sleep when I got there. The one thing that kept me up was the inflight tv. I watched the Daily Show to stay awake.

The last adventure in getting home involved a ride from the airport to the apartment. I had tried to get mom to help me find shuttle info while I was still in New York. Unfortunately it was not working out. I had texted TJ about what he usually did and he said the taxi's were $25. So I knew I had one option. When I got to the airport there was an Express shuttle and it would have only cost me $16. Sadly it turns out that there is a zoning rule for my area that says they can't take me there unless I have a prior reservation. So that meant I had to take the taxi. Eventually I made it home but was too awake to sleep so I unpacked. The joys of traveling.

It turns out that after I left Oslo the weather did improve. In fact they had a sunny weekend. No reports of Northern Lights though. The USA finished strong but off the podium the rest of the weekend. The women finished 9th in the 4x5km Mixed Technique relay, while the men finished 14th in the 4x10km Mixed Technique relay. Then Liz Stephen had a personal best with a 16th place finish in the 30km Freestyle race, followed by Kikkan Randall in 18th, Morgan Arritola in 21st and Holly Brooks in 25th. So happy for Liz! (I still think my biggest regret of the trip is going to be missing the chance to see Liz race. Guess that just means I'll have to find another trip so I can see her in the future.) They say there were 125,000 people along the course for the Men's 50km Freestyle race to finish out the competition. For the USA my rookie Noah Hoffman led the way finishing 30th, followed by Lars Flora in 39th, Tad Elliot in 40th and Billy Demong in 51st. Not sure why Billy raced rather than Kris Freeman. On the Nordic Combined side the guys finished 6th in the last team event on Friday. I should have stayed, you could actually see the jumping that day.

Congratulations to all the USA Nordic Athletes! I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend such an amazing event and cheer them all on. I hope they all had a good time as well.


Here is a great article on Billy Demong.

http://skiing.teamusa.org/news/2011/03/07/demong-back-in-action/41270?ngb_id=3

Great video by Andy Newell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjf_QcYvfKI

Now it is time to start planning the next adventure. I have to be good for awhile, but looking forward to an East Coast trip this summer with my Southwest Airlines reward flight.

Last Day in Oslo

First thing when I woke up this morning I opened the shade and said, "Oh crap." Turns out my last day of events in Oslo was going to be a foggy one. I kept praying that it would blow over but no luck. Despite the weather I hurried to get ready and down to the bus since I wanted to pick up the World Championship stamps on my way in. When I got to downtown I ran over to the post office which happened to be next to McDonald's. Those directions from Hanne made it easy to find. (About to finish my first trip to a foreign country outside of North America without eating ANY McDonald's. Very excited about this fact.) After picking up the stands I headed to Holmenkollen. I got a text from Bjornar on the way asking what I could see. I told him I wasn't there yet but wasn't hopeful. I was right. I never even bothered going to my ticket area, and fortunately nobody asked to see my ticket.

When I got to the top of the hill I decided to stop in the sponsor area to use the bathroom. Turns out that they weren't being real picky about tickets in that area along the side of the big jump. So I found a spot with a view of the finish area and the video board. After awhile I realized that Tara was down below near the edge of the stands so I headed down there. It also put me in a position to actually see the guys as they came up after their jump. To watch the jump today you listened for the bell that indicated they were on the jump. Then you heard the slap of their skis hitting the ground and then finally you saw them ski up to the finish. Even when the fog thinned enough to see the red lines near the landing area you still didn't see the guys. I figured if I wasn't going to see the jump I could at least see them and cheer loudly. I think Todd is the only one that heard me as he came up the steps because he turned around, smiled and pointed in my direction. And I knew I wasn't reading the start list last night, but I didn't see Bryan so I thought maybe Nick was competing. But it was Bryan, Taylor, Todd, Johnny and Billy today.

Todd after his jump

The view at the jump today

Since I had opted to "watch" the jumping it was too late to get a good spot along the course for Cross Country. And that sport is so popular with the Norwegians I knew I couldn't fake my way into the stadium to see anything. So I headed into the cafe to warm up and watch on the tvs in there. I found a spot out of the way and settled in. I considered going out and finding a spot if the U.S. teams made the finals. But everytime I looked out the window behind me I couldn't even see the jump arena that was 20 feet away. So while I was thrilled that Kikkan, Sadie, Andy and Torin made the finals, I stayed put to watch it on tv. In the end our girls finished 9th and our boys were 10th.

My Cross Country view

When the cross country sprints ended I decided it was time to go back outside and find a spot to watch the Nordic Combined race. The amount of people leaving now that XC was over was amazing. So I decided to press my luck and see if I could get into the stadium area. I got over in that area with no problem and considered my options. The view wasn't much better than I would get in one of the standing areas and you couldn't see the video board to help. I had decided maybe I'd go back to my usual spot when I found the rest of the Americans. They told me to join them. I debated with Fred the pros and cons but decided in the end it would be more fun as part of a group cheering. The group included Penny, Fred, Todd's wife Sunni Lodwick and some of the Lodwick friends. We were situated right on the stretch when they came back into the stadium on each loop and the run into the finish line. Todd was starting in 12th position a bit over a minute behind the leader. Billy was in 20th, Johnny in 36th, Bryan in 41st and Taylor in 50th. We had high hopes for Todd and Billy to move up. And with each lap they got closer, but they needed a bit more time to catch the leaders. In the end Todd was 5th and Billy was 6th. Which did get them on the stage at the medal ceremony and a handblown Norwegian glass as a prize.

Todd coming into the finish

Billy finishing

After the race we moved toward the end so we could watch the flower ceremony. We were in a good position to yell to our athletes as they walked by. Some smiled and kept going, but others stopped to chat. We waited and waited but never did see Todd. I heard later that he had gone to a spot his fan club had previously used thinking they would be there. We all finally gave up and headed down the hill to catch a train into town. Grant fed us cheese while we were riding back to town. I have to recommend the Norvega white cheese. Still not a fan of the brown cheese over here, just too sweet. (Although it was better to eat on a waffle.) And so ended my Oslo 2011 World Championships.

Me and the Lodwick fan club



Penny & Fred

Me & Billy Demong

I headed for home and dinner with Hanne and Bjornar. Which was delicious!!! My compliments to the chef. We watched the medal ceremony on tv, and just for kicks I took pictures. I'm pretty sure if I had gone I wouldn't have done so well since I'm so short. I tried it the other night with bad results. So at least this way I got to actually see our guys receiving their prizes. I was also throwing things in my suitcases and trying to get organized. One of the requests I had was for Lefse from Carolyn. I bought a pack last night that did not have to be refrigerated. When we were paying Hanne noticed that it was moldy so she went and got a different pack. Tonight I looked and the package I had was moldy. Bjornar wrote an email to the company and the CEO called him. We are getting some replacement items in the morning on our way to the airport courtesy of the CEO. Impressive! I thought that Hanne and Bjornar might get a voucher or coupon, I never expected them to call. So hopefully I make it home with some fresh Lefse for Carolyn to try.

The picture of the boots below are the ones I borrowed from Hanne after I soaked mine twice. I am not going to mention what they are made of, but they are cute and warm. One of the girls that works for the Ambassador said she has a pair but will only wear them in Norway. She is afraid that if she wears them at home she'll get hit. I doubt I could afford a pair, but if I could I'd consider it.

Hanne's boots that I borrowed

My trip to Oslo ends in the morning. I had a fabulous time and cannot wait to come back and see this country in the summer. I hope also that someday I will have the opportunity to spoil Hanne and Bjornar in my country. They made this trip the most amazing experience ever. I couldn't have done it without them. Thanks so much! We are pretty sure now that I am heading home that our cross country athletes will podium and our nordic combined team will probably take gold on Friday. There will also be a display of Northern Lights as far south as Oslo. I told them they couldn't tell me if they saw the Northern Lights. The rest I hope actually happens. Tomorrow I'll be cheering in spirit for our women's relay team of Kikkan Randall, Jessie Diggins, Liz Stephen and Holly Brooks. GO USA!!!

Random thoughts and Men's 15km Classic XC

I was so tired last night when I had to rewrite the post that I missed a couple things. So I'm going to start with random thoughts and stories. Then go into today's events.

At the reception last night Ambassador White said a few things and then invited Kikkan Randall to come up and talk. He made a joke about hearing that she had trouble with a Norwegian snake in her sprint race, but that in this country it was more likely a troll. Her comeback was that the snake was trying to trip up the Swedish athlete but missed and got Kikkan. It is nice to see that she can joke about it.

I really, really hope that this link works for everyone. It took a moment for it to load the page when I tried it. Move the video ahead to the 2:38 mark and watch from there until 6:05. If it doesn't work someone let me know so we can keep looking for a link. http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/253019/ This is the official dance of World Championships. They have everyone do it during stops in competition and at the medal ceremony each night. I knew that I knew the song, but it was three days before someone helped me come up with the fact that it was Everybody Dance Now. Since they put it into Norwegian it threw me but I'd had C&C Music Factory in mind.

Last year the team suits were red. Since everyone is red they opted to switch to black. It appears that everyone who used to be red decided to do that except Norway. So I have to thank Sprint and Nature Valley for their sponsor patches that stand out enough to pick the USA black suits out of the crowd. I always know when it is one of our athletes thanks to those yellow patches. Today I was wasting time before the event started. I realized that besides what I was wearing (courtesy of Farra) I was also a walking sponsor ad. So I put it all together for the picture below. Do I know how to support the cause or what? And you have to love that Snowboarding's logo ended up at Nordic Worlds. I'm guessing Ski team did not end up at Snowboarding Worlds.

High Sierra bag (ignore the SB logo), Sprint on the lanyard, Visa on the credential holder, Dermatone chapstick on the bag, Delta blanket.

I think for today a lot of people played hooky from work. It seemed a lot more crowded at the train station compared to yesterday. But not horrible. I headed up early on the off chance I would get to see Liz or the other girls while the course was open. I was glad when I saw the crowds to get a head start, but it turns out I didn't need it. Since I was making good time I decided to stop in the merchandise tent to see if there were any last minute things I needed to pick up. I have to admit, I really wanted the mascots, but they only come in one size and I was having trouble figuring out how I would pack them. So I picked up something smaller with the mascots on it instead. Then I headed up the hill to the W section and the spot I had found the previous day. Sadie had assured me last night that not only were the guys going past that spot for their course, but would actually go by twice when they added a 5km loop since they were doing 15km instead of 10km. I had barely gotten to my spot when I saw someone in a USA suit go by. Since I didn't have my glasses on yet I just yelled, "Go USA!". The person stopped and turned around so I waved. Turns out it was Billy Demong. He said he wondered when he would see me. Guess the other days were too foggy for him to tell. We chatted for a couple of minutes and I congratulated him on the new addition to his family before he skied off. I never did see any of the girls, but Noah, Simi, Lars and Kris all skied by with some of the coaches at different times. They all smiled or waved when I yelled good luck. Noah laughed and said thanks. I told his family I would fill in being loud and cheering for him today. They went skiing in Lillehammer.

Simi Hamilton

Noah Hoffman



Lars Flora


Kris Freeman

Since I had plenty of time I enjoyed some people watching and got to know the Swedish couple next to me. I had just cheered on one of our guys in the warm up saying good luck when the man said they would need it. Fortunately, he was teasing me. It turns out they had flown over the night before and were just here for today's event. They are big fans of the Swedish athletes. We agreed that we would cheer for each other's countries and also the Australians. We also helped each other out by taking each other's picture or watching our stuff so we could go to the bathroom or to get food. It is nice to make friends when traveling alone so I don't have to carry everything with me once I've found a spot. They were quite popular since they had printed a start list, which of course everyone wanted to see. I had written down the start #'s for our guys, so I only needed to check their list once. Eventually the race started and the cheering began. It was great having them go by us twice. More opportunities to take pictures and cheer them on. Toward the end of the race I was waiting for Kris to make his second pass by us when Paul that I met yesterday, walked up to the couple next to me and asked to see the start list they had. I told him a reporter should have his own. So he came over and stood with me for the last few athletes. We were both laughing that it is easy to pick out Kris even if you haven't met him because his sponsor is Eli Lilly and no one else has that one. As soon as the last guy went by I headed out. I was pretty sure that none of our guys were on the podium. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that Kris was 24th, Noah 30th!!! Lars was 39th and Simi finished 51st. I am so happy for Noah.

Me with the Normal Hill Jump behind

The walk down the hill went quickly, but the train platform was a bit crowded. This was actually a good day though.

Train station crowd

I was home by 4pm though so that is a good day. Now I'm trying to get organized with packing since tomorrow is going to be a long day of Nordic Combined and Cross Country Relays. Hanne and I are going to go shopping for Trinity this evening too. And after yesterday I'm thinking an early night to bed is sounding really good. For the relays, the women are team #12 with Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen. On the men's side we are team #17 with Torin Koos and Andy Newell. If I am reading the FIS list correctly it looks like for Nordic Combined we will have Nick Hendrickson competing instead of Bryan Fletcher. And then of course there is Billy Demong, Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick and Taylor Fletcher. GO USA!