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 MeGetting 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.
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.
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.
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