A Week in September

The summer has come and gone, and with that the long days that inspire activity.  After two months of not having a drivers license I have regained by identity as an adult and am now driving on a legal Norwegian license.  In honour of my victory I decided to take full advantage.  Jay has now been gone for 2 weeks, with 3 more left, but in the middle of our solitude we had a jam packed week.

Last weekend we had back to back bike rides around Stokkavatnet, drenched in rain.  However we did manage to walk to the local Kiwi Store and buy ice cream sandwiches in the solitary hour of sunshine that appeared late sunday afternoon.  Sitting on the bleachers at the local Fotball fields we watched some kids kick the ball.

On monday we ventured into Stavanger Sentrum for a wild night... well as wild as you can get with 2 dogs and a two year old.

After catching the bus in front of our house we arrived downtown 8 minutes later. (27 kr ($4.5CAD) each way)  After wandering the beautiful cobble stone streets we made it to the Norsk Oljemuseum playground.  Entirely constructed of materials from the offshore platforms.  We finished up with a pizza at Al Forno outside on the patio with the dogs tied to a drain pipe.

 Wednesday we decided to utilize the local facilities and visited the pool in the basement of ConocoPhillips.  It is a small, but decidedly, perfect after work adventure.  Elena's confidence in the water is growing.  She even thinks she can swim by herself.  After several mouthfuls of pool water, she conceded that she can't swim yet.

September seems to have brought out a crazy mix weather, in which sun is almost always accompanied by rain.  In-between near continuous sun showers we took the dogs for a few walks on the nearby trails.

A Barnehage (daycare) across the street from our house is a favourite weekend hangout.

The highlight of this week has most definitely been our hike to Dalsnutten.  In two amazingly perfect days, we hiked up to the top of a nearby vista that overlooks the Rogaland region, from the northern tip of Randaberg, down past Sandnes to the south.  It was a brilliant day of 13 degrees, and Elena has real potential as a hiker.  She walked about 40% of the way herself, scaling some impressive rocks to reach the summit.

Today we ventured to the northern tip, and visited the Tungenes Fyr (light house) for a walk by the sea shore.  It gave Elena her first real 'smell' of the ocean.