Final Destination

And from the family vacation story that would NEVER end. . .

Our last stop -- Kirkenes, Norway.

What? Never heard of it? Where HAVE you been?? Anyway, Kirkenes is the Norwegian border town into Russia. It was, apparently, one of the most bombed places in World War II, caught in the cross-fire between Russia and Germany. This was our actual destination, as it is where my husband is from and his sister's family still lives. While it's not the most northern city in Norway, you aren't going to get much further north in the world than this.

Besides the visit to family, the highlight of our trip was a visit to a little church at the end of the world, King Oskar II Chapel. It is in the middle of nowhere, built on the rocky coastal slopes. King Oskar built it to mark the Norwegian land.

Beautiful in its simplicity.

One of things that has always stuck me about the culture since moving here is how trusting and honest people are. The key to the church is kept at a military post a few miles up the road. One leaves their info there and takes the key to the church and drives away. As it happened, someone else had the key. As we drove past them, we stopped their car, and they gave us the key. Smiles and waves all around, and we moved on. I just don't see something like that happening in the States. Americans are much to paranoid about others. Maybe it's just that this American is much to paranoid about others, but if some guy was trying to flag my car down on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere, I'd be very suspicious.

Afterward, we had a picnic at the beach nearby -- a warm, summery day in Kirkenes. The temperature was actually pleasant and relatively mild, but it wasn't bikini weather, you can see.

That was the end of the road. Literally. Otherwise, we would have ended up in the ocean or in Russia.

After our days in Kirkenes, we took the long journey home. The never-ending day works out in that way. You are driving all night, but it doesn't feel that way. Nicky even stayed up to 11 p.m. in the car that night, despite his tiredness, because he was so fascinated by all the beautiful colors in the sky.

As an aside, he's noticed that colors come earlier in the day now, signaling the approach of winter and the coming of the dark season.