It's time to end the story of our trip to Norway since we have been home for almost two months now! In fact Kristy, Nora and Elly Clara will be coming to Canada next week. They are flying to Calgary on November 2. They will be spending a week with each of Kristy's three sisters plus a good visit with her parents, Dan and Helga Ledene. For the first time in many years Kristy will celebrate her birthday in her home town of Brooks. Todd plans to fly to Regina in early December and spend a week or so with our family before Kristy and the girls join him in Saskatchewan.
Now, back to my story. We left Førde on Sunday, August 14 and took the bus to Bergen, back through the twenty tunnels along the way. A taxi brought us to the hotel in downtown Bergen that would be our home for the next two days. Bergen is known for its rain but we lucked out and were blessed with rain free days and quite a bit of sunshine. We could walk wherever we needed to go.
I thought of my Grandma Bertha and Grandpa Hans Haaland who were married in Bergen in 1902. Three children were born there - Marius (Morris), John and Camilla. I pictured walking where they had walked in this picturesque old city. Sandra and I had visited the church where they were married so we didn't visit it on this trip. Grandpa had worked in a wholesale business. They lived in an apartment with plush furniture, a dressmaker made their clothes. This picture was taken in 1910 before they left Norway.
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| Hans holding baby Camilla, Morris, John, Bertha |
I picture the grandmas saying good-bye to these precious grandchildren, perhaps knowing deep down that they would never see them again as they left for America. Grandma and Grandpa spent two years in Fingal, ND where Grandma's sister, Inga Branden and her husband lived. Grandpa got work there and in 1914 they moved, now with a second daughter Marie, to their homestead south of Climax, SK. Their first home was a sod house and they gathered "chips" for fuel in their stove. Quite a contrast to their life in Bergen! A third daughter, Helma, was born shortly after they arrived in Canada, before they even had a home of their own. A third son Herbert and two more daughters, Hulda and Ruth, were born on the homestead.
Alan and I spent a leisurely time in Bergen, enjoying the view from our room on the fifth storey of the First Hotel Marin. It was kind of a delayed honeymoon, as we hadn't gone anywhere after our Valentines Day wedding in 2014. We had no agenda, had a tasty hot breakfast each morning at the hotel, enjoyed walking to the Fish Market for most of our meals, walks along the harbour, touring the Hanseatic Museum and the Norwegian Fisheries Museum and taking the Fløibanen funicular to Mt. Fløyen with it's great view of Bergen and its harbour. We even did some shopping!
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| View from our hotel room window |
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| Alan enjoying morning breakfast at the hotel |
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| A good place to buy souvenir tee shirts on the street near the fish market |
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| Scene from our hotel room one morning |
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| The same scene at 10 p.m. with moon shining in the background |
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| On Mount Fløyen overlooking Bergen |
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| View of Bergen harbour from Mount Fløyen |
Ardis met us at the airport and we had a good visit on the drive to Lacombe where our car was waiting at Mandy and Rick's. We visited more over a tasty lunch and then Ardis had to get back to the city, a short but sweet visit. We had a great night's sleep and were off in the morning, heading for Gull Lake where we spent the night with Alan's sister, Donna and Cam Lock. We shared some pictures and caught up on some Olympic events as we didn't see much coverage of Canadians on Norwegian TV.
In the morning we were off on the last leg of our journey - back to Torquay, home sweet home. We had been away for a month and we decided that was a bit too long to be gone from home. Jodi and Abbey had looked after the yard - mowing grass, watering the garden, feeding our three cats. It was much appreciated!
We were so thankful to have had a safe trip and a healthy one too. My fainting spell in Iceland was the only "hitch" on the whole trip and that ended up good too when we got bumped to first class on a flight! Thanks Iceland Air for taking good care of us.
The latest news from the Johnson farm is that an oil derrick went up on October 26 on the home quarter. Ben Johnson purchased this homestead quarter on July 14,1906 for a homestead entry fee of ten dollars 110 years ago.
No, we have no oil rights but we know that we don't need money to be rich. We are so blessed in countless ways - to be together here at the farm, enjoying good health one day at a time, our loving family of six children and their spouses along with thirteen grandchildren, plus extended family of sisters and brothers and their spouses, nieces, nephews and cousins. Who could ask for more? But we have more - our church family at Trinity, Torquay and our faith in God who sustains us every day as we share in devotions from "Portals of Prayer". We even have people who read this blog! Thank you!
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| Just to show you our green grass on Oct. 27 |
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| First day of work on the home quarter - SE 16 -1-12 W of 2nd |
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| As evening sets in and the lights show up |
On Sunday we will be off on another adventure - a bus trip to Branson, Missouri with Stagecoach Tours out of Weyburn. We leave from Estevan at 8:30 a.m. and go as far as Fargo, ND the first night, to St. Joseph, Missouri on Monday and arrive at the Days Inn, Branson on Tuesday in time for our first show at 8:00, the Oakridge Boys. We head back home on Monday, Nov.7 and spend the US election night back in Fargo, ND! Don't look for any blog updates until after this trip. They won't be as drawn out as the Norway trip, I promise! Keep us in your prayers, especially for good health as we travel outside of Canada.
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