It feels like we've been living in a bit of a cave over here. A dreary February and administrative tasks stifled my creativity a bit, and Ken was working busy season hours, so there wasn't much to report.
However, there's a light at the end of the tunnel now, made up of spring-ish weather, more daylight, some to-do's checked off the list, Ken rounding the corner at work, a week in Spain coming up soon (!!), and a nice trip to Røros last weekend.
Since Røros was super snowy, and spring seems to be here, I thought I'd combine it all in one last wintry post. I'm ready for some flowers and leaves to take over the naked trees outside.
There will be snow when we go to a cabin next weekend, and there's always a chance it can snow anytime in the next couple of months here, but I'm writing it all off in this post!
So, farewell to the season that received a lot of cursing from me (out loud, directed at either an icy sidewalk or cross-country skis). I'd say I'll miss you, but walking to the grocery store on icy/slushy sidewalks, skiing in general, and dressing like a snowman anytime I leave the apartment are all things that I'll happily leave behind. I've told myself I will never, ever complain about the rainy, gray winters of the Pacific Northwest.
One more quick note before I begin: Norway deserves a shout-out for this winter being much milder and shorter than last winter. Much appreciated, Norway! Feel free to resume icy apocalypse mode again next year, since the vast majority of your residents love all that snow for skiing. I'll be dancing in the rain.
Anyhow, Røros was a fantastic place to spend one of our last snowy weekends. It's a tiny, quaint former mining town that's a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has a lot of colorful, wooden historic buildings that were fun to photograph.
My friend Ingvar, who is featured here, generously invited us to visit his family at their home in Røros. They were such lovely people, and we enjoyed the peek into Norwegian culture. We'd like to give a big thank you to all of them for a great weekend!
My friend Ingvar, who is featured here, generously invited us to visit his family at their home in Røros. They were such lovely people, and we enjoyed the peek into Norwegian culture. We'd like to give a big thank you to all of them for a great weekend!
An array of colorful wooden buildings:
This hill was just a tad slippery.
Røros Church.
Love the grass on the roofs in various areas of Norway.
Cross-country skiing with Ingvar and Silje. I was sprinting back from setting the self-timer on the camera...not so graceful, since I'm like Bambi on a pair of skis.
Hottie.
We went out for a walk in the snow, and got caught in hopefully our last Norwegian blizzard.
Also, going through pics from the past few months, I found a few more wintry-themed photos. We'll slip them into this last winter post, so we can just kiss the snow goodbye altogether :)
We stayed with Pierre and Silje at a cabin in early January, and the scenery was like something out of a fairy tale...
Just a tad sweaty after the skiing.
Thanks to Silje and Pierre for the fun, relaxing weekend!
And we'll end with a few last Norwegian winter running pics. As much as I cursed running in the snow, there were a few beautiful moments from the early sunset...
Moments of Zen:
1. The 60 F / 15 C day last week when I sat outside in the park for three hours with Alison and Astrid, in a t-shirt, yoga pants, and Chacos, then biked along the fjord.
2.
Little buds of life on the trees yesterday!
