Eric & Shelley Travels

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Eric & Shelley Travels




North America » United States » Virginia » Winchester February 19th 2024

Shelley and I woke up in the morning to some cooler weather and the car was covered with snow and a bit of ice. Being good Canadians, we had our trusty snow brush to get rid of everything. The snow storm we were able to avoid by being further south. We left the hotel and were on the road early after a ‘so-so’ breakfast. I had scrambled ‘eggs’ with hot sauce and four sausage patties….but the coffee was good! It was an uneventful drive really; which was good. We made a few stops here and there to let Maggie out where there was grass to pee on. She was happy with that. We ended up in Pooler, Georgia. We didn’t want to stay right in Savanah and this was close enough. The bonus for us was ... read more
The Chicken Burger

North America » Canada » Ontario » Ottawa February 18th 2024

We set out this morning from Ottawa around 11 am after Shelley did some morning work. I had finished my shift at Tunney’s Pasture at 2 am and woke up around 9 am or so. We were mostly packed and ready to go with just a couple of things to do before we left. We hit the road and made our way south. The weather was cold and we had received a fresh dumping of snow the previous evening. The roads were mostly bare though, which was nice. It was a very pleasant drive down towards the border. When we arrived, Shelley popped into the Duty Free to use the facilities. From experience, she knew that once we went around the bend, there was going to be a long line up of cars waiting to cross ... read more
Maggie
Random truck

Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Fauske June 10th 2023

Shelley and I woke up this morning in our hotel in Bodø and enjoyed another wonderful breakfast downstairs. The plan today was to collect my cousins Kjetil in town and bring him out to Fauske with us so that he could get a visit in with Kristine and also meet up with some of the other cousins he hadn't seen for a while. We drove to Kjetil's neighbourhood, but the GPS had us over shoot his location by a number of blocks. After a few Messenger phone calls, we got it sorted and he made his way to our car (we couldn't turn around on the one way street!). We then set off for the one hour's drive to Fauske. The drive to Fauske was nice. The roads were thin, as usual, and windy, as usual. ... read more
Fauske marker
Fauske
Focus Cafe

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Bodø June 9th 2023

We left Lofoten Islands at 2:15 pm to head back to Bodø. A number of years ago, on an online pipe smoking group, I met Geir Arne. He posted and I noticed that he was posting from Bodø. I sent him a Messenger message and we hit it off. After some exchanges in the post of some hobby materials (ahem), and some ost, I was finally able to come here to Norway to meet him in person! We met at a place called the Bryggerikaia, a nice restaurant right on the harbour in Bodø. Shelley joined me, and she ordered a risotto to eat as she was hungry for supper. The risotto turned out to be quite tasty! She was worried it may have had too much salt. Geir and I exchanged a few gifts we ... read more
Stien with Geir
Eric with Stien

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Lofoten Islands June 8th 2023

Today was the day we left for the Lofoten Islands. We arrived at the ferry terminal in Bodø and with our advanced reservation tickets, we were able to get into the proper line to ensure we boarded the ferry first. That was a smart move on our part having this all pre-booked. The ferry was packed with people travelling to Lofoten and beyond; many camper vans and RV’s in the line up. There were some people who were only walking on the ferry and it’s free for them to do so. Only vehicles are charged based on height and length. We noticed as we were being loaded onto the ferry that we were going to be heading ‘down’ into the ferry below decks, and that the deck above would be closed upon us as we entered ... read more
Loading ferry
Loading onto the ferry
Ferry to Lofoten

Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Fauske June 7th 2023

Today was the day we went to Fauske to celebrate my Dad’s 78th birthday. Kristine was staying in Fauske at Eirik’s place. Shelley and I drove up to Fauske after enjoying a nice little breakfast at the hotel in Bodø. We made the drive up to Fauske which takes about an hour. Roughly another fifteen minutes to reach Eirik’s house. Shelley and I actually brought some laundry to do at Eirik‘s since the dryer at the hotel wasn’t working. That was nice of him to let us do this. We looked through some old photos, but then it was time to head out to my Uncle Jens Vidar and Tante Astrid’s house for a light lunch. Astrid had prepared some beautiful open-faced sandwiches for us to eat. We had these with coffee and enjoyed meeting “Booster” ... read more
Family lunch
Fauske cemetery
Fauske cemetery

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Bodø June 6th 2023

We awoke quite early this morning. Our flight from Oslo to Bodø on Norwegian Airlines was scheduled for 8:30 this morning. I woke up on my own at 20 mins to 5…..super early. Showered and ready, Shelley then got herself ready, followed by Kristine. We were downstairs and outside at the curb waiting for the shuttle bus to the airport at 5:55 am for the 6:10 shuttle. The shuttle arrived and we got on board. It didn’t take long to get to the airport. Our check in process was self-serve and pretty much seamless. We even had quick security screening access with our tickets. Wonderful stuff. Once we passed through security, we made our way towards our gate but stopped to grab a couple of items for breakfast. I had enjoyed a little package of Vestland’s ... read more
Waffles
Waffles!
This waffle is going down!

Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Flåm June 5th 2023

I woke up early (5 am) and headed into the front room to do some blog writing. Shelley woke up around 6 am and it was then that I went in for a shower. I came out, and Shelley pointed to the HUMUNGOUS cruise ship that was pulling up alongside the jetty in Flåm. I don’t think the photos do it justice. This thing was massive. Shelley rushed into the shower so that we could be ready to be downstairs at the bakery at 8:00 when they opened os we could get our coffees and pastries before heading out in Flåm to snoop around the shops and then hit the road for Oslo. We were the first in line at the bakery getting there around 7:30 after watching more of the action surrounding the securing of ... read more
More mighty mountains
Map shot
Somewhere in the wilds of Norway near Mørkedøla

Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Flåm June 4th 2023

Shelley, Kristine, and I set off from Bergen in our rental car after a sumptuous breakfast (see previous post). We are on the E16 from Bergen to Stegastein Viewpoint and then back down to stay overnight in Flåm. I’m typing now in the car as Shelley is driving. We’ve driven through tunnels and beside towering mountains. Fast moving streams filled with fresh water cascade over the many levels of rocks - reminds me of British Columbia and some of the roadways up Between Hope and Cache Creek. The scenery is stunning and the roads are very well maintained. The average speed is 70 km/h and sometimes 80 km/h. It’s slower when you’re going through little towns or coming up on one of the many traffic circles used here for traffic. Arriving in Flåm we had to ... read more
On the way to Stegastein Lookout
Travelling to Stegastein
Awesome roads

Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Bergen June 4th 2023

We all had a good sleep last night. I was up late typing out the blog entry for yesterday. I still have photos to load up to the site when we’re in wi-fi next. This morning’s post is about our ‘frokost’ (breakfast). We mentioned it before, but I snuck down early enough to snap some photos of the breakfast offerings for you all to see. Breakfast this morning did not disappoint. Be sure to check out the photos to see what was being offered. It was the best breakfast set up Shelley and I have ever seen in our travels. Seriously good all around.... read more
One of the side tables
Breakfast at the Clarion in Bergen
Mountain of smoked salmon….!




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