A Waste

Both of these cottages are at the bottom of the street... They are not occupied and are in shambles... I look at them and think of their potential. A house on the water, your own private beach

Table for Two?

I'll take this table, a bottle of wine and some company!

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Just left Klaipeda, Lithuania after a short 3 days inport. Our schedule was pretty busy this inport so I didn’t get off the ship much. Sorry there are just a few pics, but all of them are from other crew members. Our schedule in Klaipeda was full of tours, official visits and a Community Relations project at the local sea cadet school. Members of the crew also participated in a soccer game w/ a Lithuanian Navy team. Unfortunately, my visit was full of emergent repairs and tech assist coordination to repair important machinery we’ve been having a tough time getting parts for. Ahhh, the life of an Engineer! Gotta love it!

526- a view of waterfront from the ship…we were moored in an industrial shipping area.
2288- our soccor team, after a 1-5 loss (yeah, Europeans usually beat us in FUTBOL) in the navy blue shirts
2320- some crew members w/ the kids at the Sea Cadet School
517- the beach we rode to.

However, I did get off the ship for a nice meal, beers the first night. Had some pizza, as this is my favorite food ;) So far, I’ve been entirely unimpressed w/ the pizza Europe has had to offer L I also got to head out on the third day for a 2 hour bike ride with Kevin. We rode a nice paved path through the woods on a peninsula across the waterway from where the ship was moored. It was a beautiful sun shiny day. Got to breath fresh air and see the trees, some beach area and just got to be away from the ship for a while. It was a much needed break from being “CHENG” even if is was just for a couple hours.

Not much else to report from Klaipeda though. Sorry there are no pics of me, but hopefully, I’ll get some more as we do some COMRELS in Africa.

Love, J.R.

G.I. Baby

My nephew is usually at Whisper Park Daycare, i.e. my parent's house, all week while my sister is at work. This gives me lots of time with him since I am here visiting until the hubby returns from deployment. Yesterday was a dad & L day since his daddy had the day off... This morning he arrives with not only a new tooth, but he is starting to crawl!!! I walked into the living room to find him under the coffee table, a couple of feet from where we left him not 5 minutes before. The nephew will be known as GI Baby from here on out.

In addition to the tooth and the crawling, he is trying to walk & has successfully mastered grabbing the bottle, holding the bottle & putting down the bottle. Unfortuntately, he only puts down the bottle when he notices Bean's binky in Bean's mouth. Then GI Baby's mission is to take the binky for himself... Too bad Aunty isn't on team GI Baby, I am on team Bean. This morning we were able to protect the binky and procure another to satisfy GI Baby's mission to take over all things baby at Whisper Park.

One last funny moment from the nephew files... My father came in looking for GI Baby. I let him know it was nap time. This was followed by a laugh outside the bedroom. Apparently GI Baby was practicing for his next mission... He is mastering the art of hiding in a fox hole.

Funny Faces

We have hit the 7 week mark. Bean's personality is showing more and more. He is smiling when he sees me not just because his stomach bubbles. I have been able to capture most moments, but sometimes he goes to the 'all business' face when he sees that dang camera. Here are some cute recent pics:


This is the 'all business' face

---

This is the, 'I think you are full of it' face. I think he is channeling his dad when he makes this face. I knew he'd make this face when I was pregnant with him. He's lucky it is so cute, for now...

---

I think he saw something shiney in this picture, or he heard baby-zilla (his cousin) near him.

Smiles for Mommy

He could ask for a pony and I would say yes. Well, I would say yes while still in a drunken mommy love daze after one of his little grins! Daddy will probably conspire with him to smile at mommy, have him say 'I love you', and end it with 'Can we go get that new flat screen TV?' I am already one step ahead of their potential plotting.

Happy Birthday Grammy Lou!

Happy birthday to the best Grammy Lou & MIL that this family could ask for!!!

Mommy Lesson - Potty Humor

I am learning every day under the instruction of one tough, but very cute master. I will apologize before I go on. For those with weak stomachs or those that have not experienced all things related to diapers, please ignore this post.

The other night I was shocked to learn of the strong smell that can come from such a little person. Horrified. Disgusted. Shocked. I opened the door to his room and can't even begin to describe the smell. Sweet baby Jesus... I was sure that which caused the smell would turn my stomach, make me gag, and give me nightmares. I was happily disappointed. On one hand I was happy that I was not going to be up scrubbing the room and my skin into the wee hours of the morning. On the other hand I am shocked at how odoriferous my son is.

Gassy little bugger, he is already making men proud! I suppose this is what we get for calling him bean.

Aalborg, Denmark

Hello to all as we depart Aalborg, Denmark after three eventful days in port.

Aalborg is located in north Denmark and lies on either side of a river that cuts across the entire country. An extremely clean city of nearly 200,000, its history dates back to the mid-1400s. In the first attachment you’ll see the Holy Ghost Monastery, established in 1431 and still thriving today.

Dozens of ELROD Sailors were able to participate in events and tours while in Aalborg. The first event was an initiation into the Guild of King Christian IV in which the Captain and 19 others gained membership to an exclusive society, of which many prominent diplomats, politicians, entertainers, and world figures (Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, for example) are also members. The guild dates back to 1942, and was established as a safe haven for Danish citizens who resisted the advances of Axis powers in WWII. The original guild members used their fellowship, loyalty, and faith to remain united and strong during the Nazi occupation. The second attachment shows the personnel honored during the 90 minute initiation. Following the initiation the participants joined Aalborg’s mayor for a reception.

Our Sailors also had the opportunity to get a guided tour of the city, an exclusive tour of Aalborg’s Maritime Museum, and to participate in a reception hosted by the local Danish Navy Association.

-J.R.

Becareful When Opening My Husband's Emails

Being able to email your husband daily while he is away is such a wonderful gift. Your husband forwarding emails without sanitizing them before, not so wonderful.

My MIL asked if I had seen the email JR forwarded to family and friends. I had emailed him a very precious picture of Connor smiling. No problem. However, I had also written how much I missed him and that he was in trouble when he got home, blah, blah, blah... It was a little risky, but not so bad. This is his Navy email after all. She laughed about it and loved seeing how much I love her son.

This email snafu follows the post birth picture of Connor being sent out to all by my husband... Again, the picture was not the problem... It was that you could see Connor attached to his umbilical cord attached to me.

Awesome! It is pretty humorous, and I did laugh it off. If don't have a sense of humour about yourself, what can you really laugh at and enjoy? I do hope that his family and friends know that I only find out about these emails after they have happened...

I Spy

A duck


What do you see?

Manic Monday

Is there something you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?
Going to Italy and Greece. We had it planned, but then the wedding was planned sooner, followed by the husband's Navy schedule & the birth of Bean. We'll get there though!

If you could make any fictional character come to life, which one would it be?
Mr. Magoriuman because he believes anything is possible... I just watched the movie and it's all I have.

If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
A furniture store since we will be furnishing a new home in 3 months... Maybe Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn. Then I could spend the extra on decor, if any was left that is...

Name three things you wanted as a child but never got.
I honestly can't think of anything... Not that I was spoiled, but I was happy with what we had... My mother, who is sitting near by, said that I should say "my parents were wonderful and got us everything we wanted..." True, but again because we were happy with what we had not because we were spoiled rotten. But if I had to say...
(1) A go kart
(2) Kangaroo sneakers
(3) Curly hair

Ventspils, Latvia

Hey all,

Well, we just left Ventspils, Latvia after a short 2 day port visit. We actually pulled in on the 15th, but shortly after mooring and getting all the pier services hooked up, the weather deteriorated quickly. We were getting 40 mph steady wind (enough to turn an umbrella inside out and rip your arm off in the process!) w/ gusts up to 60 mph. Since the winds were blowing us off the pier, it put an undue strain on our mooring lines. As we waited for tugs to come and help us reconfigure our mooring lines, we actually parted a couple of them. After that, the CO made the determination to send the ship back to sea to weather the storm and bad winds overnight. So we had an emergent u/w on top of a day pulling in, which made it a really long day. I will say this, when the ship goes into crisis mode, the Sailors perform flawlessly. For all the training we do to maintain readiness, when a real situation happens, they all rise to the occasion and execute their jobs w/ professionalism and great attention to detail…but it does make for long days ;)

We pulled back in the next day and had to do the whole process of mooring the ship, configuring shore services (water, sewage, etc)…added to the busy routine were ship tours and a VIP luncheon for the US Ambassador to Latvia and several other high ranking Latvian Congressmen. I had duty that day, so there was little rest for the weary ;) Over the 16th and 17th, my engineers had several emergent repairs to make to our plant to ready us for sea again, so I spent most of those two days supervising big repair jobs. Yesterday was also full of ship tours for the Latvian public. By the time liberty went down yesterday, I was so exhausted, I decided not to head out in town, opting instead for a night of relaxation (watched a couple movies on my PC), studying (for my EOOW qual), and an early bed time. Yesterday was a much needed rest day, where I got to hit the RESET button, and get some good sleep in w/o interruption (Azzy’s going through the same thing w/ Connor too, she deserves more than I do ;)

Sorry no pics from Latvia, I’ll see if others post their pics from here later. We’re collecting all the pics from Cruise on our LAN, maybe there will be some good ones to send from here.

Until then, hope all are well!

- J.R.

I'm Smitten!

It just melts my heart when I see Bean smile! Catching it today on camera made my day. Not only do I have the picture to look at constantly, but I can share it with Mr. E, who is currently in the Baltic.

Other happy moments in pictures...



I love this little guy! He is getting so big and changing every day. Close up is courtesy of one very talented friend / photographer extrodinaire!


Quality time for the cousins... Landon is actually trying to soothe his cousin's cries with a pat on the head. He resorted to sticking his thumb in Bean's mouth. It happened so quick. Thank goodness we had the camera standing by. The innocence and compasion shown by one 6 month old boy was such a precious moment! He succeeded, Bean stopped crying.


Now this little chunka-munka is getting big! I am going to miss my nephew more than anyone can imagine come December. We start the love for Red Sox early in this family! As for the other picture, I wish I could sleep this comfortably anywhere...


Mamas and their boys!

Around My Hood

I decided to play photographer on a recent walk through the neighborhood. This is why I am a flip-flop wearing, summer loving, laid back beach kind of gal!

Our view... Such a relaxing way to start, spend, end the day!


What more do you need in a summer cottage on the water? This cottage is down the street from us. I just love it. With this location, being inside would be a sin!


I'd take this house!!! Sadly it hasn't been occupied for as long as I can remember, if ever... Condemned. Construction unfinished.

In Between

The maternity clothes are just a bit loose, and I am officially over them. For now anyway... My pre-pregnancy clothes are, well, it's just depressing trying to put them on. I'm close, just one size away, but it seems so far away. So I did purchase a couple of pairs of pants, shorts and tees to get me through the summer and early fall. No need to purchase a new wardrobe when (A) I have everything I need in storage and (B) I am no longer an office going mama.

To aid in this process, I have officially started exercising since Bean's arrival. It is time. I have 1 mama & me yoga dvd which is sooo cute. There is a 15 minute session dedicated to stretching & massaging the baby. It makes me want to find a mama & me yoga class. Also on my agenda, running & swimming... I would like to get back in to triatholon shape again.

One step at a time though...

Nursery Rhymes According to G-Pa

G-pa, which is what my father is officially known as, sings his own version of some popular songs to the boys.

1. Originally: Row, row, row your boat. Now: Row, row, row, my boat
2. Originally: Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Now: G-Pa loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so...

It is pretty humorous.

One day

He will not need me to do everything for him.
He will not think mommy knows everything.
He will not want all mommy's kisses.
He will not think I'm as cool as his friends.
He will walk out the door and not need mom to come with him.
He will have me drop him off a block from school.

Until then I am going to eat up every minute of being the coolest person around, at least the coolest person to one very special little boy. A decision has been reached, but only after many emails with the husband, talks with other moms, weighing the pros and cons, a bit of obsessing on my part, and working out a budget. I was worried about cutting out a portion of the income and putting the workload completely on my husband. Mr.E was worried about asking me to put my career on hold. The bottom line is that Connor is our priority. So, I am changing jobs. Once a information security analyst, now a domestic engineer.

Talinn, Estonia

Hello all!

I’m in Talinn, Estonia, the capital city. The city is a formerly Russian state that is now a thriving democracy. So far this has been a great port visit and is actually at the top of my list for most interesting places to visit. Yesterday we conducted a ship tour for children from broken homes. About 30 kids from ages 7-14 came onboard and got the full treatment. The children didn’t speak English, so we had a translator to help w/ the tour. The kids seemed to really enjoy the ship and they got to ask the Captain a bunch of silly questions at the end of the day that was a highlight. I even got interviewed by the Estonian press. Overall it was a really nice time and I was glad to get to give the kids a little break from their tough life at the orphanage.

Yesterday evening, I headed out on liberty with Don Haley, our Combat Systems Officer. We walked around town for a bit and took a bunch of pictures. Of course walking so much made us thirsty, so we had to sample the local beers ;) We ended up having dinner at a Medieval restaurant called “Old Hanse”. The waitress were dressed in 14th century garb (with funny shoes) and stayed in character the whole time. I’d heard from some other Officers this was the place to go for dinner, and that they tried “BEAR meat” for dinner. Of course, I had to try it. The meal was excellent! The meat was very gamey, but was covered in a cranberry jelly sauce that was very tasty! The meat was served w/ a cheesy biscuit, roots (similar to potatoes), barley, some cabbage and a pickle. The beer was the highlight we had a wonderful honey dark lager that was to die for. I could’ve sat there all night and drank it up. But alas, we moved on to take the rest of the city on. Overall, we had a wonderful time the first night out. Prices for food and souvenirs was very reasonable…esp. compared to OSLO!!

Today, I gave a special tour w/ the CO for the Ambassador to Estonia, Mr. Dave Phillips and his wife, Kay. They were wonderful people, and were from North Carolina. We took them around the ship for a special tour, then they had lunch on the Mess Decks (where the crew eats), which was a nice change to see someone so high up in our government come down and eat w/ the average Sailor. Very refreshing. As we had lunch I had a nice conversation w/ Kay, and she told me all about the rich history of Estonia. She mentioned that there was a wonderful movie she’d seen that was in English all about how the Estonian people preserved their language, culture and their dignity despite being under Soviet rule for over 50 years. She brought the movie back to the ship later this afternoon and I got a chance to watch it tonight. It was called, “The Singing Revolution”. The Estonian people are wonderfully talented singers…throughout their long history and esp. through the Soviet occupation/rule, they would host national singing festivals a few times a year. These were the only chances for the Estonian people to get together for a common purpose that wasn’t serving the Communist propaganda machine. IT was an inspirational story of the human spirit and was a great movie.

Well, that’s all for now…

J.R.

To stay home or not to stay home

That is the question.

My flexible, work-from-home job has changed to full time, work-from-home-most-days, office some days, and some travel type job... It will be a floater office. So when I move, my office moves to the nearest company location. Luckily there is an office very close to most military bases. So now we are contemplating, I am obsessing, over the following:

- Can we afford it?
- Do we want to put Connor in day care? Mr.E does not want him in day care full time, and I agree. I am also looking forward to being around for the year of firsts...
- Do we want a nanny? Very expensive and Mr.E does not want someone else raising our son. Can't blame him. I want to be numero uno.
- Do we want to cut out a good portion of our income? We can, but do we want to...
- Do I want a high stress job at this point? Not really. Been there, done that, over that.
- Family comes first, hands down... After that, my career must come second to Mr.E's career. There is just isn't an option with the Navy.
- Do I really want to travel, even if minimally? Travelling back to the Boston area isn't so bad. The baby can go to the grand parents while I'm off to work.
- Should I just focus back on school? Now may be a good time to focus on a Master's. I can do that part time.

I really hate decisions. I worry to much about doing the right thing. So I've emailed Mr.E about 50 times with questions and budget sheets. I just can't wait until he is in port and we can talk... I've played with all the numbers, even factoring in what the house in VA will cost and the new car we are getting this fall. It is certainly doable. So for the next few years I may become a domestic engineer. Maybe...

Oslo - Fram Museum

Hey all,

Back at sea now from a nice, long, relaxing visit to Oslo, Norway. We didn’t have much tasking there and mostly just got some gas, some repairs completed, and enjoyed some good liberty. Oslo was a wonderful place to visit, albeit, very expensive. Most goods cost anywhere from 3-4 times as much as back in the states. Other than that, it was a clean city w/ a nice historic/modern mix of architecture, art gallery’s and museums. Yesterday, I got to visit a couple museums w/ a buddy Kevin Brandewien. We biked about 20 mins from the ship to see the Norway “Fram Museum” (a polar expedition museum w/ a huge ice exploration ship inside) and the Viking Museum (had a bunch of Viking warships and burial vessels). The weather was a little rainy and overcast, but temps were fine (around 70 degrees). Kevin and I biked through the rain, just like the Norwegians do. The bike paths were great. Nice and wide and off the main streets, so no worries about traffic or safety. I wish we had these in America…would make commuting by bicycle much easier and might even save us some gas money. I noticed there were very few overweight or obese Norwegians as I visited Oslo. As a matter of fact most Norwegians were tall, thin, blond haired and nicely tanned. I think the tans came from their recent holiday…the month of July is “national vacation” month where the Norwegians get to take vacation in warmer climes. In fact, the vacation month affected us quite a bit while in Haakonsvern, Olavsvern (for fuel), and Oslo. When asking for help w/ repairs or maintenance the frequent answer was, “We’ll try, but everyone is still on vacation.” Must be nice…I’m definitely jealous! Can’t say I’d trade it for their extremely high taxes, but that’s another story. Approx. 25% for food (restaurants) and goods (clothing, etc) in town, except for groceries, which the government only charges a 15% tax because those goods are “needed”.

The first place Kevin and I pedaled to was the “Fram” polar expedition museum. This was a must see as Azzy’s family (father’s side) is descended from Sweden and Norway. In fact, Helger even mentioned that he is a 3rd cousin of one of Norway’s famous polar explorers, Oscar Wisting. I wanted to go, but I’m afraid if I didn’t go, Helger would have never let me hear the end of it ;) A little about him here: Oscar Adolf Wisting (June 6, 1871 - December 5, 1936) was a Norwegian polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both to the North and South Poles. Wisting was born in Larvik, and he was working as a naval gunner in 1909 when Roald Amundsen asked him to go north with him on his forthcoming North Pole expedition. Amundsen later secretly changed his plans. Wisting went to sea believing they were heading for the North Pole. Instead he learned that they were going south to pick up the race with Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole. On December 14, 1911 along with Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland and Sverre Hassel, Wisting planted the Norwegian flag on the geographical South Pole, the first explorers to have reached that point. From 1918 to 1925 Wisting was chief officer onboard Maud in Roald Amundsen's attempt to traverse the Northeast passage. From 1923 to 1925 Wisting more or less acted as leader of the expedition after Amundsen left to try to fly to the pole instead. In 1926 Wisting participated in Amundsen's successful attempt to fly over the North Pole. In the airship Norge they reached the pole on May 12, 1926. The three previous claims to have arrived at the North Pole – by Frederick Cook in 1908, Robert Peary in 1909, and Richard E. Byrd in 1926 (just a few days before the Norge) – are all disputed, as being either of dubious accuracy or outright fraud. Some of those disputing these earlier claims therefore consider the crew of the Norge to be the first verified explorers to have reached the North Pole. In addition Wisting, along with Amundsen, was one of the two first persons who had been to both the North Pole and the South Pole. He later wrote about his years with Amundsen in his book: 16 aar med Roald Amundsen, (1930). (16 years with Roald Amundsen). In later years Oscar Wisting was an active force behind the preparations and building of the Fram house in Oslo, a museum built to store and display the polar ship Fram. On December 5, 1936 Wisting was found dead from heart attack in his old bunk on board Fram, a few days before the 25 anniversary of the successful South Pole expedition. (gotta love WIKIPEDIA!)

This was a wonderful visit and I’m so glad I got to see it all. The pictures I’ll send should shed light on the information above as I took pics of Oscar Wisting’s bronze bust, his stateroom onboard FRAM, a model of the FRAM as well as the ship, and a model of the airship NORGE he flew over the North Pole w/ Armundsen. Additionally, when I was in Haakonsvern, I got to tour the brand new Norwegian Frigate ROALD AMUNDSEN, named for the above explorers…overall an excellent trip.

The second place Kevin and I went was to the Viking Museum (just up the street from the FRAM). This was also a wonderful museum. Most of the ships I took pics of were built (around 900 AD) as burial floats for Norwegian tribal leaders when they passed. The Vikings would put a burial sarcophogas on top along w/ live horses, dogs, gold and jewels and enough food to get them to the afterlife. They’d put all that loot on the boat then set it out to sea as a farewell to the person that passed. The boats would be recovered after some days, then entombed in burial mounds, where archeologists then unearthed them in the early 1900’s, renovated, then put on display at this museum!

In the evening, I went back out w/ Joe and got some pizza/beer, then we went to see the new Batman movie “The Dark Knight”!!

Overall, Norway was a wonderful country to visit and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
-J.R.

Effects of a weak dollar

Knowing that Norway was to be a port visit on my husband's schedule, I asked him to pick up a certain Norwegian sweater for me while there. So he called today describing the different sweaters. During the conversation he let it slip just how expensive they were. Now, I knew that they were a little pricey... When my father was there several years ago, the sweaters were just under $200. I figured I'd get a new one... Thanks to a weak dollar that one sweater was now just under $400... FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! I told him to put the sweater down and walk away. This wasn't even the water resistent, lined sweater used for skiing. That was $600.

Sweet baby Jesus... Do you know what one can do with $400?
1. Buy 178 medium sized coffees from Dunkin Donuts
2. Fill up a medium sized SUV 7.5 times
3. Buy a plane ticket to see the inlaws
4. Get 14 mani/pedis, that is 1/2 a year of mani/pedis
5. Get 6 facials
6. Get 6 massages
7. Go away for an evening
8. Almost buy a kayak
9. Order 40 pizzas
10. See 40 movies

So I'll hold off. Besides I think there is a shop here in town that sells them for less than 1/2 that. Four hunderd dollars... I'm still in shock.

Imrpovising

My hubby sent me his version of our first family picture. It certainly made me smile. We are definitely trying to make the best out of a not so ideal situation. We are 1/3 of the way through this deployment. Early December won't be here soon enough, yet it will be here before we know it... I almost feel like I am watching the clock on the wall tick away. Yet life with a newborn is flying by.

Speaking of flying by, 4 weeks ago today at this time actually (Tuesday, July 8th 12:40am) I was settling into my hospital room after giving birth to the little man. I cannot believe it has been 4 weeks. My world has changed so completely. I never could have imagined how much it was to change on July 7th. I had been told, and I had figured "yeah I know". I didn't know though. What a wonderful change it has been though!

Oslo, Norway

Hey all!!

We’re in Oslo, Norway for some fuel and some needed liberty in town. This is the first port visit in over a month that hasn’t been a full fledged working port. I know what you’re thinking, but even w/ our in and out schedule, I rarely get a “day off”. However, yesterday, I got off the ship around 3pm and got to do some souvenir shopping and sightseeing. Oslo is the bustling capital of Norway. It’s a relatively small city for a national capital, but Norway itself is not a heavily populated country.

I headed out w/ my reliable liberty partner, Joe the first night. We walked most of the city. Close to the ship, there were many new-age apartment complexes w/ expensive shops on the ground level. There were a ton of outdoor bars and resteraunts throughout the city, but most of these were designer restaurants. As we made our way down the waterfront, we walked down a jetty area w/ more shops/restaurants and a nice marina. This is where I’ll catch the ferry to the Fram Museum of Polar Expeditions. Azzy sent me some info on her famous, long-lost Norwegian/Swedish relatives. Evidently, Helger is descended from a famous polar explorer named Oscar Whisting. Oscar was the partner of Rauld Armundsen (whom the Norwegian Frigate I toured in Haakonsvern is named for). Armundsen and Whisting were the first to plant a flag the south pole, and were arguably the first to fly across the true North Pole (no mention of the Santa Claus complex sightings on Wikipedia though!). At any rate, I’ll be heading to the polar expedition museum tomorrow for a nice visit, along w/ the Viking Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum. The Kon-Tiki were a South-East Asian tribe that evidently populated distance lands from their isolated islands in a small Kon-Tiki rafts and canoes all across the Pacific. I guess until recently (the last 100 years or so, that’s nothing in “historical time”), there were many doubts that the Kon-Tiki’s had traveled so far across the Pacific in their little rafts, until another Norwegian explorer proved they could make such a journey in these tiny rafts/canoes w/ the help of a few trade winds and currents. These Norwegian explorers are a tough bunch! I’m looking forward to visiting those museums tomorrow!

1-5: pics from the newer area…old architecture mixed w/ new…

Back to my travels so far…past the pier/harbor area was Oslo City Hall and the Aukershus Fortress, an old Norwegian fortress built circa 1299! We strolled through there and ended w/ a beautiful view of the harbor and restaurants below. From there we walked past the Norwegian Military Museum (closed on Sunday L) and on toward downtown where we ran into some shipmates and had a few beers at a nice Irish pub. We played darts, pool and blew off some steam. All in all, a great first night ashore!

Yesterday, I headed out around 5pm w/ Tim Bittner our Electronics Maintenance Officer and got to do some souvenir shopping. I guess this is a good time to discuss the exchange rate in Norway. Their currency is the Kroner and the dollar is relatively weak, so the exchange rate is 5 Kroner to 1 US dollar. Doesn’t sound bad till you see the price of food and goods! I attached a picture of the menu outside TGI Friday’s (yep, they’re even in Norway). Notice the price of a Friday’s Burger was 158K…that’s $31.60 for a freaking hamburger! That doesn’t even include a beer to wash it down!! That price was 100K…$20 for a Budweiser…unbelievable!! That’s not to mention the 25% food tax!! I’m not sure how anyone affords to live here w/ those prices! If that wasn’t enough…Azzy’s only request for a souvenir was to come from Norway. When her father visited here 5 or so years ago, he brought her home a nice DALE sweater. It’s a traditional “ski sweater” w/ snowflake and flower patterns and made from soft merrino wool. After some searching around, I found a shop that sold them. I turned over the price tag, and to my surprise it said 1699K!!! That’s exactly $340 for a freaking sweater… She told me to put it down and walk away when I called her with the price. She’s getting a scarf ;) I’d love to get her one, but that’s half a plane ticket to Hawaii!

After that shell shock, we headed for dinner at Pepe’s Pizza. If you don’t already know, my favorite food is pizza but, the Europeans just don’t know how to make a good American pizza. Of course it didn’t stop me from choking some down! After dinner we walked to the Central Train Station where we’d heard we could find free WIFI to SKYPE home on. Got to make a nice video chat home to Azzy and Connor!! He’s such a handsome little bugger!! And of course it was so nice to get to talk for a while (and the best part was that it was absolutely FREE). I also got to SKYPE w/ Mom and Dad for a bit. All in all, a wonderful day and some good R/R.

Tomorrow, I’m off to see how the Norwegian Vikings and Artic Explorers lived…more pictures from that tomorrow!

Hope all are well!
J.R.

Beach Baby

Well we tried to make it to the beach today, but in mommy's never ending need to keep things neat it wasn't meant to be. Not for Connor anyway. Chores have gone from dishes, laundry, and straightening up to feeding, changing, play time, nap time, clean living room, bedroom, bathroom, office, kitchen, feeding, changing, nap time, lunch for mom, laundry, and dishes again... So getting out of the house quickly is not really an option these days. All of this brought us to about 2pm and the next feeding was to be 3:30.

However, we dressed the part and he is certainly a cute beach baby!!! So we'll get there eventually.