Foliage Photos

On Saturday, Kevin, my mom and I joined the masses in the Adirondacks for some Columbus Day weekend "leaf peeping." I'm not sure who coined that term, but it cracks me up, so every autumn I liberally pepper my conversations with it! Anyway, it was a warm, gorgeous day, the leaves were stunning and I took tons of pictures.

We're safely back in Norway now and it is decidedly colder than it was in New York. I am bundled up in layers and feeling pitifully cold, tired and jet lagged. It could be worse--I could be cold, tired and jet lagged and on another plane back to the U.S. right now. Yep, I almost didn't make it through passport control today at Gardemoen. The stern woman stamping passports spent a long time rifling through mine and told me that I have been in Norway too much this year. I was a bit taken aback, as I had understood that as long as I didn't spend more than 3 consecutive months in Norway, I wasn't breaking any rules. Apparently, I was wrong. Luckily when she looked me up in the computer, she saw that my 1 year residency permit is waiting for me at the police station, so she reluctantly let me through with a stern warning.

Even though I wasn't exactly welcomed back to Norway with open arms, our pets have become cherished Norwegian citizens. When we arrived home, there was a note on the kitchen table from the boy who takes care of our cats for us when we're out of town. He wrote about how much he loves our cats and how much he will miss them when we move. It was the sweetest letter, I swear I almost teared up while reading it! Later, we drove out to Randsfjorden to pick the dogs up from the kennel, and the lady who runs the kennel got a little misty eyed saying goodbye to our dogs. She even sent a big bag of chewies with them as a final farewell. I can see why the pets have made such a positive impression on everyone who meets them--they are joyful, friendly and cuddly and I am so glad to be back at home with them now!