So, I fell....

Day 5 of our Nordic cruise adventures took us to the idyllic Lofoten Islands. Lofoten is made up of five small cities that go across several small islands and which are connected via tunnel or bridge. Leknes, where we docked, has only 2,000 year-round inhabitants but the total across all five cities is somewhere around 14,000 people. Joe and I decided to make our way to the sites independently and hopped on the local bus to the Viking Museum 25 minutes north of Leknes. The museum has rebuilt a traditional Viking longhouse on the grounds where a longhouse was discovered by archeologists. The longhouse included “reinactors” dressed in traditional Viking clothing, completing traditional Viking tasks, and answering the questions of visitors. I tried my hand at a loom! Yes, this means I now have a new craft hobby! In one of the rooms, they had built a large fire where they were boiling a stew! It was very educational and interesting to learn about the ways of the Vikings — I don’t watch the Vikings on Netflix so this was my first true encounter. We could only spend about an hour at the Viking Museum because the bus only runs every couple of hours. It was a nice easy day and I needed that because Joe again booked an activity that I consider demanding and strenuous . . .

Day 6 of our trip took us to the largest northernmost city in Norway, Tromsø where Joe booked a Husky Hike! Yes, hiking with Huskies! Cute idea, right? Here is where you will learn why the title of this post is “So, I fell.” When agreeing to this excursion, I thought I knew what I was getting into having raised a Husky ourselves. I know that Huskies are most powerful through their chests and I know that Huskies love to run, however, I quickly learned that Juneau was truly a Husky princess and much more domesticated than these real working dogs. We arrived at the Husky Villmarkssenter and there were Huskies everywhere! The center has about 250 dogs on the property who work with tourists and who actually compete in sled runs in the winter. I was in Husky heaven! Joe and I both chose dogs who looked like Juneau and I was paired with Robin, a male Husky the size of Juneau while Joe was paired with his brother Bat Man (I know, corny names but I guess you start running out of names when you have over 250 dogs). I got hooked in a waist harness and then tied to Robin. Things went south for me very quickly thereafter. Once free, Robin took off!!! He was sooo strong and I could not control him at all. He was dragging me down a gravel road and I knew that I would not be able to stay on my feet. I yelled for help and the guide switched Robin out for a smaller, female husky named Sissy. Sissy was still super duper strong but I thought I could manage her. Our hike took us off the gravel road across a field with knee high grass, and spongy/mossy terrain. We had to climb over rock formations, weave through trees, and cross streams all while under the blazing sun and while being attacked by giant biting flies!!!! While attempting to leap over a stream, something everyone else in our group did successfully, Sissy pulled me off of my feet and I fell face down! My face literally hit the ground, I did not have time to even put my hands down to protect me from the fall. Fortunately, the ground was soft, but I was not enjoying myself. I spent the hike being dragged up hills and around muddy pits and trying to navigate the uneven terrain. Suffice it to say, I switched out my husky to a woman in our group who did not yet have a chance to be dragged by a dog and thus I did not have a dog pulling me for the second half of the hike.

I only began to really enjoy myself again when we got back to the center where we got to pet, cuddle, and snuggle as many huskies as we wanted! I am a professional doggie ear scratcher so I made a lot of husky friends, one of whom was a dead ringer for my Baxter. We even got to play with 10 week old husky puppies! Puppy kisses and snuggles!!!! So despite my fall, the day ended up being a success because I got all of the husky kisses. Now, the next couple of days are supposed to be low key so I get to rest up but I do have more husky adventures to look forward to at our stop in Svalbard — husky sledding!

—Christine