We are well, after the 13 hour train ride from Jokkmokk to Stockholm. We arrived at 9 AM this morning. We are hanging out at the hotel. they just came and said the room is ready. Wilbur did not sleep well on the train but I feel refreshed. We will walk today to tour the city and tomorrow we take a bus\boat tour of the city.

Our time with Alyssa is over and it went so quickly. We are so proud of her and she is doing a good work.

Our email is blocked, we don.t know why but if you want to respond to us you will need to comment on the blog.

Take care everyone and we will see Iowa before long. Get well quickly, Theresa. I read your blog.

Today, we will leave the north country(Sami land, Lappland) and head to Stockholm. We will try again to get the email going but if not, you will have to call the Hotel in case of an emergency. We will be home Tuesday evening.

Wilbur went for a walk around the lake one morning. It was very peaceful. The ice is still on the lake but it is unsafe now for the snowmobiles to use. It will be the end of May before the ice is all broken up. This is Tom and Desi Rutshman, who are the directors of the Radical Journey program, here in Jokkmokk. They have been very kind and it is their car that is taking us back and forth to the train at Murjek. We also used it to go shoppig in Lulea on Wednesday.

Alyssa has been learning to knit and she learned from Mama Blind (pronounced Bleend). Alyssa has made 1 pair of socks, is working on her 5th pair of mittens and one pair of slippers. Mama Blind invited us to a meal and she served a Sami dish that Alyssa loves. We loved it also, it was reindeer meat, potatoes, turnips, carrots and dumplings. It is often eaten when they are out into the woods, doing raindeer sorting.

Alyssa's Friend Magda made Swedish pancakes for us and they were delicious.
In the week we have been here, the snow has really dissapeared. This is the church where the Radical Journey kids live. The girls are upstairs, the church is in the main floor and Sam is in the basement. The kitchen and living room are also on the top floor. The girls were so sweet and gave up their beds for us and they slept on the couches. Alyssa and I are walking to school one evening when the snow was falling. We loved it but Alyssa and her house mates are sick of the snow. This picture was taken at 3 AM out of our window on the night that we had fresh snow.

Today, May 1st, is a holiday, here in Sweden. The town is very quiet after many parties last night. We cannot get on web mail to send or get emails. It will block us every time we try. We will try again when we get back to Stockholm, tomorrow morning. We board the train at 7;45 tonight and arrive at Stockholm sometime in the morning.

We are having a fantastic time and Alyssa has been a wonderful host and has shown us around town and we have met her good friends, who are so polite. Last night there was a music night and she made some really yummy cookies with small Reeces Pieces in the center and everyone loved them.

We went for a drive last night and this is a sunset over the lake. It was very pretty and as you can see the lake is still frozen over. Sweden is a beautiful country and they have learned to adjust to long, cold, dark winters. The days are already long , it is light until 10.30pm and it is getting light at 3am. They will have winter for another month, here in northern Sweden.The picture explains itself. We are only about 5 miles from Jokkmokk, where Alyssa is living.

We were remembering that only a few years ago we were on the Equator in Equador. We hope to be above the Artic Circle in Alaska this summer.

We are having a dog sled ride on the lake. There are 10 dogs and we loved it and laughed all the way. Alyssa is playing with one of the puppies at the Sandbergs. We are north of the Artic Circle about 5 miles and its still winter but the snow is melting fast. This house is right across the road from the church where the team live. This house is very typical.
We went for a walk on Thursday morning and it was quite cold. *We were glad for winter coats, caps and gloves. This is a beautiful city and there are around 3000 residents. Alyssa and her two fellow Radical Journey peers are helping in the middle and high school with English teaching. They are also taking Swedish classes everyday.It is a nice little city and all the houses are painted so interesting.
We left on our 13 hour night train ride from Central Station in the City. It was a mass of bustling people. Everyone is very polite and patient. We left the station at 7. pm and arrived in Murjek the next day, hours late because there had been a train accident a few hours ahead of us. We had to be bussed the last several hours because the train rails were blocked. Alyssa was waiting for us in Murjek, for three hours. We got to Jokkmokk with Alyssa by car at noon intead of 9 am.

We walked for miles while in Stockholm and this is in Old Town, a famous square, or as I saw it a triangle. We saw this on several post cards after we took this picture so we thought we really are tourists. Everyone walks everywhere and there are no fat people in the city. This is one of Stockholms most famous spots. We are in Sodermalm looking across the river to Old Town (Gamla Stan). It is one of the most photographed areas of Stockholm.