Norway

I'm in Norway. It's okay, save for the incontinent weather (yes, I meant to say it). It rains all the time, with only occassional sun. That's playing havoc with our shooting schedule. But we're here...by the grace of God! We almost didn't make it.

My fellow broadcaster and I woke up before the sun on Sunday, to get to work by 6:00 a.m. so we could pack up and get a ride to the airport. Three hours later, we arrived at Frankfurt Int'l, and checked in for our flight departing at noon-thirty. We ate breakfast, and middled around until time to board. Three more hours later, we arrived in Oslo, Norway. The weather was nice, and we thought this was going to be an easy trip. Oh, how wrong we were. Getting to Oslo, was the only easy thing that happened from there on. When we got our bags (even though we checked them all the way to our final destination, we still had to wait for them, pick them up, go through customs, and check them back in) we went straight to the re-check place, all the way across the busy, football field-sized terminal. There, the ''person'' in charge told us that two of our bags were ''irregular sized'' and had to check in at the irregular baggage handler, back across the terminal. We looked at each other, and then our tickets. My ticket said we didn't leave for an hour, so I knew we had nothing to worry about. That's when things started to fall apart.
It turns out, the original check-in lady we spoke with in Frankfurt, had inadvertantly mistyped one of our tickets. Flight 458 left Oslo at 3:30, while flight 468 left at 5:00. One slip of the finger, and my companion had to rush around, trying to make her flight. We eventually made it to the irregular baggage place, dropped off the bags, and rushed to security. We got through in record time, and ran down the concourse to her terminal. While running, we heard them call her name over the loud speaker, and we double-timed our double-time. We made it to the gate at 3:28, only to find that they had already closed the doors. We told the gate keepers our plight, and they already knew our situation. They asked us to decide if she was to fly ahead of me and wait the hour and a half it would take for me to arrive, or they would try to put her on my flight. We chose the latter. So now we had time to catch our breath, and wait on the flight.
We eventually made our way to the city of Trondheim, picked up our bags and rental car, and got directions to the ferry, that would take us to meet our military representatives, already waiting on us. The problem is, we asked the wrong person. It turns out, there are three ferrys that go to where we were headed, and she directed us to the one that was a two-hour drive from out current location. But, we didn't know that. What we knew, was that there would be a liason waiting for us at the ferry dock once we sailed across the sea. So, we made it across the water by 8:30 p.m., and waited, thinking they would come and get us. We also knew that the last ferry came in at 10:00 p.m. so when they weren't there when we arrived, we figured they were on their way. 9:00 rolled around, and we got out and looked for any signs that someone was coming to get us. 9:30, and I decided to wait until the next ferry, believing that they would come for the last ferry. Nope. 10:00 rolled in, and we looked at each other, increasinly bored, but more increasingly worried that we were in a foreign land, with no money, and no ability to ask for directions. We decidd to wait one more half hour, then just start driving in a direction, and hope for the best. At 10:30, we up and left. Our GPS didn't have the city we were looking for, but it had one similar, so we went that way. Not exactly a mistake, but it was dangerous. Oh! I forgot to tell you, that as soon as we crossed the water way, it began to rain. And never stopped. So now we wer eon the road to parts unknown, in the dark, and in the rain.
The GPS told us how to get where we were going, and for fun, I programmed the voice to speak in British English. I think it got amad at me for this, because it took us on the trip from Hell. Dark, and raining, we drove down curvy roads, all the while hoping we were going in the right direction. After about an hour, things only got worse. The road forked to the left. Left, and UP!!! We were driving up a mountain, and Iæm glad it was dark. What little I could see thanks to the car's headlights, looked steep. But it wasn't until we hit a clear area, that I found out how steep. On the passenger side, there looked to be a foot of gravel road, before a plunge that would make a seasoned skydiver think twice. But we were okay, because at least we could see ahead, and make adjustments for the road. NOT. As if on cue, the rain changed from an annoying spritz, to Heaven's toilet on burrito day. The rain was what we call a 'possum pounder'...heavy, and changing visibility to, well, the interior of the car. Then the road changed, and we started driving down hill. So, it was dark, storming, and we were driving down twisty roads on a mountain face.
Again, by the Grace of God, we pulled it off, and as if Heaven has a wicked sense of huumor, once we hit flat, paved road again, the rain lightened up. We drove another hour into a town we thought was correct...the town, was empty. What do you expect at midnight on a Sunday night/Monday morning? We drove around for a while, stopping at place after place to see if there was any room at the inn, and we would ask directions, or get a bed and ask in the morning. Nope. All closed up. This continued for about a half hour, before I spotted a sign for a hospital. I figured, hospitals don't close, so we could get some help there.
Again, nope. All shut up. By this point, I'd had enough. I was going to break in, and get a couch, or bed to sleep on. I pulled and pulled on the door, but it was locked solid. I was on my way to the nearest window to see if I could pry it open, when a light turned on, and a nurse opened the door. I knew she was a nurse, because she wore white scrubs. I asked her where our base was, and in mere minutes, we had a map. It turns out, we were really close to the base, out of sheer luck. We pulled into the gate around 1:00 a.m.
Once we got in, we asked the guard where our contact person was, but he was just a lowly guard, and lowly guards know nothing. So we went in to a security shack, to see if they could contact someone for us. There's a running word in this post...and it held true here, too.
''Nope.''
We then asked if there was a place we could sleep. The security guard told us of some field tents set up in the distance, and we might find somewhere to sleep there. So we drove on, blissfull that we'd made it this far without incident. We got to the tents, but once there, we saw that they were arranged in some sort of fashion. Not knowing which one to go to, we opted for the first one we saw. I slowly unzipped the door, and saw it was pitch black inside. Then fear overcame my coworker, and she didn't want to wake up anyone inside, for fear they might be a special forces unit, and kill us, thinking we were attacking their base camp. So we turned around and returned to the car. With no other options available, and being dead tired from a day of travelling and death-defying, we slept in the car.
The next morning, we got up, followed a line of people to breakfast, where we met up with some other Americans, and finally were able to get some people to ask questions for us. What happened to our escort? Why was there no boarding available? Where can I get a shower?!?!?
The nice Lieutenant we spoke to, took us under her wing, and had some of her people take us to one of the dorms to wait, as she located our liason. We waited an hour, but finally made our contact. We got our rooms, a shower, and introduced to the people in charge.
It turns out, like I posted earlier, that there were three ferrys, and our person was waiting until 11:00 p.m. for us at the other one. At one point, he even told us he saw us walking around the city by the base, but he didn't know it was us, so he just let us walk around, and leave in a huff.
It was comical, after I'dcalmed down.

So here we are, and we're making headway with our stories. We have gone through a lot on this trip, and it's only the second day. Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.

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My teeth have begun to heal. I wake up in pain, but 800mg of pain meds, make it feel good for most of the day. Vanessa will be glad at this news, because it's been like walking on eggshells trying to kiss me. If it keeps up next week, I'm going back to the dentist.

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ULI