Windmills without waffles...

One image sums up Holland:

Official cutest husband award given here!

First stop in Netherlands: Amsterdam

First order of business: find a stroopwaffel stand like in the Best Two Years.

First order of business is an impossibility, as there are NO fresh stroop stands in Amsterdam! Or so it seemed to us.

Canals are beautiful, and the city is accurately known as the "Venice of the North."

Now what else is this city known for? That's right. Weed. 

I didn't think much of this, but the 200 other teens squished into our campsite sure thought a lot of it. I had no idea what marijuana smelt like before (and proud of it), but I guarantee that I can pick out the smell that skunk now! I might have gotten high on the fumes that leaked out of every "coffee shop" and bar and hung above my head while I slept...

Flower market.

Luckily Amsterdam had good things to offer too. At this time of year they did have some fresh flowers, but they also had a lot of bulbs and seeds for next year!

Anne Frank's house.

Waited in line to go inside a museum...something we never do! And yet this was worth it. Seeing the small spaces this poor family was living in for 2 years during the war... Imagining the Frank family and so many others living in fear every day made me feel quite undeserving of the life I live!

Forbidden for Jews - signs that appeared more and more as Hitler gained power

Holland was beautiful! Flower fields!

And swans swimming in the river right by the temple!

The Netherlands temple in Den Haag. As we were taking this selfie, a man offered to take our picture. Guus was out walking his dog, and he made some new friends. We talked about the history of the area, about finding fresh stroopwaffels (he said to go to Gouda), about the best scenery in the area (he said Kinderdijk), and about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Güus wanted to receive a Book of Mormon, and we took down his information. A missionary experience outside the temple...how sweet it is!

And the temple was stunning as the sun set.

Following the temple, we followed Guus' advice and went to Kinderdijk! We rented bikes in Rotterdam and biked over.

Cute Harmon

Kinderdijk! 

Windmills as far as the eye can see!

Netherlands has greatly increased its land area by pumping water with these windmills. Some people live in areas that are "younger" than they are!

Beautiful scenery here. It was just picturesque! 

And obviously more ice cream was needed. We bought this from a man who sold ice cream from a fancy cooler contraption built into his bike.

From Kinderdijk we moved on to Gouda, HOPING to find some fresh stroops. Gouda, inventor not only if Gouda cheese, but also of stroopwaffels, was a very cute city!

Church in Gouda.

We searched and searched for fresh stroopwaffel stands.... We found one after it was already closing up shop! One. And still no fresh stroops.

So we settled and bought some from the supermarket... It's sad but true. The freshest stroopwaffels we will ever eat will  be from the Boise Farmers' Market.

Traveling Wisdom:

If you want to find fresh stroopwaffels, go to a street market. We heard from multiple locals that this is the only place you can get them. We just never found them! Or you can hit up the shop in Gouda, just be sure to be there before 5:30 pm!

Opportunities to share what you believe are everywhere!

Coffee shops are shops that sell marijuana. Cafes are shops that sell coffee and pastries.

If you hate the smell of marijuana as well, a crammed youth campsite or hostel in Amsterdam is probably NOT for you.

Norway: High Adventure with High Prices

Thank goodness for salami and cheese sandwiches, because we have lived off them completely while in Scandinavia. The scenery is worth the cleaning out of our wallets though! Buckle your seatbelts boys, because you are in for quite the ride!

Our northern adventures started on a train to Sweden, where our train was ferried across the sea towards Mälmo at 4 in the morning. We discovered risifrutti...basically rice pudding and fruit. Heaven heaven heaven!

And after delicious pudding, it was on to Norway!

Oslo.

Where to stay in Oslo?? We took a ferry to the island of Langøyene, home to many campers over the summer, as you can camp for free on this island!

Langøyene. I do believe many nomads call this home...

Smooching at the old fortress in Oslo.

The Oslo Opera House. The roof slants and runs right into the ocean. You can even walk on it! I do believe I have found the best sledding hill!

Trying to find the church bldg on Sunday and lo and behold! There's a sign.

Church in Oslo. We were blessed for going too because met Emma! She invited us over for some salmon and spoiled us with goodies and a couch. We were even introduced to our new favorite food, plantain chips! 

Salty dried plantains... Amazing. Not to mention organic.

And Emma took us to meet her sister Sandra! We are now tight.

Hopefully we can meet up when they visit Utah!! :)

Our Oslo adventures sent us happily away to Stavanger, where we enjoyed the worst night train yet! Can't complain though, as this one was free!

Stavanger. Why? 2 reasons: Preikestolen and Kjeragbolten. This is where you with queasy tummies may want to sit down...

PREIKESTOLEN

1.5 hour hike, sweat scale of 3

Altitude: 600 m

Yup, those bright shirted lovelies are yours truly and Harmful Newhouse!

No, we did not fall off the edge. Harmon didn't faint and I didn't try to BASE jump off the edge. 

And as if that weren't enough...

KJERAGBOLTEN

2 hour hike, sweat level? Too cold to sweat.

Altitude: 1000 m 

We arrived at the parking lot below after a long and expensiveeee bus ride to find fog, rain, and cold. I could hardly see 20 feet ahead of me. We hiked up the rocks, holding on to chains and looking for the wizards that marked the way.

My hands were numb by this point, but what else is new? These pictures of the way up were taken during the better parts.... When it was clearer. Imagine a snowless blizzard. About sums it up.

We hiked up and down a few small mountains, until we reached it. This is the place! Only.....it was so dang foggy you couldn't see. Thing!

We waited until the last minute, hoping we might get some sun through the thick clouds... Just as I was ready to give up and turn to begin our descent, I thought I noticed it get lighter. The sun? It exists here?? Heavenly Father answered my little plea for sunshine :) and the result??

Beautiful.

Clear views all the way to the fjord!!

The hike back was a cake walk in comparison! And what a landscape! Too high up for trees, I loved the rocky landscape, covered by small mosses, with shrubs popping up as we descended. Definitely worth every second.

That far above the fjord... Awesome.

Our wee lil rock pyramid. 

We enjoyed a long bus ride back, snoozing and finishing up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... Back to Stavanger.

Port of Stavanger.

Deciding if we wanted to treat ourselves to some fast food, but not only does it taste just as greasy as in America, it costs a titch more....100 krona = $17

But we DID get some ice cream

And we felt SO good after a long hike that we went back for seconds. (Also the popsicles were about the cheapest thing at COOP)

Our time in Stavanger other than the hikes consisted of sleeping and having our very own movie party in the coolest lime green tent around.

My life is good. REALLY good.

Traveling wisdom: 

Check the weather before going on long hikes to somewhere specific. It might be worth it to wait an extra day.

REMA 1000 is definitely the cheapest grocery store we encountered. Also cookies costing only 14 krona (about $2) might be your only affordable sweet staple.

Salami and cheese sandwiches can last you until you stop using krona and get back to euros...

Find out where you can camp for free, then you may be able to buy more than salami.

Rest days are necessary now and then... Especially when in between awesome hikes!

Make friends at church.

Sometimes a rail pass can get you a free chair on a night train.

Emergency blankets can make someone like me sleep nice and toasty warm all night!! Meet Brookito.