Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - Come back next week...
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Sunday: On to Copenhagen
The whole family left our motorcoach BERT (Big Expensive Road Traveler) early to drive the half hour to the Grand Junction airport, where I arrived in ample time to catch my 6:35 a.m. flight--on to Salt Lake City, then Atlanta, before touching down in Copenhagen at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning. All easy flights and I got a lot of sleep on the pond crossing.

Monday: Lund
At the Copenhagen airport I breezed through passport control, walked to the train station, bought my ticket and boarded the first train north. Within 30 minutes I was in Lund, Sweden, where I walked to quarter mile to the Grand Hotel, my Swedish home for many days over the last several months. The skies were grey and the wind chilly--sad to be wearing a jacket in the later part of June. After checking in, I walked across the street to the Old Bull for their lunch special, a wonderful plate of salmon.



I spent the afternoon preparing for the upcoming client meeting, and then met up with Kevin, my Swedish colleague. We worked through dinner doing final preparation.

Tuesday
This was all day at our clients, sharing findings from a study we had done and making recommendations as to how to best build their services business. Good day, but a long day. We had an early Thai dinner and then went to bed.

Wednesday
Another day chocked full of client work.

Thursday
An early train ride back to Copenhagen to spend the day with another client, helping them introduce a new services offering.

Friday: Midsummer’s Eve
An old pagan tradition, dating back hundred’s of years (before Christianity) is the celebration of Midsummer’s Eve, linked to the summer solstice. Several years ago I was in Sweden at the summer solstice and was introduced to their habits of wearing traditional garb complete with crowns of wildflowers around their heads, dancing a strange dance around a maypole to traditional music, staying outside all day--rain or shine, hot or cold--eating very nasty herring and drinking a very-hard-to-describe snaps. Quite the time. If you get the chance to be invited to someone’s home, jump at the chance--just be careful of the snaps! Click here if you want to learn more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer

It is a big deal in Sweden, and today was an official holiday with many people taking time off before and after.

Waiting to board my flight to the States, I took this pic of a good-looking family.



The rest of the day was spent flying. The good news is that I made it to Salt Lake in time for my last flight to Grand Junction. The bad news is that they cancelled the flight due to a mechanical problem. So a complimentary hotel for the night, food voucher, and an emergency bag complete with a range of supplies from toothpaste to a Delta tee shirt. Oh well, so goes traveling.

Saturday: Finally Back to Camp
I took a long walk, cleaned up, had breakfast, and then took the shuttle to the airport. All went well and I arrived on time. Poor light, dirty glass, and a low-resolution iPhone couldn’t stop the Great Salt Lake from being a spectacular sight to fly over.



At the Grand Junction airport I was greeted by sounds of canine excitement and a wagging of tails that rivaled the speed of a Mercedes windshield wiper in a rainstorm. The Pups must have thought I’d been gone for a decade!

After setting my bag down, we quickly retired to the shade by our coach. We sat and chatted with camp personnel and I got a quick shot of Alan the head ranger. Also, I diligently worked trying to capture a butterfly in flight and after a hundred or more shots I finally got one that was acceptable--quick little buggers!









Long week, but a good week.

Pups Across America

Yikes! Nothing this week. I promise to do better next blog.

Headlights

June 26-August 7: We will continue our role as camp hosts at Highline Lake State Park near Loma, CO
September 4-10: Camp with Scott and Deb in Northern Michigan?
September 11-25: Visit Kalamazoo, MI friends and participate in Ribarama
October 16-31: Visit Kentucky friends
November 1: Head back to Pine Island

Have questions or comments--send them in.

Next week should be loaded with pics as we are going to Colorado National Monument a time or two.

Tags: Sweden, Midsummer's Eve, photography