Denver!

I know that there is one thing that I really want for Xmas...and that is to be Living in Denver!

I am currently here for the weekend and I just love everything about the area. I know this is where I want to be. I'm a little bit frustrated that I never hear anything on teh job front. And I know with the holidays coming up, I probably won't until early next year. Which is super frustrating. I wish I could just move out here tomorrow.

Yesterday was quite an ordeal. I found out at about 9am that my flight was canceled. Yuck! They rebooked me on a later flight. I wanted an earlier one, but they couldn't get me on it. Bummer, huh! So I take the 8pm flight...which got delayed for 2 hours! Double Yuck! Then I get to the Denver airport and since it was going to be late I booked the Super Shuttle to take me to Dave's Apartment. Well, the guy at the Super Shuttle informs me that there are no shuttles! What! Now what do I do. So I call Dave and wake him up. Of course he's not happy cause he doesn't want to drive. I end up taking a taxi which cost twice as much as the super shuttle. In my opinion Super Shuttle should be paying for my taxi fare! It was a rough night for sure. But I made it and that's all that counts.

Dav's apt isn't bad. He doesn't have much obviously, but its better then what I had when I came to Cali.

I'm off in search of a chair for myself! As there is only a recliner in the living room right now and I brought a movie for us to watch!

What Luck!

Seriously, I feel like I am having some horrible luck these last few days.

Dave left last Wednesday, so I've been by myself ever since. It's an adjustment for both of us. It totally stinks but its kind of the price we have to pay to try and make our dreams work out. I still don't have a job in Denver and I'm hoping something come through soon. The one thing holding me together was that I had a weekend trip planned to Denver.

I said Had...cause my hopes aren't to high about getting there right now. Here is the weather statement for the area...
... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM MDT THURSDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM MDT THURSDAY.

SNOW WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES ESPECIALLY WEDNESDSAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 12 TO 24 INCHES WITH UP TO 3 FEET POSSIBLE IN FAVORED UPSLOPE AREAS IN THE FOOTHILLS. NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AT 15 TO 30 MPH WILL PRODUCE EXTENSIVE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN OPEN AREAS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

RESIDENTS SHOULD PREPARE FOR A LONG PERIOD OF WINTER STORM CONDITIONS WITH DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE TRAVEL ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. EXPECT CONDITIONS TO DETERIORATE CONSIDERABLY DURING THE MORNING WEDNESDAY. CONSIDER COMPLETING TRAVEL BEFORE THE STORM IF POSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY... TAKE ALONG A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT.

But I still dream of the day that we live in Denver, have a house there and are all settled in. I see us owning season passes to the local ski mountains and enjoying some great hikes in the summers. It has everything that Cali has but much closer. Dave no longer has a huge commute and it will only take us a little over an hour to go skiing. It's a dream come true for us.

The View From Our Backyard Tonight

I will miss sunsets in the AV!

Random Things From Our Trip

1. Oslo and Stockholm were VERY clean cities!
2. We go to witness Swedish Police chasing and capturing a pick pocketer. We were glad for the girl that they caught him.
3. Estonia was way cool!
4. Overall we did not find the people to be all that friendly. This is compared to experiences we've had in places like Scotland.
5. People in Scandinavia don't really do the whole line thing..they just push. Forget about one row at a time on the airplane!
6.The air seems so crisp and clean there.
7. Copenhagen doesn't have an open container law...way cool...you just buy a beer at 7-11 and go on your merry way down the street.
8. We felt kinda bad for Denmark in learning about their history...seemed like other countries were always picking on them and stealing their navy!
9. Everyone speaks great English.
10 The weather in October can be great, despite what everyone says on tripadvisor.
11. My favorite things were the Fjord in Flam, Galma Stan in Stockholm, Tallin, and Nyvgen in Copenhagen.
12. Food in Norway is ridiculously expensive!
13. The Klaus K hotel in Helsinki rocks!
14. Belgian chocolate was even better then I had expected.
15. Swedish Meatballs were awesome!

A few photos from Scandanavia

Weird Situation in Stockholm

So I think I eluded to this in an earlier post and just had to share an experience we had on this trip.

We're sitting in a restaurant in Stockholm sharing some Swedish meatballs and this guy sitting next to us is talking to himself pretty loudly. He was obviously not all there. He spoke English just like an American…no accent or anything. His food comes and he says to the waiter "I hope you guys aren't trying to poison me"…Okay, weird!

A few minutes later we hear from this guy "Are you Americans?" I'm instantly thinking, uh oh is this good or bad. We both respond and say yes. This guy goes on some tirade about the American government and how they take away kids from their parents. We realize this guys is not wanting to have a friendly conversation so we ignore him. Then he says to us.." I hope you guys have kids and your government takes them a way from you" WOW! This is when we paid the bill and left. Weird huh. Dave and I said to each other as we left…From now on we're Canadian!

Two More Countries Come and Gone

Today was my 32nd birthday! But I got to spend it in two countries that I don't live in. So it was pretty good day. We had great weather again today. We arrived in Estonia at about 11 am this morning. Now it's time for bed as we have to get up pretty early. Tomorrow we fly to Coppenhagen. Helsinki was good, but so much differnt from the rest of Scandanavia. I'll write more later. Got to get some sleep.

Last Day in Stockholm

Sadly, today is our last day in Stockholm. This morning, we got up a little early to get some photos of Galma Stan without tons of tourists around and also the morning light. I think I got some great shots and I thought it was really nice of Dave to be willing to do this with me. Of course the sun doesn't rise until 7:30, so its not crazy early. Then we took a ferry to the island of Vaxholm to see that area. It was really pretty. We wandered for a bit then headed back to the city. Then we ate our last meal of swedish Meatballs...they are sooooooo good! Had a beer and shopped for a christmas ornament. We have a traditon that when we travel we try to buy christmas ornamnets. So far we have one from Norway and one from Sweden. Hopefully we can collect the other countries as well.

I think it's funny that people keep saying to us...why pick October to come to scandanavia. Well...we live in a climate that reaches into the 100s in the summer, so we actually like to go to cold weather. And 50s is actually really nice. With the exception of about 1 day, we have had excellent weather too. And it looks like there is no rain in our forecast! I'm rather excited about that.

Tonight we are going to see a hockey game. Then tomorrow morning we head to the airport again.

Stockholm, Sweden

I really like Stockholm! One thing I've noticed so far in Scandanavia is that all of the cities are very clean. The leaves are changing right now, which just enhances our expereince. I'm rather glad we came here in the fall.

We've had great weather...in the 50s and no rain!

What we've done...

Visited Skasen...we got to see reindeer
Saw the Vasa Museum
Took a boat tour of the city
Saw the changing of the guards
Toured the Royal Armory
Walked...a lot...my feet really hurt
Seen some of the cool areas of the city
Enjoyed the Absolute Ice Bar

Tomorrow...we are thnking about taking a ferry out to an island to explore for the day. In the Evening we are going to an Ice Hockey game.

Then on saturday morning, we are off to Helsinki for a couple of days. And Sundy is my birthday...I'll be spending it in Estonia! Way cool...huh!

Where in the World are the Schankers'

Sortry I haven't wrote anything latley! I should always know that we never have much free time on these vacations!

We are now in Stockholm, Sweden after spending 5 great days in Norway! The trip is going by so quickly!

We have left..Helsinki, Tallinn, Coppenhagen, and then Brussels.

I do love Stockholm...especially Galma Stan!

But as of tonight...Dave and I have decided we are now Canadian...I'll explain later!

We visted the Aboslute Ice Bar tonight....boy was that expensive...but a way cool experience.

We'll be in touch soon!!!

Travels and Oslo

I'll try and post onto the blog as much as possible while we're traveling. But we didn't bring the laptop, so sorry no photos! But rest assurred I am taking plenty!

So we left on Wednesday night. We got the airport only to discover our flight was over an hour dealyed. Which meant we had 4 hours to kill in the international terminal of LAX! The flight was good. Surprinsingly the food was good too. I took a couple of sleeping pills after the meal and fell right to sleep. I didn't wake up until we had an hour until we were landing! Then it was a 3 hour layover in London and a short 2 hour flight to Oslo.

We've quickly learned how expensive it is here though!

Today we woke up and were not to jet lagged as we got to the hotel at 11pm last night and went straight to bed. So up we went for a day of slightseeing. We went by the parliment building, royal palace, Vigeland Park, the harbor, walked aroudn teh fortress, took a 2 hour boat cruise, and wandered the streets. Now its evening on our 1st night and were off to find dinner. Tomorrow is more Oslo sightseeing. Then on SUnday we baord a train to do the Norway in a Nutshell Tour.