being home

since i have been home i have done a very poor job of keeping in contact with people. i have still not spoken with some of my family since i have returned from europe... let alone kept in contact with the people i found to be so fantastic while i was away.
so maybe i should revive the blog a bit?
just to make it a bit easier to keep in contact with people. my goal is still to send e-mails to each of my friends to see how they are doing, or just to say hello. but, maybe to make things a little easier, or to get the process started, i can write on here. it is no longer my "european adventure", but every day is an adventure of sorts. (not that i will write everyday, i am not that good.)
since i have been home life has slowed down quite a bit. i don't really have a routine of things i stick to every day, but i have some constants - monday night is glow bowling and a game of pool, tuesday night my brother and nephew come over... but that is pretty much all, leaving me with a lot of time. i am looking forward to starting school in august.
besides bowling, since i have been home i have also been working on the shed in my backyard. the first month i was home i worked on it tediously, now i just have a few side projects for improving and re-situating. while i was away, my mom and her fiance finished the inside of the shed - insulating and building a loft with stairs, doing a fantastic job. when i got home i painted and made shelves happen (thanks to my brother dagan) and moved in. i now live in a shed and it is fantastic. i will post photos soon... hopefully. i am really pleased with how it turned out. i have a kitchen, with an electric stove and a sink with a 2 gallon water jug for running water. the only down fall is i have to go inside the main house to use the toilet, but that is okay with me.
besides living in the shed, i have been planning... i got the taste of road trip stuck in my mouth and could not seem to get it out. so, i am heading west and north and south (but not so much east right now, unfortunately). my friend amanda and i will be going to everywhere from colorado to montana to arizona and mexico and back up to canada and california and everywhere in between. my boyfriend got an internship in california, so amanda and i will part ways there and jordan and i will travel back to the bible belt together. it will be epic, i will read a lot and find a really warm place to lay out in the sun and ignore the winter that would be happening at home.
travels with charlie.
i am excited for the thought of adventure, but i am having a hard time mentally preparing myself to leave. it is not leaving my home so much that i have trouble with, it is my dog. i just don't feel ready to leave her again, despite my desire to go. the date we have set to leave is in two weeks, and when that date approaches i will have no excuse to hold me at home. i will be off, on the road. i just started reading travels with charlie, steinbeck had the same issue - wanting to find an excuse to stay home, but finding none. the freedom of a car and only knowing you are westbound is exhilarating, i want to take this trip. but at the same time i find myself feeling sick thinking about my dog searching for me everyday only to find an empty room with an empty bed. she doesn't understand i will be home in a few months. i hate to put her through it again. but i will.
it will be my next big adventure to write about.
on the road.

home again, home again.

Reverse culture shock, who knew?
Coming home has not been as easy as I was expecting it to be. Luckily I have Fontella Bass and Aretha Franklin to help cheer me up... You sing it girl!

The French Alps

What did you do today?

Well, ya know... I just walked accross a glacier in the French Alps. Pretty standard.

Pause...

So, things are becoming very busy as my trip is beginning to wind down. I already feel like I am rehearsing my coming home speach as I rush to see as much of France and Switzerland as I can before taking the boat (which is actually a plane) home. As every thing is beginning to feel so rushed, I am afraid you, my loved readers, will not have much new news until the end of October- after I get home. I am having a swell time, however, and I will have plenty to tell (and all I will tell) at the end of my travels. There may be a periodic update, but don't count on it.
Until later, I always love to hear from you all and I wish I had more time to type on these frustrating French keyboards...
Love, peace, and hair grease,
Chelsea

Copenhagen!

(more to come soon!)

I am in Copenhagen and am loving my time here. Today I am getting ready to go to a cabin in the woods! I am really looking forward to it. It is Mikkel´s grandfather´s cabin. There are six of us going, two Germans, Stuart (who is English), Mikkel and Casper (who are Danish), and myself. It is going to be a weekend filled with fantastic music and delectable food.

I am looking forward to it!

Gothenburg, Sweden

This post will be edited with more details next week...

09.10

Just a travel day to Sweden

09.11

Roller skates and chocolate cake. A calm, rest day in Trollhattan with my friend Tommy (who I met when I was in Fontainebleau climbing with Taz and Paolo).

09.12

Walking around Gothenburg and climbing in a gym. Hanging out with Annica and Anna (who were so kind to have me stay at their flat in Gothenburg).

09.13

Climbing outdoors near Gothenburg with Tommy. 

09.14

Walking around town with Annica.

This was one of those days where all that I saw reminded me of all the places I have been and will be. I really liked Gothenburg, it is a really nice city.

09.15

A shorter and colder version of yesterday.

09.16

Travel day to Copenhagen (farewell Sweden!)

Åndalsnes to Flåm and another long bike ride 09.08 & 09.09

The train ride to Flåm was a good one. I could not see very much of the scenery, which made me very excited for the next days train ride and bike ride. What I could see looked stunning!

When I arrived in Flåm (population 200), I went straight to the hostel and set up my (Dave´s) tent. It was a really nice evening and I was excited for the next days bicycle ride...

This day was the most fantastic day. It was perfect in so many ways. I took the early train up to Finse, a train station that has the claim of being the station at the highest altitude in Norway. It was so beautiful up there. It had snowed the week before, so there were big patches of white snow between the crystal blue water and the greens and oranges of the mountain grass. The sun was out and smiling down on me, illuminating everything around me in a soft yellow. It was so nice.

At Finse I rented a bicycle and proceeded to ride the bike back to Flåm, over 60 km. It was awesome! Also, it was all down hill and some really great mountain biking and road biking. Some of the path was really rough and I almost bit the dust several times... it was so cool! It felt really good because I was riding really hard, not like my up hill walking bike ride.

The scenery was so beautiful, I was riding next to glaciers and lakes and rivers and waterfalls and mountains and forests. By the end of the ride, which took me about four hours, I was completely wore out and went back to the hostel to eat and sleep.

This was definitely one of the best days so far, top notch!