We learned last night that you have to earn your glimpse of the Northern Lights (ok, no one says that here, but I still think it is true). We totally did, after hours of driving around in a van, more hours standing in the cold, and a list-ditch effort to drive a bit closer to Finland. And there they were.

It was really beautiful and Chad's photos are amazing. We got in at 3 a.m. so he hasn't had a chance to sort and upload them yet, but he will very soon I am sure. The Aurora is much more intense in his photos than to the naked eye - long exposure photography captures more light than your eye can. However even in person you could see the eerie glow and the movement of the lights, and occassionally glimpses of green and read. When they are realy strong (like level 8; we experienced level 3 last night), you can see the intense colors with your eyes. I am happy with the show we got though. Truly an amazing experience.

Earlier in the day, we woke early-ish and walked around the town. It was twilight through most of the morning. We took a bus to the cable car across the fjord from the city, and spent a couple of hours hiking the mountain range at the top. Really gorgeous, but cold wind. Chad climbed to a high summit and built his small rock pile to say he was there. It took much longer than he'd thought, and I worried as I stood below freezing. But the photos are amazing. The one attached to this post is from there, taken by a couple of British guys who asked us to take their photo and then returned the favor.

I'm needing to wrap up this post now, because we slept in a bit having not gotten to our hotel until 3 a.m. last night, and now it is nearing 11 and we want to set out to enjoy our last day in Tromso. Some shopping is on our agenda, because Chad wants to buy me a sweater.

p.s. To Mom and Mom-in-Law, speaking of sweaters, thank you for all the cashmere I've been given the last few Christmases. I brought many of them with and they are keeping me toasty. So are our SmartWool socks. Love you both, and the Dads too (and sis, etc.).