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The sign as we get off the ferry from Stavanger.	Arriving at the town from the ferry. The left picture is of the town. on the upper right you see a cove (over the hill) which is the valley where we are.	Entering the town
My grandparents house Where we are. The inside is very much like I remembered it though a little modernized. My family has been in this house for 150 years. They just found out it was over 200 years old.	View from my grandparents place. This is looking east. The othere picture I took from the hill behind my grandparents house (1972 but still looks the same) toward the cove.	This is looking north up the road that leads to my uncle's old house where my dad, sister, and brother were born.
The side entry to the house.	Generation were born in this place. It is just 100 feet down the road. My father, sister, and brother were born here. My family is trying to regain it. Unfortunately, you can't just buy the house property, you have to take the entire land and use it as it is meant for: farming. My cousin uses it as storage :( and leases out the land. This was the original homestead.	south view
north view	Langfoss the 10th largest waterfall in the world 2 hrs away it's north of Haugesund. Just huge. This year there hasn't been much rain so the water level is low.
looking the other way down the fjord.	Avaldsnes - the oldest royal residence in Norway. This is on the north side of the island, about 40 minutes away. The seat of the Vikings for 3000 years. In 870 AD Harald Fairhar after defeating other rulers was the first to unite all and was the founder of the Kingdom of Norway. In 1250 AD this church was built in honor of King Olav Tryggvason (998 AD) who converted the place to Christianity. The church is called St. Olav's church. On the far side (picture later) there is a stone leaning toward the church called "Virgin Mary's sewing needle" the legend is that when the needle touches the church it will be judgment day. Below is also part of the Viking village which is being re-constructed with material they've found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avaldsnes
		The Viking village
The Viking village herb garden.
They claim she was born in Haugesund	Haugesund is the large city just off the north tip of the island.
	Looking back from the dock passed our old house.	Across the cove is Falnes church. This was the view from our kitchen and living room.
Our old house was the middle one. My cousin now lives there. The house on top and the one in front wasn't there when I was a kid. I remember climbing up the hill in back where wild blueberrys and heather was all over the place.	My Norwegian has come back and my vocabulary is almost up to par. Jay can understand since he speaks Swedish but our dialect is quite different and sometimes gives him a headache. Anyway there has been no problem since Norwegians also understand Swedish. The hospitality is a bit overwhelming and smothering. They see it as their job to take care of us as guests so we're fighting for our freedom to just get loose. They're also proud of the history so they want to show us everything. Especially since much of the historic stuff in town is family related. The museum in town has most of my old aunts stuff from her old general store. More later PS the weathermen here are as inadequate as there.	Vik - the heart of the valley This is closer into the cove from the picture from the dock.
Looking across from our old house this was the view. This is where generations of relatives have been buried.	This is looking back toward's our old house across the cove.	My cousin Helen now lives in my parents old house. It was great visiting. She fixed up the outside and bought part of the neighboring land but hasn't yet changed the inside much. So . . . . it looks very much the same. Below are some pictures of the place and the view.

My dad build me a hut in back of the house. This was the view I had.	Reading the history of this area. It tells that our valley, Vik, (my mom's maiden name, up further was Dale where my father's decedent's came from) was settled first since it had the farmable land. People have been in the valley for years. The town of Skudeneshavn, about 1.5 miles down the road only was established in 1857 and became a fishing village. The dangerous Norwegian Skogkat (forest cat). Used by the Vikings to protect their grain from mice and rats. The Norwegian Ninja, it changes it's coat winter to summer. P.S. it loves company and is very people friendly.	You know, it's really embarrassing when they have to put up signs for you to remember your name!
Inside my grandparents old house, now my sister's summer home.	The other room. The dresser you see is ancient. The door behind the chair is original.	Looking the other way.
Behind the house is a large wooded area with a huge rock called Storeberg. You can see the entire area from here since it's the highest point. We couldn't climb it but we were able to hike up the the smaller one which is by 'Litle Vatene' little lake, where the area gets its water from.
		Today, August 8th we went to Stavanger which has a boat festival at the harbor. Tomorrow the Queen Elizabeth comes for its last voyage before becoming a floating hotel. Here are pictures of old town Stavanger.

Here is my sister, niece, and grandniece on the dock by an old fire engine.		This is one block up from the dock in old town. You can see the cruise liner above the old roofs.
From here we took a boat to Flor og Fjære, a tropical island 20 minutes from Stavanger. Once just an empty rock in the ocean it has a unique microclimate. They can grow lemons, figs, palms, tree ferns, lemons, grapes, and bananas. The water temperature around the island is quite warmer than Stavanger due to a particular current in the gulf stream.. http://www.florogfjare.no/

Our last touristy thing was a cruise up the fjord: Lysefjord. Just beautiful like all else. Steep cliffs with goats on them defying gravity. The seals lying on the rocks, and the deep waters. Huge waterfalls which we were able to grab a glass and drink from. I can't remember the unit measure of drinkable water but rain has 0, the water fall had 4 and basic drinking water is permitted to have 30 units. Tomorrow we head back, a pit stop in Seattle before Bandon. See you there. http://www.lysefjord.com/