Norway? eh...

The trip was a success by any measure. Here are some highlights:
-Driving 1200km on the most incredible roads, with tunnels, hairpin turns, and one lane to share with oncoming traffic in most cases; This was driving at its most extreme. Emphasis is placed on the lack of any accidents/fender-benders/etc.We did get hit by a rock while driving over a mountain pass, but that is a different story. BTW, the rental car was a ford. A ford focus TDI to be exact, which you can't really complain about.
-Completing several hikes with serious vertical elements. Here in Norway they don't believe in the switchback concept for foot traffic. This was my most extreme hiking experience yet, starting at sea level and topping out near a glacier. Luckily Kristin has tons of experience on this front so she helped me out a bit.
-Lots of ferry rides, both with a car and without. You would never imagine so many cars/trucks/RVs could fit on one boat.
-An impulsive jump into an ice-cold fjord from an enormous platform just as the ferry you are supposed to be on is arriving to pick you up.
-Turning a 34 dollar tent, 8 dollars worth of tarps and cord, and two sturdy sticks into 7 nights of completely dry lodging in one of the world's most expensive countries. This is especially noteworthy considering it rained every single night we were there. Thank you boy scouts.
-Making friends with shy sheep, hungry rabbits, gregarious goats, Australian base-jumpers (look up "squirrel-suit jumping" on youtube), Dutch multi-sport campers (at 2 different sites, hundreds of kilometers apart), enormous black slugs, and one of Norway's top working border collies (who knows over 200 Norwegian words).
-Watching the world cup on a ship, in a bar, in a restaurant, and at a camp ground. Also, always being the only American in the room.
-Arriving in Norway with no plans other than to start driving and still finding some incredibly special places by maintaining a willingness to get off the beaten path.