Our Norwegian Adventure - The Who (The knitters, not the band)

Is it that knitters are just wonderful people?  

Or is it that we were just all so overjoyed at being on such a wonderful trip in such a gorgeous country on such a beautiful ship?

Or maybe it was just that we were so happy to be with Arne and Carlos, our knitting heroes (and now, our knitting friends)?  

I'm not sure of the answer, and I know this sounds fairly Pollyanna-ish (as I usually do), but I cannot imagine a nicer, kinder, more helpful, more interesting group of 40 people to be on a boat for 12 days with.  

While most of us were Americans, there were several Canadians, and dear Helen, from England  (and of course, two guys from Norway.)

There were couples (Carol and Ken were celebrating an anniversary, too - 50 years!), moms and daughters (and son), grandmother and granddaughter, sisters and dear friends, women who came to the ship by themselves but soon became dear friends with everyone.    

Our new friends came from all walks of life - a doctor, nurses, a dentist, professors, teachers and counselors, librarians, professionals in many different fields, and Alaskan yarn shop owners.  (Why yes, a trip to Skagway is now on our bucket list.)  And, if I get a chance at another life, I'd like come back as an art conservator and work with Patricia (or maybe a Norwegian travel expert and work with Lise!)

One thing that we all had in common was a love for Arne and Carlos.  They made a point to learn our names, sit and knit with us, eat meals with us, give us tips and pointers.  They told us stories, shared their love of all things Norwegian (royalty and cows were my favorite topics), and truly seemed to enjoy being with all of us.  They are knitting superstars, but also just absolutely great guys.  

A toast on our first evening on the ship

It was sweet to share meals, walks, shopping, laughs and of course, knitting ideas and yarn love with all these new friends.  Through our conversations, I've added knitting patterns to my queue, books to my "to-be-read" list, vacation spots to our bucket list and recipes to my repertoire, including cheesecake in the instapot and Rumtopf for Christmas.

And it was extra sweet for me to share all this with Clay; he truly is a good sport, a wise and wonderful travel companion and the very best husband.  

But a terrible selfie partner.  

Peace.