June 1 – Fly to Rovaniemi • Overland to Tarendo, Sweden •

Accommodations: Arctic River Lodge

Activity Note: As we cross the Swedish border today, please be aware of the time change (1 hour back).

After breakfast, we boarded our bus to take us to the airport for our flight to Rovaniemi in northern Finland. The plane was very new and very comfortable and we were served blueberry juice for a snack. In Finland, “blueberries” are referred to as bilberries and they grow wild in forests and bogs. They are used in many different ways.

Rovaniemi, is the official hometown of Santa Claus and he has made Lapland in Northern Finland his home for centuries. His workshop is in the North Pole, but he lives here when he’s not supervising the North Pole workshop.

We had a delicious buffet lunch and then some of us went over to talk with Santa. Santa asked me where I lived and I told him – and then I said, “But Santa…you knew that already, right?” He said “Of course!” (I was a little suspicious that this Santa might be filling in for the real Santa today, because I know the REAL Santa would have known right away where I live.)

We continued to the border of Finland and Sweden and our guide Heidi had a little “say goodbye to Finland” ceremony and we toasted with a drink of gin and grapefruit juice.

We drove to Tärendö, a village located in northern Sweden and where the Arctic River Ranch is – our home for the next two days. On the way we drove through a beautiful corridor of pine and birch trees and saw some reindeer as well.

Red lingonberries are very prevalent in the forest as well as blueberries. Mushrooms can be searched for, but you have to be careful because some are very poisonous. Not only reindeer roam the forest, but moose and bear do as well. The waters are home to many varieties of fish such as pike, bass, and char.

People snowmobile here in the winter as well as ski and cross country ski. Dogsledding is popular as well as hiking and canoeing.

Interestingly, the world’s second largest bifurcation is located in Tärendö. A bifurcation can be described as “a river taking water from one river and bringing it to another”. The normal way would be for a river to take its water from a lake or perhaps a wetland. The largest one in the world is located in South America.

We checked into the ranch and enjoyed a pre-dinner drink and then went to dinner. They served a delicious steak with potatoes and vegetables as well as panne cotta for dessert. The dinner was outstanding! Our room is on the small side, but actually on par with most Scandinavian hotels. We don’t plan on spending much time in the bedroom anyway, as there is so much to see and do at the ranch.

It is much colder here as we are at the Arctic circle and tomorrow, our luck will run out with the sunny days, as tomorrow there is a 100% chance of precipitation.

And by the way…the sun will not set tonight as we are in the land of the midnight sun.

God natt till the morning.