Say some prayers...

I'm sure you've read about the massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile this morning.  The earthquake's epicenter hit near Concepcion, the town where my Chilean sister Ale's family lives.

Ale, Francisco, and baby Isa live further south of Concepcion, and fortunately it doesn't look like the quake hit them as hard, if at all.  But still, it's pretty scary not knowing what's going on, and I'm praying hard that Ale and Francisco's families are all accounted for and safe.  We're hoping to hear from Ale soon- but apparently all the phone lines in Concepcion are down at the moment, so she probably doesn't know much either.

It was surreal reading the news article this morning: the places it mentioned- Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Chilan, Santiago, Concepcion, the Rio BioBio area- were all places that my family visited on our vacation there a few years ago for Ale's wedding.  I hope Chile is able to bounce back quickly from this quake...and that the death toll remains where it is.

Say a prayer for Ale and Francisco's family!

Edit: I got an email from Ale shortly after I wrote this.  She is OK- they felt the earthquake in Puerto Montt (which is WAY in the South of Chile) this morning. She said it felt like it would never end.  She hasn't been able to speak with her mom because the phone lines are down, but she has heard that Carmen is OK and at her aunt's house.  Whew!  Her aunt and uncle's house in Chillen was damaged, and her cousin's building is divided in half.  They are all scared and worried, but everyone is safe and OK.

Norway!!

Thanks to a very generous donation of free flier miles from Will's dad, we booked out tickets to Norway last week! A lot of people wonder why we chose Norway- hopefully these pictures will help explain why. When Will first brought up the idea of traveling overseas for vacation this summer, he had Greece in mind.  He took me to the travel section of a book store, and pulled out a Greece guide book, while I pulled out a Norway travel guide at the same time. In the end we chose Norway as our destination for several reasons:

#1- While Greece is no doubt a beautiful country, Norway just looks strikingly gorgeous.  We plan on hiking a ton to different fjords and mountain peaks.  Look how awesome/freaky the Pulpit Rock looks!  I don't know if I will have the guts to step onto the Mortised Boulder, but I'm sure we'll get pictures

#2- Norway seems to be a country far less travelled.  Not many people consider visiting Norway when planning a trip to Europe.  We have both visited many countries in Central Europe, so Norway is a nice compromise, plus we both get to add a new country to our roster.

#3- Will's love of all things cold.  The upper half of Norway is in the Arctic Circle.  We will be there in August so we'll miss the Northern lights, but we still plan on going on a whale watching excursion.   Depending on where we go, we have an opportunity to see Orcas or Sperm Whales.

#4- Norway has a road that's been dubbed "The World's Best Road Trip".  It's a 5.5 mile long road that connects a few smaller islands to mainland Norway.  Apparently when storms come through, the road can be pummelled by waves!

We are slightly concerned about trying typical Norwegian cuisine.  Lutefisk (a cod that that is soaked in lye until it congeals) and Reindeer steak seem to be pretty common.   We may get adventurous and try these one night, but I think I'll stick to simpler food!

We're very much looking forward to our trip.  The good news is that we have plenty of time to plan out all the details of our trip.  The bad news- we have 6 more months til we get to go!