Two weeks after leaving Stockholm, I made it to the border towns of Haparanda, Sweden and Tornio, Finland. It was getting dark really early - this is a picture of the border in the blue-light darkness at 2:50 p.m. (Swedish time - Finland is in a different time zone) - twenty minutes later it was complete darkness. (11-11-04) *

The next day I rode from the border to Rovaniemi, Finland - the whole day was incredible. It got cold really fast when I got away from the Bay of Bothnia, and icicles started forming on my whiskers and I was getting ice cream headaches from breathing the cold air - which was cool. It would have been really disappointing if riding around in Arctic Lappland was like a California fall. I made it in at dark, and, apologies, but I could not resist eating a vegetarian meal at the northernmost McDonalds on the planet, which lies a mere 8 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. I stayed in a guesthouse in town run by a little old lady who did nordic walking in the day, and only said one word to me throughout my stay, "Ja." It was a pretty cosy and warm place though. Rovaniemi itself is kind of wierd, and the street plan was laid out in the form of twin Reindeer antlers. (11-13-04)

In the morning after arriving in Rovaniemi, on November 14, 2004, after nearly nearly five months of cycling, I cycled the remaining 8 kilometers north to the Arctic Circle marker, and raised the trusty cycle in celebration. It felt really great to have made it. In case you did not know, the arctic circle marks that point on the earth's surface where during the summer there is at least one day where the sun never sets, and where during the winter there is at least one day where the sun never rises (at least that was what the informational sign told me). Nearby was the Santa Village (which is sort of like Finland's Frankenmuth) where it is Christmas 365 days a year. (11-14-04) *

The entrance to Santa's Official post office. I hung out here for a good part of the afternoon, drinking the free hot "Christmas drink" and cookies, and catching up on some writing. I won the lottery here when I sent out some mail, and the Santa Elves (two women dressed in "A Christmas Story" elf outfits) behind the counter gave me a christmas hat, "just like the one we wear." I was excited, they were excited, it was sooooo exciting. Sort of. Actually, it is perfect that the post office is here in Finland, because all Finnish people seem to look part-elf to me. For real, some of them could star in Lord of the Rings without any make up or special effects. (11-14-04)

This is small town Rovaniemi the morning I left, after a snowfall. I took it slow on the bike, which was slip sliding all over the place. But dang, it was a totally gorgeous ride that day. (11-15-04)

I have been riding in Lappland for a couple of days now, and there are reindeer all over the place. These animals are really cool. They are not scared at all of people or of cars, and they pretty much roam wherever they want to. Supposedly each reindeer is claimed by some Sami (the Innuit here in Finland) tribe, and they are semi-domesticated, but I have never seen anyone nearby when I have had my various reindeer sightings. (11-15-04)

The landscape here in Finland is a winter wonderland, and Jack Frost has taken care of business in the fields, the trees, and any other exposed surface. If you can believe it, there are over 180,000 lakes in Finland, and most of them that I have seen seem to be partly frozen this time of year. This is definitely my favorite part of Scandanavia, and every minute is something new, beautiful or different. This photo was taken on my way to Ranua, which is in Lappland. I got a really sweet hostel room there - it was a cabin all to myself for a mere 17 Euros, and all that night I could see the snow falling down through the window. (11-15-04) *

More Finnish wonderland. It is great to be experiencing winter here after 8 years in California without the real thing. I forgot how great this season is and how cool everything looks when it is coated in snow. It is particularly nice at this latitude with the soft blue and pink light during the day. Wow! (11-15-04)

These bad boys came up to me when I was cycling south from Ranua in the morning. They showed no fear at all! I stopped my bike and started snapping photos, and the guy who you see in front just kept on coming up to me. Then, being the worrywart that I am, I started getting worried and put away the camera when he was about five feet away from my bike because I have heard stories about moose in Alaska getting angry at people (even though these were reindeer I thought there might be some related risk). I started imagining the next picture on this site being me with some reindeer antlers in my chest, but after a while I realized he was just curious, so we just stared at each other and he eventually mosied on up the road. Even when cars were swerving and slowing to avoid, they just continued their steady march. Supposedly they do not respond at all to car horns (and I have not yet heard a Finn honk at one), so it is up to the cars to avoid them. It was a really cool experience, and Reindeer are my new favorite animal. (11-16-04) *