I fully intended to write about this trip in detail... but various circumstances conspired for that not to happen right after we returned, nor in the month, and then years, after. And the reality is that I'm just never going to do it - my notes aren't good enough to reconstruct the trip in my usual narratives. Which is sad because, as, as I said, it's one of the best trips I've ever taken, maybe the best up to that point, and it launched my travels by motorcycle.

Here's some things I don't want to forget and some things you might find helpful:

• In Kristiansand, we stayed with someone that I'm pretty sure is no longer with us, but she was an extraordinary woman and she her kindness and stories set the tone not only for my entire trip, but maybe for my life after that. Her name was Gerd Reibrå, but she insisted we call her Tanta Gerd). We found her via Bed & Breakfast Norway - bbnorway.com, which still exists. I wish so much I'd taken a photo of her, even with her. Her house was filled with items from all over the world, which she'd accumulated with her husband, now deceased - he'd been worked on a ship, I can't remember if it was an oil tanker or what, but she went along often. She called us to breakfast in the morning with a small gong, and her breakfast was a bountiful feast. She told us wonderful stories about her travels all over the world and fussed at Stefan for smoking and fussed at me to attend to Stefan as we ate, which we both found terribly amusing and still refer to now ("Better take care of my man!"). Tanta Gerd was an inspiration to me. Someone should have written a book based on her travels.

• You cannot spend too much time on the West Coast of Norway. Take plenty of time to just sit in one spot and take in whatever is before you, fjord or glacier or lake or waterfall or jelly fish swimming by the ferry or whatever.
  

• Even people with the strongest stomachs have problems on the ferry from Denmark to Norway. Take seasickness medicine and take some ginger to eat or ginger ale to drink. And go to the bathroom early in the trip, because later, you won't want to be anywhere near the well-used bathrooms.

• So many winding roads... incredible, and all in wonderful condition.

• We didn't camp. We stayed in cabins at the plethora of campsites on our route. That said, you want to stop early, because cabins do fill up and sell out. I like stopping by 5, at the very latest. Cabins did not have sinks or any plumbing. They sometimes had a hot plate. We never needed our own air mattresses - there was always something to lay our sleeping bags on top of.
  

• Norway is not known for its food nor its beer. And when you visit, you will learn why.
  

• Bring something to put over your eyes at night, or you won't get any sleep in the summer, when it never, ever gets dark.
  

• Nothing to see in Lillihammer except the old Olympic ski jump (and maybe a demo of such) and the bobsled simulator at the bottom of it. Which we enjoyed.
  

• If you go over into Sweden, don't miss the rock carvings at Tanumshede. I wish we'd had more time and different clothes, so we could make an extensive exploration of the area. The gift shop is nice, and the camping next door is excellent.

• The hiking is awesome -- just be sure you bring the clothes for it (which I did not).

• Mind the bicyclists -- they are everywhere, on every hill, on every mountain.

• For highlights of our trip, visit Stefan's web site.

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