Postcard June, July and August 2003 in Canada and USA

The flight went well to Minneapolis from Keflavik, Friday the 13^th of June. My cousin Carol and her husband Jeff came for a quick visit. They had to pick up their regular order of Viking Beer. The following morning we left quite early heading for Wisconsin. We stopped a couple times along the way. The most interesting area was around Shawano Wisconsin. Here we picked up a very interesting lady who knew all about the settlement of Icelanders in the area in the 1880s. Among the first settlers was Stefan G. Stefansson. There is little after of the settlement, we were able to see an open field where the settlers were said to have settled. The current owner’s son and a couple of his friends took us out to the field but did not really understand what we were so interested in. We also visited a Norwegian Church, which was also important in the first Icelandic settlement of the area. The Norwegian’s helped the Icelanders greatly when they arrived. The second minister of this church was Pall Thorlaksson an Icelander. There was an old cemetery but we were told that no Icelanders were buried there as no Icelanders died while they were in the area which seems unbelievable but is possible. Our final destination for the day was Green Bay. We departed early the next morning to Washington Island. We took the ferry Eyrabakki over to the island. The captain was a Western Icelander and very hospitable. On arriving we were warmly welcomed by another Western Icelander, Hannes Andersen. He is another extremely interesting person who knew everything and was and excellent guide. With Hannes we headed to Rock Island. We took a small ferry called Karfi there. Rock Island is now a park but was originally a summer resort for a very prominent Icelander, one Chester Thordarsson. Chester made his fortune in Electricity. He was famous for transformers and other such gadgets. The sights were location and buildings are fabulous. It is kind of out of the way but definitely worth a visit. I was a little surprised that some of the buildings were becoming a little run down and it seems like they are not trying to keep them up. After Rock Island we visited a Norse Church and then were treated to a “Fish Boil”. Boiled whitefish and then the fat is burnt away before the fish is served. It was great and an excellent experience. We returned to Green Bay. One regret is that we didn´t see more of Green Bay other than the hotel. Our next destination was Duluth. We stopped a few places along the way, for example an old mining town and a cheese shop and processing plant that had excellent cheese and meats. We stayed at a hotel just outside of Duluth. We toured Duluth in the morning, the highlight was a cemetery which is famous for its garden and trees. Of course it was an Icelander who was responsible for its becoming famous. The weather was a little foggy so we didn´t see as much as we would have if it was clear but you can´t have perfect weather all the time. After Duluth we headed for North Dakota. Along the way, we checked out where the Mississippi River originates. We took off our shoes and waded across the Mississippi. We also stopped at Fisher Landing, where immigrants like the Icelanders boarded River Boats heading for Canada. Now I was getting into familiar territory. We celebrated June 17^th together with a supper together in Grand Forks. The next day we visited Mountain and were guided around by Curtis Olafsson. We had a fantastic lunch at Gardar Church. KN Juliusson got a shot of Brennivin after we read one of his poems. We saw the remains of the Thingvellir Church after the devastating fire there. Magnus Olafsson showed us around Icelandic State Park. After a long and interesting day we ended up in Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg we toured the University Library, the Forks, visited the Jon Sigurdsson Statue and then visited First Lutheran Church. In the evening we were treated to a reception at the Scandinavian Center. On the 20^th we headed for the Interlake. We stopped at Willow Island and then spent 2 hours in Gimli. Then we headed for Arnes and Riverton. We met up with David Gislasson and Joel Fridfinnson there. Svava Simundsson spent most of the day with us. We visited Hecla and then Arborg. We visited Einar and Rosalind Vigfusson´s and were treated to their fantastic hospitality and good coffee. On the way back to Winnipeg I got off in Fraserwood. There was nothing planned for the next day so I decided to attend the Viking Feast the following night. In the afternoon the Viking Saga, a Viking Ship replica arrived at Gimli harbor. I dressed up as a Viking for the Feast and had the honor or tough job of directing the people to the buffet table, had to pick the order that people went up. It was that much more difficult because I knew someone at every table. I got a ride to Winnipeg after the celebration. The following morning the group took off for the USA again. We traveled to Montevideo Minnesota. It was a fairly long drive with not many stops. We did have a fantastic supper with Tim the bus driver and his children. This was the last night we will be spending with them. We had a fantastic steak supper and were treated by the girls to a wonderful show. The girls danced and performed for us. The next day we visited Minneota. There was lots to see and I was glad that I finally made it to Minneota. We got to Minneapolis in the evening and had a nice time together. I had to check out the Mall of America with the others and then said my good byes to the folks. A little later I met with Einar Einarsson, a truck driver friend for a ride back to Canada. Other than a severe storm that blew some trucks over we had a good trip north. I had a great time with the INL group from Iceland and would be open to doing more touring with such a group. Thanks Jonas Thor, Tim the bus driver and the rest of the group.