Genealogy Trip!

It's time!  Tomorrow I leave for Europe.  I have been going a little crazy the last few days as I get organized for my trip -- hence why I have not posted in a week.  But I plan to post my adventures whenever I can find an Internet connection, so watch for them.

First stop -- Spain.  No genealogy here.  Just visiting my parents who live the retired life there.  But I will be preparing my records, reports, pedigrees, maps etc...

My grandparents' home in 1978

Second stop -- Norway.  I will be staying with my uncle in Baerum.  He lives in my grandmother's house now that she is gone -- the house my grandfather built with his hands in the late 1930s.  Of course, he has renovated the house, so it no longer looks the same.  All I can say is that everyone better be prepared for tears when I see it.  In my heart, it is still the same house, and my grandmother is still there making waffles and coffee.  As for the genealogy tour, I plan to visit a lot of ancestral farms, churches, cemeteries, and a stop in the National Archives building, too.  I will also meet with relatives and descendants of common ancestors to share stories, pictures, and information.  The same will be true when I travel to the Fredrikstad area in Oestfold... and Kongsberg, too. 

Third stop -- Sweden.  I will be following the trail of my ancestors who emigrated from Sweden to Fredrikstad, Norway.  I have two lines in Norway (on my grandfather's side) that go back to Tanum, Sweden, starting with a set of ggg-grandparents.  There is a phenomenal historian I have met over cyberspace who will help me find the farms, crofts, and cottages of my ancestors.  I am so excited; she has already sent me some promising information regarding the locations of ancestral homes.

I have been accumulating frequent flyer miles for years, so this trip will be well worth the wait.  Stay tuned!