Beautiful day

Today we ventured outside of Umeå to meet our first reindeer. We met Anna- Maria, a professional reindeer herder. The two reindeer we met are not part of her herd but instead have been domesticated and are treated somewhat like pets. Indeed, she referred to them as dogs at one point. It was fascinating to bring them into the forest and watch them dig for food. (Reindeer can dig up to 80 cm.) I only fell down the hill they were digging on twice. Well, ok maybe four times. After leaving our new friends, we journeyed a ways out to the coast where we unloaded our rented vans. (Major props to Eric and Krister by the way who were able to drive stick shift vans in the snow, ice and large hills- I struggle on flat dry ground! ) We found a place and after some work and a little competition to see who could make a better fire, we were cooking and laughing around a campfire. I could have stayed there much longer, but alas the sun was setting. Seeing that beautiful sun set through the trees reflected on the snow was truly a sight.