Today, we spent most of the day on the ship getting ready for our overnight excursion to the Holmen Husky Lodge.  We packed an overnight bag and met for the excursion at 4:30 p.m. in the wedding chapel.  When we found the chapel, a velvet rope crossed in front of the door and a staff member checked our tickets before allowing entrance.  Seemed humorously formal.  

After taking the tender over to the dock, we boarded a full-size coach with a total of thirteen passengers.  Ten of us were going to be dropped off first after a fifteen minute ride to the husky farm. The other three were going farther for their excursion.  

Arriving at the Holmen Husky Lodge, we saw several people waiting at the gate to greet us.  We were first taken into the dressing room to put on warm gear for the dogsled ride.  It’s actually a dog cart at this time of year because there is no snow yet.  They expect snow by the first of November.  The dog carts are used for training the dogs, too.  Nevertheless, they provided insulated, one-piece, coverall suits to wear over our regular clothing and rubber boots for everyone and hats and gloves for anyone who wanted to use theirs.   As the host said, they were “one size fits no one,” and she was right.  

Successfully outfitted, we left to walk through the farm between the doghouses that had a dog chained to each one.  The dogs were excited and barked and howled greetings to us with a few coming close to sniff.  During the evening, we learned how the dogs are socialized almost since birth so they are safe to have around all the strangers that come to the farm. None of them are purebred huskies.  Years ago, snow sled racers began crossbreeding the huskies with faster running dogs to improve their chances of winning.  It has made for heartier and healthier animals.  

The dogs were already tethered to the carts in teams of eight when we got there. Each team was set to pull two passengers and one driver on the wheeled carts that looked much like dune buggies without the high roll bar.  They set off with Philip and his driver in the lead. I decided to skip the ride since my back has been acting up.  It looked fairly smooth, but might be too bumpy or jerky for me.  They had a good ride for about 25 minutes through the woods and along a river bank.  Philip said one of the first things the driver said was that the dogs learn to poop without stopping, and he watched it happen.  

While they were gone, I roamed around the dog area visiting some of them. Andrea, one of the employees, came out to talk to me and took me to the puppy pen to hold the seven-week old babies.  So sweet.   Furry and wriggly and curious.  I watched as a group of four or five people built another team of dogs to take on a ride.  It took them almost the entire time of Philip’s ride for the dogs to be hooked up and ready to go.  Later, Andrea told me that those people were an employee and her friends who had never done it before and that was why it took so long.  While waiting for the rest of the team to be assembled, the dogs who were already harnessed were alternately rather patient and quiet or jumping and vocal and ready to go.  

Next, the host invited everyone into the biggest tipi for coffee, tea, and cookies and a talk about the dogs and the farm’s history and work.  We went from there to see the dogs again so everyone could play with the puppies.  

After everyone had a chance to visit the huskies, we were able to check into our tipis for the night and return to the lodge at 8:00 for dinner.  Andrea checked us in with the help of the first host.  I cannot remember her name, but she’s also the one who drove Philip’s dog cart.   We are staying in a modern, Sami-style, Lavvu tipi tonight.  The tipi has a wooden walled entry with locking door.  There is a wall heater just inside the entrance that we will use.  Two reading lights are on by each side of the bed, and we have an overhead fixture for more light.  The poles of birch hold up what looks from the inside like mostly canvas walls.  The walls on the outside are wooden planks, and on the inside we see white fabric.  There is a large, floor-to-ceiling window of clear glass on the north side that can be used to view the Northern Lights if they appear in the usual position.  I can see the next tipi and a large forest out through the clear wall. There is a curtain that almost covers the opening.  A lot of light will come in through that wall, but we need to be up early for breakfast tomorrow so it won’t be a problem for us.  It will still be dark when we get up.

The tipi has two cots with electric mattress pads, thick duvets, and wool blankets for warmth.  We have the wall heater turned on, but not the wood stove.   Our guide said that if the stove was on it would get too warm.  As it is, the temperature is chilly in the tipi.  Under all the covers with electric mattress pad turned on, it is cozy and warm.  There are electric outlets on each side of the bed.  No bathrooms in the tipi, but they are not too far away.  The brochure says they are no more than fifty yards from the farthest tipi.  We are in the first (maybe last), yet what looks like the closest tipi, number 8. 

We had a group dinner in the lodge with a total of sixteen people.  Ten are from our ship excursion, and two are from the ship but booked individually. I don’t know who the other two couples are.  They may be from the ship, too, but I didn’t hear.  The farm can host up to 17 people a night so I guess one of the units, probably the cabin, holds three.  Dinner consisted of bread to start, then a main dish of chipped reindeer meat in gravy, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots and broccoli.  Philip and I each ordered a glass of red house wine.  Andrea told me that the food is brought in from a local restaurant, and they reheat and serve it.   He has one other person in the kitchen helping.  He’ll also be here in the morning to serve breakfast and check us out.  The employees take turns doing the dinner then breakfast service so he’s there about once a week.  

When entering the lodge, they expect everyone to remove shoes.  They provide shearling-lined slippers to use while in the lodge.  All the loaner slippers I saw were size 44-45.  They’re too big for most everyone, but I guess that’s better than being too small.  

Dinner lasted until after 10 p.m.  Afterward as we were walking to our tipi, we were treated to a wonderful sighting of the Northern Lights!  Another couple was stopped in front of us taking pictures of the sky.  We looked up to see only the grayish-white, wispy shapes that were strangely moving and fading in and out.  Once we pointed the iPhone camera in that direction, the bright green color showed up.  We took lots of photos and stood there to watch for a long time finally going to our tipi when we were too cold to stay longer.  

An hour later, we looked out the little window in our door to see what looked like another showing of the Lights.  We wrapped up again and went outside to see even more movements of the Lights and took more photos.  Just so beautiful and amazing how they constantly move and change.  I tried to take video of the Lights, but the nighttime camera settings I have for still photos don’t apply to video.  The Lights are faint in the videos.  

Tonight was the first time we were certain we saw the Northern Lights although people on our ship have seen them every night for the last four nights — every night that we’ve been in the right latitudes to see them.  I have seen lots of Facebook posts from other passengers sharing their photos.  Tonight was our night, and we have three or four more nights that could work.