Danish Trivia

Here are some tidbits about Denmark.  First of all, most people have a hard time finding this tiny nation on the map, since it's about half the size of Maine.  Sarah and Hanne's home town is so close to the border that you can see Germany from their hillside church in Bov.

Think your taxes are high?  They pay 48% in taxes and the state takes out 8% for the state church, which is Lutheran.  The church pastors are paid by the government, not the people who attend the church.   The government pays Sarah to complete her higher education, not the other way around.  All their medical bills are covered since they are socialistic, but dental care is their responsibility.


Both Sarah and Hanne were amazed at the selection of items in the grocery stores, especially coffee.  If you want Danish coffee, there is only one choice: plain black.  No Hazelnut,  French Vanilla, Pumpkin Spice, Peppermint, etc.  nor any flavored creamers.  We sent them home with boxes of my favorite Gevalia coffees, including Chocolate Raspberry and they made a trip to Frys to get some Peppermint Mocha before going home.

Like to put a meal in your Crockpot so the meal is ready when you get home?  Can't do that in Denmark. They don't have Crockpots.  There is no frozen, pre-made pie dough either.  Everything is made from scratch.  Maybe one reason for no frozen pie dough is because the really don't have pie over there.   While they were with us, I made  a lemon pie and a pecan pie, plus we did have pumpkin pie for our early Thanksgiving dinner.   One of the great things is that they have very few fast food places, even in Copenhagen.  The small towns have none.  I think they eat healthier because they don't load up on french fries or calorie laden cheeseburgers.

When Sarah ordered a latte at McDonald's in Tucson, she was peppered with all sorts of questions:  a) hot or cold?  b) plain, Hazelnut, Vanilla, Sugar free Vanilla or Caramel?  c) nonfat or regular?   She turned to me and stated that all she wanted was a latte!  In Denmark, she wouldn't have had to go through 3 rounds of questions before they finally put her order in!  Too many choices!

Driving there is also quite different.  Sarah had to take driving lessons and pay $2000 for a license before she could go out on the roads.  Cars cost about 2-3 times there than they do in the U.S.  Even with all the differences, Business Week Magazine said that the 2008 World Survey showed that Denmark is home to the most contented citizens in the world.  There is no stress at all when you order a latte or coffee in Copenhagen.  The waiting lines would sure be diminished, that's for sure, since each person wouldn't have to answer three sets of questions!

Doin' the Touristy Thing

We did one last sweep of Southern Arizona a few days before Sarah and Hanne went back to Denmark.     Don and the girls were goofing off again as we walked to the Bisbee Coffee Company for a cup of coffee and what else.....a Danish!

After a brief walk up and down one of the streets, we headed over for the mine tour.  

Sarah and Hanne decided to show off their new outfits, complete with blue hard hats!  They look pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself.  They sure couldn't find those great coats in Copenhagen.

We wore jackets under the yellow slickers and were glad for the warmth.  It is cold down in the mine all year long.  Hanne checked out one of the excavations once we reached the first stope.  Makes me glad I wasn't a miner during the early 1900's.  Way too cold, dark and dirty for me!

 Ten guesses what this is, and the first 9 don't count.  This was the two seater portable potty.  One thing for sure, guys wouldn't spend their time reading on one of these.  Can you imagine how cold the seats would have been?  And just think of the poor fellow who was in charge of this and having to dump it.

By the looks of Sarah's expression, she is ready to head back to the entrance and some sunshine.

 After the tour, we drove around parts of Bisbee, following the tourist Jeep.  Many of the roads are one way and quite steep.  After all, most of them were built in the late 1800's, way before large trucks and cars were around.  I bet the early settlers here kept in shape by just walking up and down the staircases set into the hillsides.

Our next stop was the historic town of Tombstone.  Although still very interesting, it has lost some of its old time western town flavor.  The main road in town has been paved and it has become very commercialized.  They should have left the dirt road.  Who ever saw a movie of Wyatt Earp or Doc Holiday walking down a paved street?  Progress is not always a good thing.  There were still guys dressed up in period costumes roaming around, but also missing were sporadic standoffs and gunfights.

After stopping for a bite to eat in Benson, we headed back to Sandy and Jerry's home.  We relaxed and  enjoyed a meal of wine (made by Jerry), salad and pizza on their back patio, watching the sun set.  Jerry had stoked the chiminea and the fire kept us warm until it got dark outside.

Tucson Trails

We headed to the southern part of Arizona the second week that Sarah and Hanne were here.  We are always grateful to have relatives with extra bedrooms so we can visit and stay overnight without having to pay for a hotel room.  First on our agenda was doing a couple of hikes at one of our favorite places, Catalina State Park.

Sarah is showing off her Mom's new Apple IPad that they got at Arrowhead Mall.  It would have cost them 3 times as much if they purchased it in Denmark.  The man at the Apple store even showed them how to change it over to a Danish keyboard.  The Danish and Norwegians also use the vowel  "æ" .

I was amazed at how clear the pictures turned out on the IPad.  Sarah could take a picture and post it almost immediately to Facebook!  We were on the Romero Ruins trail when Sarah wanted to have her picture taken by the big saguaro and the mountains in the background.  Just so happened that I had my camera along.  Her wish was  granted!

I think goofing around for pictures is part of the Hartlev heritage.  Sarah and Hanne were always smiling and laughing while they were here.  

A view of the Catalina Mountains from one of the trails.  The weather that day was perfect for a hike.

Afterwards, we headed to Doris and Gary's house.  They had never met my cousins and we enjoyed getting together with family members and friends.  As always, there was plenty of good food.

Don, Sarah and Doris relax by the pool.

Jannie and Doris attended to the hamburgers grilling outside.  It got a bit smoky a few times, but everyone enjoyed the "flame broiled" burgers.

Sarah was showing pictures of her travels to Janice and Elaine.  At 24, she is a world traveler, spending months in New Zealand, Thailand, Hanoi, and both North and South Vietnam as well as most of Europe. Don and I are both amazed at how brave she was to travel to remote parts of 3rd world countries, even hiring a guide to get to remote villages by the China border.  When she is not in school, she is working and saving money to fund her travels.

Buck and Sandy celebrated their birthdays while we were there.  And no, they aren't 2!  The only candle Doris could find was that one!  Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?!

Phoenix Phun

In between Sarah and Hanne's shopping trips to Arrowhead Mall , we managed to squeeze in a few things in the Phoenix area.  One of these was a tour of the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play.  Sarah had asked about this, and we found an open morning.  

Even though this stadium looks like a flying saucer from the distance (at least to me), the tour guide said it was patterned after a barrel cactus.  Okay, if you say so...

Sarah and Hanne hammed it up for me by pretending to imitate Pat Tillman.  The three of them look pretty intimidating, don't they?

Looks like Sarah might be calling one of her brothers back in Denmark to tell them where she was at that moment.

You sure don't realize how big the stadium is until you stand inside and look down at the floor. 

 We also went to the new Musical Instrument Museum, also known as "MIM".  If you love music or instruments, this is the place to go to.  We didn't realize how big it was until we started going through the different exhibits.  There are over 10,000 instruments from all over the world displayed here.  It took us most of the day to go through the different galleries and I saw instruments that I had never seen or heard of before.

Never thought of using an oil can this way, but apparently someone else did!  Directions:find one can of Castrol oil(empty) for your guitar, add a wood neck, and some strings and voila, you have a guitar!

As you walk past the individual displays, the wireless headsets pick up the music and video clips associated with that particular display.  It was absolutely amazing and you are immersed in the sights and sounds of the cultures.  Hanne and Sarah stopped in front of the Denmark board so I could get their picture.

 One of the unique and largest items was this huge electronic machine which could be heard throughout the whole museum when it was played!  The accordions, organ, drums and various other instruments that played carried the sound everywhere.  This gargantuan instrument took up one whole wall. It was like standing next to a calliope pumped up on testosterone!  Sarah got a real kick out of this one!

Tonto Natural Bridge

After doing a few things in the warm part of the state, we decided to head north for cooler country.  We went from wearing shorts and short sleeves for our Saguaro Lake and Red Jeep trips to wearing jeans and sweaters.  Except for Don.  Unless it gets down into the 40's or 50's, he is in his shorts.  Looks rather odd with his ultra white legs, but I guess you can say that his legs match his goatee!  

Just north of Payson is the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  The bridge itself is believed to be the largest travertine natural bridge in the world.  Amazingly, neither Don nor I had visited here before, even though we've lived in Arizona for over 50 years.  Hanne, Don and Sarah are ready to do some hiking!

Don and Hanne head on down the many, many steps to the bottom of the canyon.  

Here is a view from the trail.  The natural bridge is under the arch in the canyon wall.

If you go down, you must go up again.  At least that is what usually happens when you go hiking in the mountains.  

The bridge doesn't look that big until you look at Hanne climbing up the next set of stairs. Sarah is the tiny dot of orange on the platform above her! 

It was cool and drizzling at times as we hiked.  Water was coming  from stream on the mesa above us, creating a waterfall off the tree roots.

If you look closely, you can see the black spot (me) and the red spot (Sarah) climbing up on the rocks.  They were wet and slippery, making it a bit more difficult.  Usually, I'm the one taking the pictures but Don stayed back by the platform to make sure I didn't slip and fall (and ruin the new camera).

Well, Sarah and I made it this far without breaking a leg!  Success!

Here we are, at the platform at the bottom of the bridge.  One of the other visitors agreed to take our group picture.  Don and I were the only Americans.  The other group of 8 people were all from Great Britain.

This is what we looked like right after hiking out of the canyon.  I didn't give any heed to this bench on our way down, but we sure took advantage of it after hiking up the trail and the stairs.

This is what the bridge looks like from the top.  We celebrated our hike later on by stopping by another Arizona icon.....Rock Springs Cafe for a piece of their famous pie!  I guess that cancelled out all the calories we burned by our hike.  : (      

So, if you are ever in the northern part of Arizona, stop and see this hidden gem.  It is well worth the trip.

Are there Apaches in Apache Junction?

The Monday after Sarah and Hanne arrived in Phoenix we scheduled a whole day of activities for them.  First up was a 90 minute tour on the Desert Belle boat at Saguaro Lake.  That day, the weather forecast said it was going to be 91 degrees.  Quite a change for them, but they were soaking up the sun faster than a sponge can soak up water.

Sarah and Don were always teasing each other.  It looks like Sarah was laughing (at him or with him?) even before we got on the boat.

It was a gorgeous day, even it it was a bit warm sitting on the top deck in the full sun.  The wildlife was out and we spotted 3 Bald Eagles on the cliffs above the lake and one mountain goat!  We were glad that we had brought along the binoculars.  

After the tour we headed farther east, over to Apache Junction and the Goldfield Ghost town.  Saw lots of characters dressed up as old time cowboys, but there was nary an Apache Indian in sight.

It looked like the "old guy" relaxing on the porch told Hanne something that tickled her funny bone!  Both she and Sarah had fun pretending that this old dummy was their new boyfriend.  He really wasn't much of a conversationalist.   Maybe he is the strong, silent type.  Those you have to be wary of...

The walk around the old town was quite interesting, with lots of antiques junk tucked into every nook and corner.  We found a nice spot where Sarah could sit down for a minute while I took her picture.

Our last stop was just down the street and around the corner, also in Apache Junction.  Don and I had our first visit here pre-K (before kids), so you know that is an awfully long time ago.  It is still in the same spot, but now surrounded by houses.  It seemed more like a mining camp restaurant when it was out in the desert by itself.

We had opted for the dinner and a show, put on by the "Amazing McNasty Brothers".  We all enjoyed listening to the old cowboy songs such as Ghost Riders in the Sky.  Good old time music interspersed with jokes among the four guys.  You sure wouldn't see this type of thing in Denmark!

Hanne and Sarah checked over the menu.  Items are still served family style on tin cups and plates, just as Don and I remembered.  Before we left the restaurant we had a chance to get a group picture of the two Danish ladies and the 4 cowboys.  Perfect ending to an absolutely perfect day!  We couldn't have wished for a better day.