In January 2006 we got a mail from Melinda Hofstad from Petersburg. She told us that several people had emigrated from our island Løkta and settled in the southeast of Alaska. Her husbands uncle came as the last from his family to Petersburg after his wife died around 1950. His sister, brother and mother had been there many years already. They had not for years had contact with relatives in Norway and thought Homeexchange could be a good idea. Then they could have some help in finding what they looked for and they could live at the same place as their folks came from.

Odd Arne has always had a dream of going to Alaska. He wanted to see with his own eyes the wildlife and the nature he for years wanted to be part of. My father Leif would like to go with us, mostly because he wanted to experience all the fish there. What I like most is to meet people that live in different places, and that dream came through! Silje wanted to meet other kids her age, and she did. She could also take part in our trips in the nature and watched TV when there was a spare moment. Not once in more than a month's travel she complained about anything! Amazing.

Morten Hofstad with is mother Albine and sister Agnes Hofstad.

They all came from Løkta to Petersburg.

Here is the Central Park. If you want to see more picture from the trip and Central Park you just click here.

Going from the northern part of Norway all the way to Alaska means you have to travel almost half the world around. We decided to go the first day to Paris and stay overnight there. We met Charles and Veronique and had a lovely dinner with them.

The next day we travelled to New York with Air France. One long day we spent taking the metro up and down Manhattan. We saw parts of Central Park, the place where the twin towers had been and lots of buildings and people. We walked along the Hudson River and watched many memorials from World War 2.

Alaska Airlines took us from Newark to Petersburg with stops in Seattle and Juneau. On the flight from Seattle to Juneau I looked out the window and could see nothing but forest, sea and mountains for almost 2 hours. No wonder they call it the Last Frontier.

We were met at the airport by Karen Haltiner, daughter of Agnes Hofstad, Erling Husvik, son of Ole Sjønning Husvik and Liv Winther, both from Løkta and a girl Annika at Siljes age with her mother. Karen had made a delicious fishsoup for us with warm bread as a warm welcome for us. It really was! We were now a bit confused by the time of the day since Alaska is 10 hours behind us. Th first days we tried not to fall asleep at four in the afternoon, but sometimes we just had to!

We stayed in Melinda and Albert Hofstads house the whole time we were there. As you can see from the picture the house has a wonderful view and is very comfortable inside.

To see more of this wonderful house just click here.

Click here

The nature in Alaska reminds us a lot about the Northern part of Norway. There are big forest, rivers and lakes and of course the sea. Many of the same animals also, but here in Alaska we came closer to the nature. We had luck and got some nice pictures. Click her if you want to see some of them.