Weekly Photo Challenge: The Road Taken

This particular road was paved by my desire to do one thing… experience Pulpit Rock in the flesh.  In case you are unfamiliar, Pulpit Rock or Preikestolen, is located near Stavenger, Norway.

I first stumbled upon Pulpit Rock just a few short years ago for a reason that I cannot remember.  However, it was love at first sight and it immediately made my top 5 on my bucket list.  So in the summer of 2015 (just months later) my boyfriend and I took a trip to The Nordic Lands.  

The Road Taken to Pulpit Rock was a memorable one to say the least and before we were able to reach the top, this is what happened (bear with me, I am in a nostalgic state)…

1.  2 days before the trip I drove 8 hours to drop off my son at my parent’s house and took a train back to NYC that took 12 hours!  Ugh…
2. We started off our trip in Sweden.  In between meatballs and drinks, I discovered a little big, round, shiny “friend” that my boyfriend had carelessly taken out of his pocket.  (I pretended not to notice… but, it was there alright.)
3. After a couple of days, we flew to Denmark.  We spent a couple of days in Copenhagen where John’s friend lived and we got the non-tourist experience.  Awesome!  (No appearance by the sparkly “friend” though.)
4. Due to poor no planning, we ended up having to take an overnight ferry to Oslo, Norway.  First Class!  My first time in First Class anything!  (Not really by choice, but more so that we had no other options.)
5. I got engaged on that ferry that night!!!  Somewhere in the middle of the Black Sea John asked the question.  He had originally planned on asking me at the top of the rock, but he couldn’t wait any longer!  (I didn’t tell him I saw it days ago, lol.)
6. After two fun days in Oslo, we flew out to Stavenger for the adventure I had been waiting for!  Our first morning, we took a ferry from Stavenger to Ryfylke.  From there it was all uphill as we began our 2.4 mile hike UP 1982 feet to… Pulpit Rock!!!

It took about 2 hours to get to the top and for each second of those 2 hours I just absorbed the utter beauty surrounding me (land and fiancé included, lol).  There was no particular road to the top, but the caravan of people making the same trek carved the path.

This was the moment that I was waiting for…

What is just as amazing as this view and as this experience is life itself.  Whether we have an end goal or not, the paths we take in life are usually not a straight and easy paved road.  Sometimes we may need to follow the crowd, sometimes we may need a helping hand, sometimes we need to create our own route, and sometimes we need pick ourselves back up if we fall.  Whichever road you find yourself on, be sure to take a moment to stop and absorb it all in too.  For it is the road… the process, in which we learn, grow, suffer, prosper, and inspire.  It is what makes us appreciate what it is at the end of that road more richly and fully.  And sometimes, if we let it… our breath might just be swept away.

The Road Taken