Jussi Liesio in front of the Great Radar, March 12, 2002;
Sodankyla, Finland.
Contax 645, 80mm, 1/125 f16 Fuji NPH400
Created with The GIMP
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

L to R - Veikko Virtanen, Corbin Johnson, Jyri Liesio in Veikko's cabin.
March 5, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Lea, Isa, Jussi at Meikko's cabin
March 5, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

The erstwhile photographer resting in Meikko's cottage
after a long day on the slopes at Luostontunturi.
A very large elf supervises. March 5, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

From R to L - Juha Virtanen, Juri Liesio, Dan Johnson, Lea Liesio, Isabelle Johnson, Jussi Liesio, Veikko Virtanen, and Corbin Johnson in the finest restaurant in Lapland -- in Luosto.
7 March 2002
Copyright 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Isabelle kills off a banana at O'Hare, February 28, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Santeri and Dan
Helsinki, March 1, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Santeri and Isabelle
Helsinki, March 1, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Dan and Santeri
Helsinki, March 1, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Isabelle, slightly jet-lagged, converses adeptly at Laura & Mikko's apartment
Helsinki, March 2, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Exchange-Uncle Dan and Santeri Koskinen show off their similar facial features.
Helsinki, March 2, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

L to R:
Mikko Koskinen, Jyri Liesio, Corbin Johnson, Isabelle Johnson, Laura Liesio-Koskinin, Jussi Liesio, Lea Liesio, Dan Johnson's empty chair.
March 11, 2002, at Liesio's home in Sodankyla, Finland.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Well, the plan was to cook sausages over an open fire for lunch.
But it's hard to walk through the woods in hip-deep snow looking for dead, dried sticks. Perhaps there might be some wood along this logging trail... Or perhaps not.
Isabelle and Jussi are finally returning to the car, empty handed.
March 12, 2002, between Seipajarvi and Raudonjoki, Finland.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Isabelle and Santeri Koskinen perform an oral ballet.
Isabelle is eating something Lappish and delicious.
Santeri is eating his finger.
March 13, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

In Finland the XC trails are mostly broad -- about 6 - 8 meters wide, with a pair of
goomed tracks for shuffle-skiers near each edge, and a broad, firm middle so wide
that two skaters can meet without much trouble. On this day I had agreed to go SC
skiing with the grandmother shown in the blue jacket and the buff cellular biologist
in the purty yellow boots and matching skis.
I agreed to 5 km... Well, we did the 5K loop which just happened to climb to the top
of the local ski hill and down the back side. Then we came to a three-way branch,
at which Mikko said confidently the short way was to the right. I argued helplessly
for the left branch, but capitulated. The "short way" was a difficult trail with long
descents and much longer climbs (we measure distance in time, not length), and
turned out to be the 10 km loop. An hour later, with unable to climb because we'd
worn all the klister off our skiis, we came back to the three-way intersection and took
the true short way 2 km back to the start. Mikko spent the whole time happily
happily skating way ahead to see what we'd encounter, and then skating back to
see how we were doing. I think he must have done 30 k...
But it was fun; our last day in Lapland.
March 13, 2002.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson

Corbin (tan), Jussi (brown), and Isabelle (blue) in Waiting Mode.
Dan's Waiting Mode involves operating the camera shutter repetitively.
March 14 2002; Helsinki railway station.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel L. Johnson