Welcome bears
After this we went to get our cold weather gear that we wore on top of our many, many layers of clothes.
Forest
There was forest in almost every direction around us. The nearby town was very small and a ways off. After we got our winter stuff, we took a nap. We got up for dinner, ate, and then took another nap. It was so dark and with the jet lag, we kept falling asleep.
The sign
We didn't get to take a photo of the sign when we first arrived so we took one while we were walking around.
Dog house?
Our best guess for this was dog house.
The lake
They told us the lake was the best place to see an aurora. We'll go down there later.
Tiny cabins
We weren't sure what these cabins were, maybe storage, but they were so cute!
Hotel
We stayed in a log suite. On the other side of the lodge was the hotel.
Cabins
All of the cabins were sold out when we were there but we hardly saw anyone except for meal times.
Two staircases
I don't think we've been on a plane that boarded and deplaned with two stairways.
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fwelcome-bears%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F998%2FFinland-12-13-16-36%2Flarge.1498173663.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fwelcome-bears%2F" title="Welcome bears"%3EWelcome bears%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAfter+this+we+went+to+get+our+cold+weather+gear+that+we+wore+on+top+of+our+many%2C+many+layers+of+clothes.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fforest%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F997%2FFinland-12-13-16-37%2Flarge.1498173657.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fforest%2F" title="Forest"%3EForest%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThere+was+forest+in+almost+every+direction+around+us.+The+nearby+town+was+very+small++and+a+ways+off.+After+we+got+our+winter+stuff%2C+we+took+a+nap.+We+got+up+for+dinner%2C+ate%2C+and+then+took+another+nap.+It+was+so+dark+and+with+the+jet+lag%2C+we+kept+falling+asleep.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fthe-sign%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F996%2FFinland-12-13-16-35%2Flarge.1498173654.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fthe-sign%2F" title="The sign"%3EThe sign%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EWe+didn%27t+get+to+take+a+photo+of+the+sign+when+we+first+arrived+so+we+took+one+while+we+were+walking+around.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fdog-house%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F995%2FFinland-12-13-16-34%2Flarge.1498173650.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fdog-house%2F" title="Dog house?"%3EDog house?%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EOur+best+guess+for+this+was+dog+house.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Flake-maajaervi%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F994%2FFinland-12-13-16-33%2Flarge.1498173646.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Flake-maajaervi%2F" title="Lake Maajärvi"%3ELake Maajärvi%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fthe-lake%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F993%2FFinland-12-13-16-32%2Flarge.1498173642.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fthe-lake%2F" title="The lake"%3EThe lake%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThey+told+us+the+lake+was+the+best+place+to+see+an+aurora.+We%27ll+go+down+there+later.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Ftiny-cabins%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F992%2FFinland-12-13-16-30%2Flarge.1498173638.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Ftiny-cabins%2F" title="Tiny cabins"%3ETiny cabins%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EWe+weren%27t+sure+what+these+cabins+were%2C+maybe+storage%2C+but+they+were+so+cute%21%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fhotel%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F991%2FFinland-12-13-16-29%2Flarge.1498173633.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fhotel%2F" title="Hotel"%3EHotel%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EWe+stayed+in+a+log+suite.+On+the+other+side+of+the+lodge+was+the+hotel.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fcabins%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F989%2FFinland-12-13-16-27%2Flarge.1498173622.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fcabins%2F" title="Cabins"%3ECabins%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAll+of+the+cabins+were+sold+out+when+we+were+there+but+we+hardly+saw+anyone+except+for+meal+times.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Ftwo-staircases%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F980%2FFinland-12-13-16-14%2Flarge.1498173590.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Ftwo-staircases%2F" title="Two staircases"%3ETwo staircases%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI+don%27t+think+we%27ve+been+on+a+plane+that+boarded+and+deplaned+with+two+stairways.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fselfie-2%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F979%2FFinland-12-13-16-13%2Flarge.1498173587.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fselfie-2%2F" title="Selfie!"%3ESelfie!%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fphotos%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F978%2FFinland-12-13-16-12%2Flarge.1498173584.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fphotos%2F" title="Photos!"%3EPhotos!%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EEveryone+got+off+the+plane+and+started+taking+pictures.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
Photos!
Everyone got off the plane and started taking pictures.
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fivalo%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F977%2FFinland-12-13-16-11%2Flarge.1498173580.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Fivalo%2F" title="Ivalo"%3EIvalo%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EIvalo+is+250km+%28about+156+miles%29+north+of+the+Arctic+Circle.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
Ivalo
Ivalo is 250km (about 156 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Flanded-1%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F976%2FFinland-12-13-16-10%2Flarge.1498173577.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsager.org%2Fkoken%2Ftags%2Farctic%2Bcircle%2Fcontent%2Flanded-1%2F" title="Landed!"%3ELanded!%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EOh+boy%21+It+looks+cold%21%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
Landed!
Oh boy! It looks cold!