2675 km

We’ve made it back to Helsinki and have completed our tour of Central Finland. We’ve managed to put on 2675 km on the rental car and have enjoyed every single kilometer of travel. We’ve enjoyed seeing the countryside as Spring has taken hold.

We are left with wonderful memories and a few mysteries. For example, along many of the highways we saw yellow ribbons – we remain puzzled by their importance. We’ve also noticed that many of the farms have smaller outbuildings in their fields. In North Carolina these could be used to cure tobacco and other crops – but we doubt that is their purpose here in Finland. If any of our Finnish colleagues know the answers to these questions please let us know!

We visited the Helsinki Ikea store and had Swedish meatballs for lunch. That seemed like a fitting last minute thing to do before departing.

The rental car has been returned intact, our COVID tests are negative, and we are checked in for tomorrow’s journey home. I’ll be unexpectedly returning sooner than I anticipated in just a few weeks to give a brief talk at the Indoor air conference 2022 in Kuopio. The talk is linked with a recent US National Academies report on Indoor Chemistry from a committee that I was honored to chair. My next visit to Finland is scheduled to occur in November. Until then we will keep our memories of the people, wildlife, and landscape close to our hearts. Till then take care,

Dave and Melanie