Thursday, April 20, 2017

The Northern Half of the West Coast

Once more over the Golden Gate Bridge. So long, San Francisco. Cruise control to 55 mph (top speed in CA for truck&trailer), GPS heading: Portland, OR. Fluff the pillow. Only 650 miles to go…

Th drive is very scenic. Well, you enjoy what you can. Lots of green and it gets even greener the further north you go. After Redding, CA there is a small mountain range to get over. After that, in Oregon, the highway is flanked with olive groves, fruit trees, raspberry and marionberry farms.

Only negative is that Sisu really doesn’t enjoy getting over hills and mountain passes. Going up is fine, mountain scenery, fantastic! But, heading down the 6 to 7 degree grades is not the most exciting experience with a 15,000 lbs combo. When other traffic speeds up, Sisu likes to slow down.


In Portland, the spring is in full bloom. A few miles north of the mighty Columbia River is Sisu’s next stop, Battle Ground, WA. United Finnish Kaleva Brothers and Sisters Lodge #24 invited Sisu over to learn about the history of the Finns in the area of Hockinson and Battle Ground.


When driving up to Gerry Adolfson’s, we noticed that people in the southern WA really know how to properly name their roads. Only the best!


Upon arrival, we are warmly welcomed by Gerry (Kari) and Alina (Bunny). A quick set up and Sisu is ready. Soon after, visitors start to arrive. A group from Suomi-koulu in Portland, lodge members, neighbors. All with steaming crock pots and other food to share. Food-a-plenty, sauna, good company. What else can one ask for? Read all about it!

Next, Tiny Digs Hotel in Portland proper. The hotel is a collection of tiny houses sporting different styles, like a Japanese house, a beach house, a barn, even a very futuristic, industrial looking building. If you are traveling in the Portland area and are looking for a place to stay, Sisu recommends checking out Tiny Digs Hotel.


Tiny Digs held a Finland themed open house April 6. Among the guests were the Finlandia Foundation Columbia-Pacific chapter, Finnish violinist Elisa Boynton, Alexis and Christian from the Tiny House Expedition, foods trucks, etc. What a nice and an enjoyable day. Hot dogs, Arctic Accident! Ever grateful to Team Tiny Digs Hotel!


For full disclosure: Check out this very special guest appearance. This dude works even on his days off! Tip: This jolly, old fellow resides in Korvatunturi.

Full disclosure #2: Paparazzi in Portland was relentless! Two newspapers and one TV channel were hot on Sisu’s heels for the entire visit! Check out links to media coverage at the new Traveling Sauna in the Media page.


After Portland, Sisu’s next appointment was at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, in the cozy Ballard neighborhood.

Nordic Heritage Museum will be moving to a brand new building later this year so go check out the museum, if you can, before they close in July.


In an true Nordic fashion, the program at the museum was very elegant. Let’s have sauna, and lots of it! From Friday 12 noon to Sunday 5pm, almost uninterrupted. The 1-hour slots were sold out weeks ahead of time.


On Friday night, the museum hosted a reception which was attended by an estimated 100+ people. Eric Runquist from Finnleo gave a presentation on saunas and sauna culture. Sisu staff fielded questions about the trip and all things between sauna rocks and hard cherry wood.


Mallory Araujo and Ashley Auddino from MetsaGroup tabled samples of MetsaGroup paper board products. We need more of the wooden pens, Mallory!


A warm and big thank you to Bunny, Margie Lehto and Kari in Battle Ground, Pam Westra and team at the Tiny Digs Hotel, the Kesala family, Eric Johnson and Eric Pihl at the Nordic Heritage Museum, Eric Runquist at Finnleo, Mallory and Ashley at MetsaGroup, the Lamberg family.

A very special thank you to Donna Antonucci at the Nordic Heritage Museum. Share the Nordic Spirit!

Next on agenda, Seattle to Minnesota through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. “Don’t care for them mountain passes. Will love North Dakota”, says Sisu. Stay tuned!

Sisu’s full schedule and up-to-date calendar, please click here.

Finland Centennial Calendar in the US, please click here.

Like reading about Sisu’s travels? Please help us bring Sisu to a location near you. Get a souvenir from our web store, or feel free to make a donation.




Wednesday, April 12, 2017

“The Southern Half of the West Coast”

So, a bunch of stuff has happened since we last wrote.

Let’s start from out meeting with Jukka Dudeson. Like your sauna at 270 degrees F, and above? If you said yes, we have the right host for you! Check out this awesome video from our "session" with Jukka, which has received over 690,000 views to-date. That is quite a few sauna lovers!

In Sauna Marshall Jouko’s words: “Take off 100 degrees F and about 690,000 viewers, and I’m in…”

From Hollywood we headed to San Francisco. It was a rainy and blustery day but the California  coast is very scenic regardless, as we found out. We had an appointment with Albany Sauna and Hot Tubs. Frederica Adam had invited us over to visit and enjoy sauna baths both in Sisu and in the Albany Sauna hot rooms.


The visit and entire week end with Freddy and her staff was so delightful! Regular and new visitors to Albany Sauna were all excited to check Sisu out. If you live in the Bay Area, Sisu wholeheartedly recommends a stop in the hip neighborhood of Albany and at Albany Sauna, originally built by a Finn, Henry Walter Lundgren in 1934.

After Albany, Sisu had to hustle over to the Nordic Innovation House in Palo Alto, in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, held a reception and, of course, Sisu had to be there. Parking was a little tight but, after some negotiation, Sisu was positioned right at the entrance to the House.

At the reception, Sisu was happy to meet again with Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi. This time, no sauna sessions for the Ambassador, though. Instead, about a third of the guests arrived with towels and swim suits in their back packs, ready for some serious heat!


Yo! The Silicon Valley Sauna Bus also shows up and soon there’s a constant line between the two saunas. One can only wonder if there’s ever been (or ever will be again!) a similar sight in the front of the Nordic Innovation House: Half naked people running from one sauna to another, and back…


A big hand to Tonxu from Tekes for organizing!


From the Silicon Valley, Sisu headed to Sonoma to visit FAHA, the Finnish American Home Association.

FAHA is a non-profit that operates a retirement community in the beautiful town of Sonoma, in the heart of the Sonoma wine country. We had a delightful afternoon coffee with the residents, after which the sauna at FAHA was hot for residents and guests.

Jari Suomalainen provided nice violin music for us during the coffee, accompanied by Charlie, the sauna dog. Anyone ever played "Finlandia" in a sauna?


To complete the afternoon, Riikka Tuomivaara, a freelance journalist living in CA stopped by to do a story for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE.

When in the midst of one of the world’s foremost wine regions, one can not ignore the importance of Finns in the history of wine making. No, we don’t mean St Urho, although the character was recognized by the sommelier who hosted our visit. We, of course, are talking about Gustave Niebaum, the founder of Inglenook Winery in Napa, CA.


What a treat to be able to visit the magnificent winery and to learn about the respect the current owners are showing to the gentleman who arrived from the small Nordic country via Alaska to perfect the wine making in the New World. May we present, the first 100 point American made wine, Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 1941, and the current proprietors, the Coppola family.


From Napa, back to San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge to a Neste Renewable Diesel Seminar at the Fort Mason Center for Culture and Arts. Gorgeous views to the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the bay flanked the views from the venue. Guests included Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi, city and state decision makers, renewable fuel producers, and representatives from industry organizations and non-profits.

As part of the Seminar, neste introduced EduCycle, a new gaming platform that uses augmented reality (AR), and teaches children ages 12 and up about the impact their decisions have on the environment. Check out EduCycle! Thank you, Neste!

Stay tuned. Part “The Northern Half of the West Coast” coming soon!

Sisu’s full schedule and up-to-date calendar, please click here.

Finland Centennial Calendar in the US, please click here.

Like reading about Sisu’s travels? Please help us bring Sisu to a location near you. Get a souvenir from our web store, or feel free to make a donation.