About a week prior to arriving in Washington D.C., Sisu was notified that the D.C. authorities weren’t very excited to have a large, wooden box with fire inside at the Embassy Centennial event in the middle of Dupont Circle. Change of plans. Let’s just head straight to the Embassy of Finland and add some sauna time! Saturday morning, December 2. The Sauna Bosses get up early for the big finale. A little ahead of schedule, shall we say. No butterflies, but... Change of plans #2. Photo shoots around the White House, etc., anyone? Maybe Mr. President is home and interested in some sauna diplom ..read more

While we all are gearing up to the big birthday party on December 6, Sisu still has a few miles to travel, and a couple of more events to visit. One of the first stops for Sisu was Houston, TX. Only 400 miles east is Ocean Springs, MS. After about 100 events and 16,000 miles on the road, it was time to visit the shores of the Gulf of Mexico again. In early 2017, Sisu's Logistics and Travel Planning Team was contacted by the staff from the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center for Arts and Education. They would be hosting an art exhibit of Osmo Visuri's paintings in the spring, and were wondering ..read more

Kicking off October, Sisu was invited to visit the four campuses of the Walters State Community College during their International Festival. The campuses are in eastern Tennessee, in the towns of Tazewell, Greeneville, Morristown, and Sevierville. This is destination country, folks. History, scenic towns, parks and nature. Dollywood, Appalachian Mountains, President Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett. Go, do you research, and make plans to visit. You have Sisu’s recommendation! First up was a visit to the Claiborne County campus in Tazewell. Sisu parked in front of the main entrance and was visi ..read more

It is now less than 100 days to the big Birthday Party. Syntymäpäiväjuhla in Finnish. Say that fast 10 times! You folks on the East Coast are in luck. Sisu is finally coming your way! After visiting people and places around the western half of the United States, Wixom FinnCamp Annual Softball Tournament kicked off the 2nd half of the journey for Sisu. Sisu was invited to visit FinnCamp August 11-13. Detroit Finnish Cooperative Summer Camp Association was founded in 1925 when a group of Finns working in the car factories in Detroit purchased 100 acres on Loon Lake in Wixom, to have a place ..read more

Sisu has had a wonderful first 6 months, visiting people and places in Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula Michigan. Thank you again to all the folks involved in organizing the events and activities for the visits. You know who you are! Everyone else, feel free to check out earlier blog posts to find out who these outstanding people are. Feel free to thank them, too! Recapping the first 6 months: -10,000 miles travelled -800 people enjoying sauna -average sauna temp ..read more

The latter half of June takes Sisu first to Wisconsin and, then, via Wisconsin, to Upper Peninsula Michigan. Old World Wisconsin in Eagle, Wisconsin is and open air museum, operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. In the museum, the staff members dress up in era costumes, and work at the museum sites as interpreters and as if they lived on the location. The area consists of an 1800’s village and several farmsteads, including the Finnish Ketola and Rankinen farms.  Today, Old World Wisconsin’s historic farm and village buildings comprise the world’s largest museum dedicated to the hi ..read more

Early June took Sisu to northern Minnesota for a 10-day tour. This area is known for a large concentration of Finns. They say that if you throw a sauna rock any direction here, you are likely to hit a Finn. Or, three. First on the agenda was a town called Finland, halfway from Duluth towards the Canadian border, on the north shore of Lake Superior. Today, the drive to Finland offers scenic views but when settlers first arrived, there were no roads. Settlers were dropped off a boat to shore.They then carried their belongings to the homesteads. Logging provided work outside of family farming ..read more

As the spring was turning into summer in the Upper Midwest, Sisu’s schedule was filled with appearances in and around the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St Paul, MN metro area). Finland and the Upper Midwest share a similar climate with four seasons. In May, nature wakes up after a long winter. Spring flowers bloom, trees get their leaves back, turtles climb on logs to warm in the sun, lawnmowers are hauled out from garages… May 9, Sisu hung out with the crowd going to a concert at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Then, on May 10, Sisu headed to Uponor in Apple Valley, MN, one of t ..read more

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