It was time to say goodbye to our new friends and continue our trip. Mom's plan about driving Norway north has changed and we'll head south instead because it's cold as hell now. We sleep extremely well with me under the covers breathing hot air on Mom, but it stinks getting up in the morning. Lucy has a heater that works well, but Mom doesn't want to sleep with it on since she's a little worried about propane.................(.there have been horror stories in the news)

We drove through lots of farmland before we got to the big road. Plenty of rapeseed fields that are bright yellow and gorgeous, but don't smell so good.

Rapeseed, also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains appreciable amounts of erucic acid. Canola is a group of rapeseed cultivars that were bred to have very low levels of erucic acid and are especially prized for use as human and animal food. Rapeseed is the third-largest source of vegetable oil and the second-largest source of protein meal in the world.

It's also used as diesel fuel, either as biodiesel, straight in heated fuel systems, or blended with petroleum distillates for powering motor vehicles. Biodiesel may be used in pure form in newer engines without engine damage and is frequently combined with fossil-fuel diesel in ratios varying from 2% to 20% biodiesel.

Lilac is also flowering and the scent is so strong it makes Mom's head spin

we stopped at a parking place for RVs in a small town called Trollhättan

There are many beautiful walking paths along the channel so we walked for hours despite the soft rain, which later cleared up and got sunny. 

the dandelions manage to grow without much dirt.

we are walking by Göta Canal which was one of the largest civil engineering projects ever undertaken in Sweden. The canal stretches from Sjötorp on Lake Vänern to Mem on the east coast. It has a length of 190 kilometers (118 miles)and a total of 58 locks. Of this distance, 87 kilometers (54miles) were dug by hand. 

The Göta Canal was largely built by 58,000 billeted soldiers from 16 different regiments. During the 22 years building was in progress, about 60,000 men, including a company of Russian deserters and a number of civilian workers, worked a total of approximately 7 million man-days, each of 12 hours. Most of the canal was excavated by hand using iron-shod wooden spades. Work mainly consisted of digging, blasting, and dressing stone.

This means you can go from Gothenburg to Stockholm without having to sail around the tip of Sweden.

Göta Canal is one of the largest construction projects ever in Sweden.
Charter: King Karl XIII greenlighted the project
Commissioned by: Baltzar von Platen
Constructions started: 1810
Completed: 1832

As early as the sixteenth century, the renowned Bishop Brask of Linköping proposed a canal across Sweden from the Baltic to the North Sea. Plans for such a waterway were discussed many times before Baltzar von Platen finally transformed them into reality in the early 19th century

On 26 September 1832 Göta Canal was inaugurated at Mem (a small town with access to the Baltic Sea)amid great pomp and circumstance in the presence of King Karl XIV and his family

Throughout the 19th century, the Göta Canal continued to be a very important transport route for both goods and passengers. However, the canal never achieved the long-term importance that Baltzar von Platen had expected. The railways, and later on road traffic, gradually took over its role. Instead, the Göta Canal later became one of Sweden's most popular and well-known tourist attractions

I thought for sure I would have to drag Mom up these steep hills, but she did ok despite a lot of huffing and puffing 

Mom got so nervous every time I wanted to look over the side? just because she's scared of hights it shouldn't mean I have to be scared too?

The chestnut trees are flowering, not sure if it's the kind we eat though

These statues were called "Italian night"? not sure how the artist came up with that? All of them seem to have gotten used to cold temperatures in Sweden except one of them since he got his cape on.

 well, we're now waiting for a friend to help install the faucet and then I have to go to a veterinarian? 

Mom says I need a passport before we can leave Sweden..................I hope it doesn't hurt.

All is well

wet kisses Henry