The beauty of Norway keeps delivering as we awakened to this gorgeous view 

It seems like every day it'll rain for a few hours, then sunshine, heavy wind, and rain again. 

Sunday we needed propane and Mom forgot that everything except gas stations is closed in Norway, but it's no problem because a lot of things in Scandinavia are self-serve and we found this automat.

Pop in the empty can pay with a card and get a new full canister out. Very convenient

Before we left our spot we took a walk along the shore it was getting windy and dark, but Mom decided to keep driving north

More tunnels the longest today was 3 km (almost 2 miles)and more ferries.

Ferries here are part of the roads and you have to pay tolls 

the ferry is opening its jaws to let us drive off

The goal for today was the Atlantic Ocean Road  (Norwegian: Atlanterhavsvegen ) is an 8.3-kilometer (5.2 mi) long section 

Although the plans were officially shelved, locals continued to work with the idea of a road connecting Averøy with the mainland. The toll company Atlanterhavsveien AS was established in 1970. In the early 1980s, it was proposed that job creation funds could be allocated to road projects. The proposal was approved in 1983 after it had been supported by the municipalities of Averøy, Eide, and Fræna. Construction started as a municipal road project on 1 August 1983 but progressed slowly. From 1 July 1986, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration took over the project, speeding up construction and allowing it to open on 7 July 1989 During construction, the area was hit by 12 hurricanes. The opening of the road allowed the Tøvik–Ørjavik Ferry to be terminated.

This picture Mom "stole" from the web. 

It shows from above how the bridges are built over several small islands

we parked and stayed the night somewhere in the middle and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset around 9.15 pm

Construction cost NOK 122 million and was financed 25 percent by debt to be recollected through tolls, 25 percent by job creation funds, and 50 percent by ordinary state road grants. There was significant local opposition against toll financing, as few people believed it would be possible to pay off the road in the stipulated 15 years. However, by June 1999 the road was paid off and tolls removed. The accelerated amortization was caused both by greater than predicted local traffic and by large amounts of tourist traffic.

Waking up to a gorgeous sunny day, Mom is actually contemplating staying another night here but I'm objecting, there are no open spaces for me to run here and it's too close to traffic, and this a$$ have been screeching for hours

Mom is looking at the map to see where else we should stop before we go back to Sweden to tuck Lucy in for the winter.

As gorgeous as Norway is the thought of being here in the winter makes Mom shudder and looking at the chains truckers have to put on their tires I tend to agree.

Mom says she wants to look for a spot where she can go fishing................................hahahaha

I remember how that went last time she tried.........................but she bought new stuff that should work really good for mackerel ...........yes, and what will happen if you catch any I said??

besides, there's one already smoked in the fridge......................(I know everything she puts in there)

well see Mom said and off we go
 

We're having a great time despite it's getting a little cold now like this morning it was 42F and that's ok as long as you're under the covers, but getting out of bed is brutal says, Mom.

Good thing we got new propane so we turned the heater on for a little while.

I don't know what is next but I'll  keep you updated 

Wet kisses to YaAll

Henry

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Good morning, It's Sunday morning and we just woke up at a marina surrounded by mountains and looking over a fjord.

We went for an evening walk to catch the gorgeous sunset 9.20 pm

We are now hooked up to power so I can tell you about Bergen an interesting fact is  It rained every day from 29 October 2006 to 21 January 2007: 85 consecutive days, so I guess we were very lucky to spend a little time with the sunshine there.

Whenever you see pictures from Bergen it is The Bryggen area - one of Bergen's main attractions - consists of a series of commercial buildings that line the eastern side of the fjord in Bergen. Its architecture is unique and since 1979, it has been listed by UNESCO as one of the world's most significant examples of the history and culture of a medieval settlement. The administrative buildings of Bryggen housed clerks from many areas, especially Germany. The warehouses were filled with goods, particularly fish from Northern Norway, and cereal from Europe.

We walked along the harbor and Mom was itching to ask how this boat got its name, but the captain seemed busy so we still can only guess. Mom thinks it must have been a very bloodthirsty viking.

Some boats are very colorful and this ship has the colors of the hockey team in Moms hometown

made her smile

Graffiti can also be very colorful and artistic

At the dock there was a market, and what did they sell? fish ofcourse 

Bergen has been a centrum for trading in fish since its foundation in 1070. Today all major seafood companies have headquarters here.

In 2018, Norway’s aquaculture industry reached an all-time high, as seafood export reached 99 billion NOK. This was equal to a total of 37 million seafood meals for the world’s growing population.

Monster crabs and monster claws 

This dried stuff is not very tasty according to Mom

Moose and reindeer meat is also on the market, and I would have loved a taste of that, but Mom didn't buy any.

She says we cook our own food in Lucy because Norway is very expensive.

During its history, Bergen has experienced many fires and around a quarter of the buildings now date back to the time after 1702, when the older wharf-side warehouses and administrative buildings burned down. The rest predominantly consists of younger buildings, although there are some stone cellars that date back to the 15th century.

Notice the facade of one building under reconstruction? The tarp covering was painted to look like the others.

Guess they don't want to spoil the tourists pictures 

The tourist brochure says

"Bryggen is a fascinating honeycomb of workshops – where painters, weavers, and craftsmen produce fine-quality, original items".....................We only saw lots of the usual souvenir shops with trolls that have become super expensive to fleece the tourists of course.   Bryggen also has a wide selection of places to eat and museums telling the story of Bryggen and Bergen. ( all with no dogs allowed signs)

This looks like a mine we thought, no sign telling about it so we guessed it's a war thing

Even the manhole covers were artfully decorated 

After a few hours, we had enough of this and continued north still following the coastline where it was possible.

We went through many tunnels again and now Mom found out many aren't free and there are cameras that take pictures of Lucy's plates so I suppose Mom will get a nice bill after all this 

The landscape is getting more beautiful with every mile so we make many stops. We again spent the night surrounded by mountains and a brook bubbling next to us.

Mom wanted to bring this boulder home, she said it'll make a gorgeous table..............hahaha 

The water coming off the mountains are crystal clear but do not drink it

Fjord water is brackish, salt water from the ocean mixes with the water melting from glaciers.

The light blue colors in the fjords come from glacier water and have nothing to do with algae. The water in the glaciers has a high mineral content, and you can sometimes see the sediment particles with your own eyes if you fill a water bottle with it.

All this sediment gives the water a light blue color, and sometimes the glacier water can color a big part of the fjord to be light blue. This is not actually the case, because, in reality, only the top layer is glacial water, but it looks light blue nonetheless.

The Norweigan roads are good but extremely narrow in places and unfortunately, Lucy got to feel it. Coming around a curve we met a small car that did not want to yield and we were on the outside so Mom directed Lucy a tad too far to the right so she got scratched a little on the barrier. (good thing there WAS a barrier there)

It's ok, no human or dog got hurt

Another obstacle on the roads is sheep. Mom said she has never seen sheep "galloping" but this bus driver showed no mercy just pushing them ahead.

A third obstacle is cows on the road and this boy loved the scratching pole a lot.

 We thought this was super cool and had no problem waiting until they walked off the road on their own, but cars behind us weren't amused at all and started to blow their horns................how rude 

This area has many waterfalls and the biggest is Huldefossen which is situated in a beautiful sight set in an unspoiled cultural landscape. Now I got an opportunity to run loose for a while.................yippeeee

The path to get there was gorgeous and many gates to keep the cows in but I suppose they were not awake yet, or I'm pretty sure I would have been on a lead

We walked right up to the fall but since I hate to get wet I stayed back.

Mom didn't think this bridge was safe because there was a sign "Not safe to cross for horses"  hahaha 

I told her she's not as heavy as a horse...............yet ................there goes the treat 

Continuing on we had to get on several ferries 

The yellow houses here in Norway are as common as the red houses in Sweden

This little one had a for sale sign but the location wasn't great since there was crossroads for main roads

We like the colorful houses a lot this is a storage house for grain

For some strange reason, Mom has been sleeping later than usual this past few mornings. At 5am (the usual waking hour) it was heavy rain, so Mom rolled over and said

"we're not driving over the mountain until the rain stops"

and it's now 9am and it has stopped and there's a ray of sunshine, sure hope it lasts.

The supermarket sells shrimp by kilo, and these shrimps have a lot more flavor than the kind we're used to.

These are boiled on the boat coming back to shore

really????

This boat is in the harbor where we're staying now.

We have to get more propane for Lucy and soon the store will open and after that's taken care of we'll continue on north to the next gorgeous sight.

All is well 

Henry

It's Friday evening and we're parked for the night surrounded by tall mountains and of course, it's raining 

The further west we go the more dramatic nature and today we have driven through at least 50 tunnels, I'm not kidding I lost count at 18 (I know Mom lost count at 5) many of them were only 500 meters and the longest today was 4.5 km (almost 3 miles) 

I think Mom is getting more comfortable with them now, and the ones that are lit up and have good exhaust aren't that bad 

it's the dark ones that are spooky. Only Lucy knows if we're going down or uphill.

Anyway, the campsite in Voss was great with all amenities we needed and as usual, when it's laundry day it's also Lucy cleaning day and guess what............My grooming day ..............

Voss is a small town population 15 000 

After the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, Voss was the main point of mobilization for the Norweigan army in the west, since the city of Bergen had already fallen on 9 April. From Bergen and the Hardangerfjord, the Nazis met stiff Norwegian resistance. In Hardanger, some of the Germans climbed up the mountains from Aalvik the rest went through Granvin To break down this resistance, the Luftwaffe bombed Voss on 23 and 24 April, and the surrounding countryside on 25 April. Nine people lost their lives in the bombing, which completely destroyed the old wood-built town center. On 26 April, German forces entered Voss, which remained occupied until 8 May 1945.

Mom always makes me pose for the camera on grooming day

The campsite was close to town and had a lot of very nice trails to take long walks.

Mom made me stay and watch Lucy while she went food shopping, It took forever I thought and Mom's excuse is it's so many interesting things to look at and because knowing her she has to look at EVERYTHING in the store

I find a few interesting things myself walking around town.

An ugly old guy 

and a stonefaced lady in Norweigan costume

We left Voss early in the morning heading to Bergen which is Norway's second-largest city population 286 000

The drive was through a gorgeous landscape, so Mom stopped very often to take pictures and take it all in, and yes, of course, pee breaks for me.

Bergen is famous for bad weather and constant rain and the average annual amount of rainy days is 193 and we came on one of those days so I got a chance to wear my fancy raincoat (only the second time )

The rain stopped at noon and it became sunny for a little while so we were this happy about that

We did a lot of walking on steep hills .............reminded Mom of San Fransisco

By two o clock, we had enough of Bergen and hit the road heading North driving along the Atlantic coast with more tunnels and mountains.

I will tell you more about Bergen tomorrow, Mom want's to save the PCbattery because Lucy's solar panel is not charging so well in this rain.

We're both good staying dry

Henry

Good evening friends. It's now 7 pm and we're settled at a campsite in Voss, and we'll be here two nights because it's time to do laundry again.

It was still raining when we got up and it had been raining all night. Everything around us is dark gray and that always puts a damper on things. Mom said it can only get better and Lucy is keeping us dry and warm.

Our First stop was a town called Honefoss which has a waterfall in the middle of the town and has been essential to settlement in the area and the development of the town. The first industrial activity was the watermill, which dates all the way back to 1337. In the 1500s came the sawmills, which over the years grew into a large-scale industry. Hence, it was around the waterfall that most people lived and worked. Hønefossen has played a key role in the development and prosperity of Hønefoss from early on.

The town’s first public power plant was put into operation in 1920. In 1936, the wood-pulp grinding activity ended, and since then the waterfall has only been used for energy production. The demand for power increased as the years went by, and in 1977 the Hønefoss II plant stood ready to produce clean hydroelectric energy.
 The minimum water-flow requirement means that approx. 80 million m3 of water is led past the power plant, something that represents approx. 15 million kilowatt hours. Enough renewable energy for 1000 private homes

Under the bridge was some really cool art and it was also a place to stay dry for a while because

I do hate getting wet but Mom says we can't let a little rain stop us from going out to explore ............oh well

Walking around town we did get hit by a real downpour so we sat under a store awning for a while. Nothing is open yet and the town is deserted.

This town has sculptures we understand and a kind we much prefer

Driving along in poring rain at slow speed next stop was in a town called Flå............it's nothing here except this troll

Still raining and I know Mom hates driving then, but we'll keep going 

The next stop is in Hagafoss and there's nothing here either except this wooden church built 1924

  

Oh, and there was an outdoor museum too but that was closed for the season. We just peeked over the fence.

After this stop, there are no more towns for a long stretch, because we're now driving on the Hardangervidda 
an area that covers approx. 8000 km2 and is Northern Europe’s largest mountain plateau.  It has broad plains and rolling hills. In the west, the mountain range is more dramatic. Here are good fishing opportunities, lush flora and various wildlife species, and spectacular waterfalls. Hardangervidda’s highest point is Sandfloeggi, at 1721 m (5 646F.) above sea level. This is home to the largest wild reindeer flock in Europe, as well as other Arctic mammals and birds such as the Arctic fox and the snowy owl. No animals will be out in this rain except us.

We parked on the plateau and enjoyed a quiet night although it was pretty cold. Mom got inspired to cook a "real" meal for a change 

Notice those long sticks? they are there so the person who drives the snowplow knows where the road is when it opens in spring.

No animals Mom said. what is this on the road then?

Goats and sheep are pretty common running around on the roads so the speed limit is low 80k and in villages 60 and 40km  

There are over 1000 road tunnels in Norway and Mom thinks we have driven through half of them already (a slight exaggeration). Today's longest was 7,5 km ( ca 4,4 miles) and in the middle, there was a roundabout 

As Norway improves its road system there are more openings each year. Some tunnels are often long 24 km narrow and many are unlit............I know Mom is scared of driving in tunnels even though she tries to deny it I can hear her heartbeat and hear her sigh of relief when she sees the light at the end. The Laerdal tunnel is a 24.51-kilometer-long (15.23 mi) road tunnel that Mom has driven through once with Dad and said back then "never again" It is the longest road tunnel in the world, succeeding the Swiss Gotthard Road Tunnel.

If possible we will avoid it this time.

The further east we are going the more dramatic the scenery but since it's all foggy we can't see the top of the mountains.

These are roads you need to drive slow and to take time to stop and enjoy the power of nature .............it's magical

Down the hill and around the bend to our surprise was a gigantic cruise ship. We parked and went for a walk. 

The town name is Eidfjord a town with a population of 950.

The only reason this town is still alive is because of the cruise ships making a stop here. Mom said it was very much like an Alaskan town she visited there's nothing here. We walked around watching people coming off the ship to do ?????

Mom chatted with a guy who was waiting for his group to take them out in kayaks. It's windy cold and raining only a real diehard would do it on a day like this.

He waved when we left and not one person had shown up and I don't blame them.

All the interesting things we could find here were a couple of sculptures........as we drove around the fjord Mom had to stop and take a picture of the ship because it looks beautiful. We are both glad we travel with Lucy instead

It's a little chilly now around 60 F but it feels good and I get to sleep under the covers to keep Mom warm.

I agree with Mom "Norway is gorgeous, even in bad weather"

Wet kisses Ya All

Henry 

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We are in Norway now.

 I think we stayed a little longer at our friend's paradise than we planned, but it was difficult to leave such a great stay.

One night we woke up and the moon had fallen into the lake.

sure, look up Mom said

The master fixer friend of ours (he fixed the lock to Lucy's bathroom door) went for a walk into the woods and came back with what Mom considers a true delicacy, and what we call "the gold of the forest"

Fried with butter on a toast is scrumptious delicious

Early mornings are so tranquil here 

Goodnight kisses or was it good morning kisses ??? I don't remember I like to give kisses to people I like.

 a  

All good things end, so Saturday we said our goodbyes, and we drove towards the Norweigan border.

We had to stop in the closest town because I had to show my passport to a vet and take a pill for worms so he can put a stamp on it.

I told him I don't have any worms but this was the procedure so there was no arguing.

No vet open no Sat.or Sun so we parked at the marina for two nights 

 Årjäng has3,228 inhabitants in 2010

Ancient findings show that this town has been inhabited for a very long time. Ceramics, burnt animal bones, and flint objects have been found nearby, dating all the way back to 3500-3000 B.C

Not much going on in this town but this mural is pretty cool,  the old Motorcycle is definitely cool

Mom made crepes for lunch

Monday morning I got my pill and my passport stamped. Mom has done this with my predecessor when required but has never been checked, so she thought this too will be a waste of money and time.................but a little later there we are at the border and checked so you never know.

We're going to Oslo? What happened to "no big cities"?

Oslo is not a very big city and we're only going to a park Mom said

Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of 702,543 in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,019,513 in 2019, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.71 million in 2010.

Mom has been here before but hasn't seen the biggest tourist attraction, Vigeland Park. (hmm wonder what she did here then?)

Norwegians love tunnels they are everywhere and Mom is scared of them, although she says she's not scared, she claims it is because she wants to see nature..........HA I know better.

Getting around in Oslo and trying to find a parking space is not easy. They still have cable cars and super long buses that have their own lanes but not ALL the time.....it's very confusing.

After a few trips driving around the park, Mom finally decided to park outside the Greek consulate and hoped Lucy will be well taken care of there.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park is a permanent collection of sculptures made by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943. The park is around 43 hectares and the sculpture garden is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. It is listed in the Heritage Act as the first park in Norway.

The most famous statue here is this angry boy 

The sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's life work, comprising over 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and wrought iron. It was installed mainly in the period 1940-1949 but is nevertheless a result of over 40 years of work.

Gustav Vigeland famously said, “it’s only when you put clothes on people that you start defining their religion or where they are from. When you are naked you can be anyone, anywhere at any time”. For this reason, all the statues are naked and many are in very strange positions we thought.

Vigeland Park has the largest collection of roses in Norway, with 14,000 plants and 150 species. Many of them can be seen here

The Monolith is the highest point in the park. Construction began in 1924 when Gustav Vigeland modeled it in clay inside his studio. The design process took ten months, after which the model was cast in plaster.

In 1927, a singular block of granite from Halden was delivered to the studio. It took three masons fourteen years to carve the granite. The Monolith is 14.12 meters (46.32ft) high and is composed of 121 human figures rising slowly towards the sky.

The goal of the sculptures is to depict life in all its strange and wonderful forms. They depict people engaging in various typically human pursuits, such as wrestling, dancing, hugging, and holding hands. They reveal a full range of human emotions, including anger and violence.

Imagination can run wild in this place, and to tell the truth, I wasn't one iota interested in this stuff. I was hoping to let loose so I can run on the grass but nope not this time

This was called "a circle of life"

Finally some excitement. two teachers were visiting the park with some first graders teaching them about art...........telling them???? 

Anyway, they were as interested in this stuff as I was and they all wanted to pet me............I've learned to like most kids now. Not one kid listened to the teachers so they both gave up trying to get their attention.

Do you think this guy is inspired by the statues?

The park is enormous and it's hot so after a few hours Mom finally had enough and got ready to leave.

  Walking back we saw Holmenkollen ski jump which is a mountain in the borough of Oslo it goes up to 500 meters (1,600 ft) above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions.

Mom kept her promise and we left Oslo and are now somewhere ????  After hours of walking in the heat, Mom was getting too tired to continue driving so we're now parked at a rest stop for the night.

Again a pretty decent wiev

Tomorrow is a new day

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Good Morning

For several days, I heard Mom saying we were going to Norway. I don't know what that is, but if this is it I Like it a lot and so does Mom, it's like a lakeside paradise, where friends we met at the beginning of our trip have a summerhouse.

I must have been on my best behavior because we got an open invitation and here we are.

It's not Norway Mom just informed me but we will get there eventually. For now, we're being well fed and taken care of by our new friends.

Last night they ate these weird creatures which I tried very hard to get a taste of but nope not as much as a claw.

I did get to taste a new kind of very tasty beer though

I did get a chance to go swimming, but I didn't want to mess up my hair and Mom was grateful for that. She only dipped her toes and said the water was too cold.

Yesterday I met this pretty girl and if it wasn't for humans in charge I think we could have made good long lasting friends despite the fact that she told me off a little. 

Mom thought we were going to run into some bad weather with thundershowers but it never happened. It has been very dry in Sweden all summer and everybody wishes it'll rain except me and Mom.

This is a plant Mom wish she had in her garden 

This is an artwork on a granite wall that Mom always liked so we made a quick stop by the bridge where there's a beautiful rest stop just made for a "fika" break

Last night we went to bed listening to the waves and this view 

Life is good

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

I'm sorry for this long break in my story but it hasn't been much to tell lately. 

We left Mom's favorite island because of the strong wind and the changes and Mom was terrified driving over the long (6km) bridge to the mainland because of the wind that grabbed on to Lucy and pushed her all over the place.

We made it and went to Mom's puppy friend Lotta's house again and now we have been doing nothing to tell about for several days

Doing nothing like running in the woods and running on big fields is as far as I'm concerned the best "doing nothing" activities I know

One day we went to a fair and to Mom's surprise, they were not much different from the ones in America. Mom bought a homemade rag rug that may be unique to the states.

Then they ate potato pancakes with bacon and that was scrumptious (the bacon) Lotta don't eat the fat part of the bacon, so I say lucky me.

Mom sits around and doodles pictures from her memory

and we eat and drink, and drink and eat 

Mom picked a lot of little rocks at the beach and turned them all into ladybugs.

early mornings are magical here

we are parked by a historical narrow-gauge railway that's 71 km long, and only 891 mm. broad; it stretches from the forests of Småland in the west, past lakes, through small communities and agricultural areas out to the archipelago in the east. Along this line, trains have been running ever since 1879, despite many attempts to close it. Now, thanks to the determined efforts of residents and enthusiasts alike, the line is saved and is today regarded as one of Sweden’s top-10 industrial heritage artifacts.

Mom borrowed this picture from the web since hers was in the wrong format to upload?????

there are two cats living here too. The big boy is Elvis and he does not want to come close to me, but his Mom Selma is very curious about me and does not mind me checking her out but she will not cuddle like my Lilly.

Every day the folks play cards and eat and drink and eat and drink.

Maybe tomorrow we'll drive off for a new adventure as we are now well rested and fed.

It's much cooler now only in the 60ies but it's ok since that makes for great sleeping weather.

Mom is still disappointed about not getting to Barcelona as planned but from what we read in the news we should be grateful for not being there now. heat, draught, and fires is not fun

All is well here and I'm sending wet kisses to ya all

Henry

.

Heading to the German port of Travemunde, Mom totally miscalculated the time it'll take to get there, and she got tired so we looked for a place to park for the night.

We found an ok stop and there was this pizzeria close by so we went there for a bite. Mom ordered a Gyro............but what she got was this?  thinking it must be a language mixup she used the translate app. and was told

"Ja das ist eine Gyro". it tasted ok but was no Gyro for sure.

Europe has billions of roundabouts and many towns like to put some art in the middle often to represent the town in some way. This looks like something from space and Mom said she would love to have one in our garden ( A letter from HOA would be a sure thing)..............maybe it's a moonshine appliance.

We stayed two nights in Travemunde where the ferry would leave from and there was a fair at the dock so we went there for supper. Mom ordered fish and of course a beer.

The seagulls are enormous and very pushy begging for food. Mom doesn't mind them and even shared a few pieces of her fish but I could tell other guests weren't happy about it.

We walked up and down the dock a few times but knowing we had to get up early for the ferry we didn't stay out late.

Mom is never up late, but always up way before the rooster.

Our neighbor at the parking was a real snotty girl that snarled at me the minute she saw me. What did I do to deserve that?  All I wanted was little whiff off her butt, but nooooo

.

We got on the ferry at 9.30 am and this time Mom made a note of exactly where on the ship we parked. ( I don't think I told you, but last time Mom lost Lucy on the ship and had to get help to find her) 

When we got up five flights there was no place to sit in the dog area, and the cabins were $65 extra. 

As we were walking around the crew said we could sit anywhere we can find a seat don't worry about dog restrictions.

So I quickly looked around and, here's a spot I said and jumped up with a lady that was eating a waffle.

It turned out that this lady was extremely afraid of dogs, so as Mom is trying to apologize and remove me I had already charmed this lady into loving me. The lady showed a large scar on her knee from a dog attack in her youth. She took pictures and sent them to her family and they were all surprised that she petted a dog.

We became close buddies............

And I slept with her husband.

Ferry arrived in Sweden at 530 pm so we said goodbye to everyone and continued on our drive north.

We're back in Sweden and now Mom's beer sampling has turned into this. I don't know about that white stuff, but the cinnamon buns are ok

Again Mom had a place in mind for us to visit which was about a six-hour drive to get to which meant we again slept at a rest stop. A very quiet and peaceful place I may add.

Öland is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 square kilometers and is located in the Baltic Sea. The island has 26,000 inhabitants. It is separated from the mainland by the Kalmar Strait and connected to it by the 6-km Öland Bridge, which opened on 30 September 1972.

Mom has been here every year except the last three (because of Covid)since she bought Lucy and was really looking forward to first washing her at that place with a high enough roof and then seeing the people at the small marina on the southern tip of the island.

DISAPPOINTED is the word.

the small familiar place is gone, instead, a new gravel space has been built for RVers and the cozy home feeling is gone. You can't even see the ocean from your window anymore .............

Mom had planned to stay here several nights like always but I'm pretty sure that changed now.

Walking on the beach it was so windy I could hardly walk because the wind was pushing me in all different directions.

Mom was laughing as I'm laying down holding on the rocks with everything I got 

The old mill where we get "fika" is still here 

I'm not sure where we'll go in the morning, but I'm pretty sure we aren't staying here, not even sure we'll stay on the island.

To me, it doesn't matter but I can tell Mom is glad to be back on smooth roads, that are smooth even in places where the asphalt is patched. Less traffic and no more grey stone houses with windows boarded up.

Mom used to complain about how dirty her puppy country has become but in comparison to where we have been Sweden is still super clean.

It's 9pm and time for my evening walk and then I'm pretty sure it's bedtime.

All is good

Wet kisses for ya all 

Henry