Today we're off the mountain and the sun is back on charging the panel on the roof. We're at one of Mom's friends and here lives a giant named Buster. He's very nice, but a little scary

It's a gorgeous place with a huge yard to run loose, but Mom had to spend so much time to get all the grass out of my paws so I'm not sure I will be let loose again.

Mom loved the flowers at this apple tree, I don't care but I watered it

 Lucky me, I found another tasty ear 

so let me go back to where I left off yesterday. We stayed on the mountain for the night. Freezing but awesome.

We met a couple who lived in a humungous RV like the size we see in the USA. I thought Mom would be jealous, but as it turned out she much prefers little Lucy who is easily parked and can go pretty much everywhere.

This luxury home can't drive some of the roads in Norway for example.

They were nice people and invited us for a beer and cheese-doodles. Beer for Mom and doodles for me. Well, I had to get some beer to wash down the doodles, so it was a good night

we started up early it was too cold to just hang out and we needed to drive to charge the batteries.

Let me tell you, Mom is no fan of gravel roads and neither am I since all the kitchen stuff is rattling and it sounds like it'll break any minute.

We found coltsfoot up here and that's the first flower that we see in spring

coming off this road everything changes and it gets warmer and trees are growing again.

Mom hates it when I walk this close to the edge, she even gets a little mad at me. She doesn't understand I have no fear of heights like she does and I'm not falling like she thinks I will

This is a tall bridge and Mom wanted to look at the view so she stopped and parked and we walked back to look. While driving she's not able to look over the sides? she just stares straight ahead.

The biggest road hazard up here is the reindeer who think they own the road which pretty much they do because you do get in trouble if you hit one. The Sami people are like the American cowboys and follow their herd that stays on the mountain in the summer and is herded towards lower land in winter. Although Western culture has lighthearted associations with reindeer and the holiday season, these animals have been central to the Sami peoples’ livelihood for centuries. The Sami are the indigenous people who first inhabited the area of northern Scandinavia that extends across current-day Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Conflict regarding land rights and borders has troubled Sami reindeer herders since the arrival of the current dominant ethnic group from Southern Europe around the 9th century. Colonists continued to push the Sami further north and inland, taking from them their sacred land. Today, while the Sami have been granted some land rights by the government, they still struggle to maintain ownership of their land.........sounds familiar huh?

Mom tried to film them while driving and it turned out so so.................she wanted to show their funny looking hoves and their funny gait.

Log cabins are very popular here and many rest stops have firepits where you can make a fire cook your food and relax 

We drove through a village where this guy was standing............I think he must have visited Florida and got a severe sunburn from not being used to the sun.

Trappstegforsen literally means stairs of waterfalls. The waterfall has several small cascades after each other with an elevation of approximately 10 meters

This is all I have to tell you for now. I'm not sure what will happen this weekend but Mom's friends probably have something interesting in mind. They work today so we hang out and relax in the sun and do nothing.

In other words a great day.

Wet kisses to ya all

Henry.

It's early morning and it's raining and cold but we're ok with Lucy who's keeping us dry and warm.

After a two-night stay at a friendly and inexpensive campsite, it was time to continue north.

We are well-rested and in sunny weather, we got on the road around 8 am.

This time we were heading to a different waterfall where Mom never had been but halfway there she almost regretted it since it was about 40 miles of gravel road, and this picture shows the best part.

Lucy hated it, Mom thinks she got a lot of dust in her lungs because she really slowed down and lost power.

We need to clean some kind of filter Mom thinks. .............but around here help is very sparse........

Hällingsåfallet is a waterfall and a nature reserve in Jämtland County in Sweden. It is part of the European Union-wide Natura 2000 network

This fall is quite impressive, not like the size of Niagara falls but much less scary.

There were many restrictions on where to go here too, but they were working on building safe paths

Again I had to be on a lead because of wildlife? but I haven't seen any wild animals to disturb yet?

I kept finding great paths to go, but Mom didn't always agree to follow me since she's so scared of heights

The fall is 140 feet and the ravine very steep so you better be careful where you step

The next night we stayed above the treeline and I couldn't believe my eyes there were white balls that disappeared when Mom threw them ???

Wilderness Road is a tourist road stretching from northern Jamtland to southern Lapland.

 Part of the road is closed during winter at times because of heavy snow, which can reach up to 7 meters (23 ft).

we are now above the treeline.

Mom says I have to stop for now because we need to save battery which is sparse now since we have no sun to charge the panel on the roof...................  she promised to help me to tell the rest of my story tomorrow.

All is well, but it's freezing cold

icy kisses Henry

Yesterday morning we left my favorite place and my favorite friends and it was sad, but Mom is ready to continue our adventure and where she goes I go.

We didn't drive very far before Mom stopped for fika at some people's house she knew from before. We sure did get fika, (fika is a thing everyone in Sweden do, and they do it a lot, it's coffee and cake or Mom's favorite cinnamon buns)but we stayed so long we got dinner too, and it was great. I did get a plate on my own for being so good.

And then Alice showed up with her Mom and a guy with pretty good ears

After our bellies were full of very tasty meat rolls, we kept on driving in the forest going North. I felt we were driving forever but Mom said it wasn't that long, it just felt that way because it's only forests to look at.

But then all of a sudden? Santa's reindeer had escaped?

Mom said they live here and so does Santa but they have a vacation in the summer month..............hmmm not sure it's the truth.

This area where we are is known for a lot of bears hibernating and there's a children's song about Olle picking blueberries in the forest and met a bear and he gave the bear his berriesi....hence this statue are in many places

Mom's finally getting sleepy, so we looked for a nice place to park for the night.

The parking lot to this place looked promising at first, but we soon discovered it seems to be a spot the youth comes at night to make figure eights with their cars in the gravel

We didn't want to disturb their driving so we kept on to a town called Mörkret (Darkness) and found a great spot for the night. This is how the sky looked at 10.30 when we turned in.

TUESDAY 6/7

It's now lunchtime on Tuesday, Mom fell asleep before she finished my story and today she has been cleaning Lucy and doing laundry, so I have been hanging out on my own all morning. It's ok we are at a very nice campsite in a small town called Lit and there are a lot of dogs here and very relaxed on rules about being tied up.

The sun is going down at 11.35pm and up at 2.18 am which is pretty cool if you ask me.

Yesterday morning we got up very early because Mom had planned a 5mile hike to a waterfall.

Mom had been to this place about 45 years ago and told me it's a rugged path through the woods......Hmmm her memory has been pretty bad lately. There were several little resting stops and wooden boardwalks built, she still insists they weren't there last time.

Mom said you have to admire the carpenter who took his/her time to create this pattern on a wider spot on the boardwalk made for lookout. 

The waterfall Njupeskar has been declared to be the tallest permanent waterfall in Sweden with a reported cumulative height of 93m of which 70m is free fall.

The reason we went so early is that Mom remembered how the morning sun hit the falls just right.

It's only in a very small period of time out of the year, that the falls could catch the morning light. The rest of the time, it would pretty much be in shadow. 

It was a great hike and here I was forced to be on a lead which meant I have to stop often to wait for Mom.

I wanted to know why I couldn't run free as I've been doing in other forests? Because there are a lot of wild animals here and it's a national park............

here's an old forge set up on our path, I guess there will be demonstrations during high tourist season

Unfortunately, the path to the falls was closed due to a kestrel nest on top of the falls and they are protected so we couldn't go to the foot of the fall. It's of course the right thing, but we couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

We didn't stay long and on our walk back we met several birdwatchers with their binoculars and long-lens cameras

Why is that thing on the tree staring at me ?................

here's a walking stick?

on the way here we stopped several times and Mom filled the fridge with food.

At one place we stopped, I saw this giant construction? what is it? 

supposed to look like a bear that can't hold his head up on his own.

 the same town had a very cute house and an American car living here

Swedes are really good at building shelters at their rest stops. No wonder since it's raining so much...........this place even had PC charging and wifi.

This moped cracked Mom up because it made her remember when she was a puppy and many boys got their first job using these as delivery vehicles. How come no girls drove them I asked?............. "Good question," she said

It's now lunchtime and Lucy is scrubbed clean inside so the rest of the day will be relaxation time, do nothing just look at the gorgeous sun, and listen to hundreds of chirping birds.

I'm good with that.

wet kisses to ya all

First thing in the morning we went to the vet and I got my passport so all of our papers are now in order and we're ready to cross borders in Europe.

Mom's friend taste very good and I totally attacked her as she was resting on the couch.

I really like to sit in her lap and sleep because she pays 100% attention to me and also has some good stuff in her fridge

After the vet. Mom and Ove went to the Ostrich farm and picked up some steaks for the BBQ primarily because of curiosity because Mom never had it. It turned out delicious and yes I did get several tastes

Their eggs are gigantic and they had made some very pretty lamps of them. Mom was surprised they were so heavy and thick. 

In Sweden, almost every supermarket has candy in loose weight but this is a separate candy only store with meters and meters of candy, Mom is happy we don't have these everywhere in the USA

So what if they did I say, no one forces you to go inside and buy ...............

True she says, but that takes willpower ..............

these are some chewy gators. Mom bought a large bag of mixed candies but she discovered they aren't really very good candy.

After shopping, we drove back to the country cottage, which is my favorite place in Sweden so far. Here I'm free as a bird and I get lots of attention.

It's not modern with running water but has a well, and an outhouse. The outhouse has three holes? I asked why, but nobody seems to know, maybe the families all went together in the old days?

It's a very nice outhouse with great views and music from birds chirping. 

As an old custom, there should be a picture of our king and his family on the wall

This picture seems to belong here but Mom doesn't think it's very pleasant to look at. Luckily we haven't seen any live ones although Mom says she's pretty sure they're around somewhere 

There's also a paper with the names of the different consistencies of the stomach fluid leaving the body........I don't want to experience any of those and neither does Mom so we're careful about what we eat and drink

Hämnd means revenge

The ostrich supper was great and didn't cause any of the above ailments

For dessert, we had rhubarb cobbler with ice cream and whipped cream ..........and being the well-behaved pup as I am I did the dishes.

The following day I stayed home with Elvy While Mom and Ove went fishing That was a good thing because it started to thunder and I still find that very scary.

Mom is in training to become a fisher girl, but so far she isn't doing very good because this is not supposed to happen. and it happened twice.

Ove caught a small brown trout 

This is a typical shelter in the woods where many people bring their food and BBQ and listen to the peaceful sounds of the forest. This one is particularly well done and it's an unwritten law to clean up after yourself, and if you used wood for the fire you chop up some new logs and leave it for the next visitor.

 Their outhouse was made handicap accessible as was some of the boardwalks, quite impressive thought Mom

Breakfast in Lucy is great and I make sure I get a taste of the liverwurst which is yummy.

It's now 8 AM and it's sunny................I heard I'm getting a haircut today? and tomorrow we are supposed to keep going North. I believe that when I see it because my Mom has not followed any preplanned path as of yet.

All is well 

wet kisses to ya all

Henry.   

This morning we're back in the town where I after the long flight finally got to get out of my bag and see my friends. We now have my papers Mom forgot in the suitcase, and later today I'm going to a veterinarian to get my passport.

My buddy Ove took my picture and if I may say so I'm very handsome.

Yesterday we parked under a gorgeous chestnut tree at a camper park. These are not the kind of chestnuts we eat, they aren't even related to real chestnuts, but are called so because of the similar seeds and fruits.

It has become more challenging to park boondocking in Sweden now. Despite the "all man right" law that Mom always praised so highly there are signs like this everywhere now.

Mom says it must be because too many people have taken advantage of that right so now you see signs and rocks like this to stop you from parking for the night. 

Oh well, parking at campsites gives you all kinds of service and it usually doesn't cost more than between $20-40 a night.

We stayed here because we wanted to see a friend of Moms that have classes to teach dogs to find mushrooms in the forest.

This clown is following us everywhere we go in Sweden, he sells icecream

Mom's friend Helena came with her Wilma, a very well-behaved lady and a not as well behaved Basse.

we went for a nice walk together and Helena had treats in a tube? it's a soft cheese and it's yummy. I'm hoping Mom learned something and buy it for me.

In the evening we went for a walk around this very small town which looked deserted. The population is 1900 so maybe that's not so strange. we took a walk through the town to see the many beautiful buildings from the late 1800s.  The town hall on the square in Malmköping is a beautiful landmark building from that period.

I had to run and check this out, it looked like one of Mom's paintings, it wasn't

In the morning we continued North and stopped to see a lady Mom knew from a long time ago. Mom knew Margaretha loves this fermented fish in a can, so Mom stopped and bought a can and all of the stuff that goes with it,

Let me tell you how that fish stinks.................nope I can't it's absolutely gross  so gross I decided to stay in Lucy

Well, that wasn't entirely true, I had to stay in Lucy because Margaretha has a cat that does not like dogs............What's wrong with Swedish cats????

After that lunch, I and Mom kept driving North and it was pouring rain all day long, but we made it to the city and our friend's place.

In Sweden when there's roadwork they put up a temporary light instead of guys standing around with a stopsign.

high tech huh?

They had fish for supper here too, but this one didn't smell bad and I did get a small taste, not bad but not a favorite. I was happy to see beer on the table but not as good as at Kevin's house........this beer was too strong tasting for me.

Mom says I shouldn't have any because I'm seeing the vet for my passport.

HA ha, what is he going to say about it? 

It's still raining and it's really becoming tiresome. Looking at the weather rapport it looks like it's going to get better closer to the weekend. We sure hope they're right about it because June 6 is Sweden's national day and a day to celebrate outdoors. 

Mom says if this keeps up we'll head down south as soon as I have my passport in my little paw.

Wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Good Monday morning, 

Yesterday was mothers day here in Sweden so there were pink cakes on the table, and as usual, I was right there looking for a taste. 

The pink stuff was strawberry mousse and pretty good, I could have eaten a whole one on my own but of course, I didn't get one. all I got was a tiny spoonfull .........

At noon we went to visit the youngest girl in the family that Mom stayed with as a puppy. There was so much to explore and yet another place where I can roam free...................I'm really starting to appreciate living in this country

 we also stopped in Karlsborg and the fortress which once upon a time was the reserve capital of Sweden.

Today, the fortress is a living defense facility, a residential area, and a very popular visitor destination.

When Sweden lost Finland to Russia in 1809 King Karl XIV Johan commissioned the construction to be a central defense with several purposes. In peacetime military equipment would be stored in the fortress. In wartime, the royal family, the government, The Riksbank's gold reserves, and the crown jewels would be kept safe here.

The fortress was a self-sufficient community with housing, schools, hospitals, and bank branches, protected by water from two sides.

We didn't go here, looked like there could be some scary stuff down there

most of the roads inside the fortress are cobblestones ...........it's regular round rocks that are almost impossible to walk on and it's a good thing Mom doesn't wear heels or she would have been in an ambulance by now.

almost home we stopped at the house where this little guy took me for a ride in his Volvo............I'm not sure why HE was afraid  I should be the one afraid since he was driving without keeping his hands on the steering wheel

He showed me his bouncy tent but didn't look very interesting to me

Back in Lucy for another good night of sleep and Mom cleaning everything, we are now ready to pack up and drive to the next place to ??? I guess I  find out when we get there

I have to say goodbye to Morris now, we didn't exactly make friends and that wasn't my fault he was a little stuck up if I may say so.

The weather is gorgeous blue skies and sunny and 60 degrees 

All is good

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Yesterday Mom and her friend were bored just sitting inside looking at the rain so we went for a sightseeing ride.

First, we stopped a Stjernsund Castle which stands on a headland at the north end of Lake Vättern.

The trees lining the road up to the castle are impressive

Stjernsund Castle, with its clean lines, white plaster facades, and magnificent four-columned portico, was completed in 1808. The park was redesigned as an English landscape garden.

It is built in a restrained neoclassical style, it has unusually well-preserved interiors from the 1850s when the royal family owned the castle. We didn't go inside though 

In 1860, Stjernsund was sold to the Cassel family, who started a model farm, known for its cattle breeding and especially the Swedish Red-and-White breed (SRB). The last private owner, Augusta Cassel, died in 1951 and left the castle and its contents to Vitterhetsakademien. In 1965, Stjernsund Castle and its park were declared a listed buildings under what is now the Historic Environment Act

This is Mom's dream house and location

Many old houses have this kind of intricate scrollwork. Loosely translated it's called  "a carpenters happiness"

There is a chicken farm here now and a place to buy farm fresh eggs

They had a really old Volvo in there too, but I think the girls were more interested in that limo that stopped by to buy several flats of eggs.............who takes a limo to boy eggs? really?  

The sun almost made it for a few minutes...............we all cheered

Kullängsstugan is a timbered cottage that was built in 1693. The house is a good example of a dwelling house for a well-to-do framer during this time.

the old water tower in town is being rebuilt into apartments 

Next, we stopped at "Hembygdsgården" which was inaugurated in 1933 and consists of a number of houses that have been moved there from the areas around Askersund.

In one of the logs the year 1752 was carved but the house is believed to be even older because of certain building techniques it's believed to be from 1500

This is the customs house 1622 GustavII implemented a toll of 2% on all merchandise coming into the city

In this house lived a basket weaver with his wife and 13 cats................I bet was quite crowded in there and nowhere to hide

this is the chimney of the blacksmith home

Me and Mom are taking over the commanders house

Living in this place was all kind of really strange animals that I'd never seen before, none of them seemed very friendly to me so I ignored them. 

I really wanted to meet this pretty girl but she was so young and it was her first day away from her Mom so I wasn't let near her. Mom said it was because she wasn't vaccinated yet ...................oh well 

We had plans to drive today, but Mom's friend came up with yet another idea about a place to visit so we'll stay put another night.

I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.

Now it's bedtime 

wet kisses to ya all

Driving North and as we're turning into a very small village I notice a smile on Mom's face, but also sadness?

This place is called Olshammar and is another of Mom's puppy places with 237 inhabitants in 2015 and probably fewer now.

It's located on the west coast of Vättern and was one of the first areas in Sweden where industrial activities such as sawmills were started and is the livelihood of the village.

Olshammar is one of the oldest industrial areas of Sweden. There were brickworks here already in the 13th century. The mansion was situated further down into the garden, towards the south.
The brickworks was in operation up until 1922, an epoch of nearly 700 years. Munksjö AB bought Aspa Bruk in 1917 and started the construction of a sulfate factory, which is still in operation........when the wind is right it doesn't smell so good here 

The adjacent Olshammarsgården is the birthplace of Werner von Heidenstam, a poet and Nobel Prize winner. Here is a small museum in the poet's birthplace. If you walk around with a guide you can visit both and take a look at the boat museum next to the church

here is an eco-park with 250 islands, where canoes and boats can be rented at Aspa Boatclub. You can make a wonderful walk in the nature reserve. Take a dip in the crystal clear water of Vättern something my Mom will not do because she says the water is freezing.

you can also walk the ancient routes through Tiveden's mighty primeval forests, where the monks and the local inhabitants went before us.

Here you will also find great nature along the cliffs of Lake Vättern or in the forests around Lake Fagertärn, the origin of the red water lilies.

As we were walking along I finally understood the sadness on Mom's face. Here are 3 people that have been part of Mom's puppy years that she can't hug or talk to anymore.

In Sweden, it has become customary not having a stone on your grave, instead, their ashes are strewed in a place where you can place a flower, sit on a bench and reminisce about years past.

This place is so well raked it's almost like you don't want to walk on the paths to mess up the gravel

Behind the manor, there are "the twelve apostles", twelve huge lindens.
The lindens were planted in the 1820th in the shape of an arbor. From about 1860 the trees were allowed to grow freely. When it was noted that the arbor then consisted of twelve trees, they were named "the twelve apostles". There will always be just twelve. If any tree goes bad, it will be replaced by a new one.

Many beautiful manors with adjacent stables bear witness to once upon a time bustling commerce here. They are now turned into catering halls for weddings and other big events

As much as Mom hates smoke, she couldn't help wanting to get a whiff of the caretaker's pipe because again it triggered some puppy memories. Pipes tobacco does smell better than cigarettes but is still not very healthy.

In the afternoon Mom and her friend went into town for food shopping while I watched Lucy ( which means napping)

It's only about a 20 min drive and they soon came back with shrimp and a bunch of other stuff that I didn't get to taste much of.

Mom introduced making patty melts and after reading a magazine recipe they made grilled cabbage..............good stuff they said but I got nothing because Mom said my stomach was a little upset????? I haven't noticed ?

This town called Askersund will also get invaded with tourist as soon as it get a little warmer and the vacations start.

Rhododendrons are budding and soon flowers will be huge

The swallows are a sign of spring and and their tweeting is wonderful but very difficult to catch with a camera since they are expert acrobat flyers.

peeking into this old boathouse it was obvious they had taken over the place as their home..............poop everywhere 

Everything is really great we're both loving every second of being in the country and where a dog can roam free............well almost free. Apparently, some wild boars had visited the garbage cans last night, and Mom said I do not want to meet them head-on. 

I'll end today's rant with a translated poem by Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) a Swedish poet, novelist, and laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1916. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912.

He was born in one of the gorgeous manors.

"Ensamhetens tankar" (Thoughts of loneliness)

I long for home since eight long years.
In sleep itself I've felt longing.
I long for home. I long wherever I go
- but not for people! I long for the ground,
I long for the rocks where as child I played.

all is well, wet kisses 

Henry