When we arrived at the Swedish town nearest the Norweigan border Mom bought the medicine I have to take before crossing. For that, I had to see a veterinarian to get confirmation that I actually swallowed it.

This is the grin on Mom's face as we arrived at this town ??

I was of course wondering why and as it turned out Mom had a summer job on a steamboat here as a small puppy

She recognized the place where "her" boat used to anchor but so much has changed. She did ask some old men about it and was told that the ship does not exist anymore?  (I wonder how old Mom really is?)

The Scandic hotel is still there on top of the cliffs, but a much more modern boat is anchored where "Moms boat" was

When she lived here the shrimp boats came in from the sea at 5 am and she remembers meeting them and getting the treat of fresh warm shrimp as they were cooked on the boat on the way in. The seagulls that are looking for the shrimp heads are still here as loud as ever.

We parked and I found a kid with the freshest tastiest ears I ever had.

Now we need a veterinarian for me, and Mom is searching through Lucy to find my papers and as forgetful and scatterbrained as she is, she finally realized my papers are still in the suitcase left at my favorite place up north.

Yippeee I'm glad we're going there to see my friends and be free again..................

There's of course a chance that no one will know or want to see my papers, but Mom does not want to take a chance, so we turn around going North again.

Lucy is giving us trouble again, she's not being fed the correct amount of diesel (Mom's diagnosis)so she's coughing and spitting and can hardly make it up a hill. She really wants us to know how little she appreciated being left alone for 3 years.

We stopped at a gas station and Mom bought a bottle of cleaning stuff for the tank and after a while, it did the trick.

I wish Lucy could be more forgiving and accept we couldn't come sooner

She's still keeping us warm and dry though

The ice-cold wind and all the rain is not fun even though Mom bought me a really nice raincoat...........

We stopped and had supper at a rest stop and slept great as the rain hitting the roof is lulling us to sleep 

Continuing north we stopped at yet another place Mom lived as a puppy and here we got an expert looking at Lucy and he said she's ok now.

Mom's friend has a cute cat that I wanted to meet but she didn't exactly welcome me?

Her friend Birgitte had  lots of goodies in her fridge, and she's sneaking me a lot of them when she thinks  Mom isn't looking

Now I get to run again but everything is soaking wet and it's cold 

It's raining cats and dogs says, Mom????  I'm looking around and have no idea what she's talking about???? all I see is wet wet wet cold cold cold rain

We went to bed early again listening to the rain on the roof which is the best sleeping pill according to Mom.

It's now 7 AM and we see blue skies and gorgeous sun.........................AMAZING 

It's not supposed to last, so we better get out and take advantage of it while it lasts.

Wery wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Good morning all, yesterday we arrived at Grebbestad a small fishing village on the west coast. The population is around 1500 but during the summer months, it increases tenfold. 

The town is also the harbor where the majority of Norweigan lobsters and oysters are landed

We're only 2 hours drive from Oslo Norway and we're both hoping the rain will stop but it doesn't look promising.

After parking at a gorgeous campsite (so Mom can do laundry) we climbed up on the cliffs for a view over the North Sea

 
    I love the bed under the roof it's a great spot to keep an eye on everything. There's a window on each side so no one can come close to Lucy without me knowing it. Mom thinks it's good that I warn her but she says it's ok if people just walk by..........from my point of view I'm not so sure I still let her know by growling a little.

Many people live here all summer and have built patios around their campers. Unfortunately no one was home here 

many have gorgeous gardens and lots of flowers grow wild. Mom's favorite Lilly of the valley that she used to pick as a puppy is now protected.

Kerstin's flower pot interested Mom, easy to make and could sell for???? 

Because of all the rain, we left camp and drove to a shopping center only 10 min away to fill the fridge  

I had to stay in Lucy which is ok with me now since this is my home and I feel very secure.

there was a candy store with 450 different candies to pick and fill a bag. Mom used every ounce of willpower and walked out without buying.

Outside was a stand selling strawberries from Belgium. Mom ignored them at first because they looked so small, but the guy reached out to make Mom taste one and she said they were the sweetest berries she ever tasted. 

I too wanted to taste but wasn't impressed I spit mine out.

there were some really cool statues at this mall

Back at the campsite, we took a nap. Mom calls it reading a book but that lasts for about 5 min. and then she's napping with me too.

Around 9 pm it finally stopped raining, so we decided to go for a long walk to the town that seemed completely deserted

  .

on the walkway, these words are printed, translated to "we share space and get along here" 

It's hard to believe that in a few weeks this place will be completely packed with tourists

a gorgeous wooden boat that sails around the archipelago with tourists

this house is for sale, and we peeked in the windows and noticed it's just a shell, in other words, a handyman special.

fishermen boats and their nets

 the temperature doesn't invite a swim. Mom says she would never swim in the North sea anyway.....too cold for her

We got back to camp around 11 and we both went to bed and slept very well as always.

Mom is still undecided about what to do because of the weather but I do think we'll be in Norway next..

Malkom is guarding town but I think he need to move around more, stuff is growing on him

all is well wet kisses from Henry

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

Good morning all, it's incredible how well we both sleep in Lucy. The temperature is down to 47F and lucky for us, the heater works great. (maybe Lucy will be kind to us the rest of the trip)

For lunch, Mom fried some blood pudding and it didn't look that great, but it really was. Normally they are served with bacon but Mom doesn't want to fry bacon in Lucy because of the smell. Lingonberries goes with everything says Mom

in the evening it was bbq time and Mom was invited to have moose steak and according to her, it was delicious.  She totally forgot about me but felt guilty later and gave me some treats. 

Don't understand how she could forget after all I've done to keep her warm?

The games continued and Mom was confident her team had done great. there was another quiz and the finale was rubberboot throwing. 

   as it turned out they came in fourth due to a smaller mishap with the boot throwing.

The evening turned out great lots of laughs and saluting with glasses held high

I thought it was mostly noise and looked for my own entertainment and found this guy with the most delicious ears. 

I gave him a good licking as deep as I could get my tongue.

Unfortunately, Mom didn't drink beer this evening so I didn't get anything to wash it down with.

Today we're saying goodbye to our new friends and we'll be driving to the closest city from here to buy Lucy a new faucet ................................after that, she'll be completely healed..................

Hopefully

All is well Henry

It's 8.30 in the morning and it has been raining all night and still is. It's very cold, the temperature in the 40ies the last two days. I started to sleep under the covers to keep Mom warm and I know she appreciates that.

Thursday morning we left my favorite place here so far, and I had to say goodbye to my new friends which was sad, but Mom promised we'll see them again.

We were heading to the repair shop to get the drain for the gray water fixed and cocky Mom thought she knew the way without the help from that lady in the box on the window. hahahaha she got lost !!!!! 

It took a few extra hours to get there so she missed the appointment and we had to wait until after lunch.

She tried to defend herself by blaming it on all the construction and having to stop and wait while this monster passed

Problem fixed and filled water tank we continued on to meet up with a gang of RVers but planned to sleep over somewhere on the way. 

Again Mom screwed up with the box lady when she typed the address to an RV parking place and we ended up at someone's house? It was God's house, and we weren't invited.

Finally, Mom decided to use coordinates for directions and typed the place where the meeting was taking place, and boxlady said 4hours to the destination, and since it doesn't get dark before 10.30PM Mom decided to go for it.

The last few miles were on a road that was the with of Lucy so we were lucky not meeting anyone.

We arrived at 10.00 and went to sleep. At 4 Mom got up and the entire floor was wet?????????? I heard a few bad words, blaming mice and so on.........Mom expected a disaster to find the problem, but when another RVer looked it was as easy as needing a new faucet. Mom says Lucy is getting even for being left alone for 3 years.

First day here we had sunshine but cold wind, 

Mom and I went for a long walk in the woods again, I wasn't sure about it because there are a lot of sounds I do not recognize so I sat down and tried not to take another step.

Mom convinced me to go on and I learned to really like it..................there are 1000000 scents to explore here

all that green on the ground is wild blueberries, but they aren't ready yet

we are at Sweden's largest lake, Vänern,  which is the largest lake in the European Union and the third largest lake in all of Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia

Vänern covers an area of 5,655 km² (2,183 sq mi). Its surface is 44 m (144 ft) above sea level and it is on average 27 m (89 ft) deep. The maximum depth of the lake is 106 m (348 ft).

Sportfishing in Vänern is free and unregulated, both from the shore and from boats (with some restrictions, e.g a maximum of three salmon or trout per person per day) 

If the rain stops Mom is going fishing she says

Friday more RVers are joining in and a very obnoxious girl named Harriet (pomeranian) growled at me if I as much as tried to take a whiff?  An older German Shepard didn't pay much attention to me but he had a cat friend who showed me some interest

People are gathering and it's getting noisy, so I preferred to sit in Lucy and watch 

in the afternoon they started some games, first, we followed a track to answer a bunch of questions and I joined in for that. Later everybody moved into the barn and it was getting really noisy.

Now they were stacking empty beer cans from the wall. Mom made 8 and so did this lady

Games are to continue today so we do not know what team won yet.

This sign was on the barn wall, it says 

WARNING seniors off lead may not be fed...........doesn't say anything about dogs so I'm ok

Like I said it was getting quite noisy in there but Mom brought me out in her lap to keep warm because of the freezing temperature( Good thing we have heat in Lucy.)

This song??? I recognized some words as being the kind I always hear, and Mom thought she heard that melody before but only partly?

Moose everything is very popular here and this is a liqueur

can anyone explain why there's a beer opener here?  Mom says it's because beer is a diuretic ...........but isn't this taking it to an extreme?

Being up since 4 am (mopping water) we made it an early evening and we both slept so well listening to the rain beating on the roof.

Looks like it's going to rain all day so I suppose the party will continue in the barn today

  We'll stay here another night and then we'll drive into town for a new faucet.

If all goes according to a very loose plan, we'll go to Norway soon.

All is good Henry,

we're still at the same place we arrived at, and as far as I'm concerned I don't mind staying here forever because I truly enjoy the freedom of being in the country with hardly any restrictions.

(Mom says I'll be changing my mind as soon as the winter arrives)

Despite this beautiful freedom, there are still  a few things I'm not allowed, and one of them is not barking at the horses

It's hard not to because that's what I do and this is the first time I've seen such a beast, so I bolted after him, and the girl riding told the horse to stomp his foot? that was scary

we're still waiting for the repair shop to call and tell Mom when we can have this thing fixed on Lucy before we can make a long trip. It's a drain thingy that's broken so we're using a water jug for now.

Yesterday we took a long great walk by the river and now I was forced to wear the lead again I tried to protest by sitting down pretending I was too tired to walk .....................Mom saw right through that trick and pulled me along

Snowdrops are one of the wildflowers that announce spring is on its way  

Bumblebees have also awakened from the winter rest, I tried to catch one but was stopped ???

we walked through the village which has been getting smaller and smaller since the young people moves away in a lack of work opportunities. it's a sad development but it's happening in all of Sweden's rural areas.

Mom and Elvy tried out some window shopping 

this town's early industrial history was closely connected to timber and logging. Soon after the railway, was built the first sawmill in Danielssågen started. In the years following many sawmills were built: Dalasågen 1892, at that time the largest sawmill in Sweden. Brosågen 1893.
Population in 2010 was 2026 people on a 1590 square mile, in other words, there's plenty of room for me to explore.

1907 Vansbro became a hub for the railroad connections and the town grew. The train station is now a protected building despite no more passenger traffic. it was built 1899

According to Mom, this town has the best bakery in the world, and their pastries are to die for (Mom is going to get fat)

Ove bought "fika" and it was very difficult to make a choice here

"fika" is a Swedish tradition and is happening at 9 at 1 at 3 and as often as they meet people to chat

I have to say I do prefer a cold beer instead of all that coffee

Most of the day Mom is laying around in the sun reading a book 

too much relaxing I say and I force Mom off her butt to throw me the ball. Mom says she'll invent some tool that 

I can use on my own,  Like a thing that I can put my ball in to shoot it far for me to run.

I say that after all those pastries she can use the exercise to hit some balls for me............right? 

Today is sunny and warm so I suppose it'll be more book reading and with luck, I get to chase my ball again.

all is great 

wet kisses from me Henry

Five days in Sweden and so far I love everything about it. I'm free to roam and haven't been restricted in a lead since we got here, jaay 

The trip to get here was exhausting, at least for Mom I just slept in my bag for the entire night and half a day. Mom was worried I would need to relieve myself and in Atlanta, we went to a so-called restroom for dogs. There was a fake fire hydrant and a green rug? I have manners and know not to pee on the carpet so I waited until Stockholm where I was let out of the bag but there was nothing but concrete and no grass. Mom thought the terminal looked like a building that belonged in a far away communist country, gray and very depressing. Very disappointing to see she said.

Next, we got on a train heading North and at the final destination our friends were waiting and finally, I was free.

We're living in a much bigger car this time and I'm told this is going to be our home for a few months which seems ok to me

The first evening we were sitting outside in a cozy gazebo cooking and I used my ability to hypnotize people with my eyes so I get to taste. 

every day we take walks in the woods and the scents I pick up .................it's all new and fascinating  

Mom couldn't wait to try out her new fishing rod and the lures she had bought but she thought it was too cold and too windy so she soon gave up and will wait until it gets warmer.

first flowers of spring 

this is my friend Ove and he says this is great gym equipment although very old fashion 

Last night Mom explained to me that during this vacation I'll have to work for my keep ????  

I don't mind helping out, but what can I do?  so Mom explained I have to watch Lucy when she has to run errands.

Ok, but who's Lucy? 

Lucy is our home for now she explained and my job is to keep guard over her which I'll be glad to do. 

It's an easy job I can do while napping. My first time was last night while Mom and her friends went out to eat. 

She said it was fantastic but didn't bring me as much as a taste, and I had worked for hours.

What's up with that Mom? 

Steak on a plank and for dessert fried camembert with cloudberries whipped cream and icecream

MOM, you had a pup cup on a plate and ate it without sharing ..........I'm telling Jennifer on you 

Breakfast in Lucy is good and I do get to taste some of the delicious cheese that Mom has been longing for

I truly enjoy Mom's puppy country and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Here I am King of the Hill

All is well, wet kisses to you all 

Good Morning long time no see, 

I'm not sure what's exactly going on yet, but it's something exciting for sure.

Seems to me there's a lot more than usual going on, Mom is running around like a chicken without a head and writing all kinds of "have to do" lists

One morning Mom dropped me off at the spa to get a bath and a haircut. I cry and make a fuss when she leaves, but that's just an act to make her feel bad because as soon she's gone I'm happy with the spa lady and give her lots of kisses.

Mom was super happy with my cut, and I know I'm the most handsome pup in the world 

Next, I had to go see Dr. Grigsby who checked me from head to tail and signed all kinds of papers.......hmmm I do like him and his nurses a lot, they are always so happy to see me. 

I'm not very fond of the stick up my butt though but I'm tolerating it since it's something necessary they do to make sure I'm at the right temperature. 

Why can't they just ask me?

To make up for all of these horrible visits Mom took me to a restaurant and let me order whatever I wanted. I did order a large hamburger patty but for some reason I only got a few small pieces Mom ate the rest?

Back home I'm watching Mom putting stuff in a big box, taking it all out, and doing it again and again? 

She said we were going on a long plane ride to visit the country she lived in as a puppy, and that I'm going to meet her friends who surely will spoil me rotten.

Sounds ok to me, I love long rides, but not sure about this plane thing yet.

Lilly is jealous and tries to sneak into one of the boxes to come along, but Mom says she'll have to stay home and keep an eye on Dad.

All I know is that on Tuesday evening we'll be heading out for a new adventure, and I'm excited about it. Not as crazy excited as Mom but still excited 

Mom said we are not arriving in her puppy country until Wednesday evening ?? 

What !!     guess we're going to the moon? I will update as soon as I know more,

until then ............Sayorana