Back in sunny Denmark

Finally, after weeks and weeks of rain, the weather broke and warmth and sunshine showed up.

But first, let me tell you about Goteborg, Sweden. I needed to get there to catch the ferry back to Denmark. The weather was still a little rainy two days ago when I got there after my ride south through the Norwegian Mountains, but it was starting to clear up. This gave me a chance to camp again after weeks of hotel rooms. Now, I have gotten spoiled by those hotel rooms, and would much rather have a warm, dry bed than to sleep in a tent, but camping allows me to do two things I can't do at hotel rooms, at least not easily: work on the bike and wash it; and wash my clothes at the campground laundry room.

The campground at Goteborg was quite a place. It was clean and very up-to-date. Just look at this playground area for the kids.

I took these pictures early in the morning, but from mid-morning until late at night it was filled with kids running around and playing.

There were artificial trees to climb, and climbing walls, and climbing nets, and high beams to walk along, and hills to play King of the Mountain on, and I don't know what all. I do know the kids were loving it. There were kids as young as 4 years old, and kids as old as 12 or 13, and there was not an adult in sight. It was just kids having a swell time being kids. I think the older kids were off playing miniature golf or riding horses.

And what do you think of this toy auto attached to a make believe camper? What fun!.

There was a real shuttle also, but I don't know where it went.

This is where the super clean toilets and showers were. You couldn't get in there unless you had a camper key card with you.

Of course, my main concern, after washing my clothes, was to do some maintenance on the bike. I thought about trying to take a picture about halfway through the job, but by that point my hands were too oily to pick up a camera. Besides washing the bike, the primary thing I had to do was to clean the seaks on the front fork, one on each side, because they were both leaking oil all over my front brake pads.. I had to get on the internet and get some advice on how to do that job. It turns out that the easiest way is to cut some plastic and run down between the seals and the forks to remove any sand or other impurities that get into them. Repair by Coca Cola. Who would have thought it.

With the bike cleaned up, I bought a public transport pass to go into the town center. It is a big town, and it was misty rain again so I did not want to ride the bike in.  I wanted to go see the ships at the Maritime Museum. They let me climb around pretty much anywhere I wanted in those ships. Try doing that in litigious USA. Here is a destroyer I explored.

You are a true history buff if you know what this next boat is.

Here is another picture of it. It isn't very photogenic.

Need a hint? Okay, here ya go -- One just like this fought the Merrimack at Hampton Roads during the Civil War in the first battle of the iron-sides.

Yep--You got it This  boat is a "Monitor". Did you know that countries all over Europe rushed to make ironclads after that battle at Hampton Roads? I didn't know that. I went down into the boat. It was pretty roomy inside, but I bet it was noisy and stinky during a battle.

There were lots of other ships and boats to explore at the Maritime Museum. I especially liked playing around in the submarine. Couldn't get any good pictures in there though.

Here is another view of the seaport area in Goteborg.

I don't know if I have shown you these rental bikes before or not. You see them in cities all across Europe. I think they are even showing up in some American cites also. You just put your money in, take the bike, and return it to another stand like this one somewhere else. I think it is a cool idea.

I had some extra time,so I decided to go to the Science Museum. My wife would have loved taking our kids to this place when they were younger. They could have ridden on an animatronic Saber Toothed Tiger in the Life in the Ice Age exhibit.

The monkeys and birds were just running (or flying) free in the Rain Forest area.

Up in the Space Exploration section of the museum, there were lots of things for kids (and adults) to do. This girl had on a velcro suit which let her stick to the wall.

One last shot from the Ice Age area. Hmmm. I guess the animatronic mammoth is a good thing to show you. That guy sure was huge.

I woke up this morning to absolutely beautiful, sunny, warm weather. I could hardly believe it was finally Summer in Scandinavia. I sure don't miss that rain -- but I kind of like the cooler weather that I have been having.

After a good breakfast, I packed up and headed off to the ferry to Denmark. Once again, my stupid GPS took me miles and miles out of my way. I wound up exactly where I was yesterday, down by the Maritime Museum after a bus ride of 20 minutes. I thought from the git-go this morning that my GPS was taking me in the wrong direction, but I didn't know for sure where the ferry was. I am glad I had left myself plenty of time.

The picture is an "On Board the Ferry" shot for you. Doesn't look like much, does it?  Anyway, here I am back in Denmark.

Now, I have to decide what I want to see and do as I slowly make my way south. toward Germany.

Ron

Goodbye to Norway

Yesterday was another long day in the rain. It never seems to stop here in Scandinavia this summer.

I could tell that I was riding through some magnificent scenery, but I just couldn't see it very well, especially when I got up high in the mountains between Norway and Sweden. It was not only cloudy and foggy up there, but it was also cold (around 6 degrees Celsius -- about 50 degrees Fahrenheit).

I really like Norway, but I hate their prices. It is such an expensive country. But, if you shop around, deals can be had. Just last night, cold and wet, I tried to check into a hotel in Storen, Norway. There was one hotel, a rather seedy looking place,and they wanted $160.00 for a room for the night. There was no way I was going to pay that. Twenty minutes later on down the road, I saw a sign for inexpensive rooms in a place called Savalen. I wasn't expecting much, but I thought I would give it a try, even though it was 11 kilometers off my intended path. It turned out to be a first class hotel in a beautiful ski resort up in the mountains.They charged me $85.00 for a very nice room. This was about half what the first place wanted, and it included a gourmet breakfast with cereals, yogurts, several types of fruit and cheeses, eggs cooked in at least four different ways, a variety of breads ..... It was marvelous, And since, for some reason, Europeans think sliced cheeses and lunch meat make for a tasty breakfast, I was able to take some of those breakfast item and make myself a couple of sandwiches to eat on the road later.

I took some pictures of the hotel and of the beautiful views there, but for some reason my camera must have decided it did not want to save them. Stupid camera.

Anyway, today turned off sunny and warm. I couldn't believe it. This was one of the very few sunny, warm days here in Scandinavia this summer. For the first time, I could really see the scenery. I think every part of Norway must be absolutely beautiful, but today's ride in the warm sunshine made it picture-postcard perfect.

There are picnic stops all through Scandinavia. I guess it is something a country can have when that country has the highest taxes on Earth.

Doesn't that sandwich from the breakfast buffet look great. I certainly enjoyed it.

I kept looking around as I was riding, and thinking to myself that this scenery looks familiar. A short time later I came to the town of Roros. I knew where I was then. Jessica and I spent a long time looking around Roros just a couple of weeks ago. At that time we were going North. Now I am going South and seeing it all in reverse. I am headed to Sweden. Time to spend the last of my Norwegian Koronas.

Just before the border between Norway and Sweden, I came to a Norwegian town where there was a gigantic fair going on.

There were booths and people everywhere. I just had to get off my bike and investigate.

As it turned out, stopping was a big mistake, because all of a sudden there was a huge traffic jam. It was caused by hundreds of old American cars. They were all built, it looked to me, between 1955 to 1965. Look at some of these beauties.

They just kept coming and coming. I wound up in the middle of that mess. It took me forever to negotiate the streets and the traffic jams and to get back on the road again. But I managed, and before long I was finally in Sweden. I am about three and a half hours away from the ferry that will take me back to Denmark. I guess I will be back in Denmark tomorrow.

Toward the end of my trip today it clouded over and started to wet down the pavement again (will it never stop?). It wasn't too bad, but I decided I need a hotel room again tonight. I was asking the nice desk clerk at the hotel I chose about all the American cars I kept seeing here. He says it is just something that is very popular in this area. He himself has two of them: a GTO and a Transam.

Anyway, I guess I will be taking the ferry to Denmark tomorrow, so it is goodbye to Norway, Sweden and Finland. I have had a great time here. I really like these three countries.

Ron