Day 212

We are going home today, but it took us some time to gather all stuff we had spread out during the two days stay at my parents. We left after lunch, but before that we also had time to help dad change water in their pond. He has let four perches from the lake live in the pond, so we had to catch those before emptying the pond. Later on today he will get some koi too. Hope they all will be friends.

Day 211

More outdoor activities today. We went to a nearby lake to fish for rainbow trout, and dad actually got a nice one. Linus really likes to fish, even if his attention span isn't too long. But running around in the wood is also a good activity.

Day 210

We've been in the forest picking blue-berries and chanterelles. My mother and I was in the berries-squad, while dad, Daniel, Linus and Ebba looked for chanterelles. We were all very successfull, and had lovely weather.

Day 209

Last day on our trip before we get back to my parents house in Fagersta. Today's activity was a visit to the Falun copper mine. The mine is a world heritage and the whole site is very interesting with different museums, cafés, the open-pit mine and of course the mine under ground that is possible to visit.

We took a tour in the mine and got dressed in helmet and cape to protect our clothes. The mine is rather dirty and wet. The picture shows a look-out on the way down into the mine, overlooking the open pit mine. We then walked stairs down to 67 meter under ground and walked around with a guide that talked about the work in the copper mine when it still was open. It closed 1997.

Day 208

Today we visited Orsa Bear Park, right outside Orsa. It was a very fascinating park with lots of Nordic animals like brown bear, wolves, lynx, red fox, Eurasian eagle-owl and wolverine, but also polar bear and Siberian tiger.

Day 207

Today we passed the Högakustenbron (High coast bridge) on our way south. It is a very large suspension bridge, the span is 1210 meters and the bridge totals to 1867 meters. As the weather was nice, we stopped to have a ice-cream break and take some photos.

Day 206

Sorry for not commenting on any blogs these days, but the mobile broadband I'm using doesn't allow for so much more surf-time after uploading my pictures. I'll make up for it when I get home again!

Today we drove to Örnsköldsvik and found a camping-site again by the Baltic sea. We took a stroll on the beach when we found this play-thing. It is like a swing that you sit on, and runs over a small water. I think the picture got rather artistic. :)

Day 205

Today we were driving between Jokkmokk and Byske (50 kilometers south of Piteå), when we suddenly saw a raindeer on the road. It was running, and we were driving, hence the shaky picture quality. We've seen a couple earlier too, but I didn't had the camera at hand then.

Today we actually got some time without rain, and Linus could play at the camping-site playground. The camping-site is situated right at the Baltic sea, with a long beach. It is very nice.

Day 204

This was the furthest north we got on this trip; Narvik in Norway. After Narvik we headed for the Swedish border and the way south again. But Norway showed some fabulous last views; just minutes earlier we crossed the bridge down in the valley, and then we climbed up the mountains and saw this sight behind us.

Now we are in Jokkmokk, at a great camping site close to another fishing water. Unfortunately has the bad weather caught us, and it is raining outside. We hope for better weather tomorrow.

Day 203

Today we drove to Ballangen, close to Narvik. We are staying at a nice camping-site on the shore to a fjord. Linus wanted to try his luck with the angling today too, but neither he nor Daniel saw any fishes. I was the only one lucky with lots of good catches. Photos, that is. =)

Day 202

After a wonderful 140 kilometer trip today, we arrived at Straumen camping right after lunch. Straumen has the worlds largest maelstroms, as the water is forced through a 300 meter wide and 1.5 kilometer long passage with the tide. The currents are very strong and often creates maelstroms. Unfortunately we weren't able to see any big maelstroms, but it was very fascinating none the less.

Day 201

We have been traveling along the coastline today, road 17 from Mo i Rana toward Bodö. On the way was two ferries, and here are Linus and I on deck in the sunshine. You can even see Ebba sneaking up from behind the bench, wondering where Daniel went.

We didn't quite made it to Bodö this night, so we stayed at a camping site at Foröy.

Day 200

It is day 200 today! =D Congrats to all of us that is still commited to the p365!

Today we drove cross the border into Norway. The landscape was harsh and the few birches were small and crooked. We stoped and got out of the car to get some pictures, and realized that it was also very windy. Soon after this we got into the car again. =)

Day 199

This morning we went from my parents house and drove north. About 400 kilometres later we parked the caravan at a camping in Hede, close to the Norwegian boarder. Linus found a little play-ground and later we used the grill to make dinner. The weather has been fantastic today, with perfect temperature and sun-shine.

Day 198

Our vacation has started! The first leg on our trip was from Linköping to Fagersta and my parents house. The 230 kilometers are a good start, and we will get help from my dad and mum to do the last stuff to the caravan.

My brother and his wife-to-be came to visit and my uncle also joined us for dinner. It was a very nice evening and great start on the holiday. The picture of today is a photo of my brother's and finance's new car. It is a Toyota IQ, and it is ridiculously small; behind the front-seats there is a small back-seat, but no trunk. If you fold the back-seats you get a small trunk instead. It should be fairly easy to park! =)

Day 197

The receipt from our grocery shopping for the vacation. It got quite long. As we are going to Norway, and it is really expensive in Norway, we have bought food for almost all the time we will be gone. The caravan is excellent to pack the stuff in, we even have a refrigerator that is turned on during our travel.

Day 196

The red sign on the wall says "Emergency department", and that is where we spent most of the afternoon. Nothing life-threatening, don't worry! I've been having pain in my back for some days, and when we went for lunch today my back kind of like collapsed and I had an awful pain. Daniel decided that ER was a good idea, so we went there.

As my case wasn't in any way lethal, but required an orthopedic surgeon to have a look at it, we got to wait quite some time. 3 hours, to be precise. By then my back felt a little better, but the doctor did some exams to rule out any damages to the nerves, and concluded that it was just low back pain/lumbago. I got a prescription on some stronger pain-killers and was ordinated to not sit still but move around. Hopefully the pain will be a lot less until Friday when our vacation starts!

Day 195

Edited:

We have bought a new caravan today! =) I didn't want to show it until today (Friday), 'cause we haden't told my parents and wanted to surprise them when we visited this weekend.

The idea when we went to the caravan store was not to buy a caravan, but parts for our old one. But then it just stood there! It is perfect for us; one queen-sized bed and a small table to sit around, that can be made into a bed too. There is a small kitchen and a even smaller bathroom.

This will be our home during the next week when we are going to Norway on vaction with Linus and Ebba.

Day 194

Finally some nice weather again! It has been sunny all day, although not very warm. But 20 degrees (68F) is ok when I have to work. ;)

Day 193

We have started to plan for the vacation that will begin on Friday afternoon. There are lots of stuff to bring as we are going to northern Norway, with our caravan.

Linus is staying with his mother this week too, so we are using his room as the place to put everything that is going with us. After work on Friday we will pick him up, and then head for our northern trip.

I really hope to get Internet connections along the way to update you all of our journey. There should be beautiful sceneries, and probably some mosquitoes... :S

Day 192

It is flower-week here... ;) It was very rainy today, and we went to visit Daniel's parents. They have a lovely garden with lots of flowers, bushes and even a little pond with fishes. This is a sweet pea-plant that grows close to the patio. I love the sweet peas for their airy appearance and vivid colors.

Day 191

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel showed a picture of one of our houseleek that had started growing in an unusual way. Today I decided to take a photo of the flowers that has come out of it. Aren't they beautiful? I think they look like small stars.

Day 190

I had a hard time finding something to photograph today. The weather has been total gray and rain all day, and my mood has definately not been on the top. Rather late I decided to take a photo of the outside, and settled for these flowers. I used a tripod, but the wind was very strong, hence the out-of-focus bushes in the back.

Day 189

Sorry for the quality of the photo. It is taken with my cell-phone camera in low light. I thought I'd make the best out of it by turning it b&w and give it some softer focus. The camera ramps up the ISO ridiculously in low light, and it got very grainy.

Despite the low quality of the pic, it was a high quality on the night out. A friend from work, who has moved to California to work for a year and a half, was home to visit. We met up with him and his wife at a beer-garden in town, and was lucky to not get any rain. Later on we headed for the Dutch pub to get inside, and that's when I took this picture. It was a very nice get-together and fun night out!

Day 188

Ebba had her stitches removed today, and with that the funnel she's been wearing the last week. The scratch on her cornea hadn't completely healed, but it looked a lot better. We will continue with eye-drops for another week, and keep our fingers crossed that it will be OK in time for our vacation.

I'm so sorry for being a lousy visitor and commenter, but there have just not been time for it. I'll make a try now to have a look around, it is so funny to see what happens on your blogs!

Day 187

Rain, rain, rain... The wonderful warm summer weather is gone and here comes the rain. It is good for the growth but a little boring for us. Luckily it is two weeks until my vacation starts, so the weather still have time to shape up.

Day 186

The weather was sunnier but a little colder than yesterday, so we decided to take a hike. There is a small mountain close to where my parents live, and at the top there is a observation tower. The mountain is not more than 217 meters (237 yards) above sea-level, but the path there is very steep on some places.

I'm so impressed that Linus walked all the way up there by himself, climbed the stairs to the observatory tower and then walked all way back. Both he and Ebba really enjoyed roaming in the forest!

(Yes, I'm carrying Ebbas funnel. While in the forest she had no time thinking about scratching her eye, so she got to run around without.)

Day 185

The weather was lovely and we took a stroll at the open air museum with old buildings from all over town. They have just moved them to this area to make up an old Fagersta (name of the city where my parents live).

There are lots of interesting things to look at, and the museum is situated close to a canal with a lock. The nature around here is just amazingly beautiful (I know I'm a bit biased =), and we had a lovely stroll.

Day 184

We got into the car after work to drive the 230 kilometers to my parents house, to visit them during the weekend. It was a beautiful evening when we got there, and we spent some time in the garden playing football. The little house at the end of the yard is used as a shed, and their living house is up to the left, out of the picture.

Day 183

I actually managed to go up early and get out for a run today, the second time this week. The clock says 7:26, but that is after my breakfast when I remembered to take a photo of my shoes and pulse meter. The pulse meter is not a very fancy one, but it do give some kind of progress tracking. And it is pink. =)

Day 182

The season for Swedish strawberries is very short, only about 4-6 weeks, and then we have to relay on foraign ones (that of course doesn't taste as good as the Swedish ones! ;-) So we try to eat as much as we can while they are here. I love to have mine with ice cream but Daniel prefer to just have some honey on his.