June 13, 2012
We had a leisurely breakfast this morning after waking up around 8 am. The plan today is to take a three-day, two-night road trip with John and Karen. Today we’re driving to a cabin in the mountains that John used to own and has now sold to his daughter Kjersten. It is generally used in the winter as a base for cross-country skiing. Thank goodness we didn’t come to visit in the winter, because I absolutely hate cross-country skiing, and they apparently ski for six hours a day when they are here!
After breakfast we packed up and hit the road. We made three stops along the way. First we stopped for groceries, then at two “tourist trap” gift shops. The first had some beautiful yarn and wool– I was sorely tempted to buy some in anticipation of the inevitable, yet likely distant day when I become an avid knitter, but thought that would be an impractical decision. The second shop focused on candles and home goods where J and I found a beautiful wooden cutting board that wasn’t too big or heavy to fit in our bags on the way home.
The cabin was about an hour and a half drive from Stavanger – about 110 km through the absolutely stunning Hunedalen valley with waterfalls, farms, and cabins perched on steep climes.
The road was twisting and narrow, with a few tunnels. The cabin is up a steep gravel road. There is a level communal parking lot a little ways away from the cabin from which you take a small path to the cabin. We arrived around 12:30 pm.
The cabin has four bedrooms: one with a double bed for John and Karen, one with two sets of bunk beds, for J and I, and two more rooms with a set of bunk beds each. The kitchen, dining room and living room are in one long area with a vaulted wood-lined ceiling. The walls and floor are also pale wood. There is a bright blue fireplace in the living room, with bright forest green trim. All of the pale wooden furniture in the living room and dining room were purchased from a Norwegian factory at the same time, and were remarkably comfortable.
J and I made a lunch of soup and bread and cheese, and we ate a delicious jam-filled pastry for dessert. After lunch we spent a half-hour or so reading and relaxing, then John suggested an easy walk “just along the roads.”
Although the walk involved some beautiful scenery, it was not “just along the roads.”
After hiking about 4 or 5 km along the roads, including up a very, very steep hill, John said, “The hard part is over and now we have the fun part.” Apparently, the fun part was another 2 or so km across soaking wet muskeg, making gradual downhill progress (apparently) towards the cabin. Our shoes filled with water in the first few minutes, and we spent the rest of the time squelching along, trying to keep up with John’s blistering (note the foreshadowing….) pace.
I fell only a couple of times, and once J let go of a branch that flicked me right in the eyes and forehead. After 2.5 hours of walking, we eventually made it back to the cabin, where we immediately changed out of our soaking clothes and put our shoes on John and Karen’s electric shoe dryer. After the walk, we relaxed in our warm dry clothes and I nursed a blood blister on my foot. I’ve never gotten a blood blister from walking before!
We had a dinner of pork, lamb sausage, potatoes and an interesting salad of peppers, tomato, onion, feta and nectarine. I was surprised at how well this rather surprising flavour combination worked together. After dinner we washed the dishes, watched the Portugal-Denmark UEFA game and ate chocolate. A couple of hours later, J and I retired, exhausted, to our bunk beds.
stupid crafts 