To Norway, Home of Giants

Wednesday we drove across Sweden, more Wisconsin Dells, then less wheat fields than woods, then forests and rocky, and, always, lakes. It was a gentle but changing countryside. We spent the night, Wednesday, at the Swedish/Norwegian border, literally, in a picnic area and border store parking lot right next to the border stone. We celebrated our passage to Norway by watching one of my all-time favorite Errol Flynn films, The Edge of Darkness, about Norwegian resistance to the Nazis, I mean, Germans. Great music by Franz Waxman, great casting, and one of the best-ever shoot-outs, as the village priest opens automatic fire on the bad guys; not at a video store near you. It was particularly meaningful in that the next day, Thursday, we spent much of the morning getting help from very diligent and caring Norwegian customs officials about getting our “deposit” back from the Nazis, I mean, Germans. We'll watch John Cleese's classic travelogue, “To Norway: Home of Giants,” some other time. Soon.

Our second night we camped at a real campground in Bogstad, overlooking Oslo. We even put up the Grey Wanderer's awning, first time, to emphasize the fact that we are camping, not merely parking. A day of washing, repairing, attempted repairing, and enjoying the sunshine and warmth. We'll visit the Norwegian Nazi Resistance Museum this weekend.

Update: Friday we moved to a more interesting campground (the marina), closer in to Oslo.

The Norway/Sweden border stone