Trip to Norrland: Day 6 - Climate change

Well, I am being ironical, but when comparing the weather in the morning on Frösön outside Östersund, 8 degrees and a brisk wind with mostly clouds, with the weather at our goal for today Tyforsgården, light breeze and a sunny 18 degrees, it *is* a welcome change. We travelled quite far today too, roughly 460 km, but it felt somehow quite OK. This is probably due to the aforementioned weather improvement, but also, to be honest, the increased proximity to home. There is still one more day of interesting sights, but Thursday will consist very little of road time and more of out-of-car fun, as we are quite close to Karlstad now.

We stopped at my home village Orrviken, where I lived to I was 20 years old. Things are changing as they always do. The local store Orrviksbua is closing soon, being run by the same owner Ingrid for 40 years now. The house I lived with is there, looking mostly the same, and I couldn't say I felt much when seeing it, just a slight nostalgia but no urge to look inside or so. After telling my children about some places in the village, I felt a kind of closure and the trip towards the south felt like a relaxation. Having had my own house - and moved to an apartment - I kind of closed the book on both those chapters at the same time today. Been there, done that, kind of.
We passed the Swedish "Heartland" around the lake Siljan in Dalarna by way of Mora, where my uncle Lennart met up with us as he passed us in the other direction, and then we moved on to Vansbro and our stay for the night, Tyforsgården.

The ruins of the old Sunne Church close to Orrviken is said to have been built by the Norwegian King Sverre as a demonstration of power after defeating the Jamtlandic opposition in 1178.

Trip to Norrland: Day 5 - Back to the roots

The journey south kicked of quite early the fifth day, with us leaving at 06.25 from Svansele. We ate breakfast at the cozy bakery "Lilla Bageriet" in Lycksele, established in 1947. Newly baked bread for sandwiches and tasty pastries was some compensation for the early hour. After that we continued down to Åsele (meeting rain mixed with snow and zero degrees…), Dorotea (passing Lappland), Strömsund and finally Östersund (in the county of Jämtland). I grew up in a small village called Orrviken outside Östersund, and studied in the city area between 13-19 years of age.
I had the chance to meet up with my 90 years old grandmother Alva, who had an almost undiminished strong spirit in the face of a withering body strength. I do hope that will to preserve is passed down in the genes to me, I do believe so.

Having enjoyed her company, we said our goodbyes and went to play a mini golf match in the Badhusparken down by the Storsjön lake, something of a classic when relaxing in the city.
We finished of the day by being some great local food - cheeses, beverages and sausages, and checked in at the hostel to rest and relax.