Harrytur

We had to get the car serviced and replace the muffler, so we decided to get it done in Sweden, where prices are a little lower. We also just wanted to get out and see something different before winter sets in. We drove three hours to Karlstad, where we walked around and shopped while the car was being serviced. We stayed the night at a hotel, and then took a leisurely drive back home today. E was cranky and whiny pretty much the whole time. The trip was kind of a test to see how he would do, and unfortunately the verdict wasn't good.

We thought Karlstad was a very nice little town, but not much of a tourist destination (no fault of Karlstad! It's just one of those places that's probably nicer to live in than to visit... much like Nesodden). None of the local attractions seemed worth the effort to track down. The riverfront is lovely, and there are lots of great old houses and buildings. It kind of reminded me of Turku in Finland. Karlstad did have one nice yarn shop in the center of town, Stick&Sy. I found myself irresistibly drawn to some yarn from Öland. I think it must be all the autumn colors that are out now that made me buy it. I haven't really got a clear idea of what I'm going to do with 300 grams of single ply variegated lace weight yarn (!!!), but I'll figure something out eventually.

Notice that it's nicely wound into balls? I finally broke down and bought a skein winder, after all these years. I was cheap though, and didn't buy an umbrella swift to go with it. Boy was that a mistake. I have never come across a yarn that tangles as much as this one. I still have one big clump of yarn to untangle after the ordeal that was the winding of these three balls!

Oddly, we had more fun in the much smaller town of Årjäng, which is an hour closer to Norway along the E18. Here are E and KE in front of the local tourist office:

What is that thing looming in the background, you ask? Why, the Årjäng Troll, of course:

Built in the 1970s and still going strong as a kid-magnet. Also along the route home we pulled off the E18, lured by a sign that said "Vikingcenter." What we found was an interpretive center that was closed for the season and what appeared to be a pseudo-viking market place for kids. Oddly there seemed to be a class field trip in progress with the kids learning CPR. The site was lovely, though, and the little viking boat on the misty lake was pretty darned evocative of...something at least:

Love the anachronistic touch of the life preserver. Did the vikings have those? There was one mound on the site that could easily be a real grave mound. There was a sign on it that said "Kung Sorgs grav," though. We weren't quite willing to believe that there really was a "King Sorrow" buried there.