The Road to Røros

Why does it always rain? This is the proverbial question. Every time we are scheduled to drive through some beautiful mountainous area it starts to rain. The clouds come down low, and the scenery disappears. 

We left for Røros via Beitostølen and then the Valdresflye. I love this drive because the terrain is so different than in Hallingdal or down in the Valdres valley, or even in Telemark. It's almost like tundra, wide open spaces surrounded by mountains, no trees, and a lot of marshy land. That's on the south side. On the north side, the road goes down quickly, and then into forest with beautiful cascading streams, near Vågå. 

Hegge Stavkirke
(Martha's photo)

But before we were even above the tree line, we stopped to see our first stave church, the Hegge church. This one is near and dear to my heart because it is the family church of Mary Hegge, who lives in Minneapolis. 

Onward and upward. Yes, really. The elevation gain is about 4,500 feet. That's a lot for Norway! As we drove across, I was driving, and suddenly one of the kids said, "Look! Reindeer!" Of course, I couldn't look, but as we drove further they saw a second herd as well. So it goes when you're driving. 

River in Gubrundsdal 
(Itsani's photo)

Coming down the otherside into Gubrandsdal, we drove along the river. If you look toward the middle of the photo you can see a strange sea foam kind of color, a blue/green. The water is this color from the glacial melt. Glaciers melt from below, so minerals in the soil are carried downstream. And you can see the very grey and threatening sky...

Iron work, Heidal
(Martha's photo)

The next stop was at the Heidal Stavkirke. This church has moved around a LOT, and the current itiration is from 1933. It's not old. But it's still cool. 

Heidal Stavkirke
(Martha' photo)

We walked around the building and took some pictures, and stretched our legs. Back in the van we realized that we needed to find a WC. And it was time for our daily ice cream! 

We happened upon a really great shop, just in the middle of no place. It was a place with scoop ice cream, not the prepackaged stuff from the grocery store. 

We all ordered ice cream in dishes, but where were the spoons? 

And here are the tasty results!! 

Maren, Lilah, Itsani and their ice cream!
(Martha's Photo)

Back on the road, and on to our next scenic route, up Rondane. Again, unfortunately, the mountains were really socked in, and we could see a whole lot. But, we did stop at the curvy pathway to try for a view! 

Rondane
(Martha's Photo)

Back in the van again, on to...

Folldal
(Sue's photo)

Here we pulled off the road in a driveway, and like the 2013 picture in Äppelbo, Sweden, we took a photograph and sang the tune we love from this area (Thanks, Peter!). It made us giggle. 

Then the last leg to Røros. I've driven this route before and I know that when you get close to Røros, you can see the beautiful church and slag heap from quite far away. I just drove and waited for the first kid to say "LOOK!" Yep. It happened. We continued on to Brekken, where we would stay for the next several nights, at a beautiful farm. But, we didn't stop there. 

There was a small incident with Strunkeveko - we were told the kids could do laundry during the week. But, when they asked, they were told no. So, by Saturday they had no clean underwear. This constituted an emergency, but we were saved by fiddler, knitter, and all around wonderful human being, Mari Eggen! We went to her farm instead, which was five minutes away, and we put the essentials in the wash. 

Lilah, Luna, Itsani
(Martha's photo)

Now, when fiddlers meet, you can guess what happends. Yep! Out came the fiddles. And the cat. Here are Lilah and Itsani, with Luna snuggled in between them. Mari told us that Luna usually leaves when the music starts, but no, she stayed! 

We played for quite awhile, hearing from Mari's son, and from Mari, and just us too! But here were are playing all together. 

After a delicious supper of local soup at Skottgården, the farm where we stayed (it's a hotel) we decided that since we were only 30km from Sweden we would make a run over there! 

The Swedish Ladies! 
(Selfie by Lilah)

We had some fun with this photo, which shows us by a striped road marker. It's blue and yellow. You know, the Swedish colors. We sent it home to parents as a quiz, asking what was strange about this photo. None of them came even close, though there were some creative answers!  We shopped the grocery store - gluten free products are about 25% less in Sweden! And I can't say more as there are some surprises for loved ones at home. 

Speaking of home, driving back to Skottgarden, I was driving, and suddenly, on a rise in front of us, stood...wait for it...you probably guessed it...a moose!!! And then it ambled into the trees.

Moose!
(Sue's photo)

And we drove happily home, another "must see" item checked off the list! 

-Martha