Västra Ämtervik, Sweden

Day 7:

Today we went by train from Västarås to Västa Ämtervik in Värmland. It was a bit of travelling for just 250 km, but the super nice Swedish people make it easy to enjoy the journey. When we arrived, we met up with Lovisa, who we had seen just over a week ago in California. She brought us back to her family's house where we met her mother, Kicki, father, Henrik, brother, Albin, and of course, the dogs! We had fika in the garden with the puppies before going to visit Vivianne, who lives just up the hill. She had a very old album with photos of Jason's great grandmother from when she lived in Sweden. Its such a privilege to be able to see relatives from the 1800's in such a well preserved form.

We then went up to the forest to have the dogs test out a sort of proving grounds for Kicki to judge hunting dogs at soon. It was interesting to see them work, and to experience a terrain we had never seen before. Its difficult to put a name to something we've never seen before but it was a lake surrounded by floating earth and moss that was able to support our weights... a marsh, or bog, or maybe quagmire? In any case, it was interesting and we were able to see a beaver there also. Then we went to a lake that only reaches a depth of 2 meters, so even early in spring, it was quite warm. Finally, we went back to Kicki and Henrik's house for dinner. Yet another busy day full of new experiences!Read more