Kil, Sweden

Day 8:

Today started with a nice walk with the dogs to Lake Fryken. Kicki showed us a demonstration of a few of the skills the dogs have been trained to do, which are all extremely impressive! As we were walking, she would toss tennis balls into the tall grass and the dogs would all look, but not chase the balls. When we got 50 meters or so away, she called 3 of them, one name at a time, to sit next to her in a line. Then the would point in a direction, say a command, one would take off, and she would use a whistle to correct the direction. So crazy.

For lunch, we made a small fire along a stream and cooked up sausages. Turns out building fires is exactly the same wherever you go... we were able to see Vivianne again before heading to Kil. In the afternoon, Gösta's daughter Karin picked us up and we headed south to Kil. We met and had fika with Gösta and his wife at their flat, and what an amazing opportunity that was! We discussed our relation, shared pictures, and came to the conclusion that we are outmatched technologically by a 94 year old man... But thanks to a recap from Vivianne yesterday, it was easy to figure out that our dear mother Rebecca's father's mother was sister to Gösta's father. So that makes us first cousins, twice removed... I think. Anyway, he was kind enough to look up Danielle's ancestors as well using a new database set up for Sweden! After spending some time visiting, we went around Kil and saw a steamboat named Freja that was in the bottom of Lake Fryken for 100 years that is being restored, along with the first railway station in Sweden. As we made our way back up, we were able to see the houses where the family has lived through generations.

After dinner, Kicki, Henrik, and Lovisa took us on a "moose safari", where we saw 2 moose and some red deer. On the way out, we were able to see the small house where Jason's great grandma, her SIX brothers and sisters, and parents lived. How times have changed...Read more