Lunch at Gusum Lake

Back on the road today after a very enjoyable break from driving at Oland, it was a very chilled out island. We were super efficient this morning, it’s actually quite easy packing up Nena Schwarz to get ready to hit the road and we all took on our tasks and got sorted. The drive today was to Stockholm but unfortunately since we were in the north of Oland and there is only one bridge it meant over an hour to head south then an hour back north until we were level with where we started from. Cardamom buns were the order of the day today, and they lived up to the high standards of other pastries we have had. Jess decided to use the time while I was driving to get some work done, very efficient, which meant that I was left to mutter humorous comments to myself while reading all the road signs. Obviously none of them were very humorous because none of them are coming to mind.
After a while Jess’s battery died and it was getting close to lunchtime so we were going to need to switch drivers. We had been driving past a number of pretty spectacular lakes and since we were in no rush I suggested we find one to stop at for a nice picnic lunch, there is no shortage of them in Sweden. After a few minutes searching she had found one, next the village of Gusum. So we drove there, alas no lake. A closer look at Google maps revealed that it was on dark settings and what had seemed to be a lake was merely the outline of the town. Nevertheless, we found a playing field to park at and enjoyed a lunch of the usual sandwiches.
Fully rested we got on the move again with Jess taking over for the run to Stockholm and not much happened to be honest, sometimes a drive is just a drive. So we just enjoyed the changing scenery, from pine trees to lakes to wheat fields, it is a very picturesque country. After a while we drove past a big Ikea sign, i hadn’t felt it too much before that, but you really know you are in Sweden when you see those 4 yellow letters. Shortly afterwards some Volvos drove past us with ABBA playing nice and loud and after that I ran out of stereotypes.
We found our spot for the night fairly easily, it is basically a giant car park at a convention centre, nothing flash. We had to do a bit of a reccy of the neighbourhood, which doesn’t have too much but we did manage to find a coffee shop to have a drink and our success rate was 50/50, the twins got some delicious milky biscuit flavoured sweetness and Jess and I had fairly bland lattes/machas. Then a quick tour of the supermarket for a few essentials, always fun in a new country to see what little gourmet treats they may have. We found several but managed to resist most of them, for the moment, I am sure they will be calling our names soon enough.
A bit of work to round off the day, followed by a reasonably tasty dinner, although it is possible I have reached the end of my campervan repertoire. Dishes for the twins but we are all quite tired, it seems to be a bit of a theme. Tomorrow, we explore Stockholm.Read more