Summer in South Dakota

I left Yuma, AZ as the weather began warming up this spring, spent a few days in Albuquerque, then headed to Hurley, SD, arriving in early May.  The trip through KS was delayed a day by snow and high winds on May 1^st or 2^nd.  The family in SD had several ongoing health issues which prompted my decision to do a fast trip north.  I have been kept busy working at Mother’s place and helping out other family members as needed.  I did get away for a short trip to Atchison, KS in June where I was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship.  This park is a living memorial to people that have made contributions to aviation and to the Ninety-Nines.  The ceremony was very nice. 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL FOREST OF FRIENDSHIP INDUCTION

 

I also made quick trips to the Ninety-Nines’ annual meeting in Bozeman, MT and to the annual rally at Winnebago Industries in Forest City, IA in July.  Following the latter trip, it was very clear that my Mother ‘s health was failing rapidly and, in fact, she was hospitalized a few days after my return with a cancer diagnosis.  She is now in a nearby nursing home and is in Hospice care.  That pretty well catches you up to date on my summer.

This weekend I will be traveling to Spearfish, SD for induction into the SD Aviation Hall of Fame.   Several family members and friends plan to be present which will make the occasion even more special for me.  I will report about that later.  I will return to Hurley on the 8^th and leave for a long planned trip to Ireland on the 10^th.  I plan to post a blog as I can, so let me know if you DO NOT want to stay on the list.  If I don’t hear from you, I will assume you would like to receive notices that I have updated the blog as I have done in the past.

That is all for now.  This is a test post to let you know what is coming and to see if I have correct addresses for everyone on this computer.

THE SCANDINAVIAN TRIP DRAWS TO A CLOSE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2012—Jakobsberg

I spent my final full day in Sweden organizing my luggage, sharing photos with Mari-Anne and receiving copies of hers, etc.  We took a walk for a couple of hours in the afternoon in nearby woods—an area she frequently walks in.  We found two geocaches (one was a multi-cache) along the way and visited a cemetery to water flowers planted by the graves of several family members.

Daughter Sara joined us for dinner while Gunnar was away performing at a music engagement.  It was a relaxed day, albeit a bittersweet day, as I realized this was my last full day in Sweden.  So many thoughts and emotions were spinning around in my mind all day!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012—Back to South Dakota

We were up early for my final morning in Jakobsberg.  I bid Gunnar “Good-bye” after breakfast and Mari-Anne drove me to the airport where she again helped me maneuver through the check-in process.  Finally, the time arrived that we could not postpone—it was time to say our “Good-byes” which were very hard for both of us.  We had shared some wonderful experiences the past few weeks and our friendship had grown far beyond the cursory level of being “pen pals”.  Gunnar said we would all be seeing each other again—I really look forward to that happening!

I boarded the SAS aircraft for the flight to Chicago and then, via American Airlines, went on to Sioux Falls.  The flights were routine and on time.  My seatmate for the Chicago leg was a woman from Iceland who has lived and worked in Las Vegas the past 19 years.  She had been visiting her mother at their summer home in Sweden.  I thought this was a strange twist—a summer home in Sweden and the main home in Iceland.  She explained that the Gulfstream current keeps the winter temperatures quite mild in Iceland.  It made the trip seem to go faster as we talked about her homeland.  It also reaffirmed my desire to visit that country, too.

My brother, Dick, and sister-in-law, Helen, were at the Sioux Falls airport to pick me up and drive me to Hurley where I reunited with Mom and my cat, Zia.  (Zia would not let me out of her sight for days on end!)  This ended the trip of a lifetime, made much more special by Mari-Anne and Gunnar’s friendship and very generous hospitality!

GUNNAR & MARI-ANNE STIGNÄS



RAMBLING SOME MORE IN ÖLAND AND THE GLASS DISTRICT

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2012—Öland and the “Glass District”

We continued our exploration of Öland by driving north to the northwest side of the island to see Byrums raukar Nature Reserve.  There are about 120 limestone columns in the reserve, which formed when waves eroded softer limestone away.  The tallest columns are about 13 feet high and come in various shapes.  They are very unique and reminded me of the “pancake” rocks I had seen in New Zealand.  A limestone cliff rises above the columns and vegetation is very sparse in the area.  I dipped a hand into the water of the Baltic Sea while walking among the columns—I couldn’t resist the opportunity.  Mother Nature does some amazing things on planet Earth!



Byrums raukar Nature Reserve

We then headed south along the west coast of Öland to Borgholms Slott, which is northern Europe’s largest castle ruin.  It is one of the first castles built by a Swedish monarch and is first mentioned in 1281.  The castle sits on a cliff overlooking a strait so it was primarily a defensive observation post.  Historically, the castle has been under German and Danish control in addition to Swedish control.  The castle sustained heavy damage during the Kalmar War of 1611-1613 between Sweden and Denmark.  It was abandoned in the 18^th century and in 1806, the remains were devastated by fire.  Preservation work began in the 1880’s and continues to this day.  The castle is an imposing structure and I am glad they have been able to preserve this part of the country’s history.

Borgholms Slott

We continued our leisurely drive down the west coast through small towns, past a large marina, and past numerous farms with characteristic narrow fields running in an east/west direction.

Typical stone fences on the island

I saw quite a few RVs on the island, mostly small motorhomes (translates to “house cars” in Swedish) and trailers.  It really is a beautiful island with a tremendous variety of things to see in such a small area!  It was easy to see why Mari-Anne likes the area so much; I could have easily spent several more days exploring the island if it wasn’t for my “schedule”.  However, we had more miles to cover and more sights to see before returning to Jakobsberg so we crossed the bridge back to the mainland at Kalmar where we had a nice lunch at an outdoor restaurant.

After lunch, we headed west to Nybro, Boda, and into the heart of the Glasriket aka the Swedish “Kingdom of Crystal” in southeast Sweden.  We took numerous small backcountry roads through the area and northward towards Stockholm.  The land in the Glass District was heavily forested and opened up into rolling farmland interspersed with forestland as we drove north out of the district.  We visited four glass factories in the afternoon and watched glass blowers work at two of them.  One establishment had a very interesting glass exhibit with beautiful pieces on display.  The glass blowers and designers are truly “artists” in every sense of the word and I saw many stunningly gorgeous pieces—with prices to match at the locations we visited.  (Yes, I bought a couple of small pieces.)







Glass blowers in the Glasriket

Glass Exhibit--absolutely stunning!

I could have spent considerably more time in this area, too; however, the hours were passing rapidly and we had many miles to drive before getting back to Jakobsberg.  Therefore, we headed north and arrived home at 2245, thus ending another delightful day and a wonderful visit to southeastern Sweden.  This area really was very different from the northern and western parts of the country that I had seen previously.  Unfortunately, my time in Sweden was swiftly coming to a close—much too quickly.

FAST FACTS:  There are at least 11 glass factories in the Glass District, which is Sweden’s third largest draw for tourists after Stockholm and Göteborg.  Glass work in the area began in Kosta in 1742.

Although I cannot find the source of the information as I write this, somewhere in my reference material I read that many of the early Swedish emigrants to the U.S. came from the areas we traveled in the past two days.

ÖLAND

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012—Öland

Mari-Anne and I were up early, out the door, and headed in the car for Öland, a long (85 miles), narrow (9 miles) island off the southeast coast of Sweden and known as a summer get-away location.  Enroute, we bypassed Stockholm by taking a ferry to the west of town, and then passed old manufacturing towns, seaports, rolling farmland, and lots of forested land.  We stopped for a break along a canal in Söderköping, found a geocache (that I have failed to log), and strolled through some of the town to stretch our legs.  The buildings were old and many streets were quite narrow as were the sidewalks, but the town really was charming.  I would have liked to explore more, but we had many more miles and things to see this day.

Canal in Söderköping

Apartments made out of 4 silos in background (Söderköping)

The area became less populated as we drove south to Kalmar where we turned east to take the bridge to Öland.  We stopped immediately on arrival on the island for a late lunch; I had some kind of a shrimp salad sandwich.  I like shrimp but I didn’t particularly care for some of the other ingredients they put on the piece of hard bread.  Oh, well, there was a lot of shrimp and a couple of tomato slices, so my hunger was satisfied.  It was certainly a different dish than what I thought I was getting, though.

Shrimp Salad Sandwich

After lunch, we headed south along the west shore of the island.  This was definitely farming country with many farms along the way.  The soil is rich except on the Alvaret plateau, which runs roughly down the center of the island where the limestone bedrock comes to within a couple of inches of the surface or right to the surface.  I saw very little grazing on the plateau because of the lack of vegetation—it reminded me of New Mexico with the current drought conditions.  However, as soon as we drove away from the plateau, the farmland was lush with a variety of crops under cultivation.  It was late in the summer, so some harvesting of small grain was underway.  Some of the crops observed included corn, onions, beans, carrots, wheat, and alfalfa.  I also saw hogs, cattle (especially dairy cattle), sheep, and chickens on farms.  Farm buildings were generally very old, close together, and were usually built in a square to provide a windbreak.

Typical Öland farm

 I saw John Deere farm equipment all around the island—there were a few other brands from other countries there, too.  However, it looked as though JD had a good foothold on the market.  There were quite a number of wind farms on the island and I saw some offshore, too.  They are definitely putting their naturally occurring wind resources to good use.

Village street

   

Öland farm buildings

Same group of farm buildings but extending in opposite direction 

Farm house and outbuildings

 We traveled to the south tip of the island, which is a nature preserve and world-class birding site.  Unfortunately, the visitor center had closed by the time we arrived, but we did visit with some birders out on the shoreline and looked at a sea eagle through a spotting scope.  An operating lighthouse adorns the very tip of the island.

Öland lighthouse

We turned northward along the eastern shore of Öland and before long we passed by “King Karl’s wall” for the second time.  King Karl X Gustav ordered farmers to build the wall in 1653 to keep deer a previous king had imported, and which multiplied mightily, from eating farmers’ crops.  The wall is about 15,200 feet long running east/west from shore to shore.  The wall did not deter the deer as they continued to leap over it.  The limestone wall was protected by law and was in quite good condition in the areas we saw.

"King Karl's Wall"

Our next stop was the Eketorp ring fort originally constructed about 400 AD during the Iron Age.  The fortress was enlarged and reconstructed during the Middle Ages and was in and out of use for periods over the centuries.  It was late in the day when we arrived and everyone was gone; however, the gate was open so we went in and viewed the interesting exhibits from different periods of the fort’s history.  It never ceases to amaze me when I look at centuries-old buildings how well constructed they are.  Even though this fort has been reconstructed in some areas, the fact remains that the basic structure is truly awesome.

Eketorp Ring Fort

We continued northbound from Eketorp, crossing the island a couple of times so I could get a good feel for the Alvaret.  We saw many farms along the way when off the Alvaret, passed through some small towns, and drove past several ancient (500-1,000 AD) burial grounds. 

Ancient burial grounds along the road

We also saw quite a few thatched roofs on old buildings as well as numerous wooden windmills, which are not in use.  Roughly, the south half of the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site so the area is preserved much like it was in centuries past. 



Some of the approximately 400 old windmills on Öland

We stopped at one well-preserved linear village open-air museum, which was closed for the day.  It was interesting to walk around and see how the farm buildings were arranged as wind breaks as well as how they were constructed 200-300 years ago. 



Himmelsberga Museum--Öland

Darkness was approaching fast and, since we couldn’t find anywhere to eat along the way, we had dinner consisting of hot tea and the snacks we brought along in our hostel building lobby.  Not elegant--but good!  We spent the night in Köpingsvik, on the west shore about midway between the north and south end of the island.

Dinner on Öland

I cannot begin to elaborate on all that I saw this day.  It was really mind-boggling from the modern cities, to iron-age relics and graves, to modern farms using centuries-old buildings and stone fences along with modern farm implements.  We passed dozens of very old windmills no longer in use to grind grain along with new wind turbines providing electricity to Sweden and probably other countries, too, on the international grid system in use in this part of the world.  However, one of the neatest things observed this day was the delight in Mari-Anne’s demeanor and voice when we got to the island.  Öland is an area of the country that she clearly feels comfortable in and loves!

FAST FACTS:  Biogas is made in small refineries in different locations—we had to search out fuel stations that carried it.  In Uppsala, it is only sold to residents holding a special card to activate the pumps since only enough is made to service residents.  Biogas is made from garbage in Sweden.

What we call “gingerbread” on a house in the U.S. is termed “carpenter’s happiness” in Sweden.

VASA MUSEUM AND GRISSLEHAMN

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2012—Vasa Museum

We stayed around home this morning to regroup.  Then, in the early afternoon, Mari-Anne and I took the train into Stockholm and went to the Vasa Museum—one of the “must see” museums in Stockholm.  And I wasn’t disappointed!

Sweden was embroiled in an ongoing war with Poland in 1628.  In 1625, the Swedish King, Gustavus II Adolphus, ordered a “Royal Ship” built, the 17^th century designation for the largest type of naval vessel.  Construction began in 1626 and 1,000 oak trees were felled for the ship.  The ship named “Vasa” was to be the most powerful warship in the world.  Vasa’s maiden voyage from Stockholm harbor took place on August 10, 1628, and it sailed approximately 4,300 feet before capsizing after it was hit by a slight gust of wind.  The ship had masts more than 50 meters (165 feet) high, 10 sails, 64 large guns, and hundreds of gilded and painted sculptures.  Decorative artwork on the Vasa included 500 figure sculptures and over 200 carved ornaments.  The hull length was 156 feet while the maximum width was 38 ½ feet.  The draft was 15.8 feet—not much for a ship of this size, in my estimation.  It was outfitted to carry ballast and ammunition in addition to 145 crewmembers, 300 soldiers (not on board) and supplies.  Family members of the crew were on board for the inaugural sailing.  Approximately 50 people went down with the ship.



1:10 Scale Model of VASA



Exhibit Showing Life Aboard VASA

Over the years, numerous searches for Vasa came up empty until 1956 when it was located.  Salvage efforts began almost immediately and she was raised to the surface in April 1961.  Although the restoration work has been awesome, even more remarkable in my mind is that 95% of the ship is original!  The preservationists have been careful to leave the repairs in a “raw” state instead of making them blend in with the rest of the ship, thereby making it easy to see what parts of the ship have been restored.  One of the intangible benefits of finding Vasa in such good condition and being able to successfully salvage her, is that it gives immense insight into life for seafaring men during the 17^th century.  The ship’s furnishings were in remarkably good condition and 14,000 archaeological finds were registered in five months of onboard excavation.


The VASA

All too soon, it was time for the museum to close and we made our way back to Jakobsberg, arriving about 2000.  Gunnar said the next-door neighbors would be over about 2030 for coffee, so we ate a quick dinner.  The neighbors arrived as planned and I was delighted to see Sven Erik again and meet his wife, Britt.  They had lent us the use of their condo in Åre and we spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about our trip there.  We also had an interesting discussion of some of the social differences between Sweden and the U.S.  Overall, it was another day full of “discoveries” and interesting conversations.

FAST FACTS:  In Sweden, 16 months of parental leave is granted after a child is born, which continues through age seven.  Both parents are expected to share the leave; however, fathers must take a minimum of 60 days or forfeiture requirements kick in.  The government reimburses the parents for a portion of salaries lost during this time (80% for most people) and the parents do not have to be married to qualify for the leave.  The rules are quite complicated, but this explains the policy briefly.  Incidentally, I found out while researching this fact, that the U.S. is one of four nations without a national parental leave law.  The others are Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2012—Grisslehamn

We were up early, ate another of the Mari-Anne and Gunnar’s traditional bountiful breakfasts (some of which I have adopted, I liked it so much), and got in the car for the 90-minute drive to Grisslehamn, a small community northeast of Stockholm right on the Baltic Sea coast. 



Breakfast at the Stignäs Home

It was a very pleasant drive to the Stignäs’ summer home, which I found, was near summer homes owned by their children.  The families spend quite a lot of time there during the summer and the grandchildren have wonderful opportunities to enjoy each other as well as having quality time with their grandparents.  I really enjoyed meeting Mari-Anne and Gunnar’s children and grandchildren (all but two older grandsons).  This was important to me because now I can put faces with names when I read about them in Mari-Anne’s emails or on various Facebook posts.  It was also very nice to see their summer homes for the same reasons.  The location along the coast is idyllic and I can certainly see why they like to spend as much time as possible there!

Grisslehamn Summer Home



 Mari-Anne and I took a short walk around the surrounding area to see two of the children’s places, neighbors’ places, secluded coastline areas, etc.  When we returned, some of the family was busy taking a boat out of the water—it was time to put it away for the winter.

Time to put the boat away for the winter!

After closing up the home, we went into town where we had some very good fish soup at water’s edge.  This was topped off with an ice cream cone after bagging a geocache (what else?), followed by a short hike.  Too soon, it seemed, it was time to head back to Jakobsberg.  Mari-Anne prepared the fresh cod she had bought in Grisslehamn for dinner that night which was delicious.  I have eaten a lot of cod through the years and have always liked it; however, this was out of this world!  This drew to close a very nice day with the Stignäs family.

FAST FACTS: As with other European countries, people in Sweden have generous vacation leave (by U.S. standards), which they tend to use.