Visit with Marianne then on to Östersund

We leave at 10:12 AM. Not bad for us! We drive to Hudiksvall to see Marianne. She looks good but seems down. Her back problem causes a lot of pain and they have not been able to find any medication that works for her. She is frustrated and wants to go home. They have delayed her release a couple of times. It is so sad to see her in the hospital. I know she wants to be a part of life again. She has great support from everyone in Trönö and they visit her often. She seemed confident that she may go home this week. Lets hope so. Her lunch tray is brought to her room so it is a perfect time for us to be on our way. We say good bye and wish her the best. She seems so strong and full of color, so I think she will go home soon too. If they could just find the right medication to manage the pain while she is getting better.

There is a moose statue with a rabbit riding on it at the entrance of the hospital. Hmmmmmmm.

What significance is that??? It is very icy in the parking lot and cold of course. Once again the sun is out!

We stop by the centrum on our way out of town and eat at a cafe. Karli is also looking for that Selma Lagerlöff book so we inquire at the 2 book stores in town. In the center of town there is usually a kind of a shopping center indoors. Usually, they have big buildings broken up into stores. Like in the U.S. there are store logos on the side of the building indicating what is inside. We eat at a little cafe in one building. Not so good food really. It is just frozen items that they microwave. But we are hungry and in a hurry. They do serve fresh green salad with it which is nice. No luck at the bookstore by the way. The clerk gives us the phone number of a major bookstore, Bokia, in Sundsvall, the next large town on our way.

Total travel time we estimate 4 to 5 hours to get to Östersund. We hope to get there in the daylight but that is impossible. Östersund is farther north so it will get dark sooner, not later. It is a long snowy drive and we call 2 bookstores on the way. One says no. The other says it is in their computer that they have one but will call us when they actually see it on the shelf. Five minutes later Karlis phone rings and no, they do not have it.

Wee see many mountains and a lot of snow on the roads and trees. It is a winter wonderland. I keep my eyes on the look out for a moose. Sten has told us to watch out for moose. Moose in the road is a common cause of accidents up here. It never gets above freezing up here. Again, we are taken with the sparkly snow. Maybe a video camera could capture it.

We get to the town of Bräcke and call Sten. He is in Brunflo at his work. Berit is in Southern Sweden visiting her parents, Greta and Verner. Greta is Arvids 1st cousin? Berit is coming in on the train tonight, well, night train so she will be here early tomorrow morning. Karli took that night train to Östersund and booked a bed on the train. You are in a train berth with 6 beds. She was in a womens berth. She said it was nice but hard to sleep with all the noise and being jostled about.

We find his building. Sten and Hampus are there and Tajson! When we were here 3 years ago, he had just bought the building. We saw it then, briefly. He has since sold the dry cleaners in Östersund and gone to all commercial business. He launders hotels bedding, rugs, etc. now. He has a contract for many hotels mostly in Östersund but also in towns in the area. Actually his drivers have a large area in which to deliver and pick up. He buys the sheets, towels and robes and the hotel buys them from him along with a contract to launder them.

He gives us a tour. The machines are absolutely huge. They each have a specific job. Some do sheets and some do towels, some press, some fold. He demonstrated it. A new machine folds towels of varying sizes. It is amazing to see it all. There are large racks everywhere with sheets and towels in them. They deliver clean bedding to a hotel in a rack. They send back to him the same rack filled with items to be laundered. Seems very efficient. He has an environmental rating for his business. Swedes are big on keeping high standards for the environment. Tajson is their new dog. They did not have Tajson 3 years ago. He is a Scotish terrier I think and oh, so cute. He bounces around and follows Sten. He seems so happy being there. We all leave together.

We go to Frida and Dans apartment and Lina is there. Surprise! The apartment is beautiful. Arvid and Lina go to the store because we are hungry and because we want to get some breakfast food. Sten gave us bedding sacks from the laundry. We make up our beds and set out our towels. We cook up some frozen entrees. Really good! Things like curry chicken, Asian chicken with many veggies. We eat some mandarin oranges that are so good in the winter.

We go to their home on Hallonvägen. We talk and talk. Lina fixes some fika. We have tea and coffee and other yummy things. Lina gives us some presents: Swedish napkins, smör knives, and candy and for Karli she gives her some Christmas curtains, towels and a book. She is so sweet. She is living in Göteborg now going to school. She is studying Italian. She is in love with Italy and has been there many times. She is great speaking English but thinks that she is really more fluent in Italian than in English! Amazing. Her dream is to live and work in Italy. She has many friends there. We go back to the apartment.

Note the brick behind the sink. They were renovating the apartment before they moved in. They tore off the existing wall to put in tile but found the brick back there. So they kept the brick and put special glass on top. It is so beautiful and adds so much to the kitchen. Berits idea I am sure; she is so artistic in her decorating.

Lina lives in the same apartment complex as does Hanna. It is late and we fall into bed. Peaceful sleep