National Worker's Day

 So far we haven't had any mishaps during our travels thankfully, but today was a near miss.

We left our cabin and drove back to Lom to visit the Stave Church.  It was built of wood around 1170 and is one of the oldest churches in Norway.  The brown wooden exterior and triple nave helps to make it look really impressive.  Unfortunately were weren't able to go inside, but walking around the ancient gravestones gave a fascinating insight into the length of time that some families have been in the area.

On our way again, we headed toward the Valdresflye Pass that climbs to 1389 metres.  About 30 km into the drive we stopped to look at a frozen lake and David discovered that he no longer had his phone.  So, off we went, back to the church in Lom and, thankfully, the phone was sitting in the grass.  Bit of time wasted but a positive outcome in the end.

Back to the pass where we drove past more frozen lakes, snow walls alongside the road and lots of trees.  Definitely more growth on the mountains the further south we have travelled.  Today's picnic alongside a frozen lake was abandoned because of the cold wind.  Temperature varied from a low of 3 degrees to a high of 18.  We even needed the AC on for a short time.

The amount of traffic today was significantly increased from all previous days and we passed many, many cars parked along the pass, with people cross country skiing.  We drove through Beitostolen, a mountain village popular for skiing and hiking, and had a massive ski lift right in the middle of the township.  The houses were very pretty nestled amongst the trees, with now on their roofs.

Once through the Pass, we drove along another valley toward, our destination for tonight.  We are staying in a campground on the shores of Lake Strondafjorden, in a cabin without a grass roof!  This is a really popular holiday spot, especially as it is only three hours northwest of Oslo.  Lots of permanent caravans, camper vans and cabins.  

When we went out to find a supermarket to stock up, we discovered that today is National Worker's Day, a public holiday.  No wonder everything was so busy today.  We managed to find enough food for dinner and will restock tomorrow.

We were very excited that the camp ground had a public washing machine and dryer.  Apparently not a thing in Norway as everyone has access to washing facilities in their homes.  I did read that a laundromat would go out of business very quickly here.

Lots of people out enjoying the sunshine but did notice that no-one was brave enough to go swimming.