The Nordic Ark, July 12th 2008. Part 35

By the time we'd seen about all there was to see at the farm (although I guess we could also have gone on a pony ride if we'd wanted ;-) it was about 5pm and we were all starting to get pretty tired. We were going to eat, but not in the restaurant slash cafe in the park ... we had food with us and were planning a picnic - as it turned out we could have eaten our food on the park grounds, there were tables to sit at and grassy areas we could have used, but since we didn't know that beforehand we'd left all the food in the car. Basically just as well since it would have been tiring carrying all that stuff around with us all day. We'd been figuring on finding a park or something somewhere anyway.

But first, of course, we had to make the unavoidable stop at the 'museum shop'. ;-) I bought some postcards, a tote bag aand ... a soft toy turtle. It has magnets in its feet, it's going to live on the side of my fridge. ;-)

Since none of us knew the area, we had to drive around for a bit before we managed to find a good spot for our picnic. We ended up in the town park in Munkedal. A tiny little place with a gorgeous park. We were sooo ready for some food ... !! :-) We had so much stuff with us (and we stopped at a grocery store on the way to get even more) so it really was a pretty serious meal. :-)

Left-right: C., me, KAS:

Left-right: trilltrall, C., me:

Back on the road again we started to really feel how tired we were. We were pretty much falling asleep for a while there ... although not C., of course, she's a responsible driver. :-) But the rest of us got really quiet for a while. To the point where I felt both guilty and a little nervous since no doubt C. was as tired as the rest of us, and we were all nodding off instead of helping her stay awake and alert. But she stayed focused though. :-) And pretty soon she found a great way to wake us all up ...

No trip to Sweden is complete without going shopping for more food than you really need!! KAS was sensible and only bought various baked goods that are more expensive and often not even available back home (she has gluten intolerance). C. was actually there to buy Coke for her boyfriend (he'd asked her to) but since she was there she could pick up a few other things too ... and then we wandered into the candy section, fools that we were. I bought a huge box of cinnamon and some strawberry and raspberry juice. And licorice string. :-) Well, since we were there ...

Left-right: me, C.:

After these important errands had been taken care of we headed back towards Oslo. The trip took a little over three hours each way. After the shopping expedition we all managed to stay more or less awake. I had of course brought a selection of music to keep us entertained on the way (ABBA, Bonnie Tyler, Pet Shop Boys, Leonard Cohen ... and some more stuff that I think I'm forgetting. :-)

We all got home safely after this pretty busy day. A good time was had by all!! :-D It was a fantastic experience and I can't recommend this wonderful place strongly enough. The Ark, that is. I'm definitely going back there. YOU should go there too!! :-)

Finally, in closing this near-endless series of blog posts, I want to extend a big thank you to KAS, trilltrall and C. for going with me and making the day so much fun, and especially a HUGE thank you to C. for driving us there & back again. And so comfortably, too. ;-) It was very much appreciated. :-)

And a little bitty thank you to me for planning the trip and making it happen. :-)

(Photo credit: KAS)