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Barbecue Sharon had wanted to camp next to the roadside, as it afforded a better view of the lake and mountain. We compromised by having breakfast there in the morning. I filtered water directly from the lake and clogged the filter--twice. On the beach in Svanesund two liters of Tri Smak Neapolitan ice cream was lunch. Topless bathing abounded. Obviously topless was common: it hardly rated a glance from the teenaged boys. I soon learned why most women should leave their tops on. One old woman stumbled barefoot amongst the rocks, clad only in bikini bottoms, her withered breasts swung haphazardly. Her scanty attire was further disparaged by a beer gut sticking out well past its prime. At Svanesund we had a choice of crossing the narrow stretch of water on a ferry or we could ride twenty kilometers around to the bridge. I wanted to check how much the yellow ferry cost. I couldn't find any signs with prices listed. Even looking on the ferry I couldn't see a ticket taker. We hesitated so long the ferry pulled away without us. I knocked on the office door, but no one was there. A car arrived for the next ferry. The woman got out and walked over to the pier. I asked her the price for the ferry, but she didn't speak English and I couldn't understand her reply. I wasn't sure she understood my question. She acted as though I had asked her for money and went and sat in her car, with the windows rolled up, after saying "Nay! Nay!" I suppose it was possible for her to think I was asking for money: I came up to her, pointed to a departing ferry and said "kronors," while rubbing my thumb and fingertips together. Fortunately, the next fellow spoke English, and I fared better with my questioning. It turned out all yellow ferries in Sweden were free; the Swedes paid for them in their yearly taxes. Sharon and I received a free ride. The fella was an upper elementary school teacher and told me he made seventy thousand kroners ($15,000) a month. Just before I yelled "sign me up," he added sixty thousand kroners went to taxes each month. He cleared ten thousand kroners a month. Near Saint Hoga we found a large modern rest stop with picnic tables and running water in the washrooms. I bought a tiny steak and some hamburger and we had our first barbecue in over a year. To start the coals on fire we placed the upside down barbecue on our stove. After a few minutes the coals glowed nicely. It did a grand job of cleaning the grill too. We made potato and egg salad to accompany the steak and burgers.At dusk camper vans and motorhomes pulled into the rest stop for the night. We dragged our bikes back into the trees and set up. |
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