Saturday May 16th 2016. Brottum B&B Johannesgard, 36 km

The day starts with a nice shower. Nice that shower, but the stench coming from the drain was awfull. I remembered from before, my middle school time: the smell of stink bombs, H2S, rotten eggs, that filled the room as once again one of the teachers got bullied. The stench was associated with fun from puberty, so it was not only negative. Doggy Tosca also found it to “puke”, because she threw out everything she ate yesterday: the crushed and devoured deer leg, her supper, everything, though eating it all again immediately afterwards. She probably  wanted hot food. I mopped the floor that had been licked clean by Tosca and we left soon.
We had a chilly start, but still dry. That did not last long. After a few hours it started drizzling and that kept going on the rest of the day. Many altimeters had to be overcome, anyway, the necessary hundreds, up and down. Often asphalt roads, but also often gravel roads. Many roads between villages are not paved, but there are hardly any holes in those roads. I tried a photo with the zoom of the camera, but doubt if I succeded. My 2nd live moose. Like the first time I couldn’t define its sex. I had already seen some moose , but those were printed and embossed on the manhole covers in the streets. Those don’t count, I think.
This morning, after a few hours of walking, I had a few cups of coffee at a motel. That gave me the opportunity to immediately put my yesterday blog on my site. Next we  continue our trip through a particularly beautiful mountain scenery. Houses are nice colored. Usually red or white and yellow, but I meet as well blue and green colours. I see quite a few places where machines and cars are being repaired. Remarkably often, there are second hand cars, but also antique tractors and other machines. It looks like a national pasttime, those antique cars, though I see none of those on the road. The route is marked rather badly.
The country is really brilliant and reminds me often of Switzerland as well as of Canada, BC. But yes, today 6-9 degrees C. and rain. Through a window that might be wonderful, but if you walk with Raynaud’s fingers (cold fingers) like I do, you do appreciate again the luxury of a heated car or house.
I often choose the way through my GPS card, and then usually I end up somewhere near the intended route Olav. But sometimes it is uncertain. Given the long trajectory of today and the bad weather, I do not want to make a detour. The largest pine in the distant periphery, some 500 years old, the Tokstad-fir, was passed. I was not very impressed with the tree. If you’ve seen Douglas fir and redwoods in Canada, this is not that impressive. Probably they grow here very slowly. However the history around the tree is fascinating. See picture.
In a gas station, it’s time for a baguette and a hot dog with a cup of coffee: 15 E. Norway is a very expensive country. From the station I discuss a camping cabin for tonight. Really cheap according to my book. And in the community room of a camping site there usually is wifi and heating.

I take a picture of the church of Ringsaker and before 6 pm. I arrive at “camping” Brottum. A shock: a number of small mini wooden gazebos containing 2 or 4 bunk beds in pretty deplorable condition, and nothing else. The bathrooms look very shabby. I see no heating and it is not warmer than 6 degrees C. Moreover, the prices are higher than in my book. Should I still go on one more hour? To a B & B, but  of course more expensive. But I’ve already agreed the camping cabin and the administrator would also buy some food especially for me. I decided first to call the manager, that I already arrived and I’ll see what happens. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the camping cabin.
Better first call the B & B about 3 km. further. That would only open on 1 June. But you never know. A friendly lady says that my bed is ready and warm awaiting me. There is heating, food stock, wifi. And the price she mentions is below that of the “camping”. Well, good advice is not expensive: I call the manager of the campsite. Said I did not make it, the distance was too big. White lie, they say. It absolutely wasn’t worth the money. Fortyfive minutes later I arrived at John Garden. A sign Nobody home, but I knew that because of my call 45 min. before. But worse was that I was frightened of the house that was presented to me now. A bed, with half a meter of space next to it, encapsulated in four wooden walls, so you could call it a cabin. No heating, no shower, no water. See picture. No one in the adjacent house. It was already 7 pm. Better going back to the camping cabin? Suddenly I saw a secret sign that pointed to a path. And 200 m. away I saw a jewel of a cabin, with everything in it. Even sofas, provisions, cooking, you name it. I loved my cooking. A can containing something like Irish stew (or from another country). I added half a pack of spaghetti that I found in a drawer, and I got my belly satisfied again.
And wen t ‘t  kuusjke vol is LET’ t zich (when the piggy is full, it will lie down).