Weekend Trip to Rørvik Cabin

So with the unusually warm weather we decided to drive to their cabin by the sea in Rørvik on Thursday instead of waiting until Friday.

Rørvik is the town/area where Knut was born and raised. until he was about five years old. His family then movement into Namsos. The cabin he and Else built is built on a little plot which was cut out from a part his grandfathers farm. It is on a hillside and since you cannot farm it they could purchase it and build their dream cabin. They started back in 1989 with nothing but land and trees. Today stands a beautiful cabin with a couple of out buildings, a large deck that has a small coffee room attached along with its own fireplace. It overlooks the sea and the small mountain goes right up behind.

                                                                       

 

                          N.                                           

 



 All day long boats of all size float by. Two times a day you also get to see both the north bound and
southbound cruise ships called Hutegruten as they come to stop in Rørvik. They are seven day cruise
boats that go up and down the Norwegian coast from Oslo to the North Cap which boarders Russia all year around. I actually took one of the boats back in 1983 from Bergen to Trondheim. That was a ride of a life time and a story for another day.

  

 

  

To get to their cabin we would drive for about one hour, take a 30 minute ferry ride and the drive an additional twenty minutes or so to get there. As we turned down the gravel road Knut pointed out the mountain called "the Hat". He also gave details of his growing up on his grandfathers farm and the old house where his great aunt lived and would give him many good treats. The main farm house is
still occupied by new owners but his great aunts home is about to fall down. Then as we came down a
small hill....there is was....waiting for them that wish to relax, fish, and enjoy the outdoors.

It shows their labor of love. Over the past 25 years they built it entirely by themselves...from clearing the land to laying the bricks of the foundation. They now spend almost every weekend that they can out here enjoying retired life. There is nothing missing from this little cabin from the strawberries and flower garden to the smoker he made to smoke fish caught of the coast with his little fishing  boat. The cabin is two stories with two bedrooms upstairs along with a tv area. One bedroom, bath, kitchen and living/dining room are on the first floor.
From Thursday afternoon until Monday morning....we fished, sat in the sun, read books, swam in the sea, played bocci ball, croquette, and ate and ate and ate....( we slept some too but is it difficult to do when it is light outside 24 hours a day)

Grilling waffles. 

 Enjoying the heat...

 View from the deck.

We also took a couple trips into the town of Rørvik. On one daytime trip I got to take some pictures of the little seaside town.

                                                          

Seagulls nesting on the roofs.

One evening we went on to town to visit and go on board a couple of the cruise boats that we watched sail by each day....there were many people from town there to greet them and I had fun walking around and imagining to some day take the seven day coastal voyage all the way to the
Russian boarder at Hammerfest, Norway

 View from the cabin

 Up close at the dock.

 Dinner smells good.

 As one goes north the other goes south.

Onkel Oscar Evening

After dinner we got ready and Knut, Yvonne, Karsten and myself went down town for our 7pm Onkel Oscars Pub evening. Else and Elise took the evening off and enjoyed an evening at home. You must understand, it doesn't get dark in northern Norway this time of year so you don't really realize the time of day it is...lots of daylight....lots of energy.
I had memories of so many people but really have had little contact with them since I left Namsos. Three years ago while recuperating from surgery discovered Facebook. I had never really had time
for social media....to my surprise, many many of my Norwegian friends were to be found there. I have spent many hours looking through "friends" lists of friends to find people I knew and trying to learn about them, their lives and family.
I had put out an invitation for our evening get together on Facebook in hopes to have a good turn out. Well I must admit.....we had a very successful night. We had 24 people come out and meet at the pub.

 I had a ball. There were three specific groups...ones from school, some from what I call the "Morten Gang", and a few " olders" who were good friends but were already grownups back in 1983. The name Morten gang comes from probably my best friend that year in Namsos. Morten Kristiansen was his name. One of my biggest regrets is I would not get back to Norway soon enough for us to meet again. After a valiant fight with cancer....he passed away last summer. He was like my my big  brother that year. Morten was one of the first persons I met that was about my age and had a car. It was great for me because he lived just done the street from me and everyone knew and loved Morten. We spend many nights driving around, visiting friends, or hanging out at Bibo...(the local nightclub of the day.) Both his sister (Wenche) and brother (Karl Arne) were there to represent. We all enjoyed each other's company and had some laughs seeing each other in some old pictures I had brought to
pass around. Most of us had changed a great deal on the outside...but as we sat, talked, and laughed....we all realized that we were all the same people on the inside. The memories and stories went late into the night.

 The last of the hold outs Unni, Lillian, Sylvia and myself finally said goodnight sometime well after midnight. Three of us got a ride home from Unni's oldest daughter as Lillian through on her bicycle helmet and began the trek home. One thing I must say....most Norwegians do not drink and
drive....even if they had just one beer. This is a practice I wish everyone followed.
I also felt honored by those who are soccer fans( which is almost everyone here) because Wednesday was the World Cup semi final between Argentina and Netherlands. There was no TV at Onkel Oscars and they chose to come to meet me anyway....I did make it home just as the last free kick in overtime was made sending Argentina to the finals.

In Namsos the 9th of July

Wednesday, after we had breakfast, Knut and I went for a ride. We were to then meet up with the rest of the family around noon. First stop was to visit the new high school and seeing it was open went inside. It is beautiful. It had more of a college feel than one of a high school.

We then went  to my old school, just a few blocks away. It is now an elementary school and looks very much like it did when I went there.
To my surprise.....as we drove around back...it hit me like a ton a bricks....there it sat...waiting for 30 years...for the young man... to ride him home. My old moped! I knew there was something I forgot on my last day of school! (Hehehe)

After that we went for a quick trip to Oasen. It is one of the largest swimming centers built inside a mountain in all of Northern Europe. Along with a 50 meter swimming pool, children's pool and jacuzzi, it has two diving platforms and a training center......a cafeteria, large locker rooms and a tanning salon....

As we walked around we noticed an old sign with a few pictures....as we look closer we saw one of them had Knut in it....he then told me he had worked on the team that had laid all of the tiles on the bottom of the pool.....Knut also takes pride in being able to say He was the first one to swim in the new pool....even though it caused some tension with one of the Directors who had planned to make a "Big Event" of himself being the first to swim....well...they can't take it away....Knut was the first....they had just began to fill the pool and first he and then another jumped in the deep end to cool off.

We then met up with the rest of the gang ( Else,Yvonne, Karsten and Elise) and we drove up to Klompen. This is the small mountain that overlooks the town on Namsos. We took a few
pictures....took in the sites and drove home to Gullvikmoen.

Knut and I also visited the State church in town. Below is its history card and a couple pictures

After dinner we got ready and Knut, Yvonne, Karsten and myself went down town for our 7pm Onkel Oscars Pub evening. Else and Elise took the evening off and enjoyed an evening at home.