We were off the ferry in Denmark within minutes of its docking. We had purchased a good map of the country on board and were able to drive (on the right!) right out of town and on our way. Our first impression of Denmark: flat, And very little traffic for a Friday afternoon. We drove on reasonably wide roads to Billund, the home of Legoland amusement park, and to the campground across the street from it . . . and discovered where all the cars in Denmark were.
We arrived too late to visit Legoland, and the next day it was raining, so we decided that that was something we should do with our granddaughter anyway. We then left for one of our longest drives yet: 172 miles to Frederickshavn. We had traveled about five miles when, almost together, we both said, “A hill!” It really was the first real hill we had encountered since leaving the ship. Traffic, again, was very light until we reached the E, the Danish version of the interstate highway. It was very busy, and we saw many camping trailers and motorhomes going south. We later learned this was the first day of the major “everyone goes on vacation at once” period that is common over most of Europe.
With it, costs increase: we are in a large resort campground for two nights at around $50 per night. There are more than 700 sites here, and most are full. Rover is one of only three motorhomes in the entire campground--the rest are trailers, many with an attached awning room as large as the trailer itself. We are about 100 yards from the beach, and we can see the ferries approaching the port about three miles away.
The place is full of beautiful little blond children who talk funny. We are staying an extra night to take the ferry on Monday, saving us a couple hundred dollars over the Sunday fare, but ever since we boarded the ferry to Denmark we’ve felt like the price of everything has pretty much doubled, so we aren’t sure we are saving much by staying an extra day. Two cups of coffee and two muffins cost us $12 on our two-hour walk today. And gasoline in Denmark? $8.50 a gallon.
July 4
We arrived at the ferry bright and early on Monday morning. Many cars were already lined up ahead of us. We had little wait before we were herded on with two stamps to put on our LP tank--one to identify it and one to seal it shut. It was a smooth crossing: 8 hours to Oslo, where Customs greeted us warmly, asked very little, and sent us on our way. They didn’t even want to see our passports. That same evening we drove the 120 miles to Lillehammer, where our daughter and her family live. It is light until 11pm, so we had no driving problems and could enjoy some of the scenery when there wasn’t massive road construction. Because we’ll have access to a hose and a vacuum cleaner, we’ll give Rover her first real inside-and-outside cleaning in four years.