Our first ferry crossings are west of Molde to explore the islands – the Dryna Ferry.And we crossed some more beautiful bridges like this Skjeltene Bridge.More marshmallow farms on an inland lake on our drive south to Sjøholt.And our first glimpses of the majestic fjords: the Storfjorden.Our apartment for the next 5 nights is the top floor with a beautiful deck that has a view of the fjord and our own gazebo. Sjøholt CampingThe beach area is a short walk away to enjoy the fjord.We climbed up the rock and were surprised to find a diving board. Summer fun! That is Sjøholt village across the fjord.Sunset on the Storfjorden from Sjøholt.Nearby Romsdalsfjorden is just as green and lush.We had a gorgeous day to explore Andalsnes on the Romsdalsfjorden.There is even a happy and proud Norwegian troll in Andalsnes.Luckily we are not driving this single person EV! But would be better than an electric bike in the winter!Maybe you could charge it here!We recharged ourselves with ice cream in a waffle cone on the public square with others enjoying the summer sunshine and warm temps.And sunbathed along the Romsdalsfjorden before heading back to our own fjord.
What is this? A robot Mowing the lawn? No noise! No sweat – lawn is mowed while you do something else – like prep the BBQ.This Robot Mower is making such perfect straight lines up the hill.This Robot Mower has his own garage… Very sporty looking!Captcha: I am not a RobotFish Farm in the fjord around Avory Island- this a permanent operation.Another Fish Farm in this beautiful fjord.This ship appears to be stocking fish going down that slide in the center into an enclosed circle.An interesting flower or jelly fish in the kelp beds along the Atlantic Ocean Road.The deer we have seen seem smaller.Kvernes Stave Church, circa 1633, is the only one in Norway built after the Middle Ages and Reformation – the nave end is built in stave technique.This says the supporting posts are called staves and are in each corner. Larger churches also have supporting posts in the wall line as shown by the circles in the plan.The shutters to protect the windows from the sea slide up and down with a chain.The thick wood boards on the siding are overlapped.Simple cottage on the coast.
We were upgraded to an EV with Eurocar (through AutoEurope). Norway is committed to electric vehicles and as tourists we should be part of this vision. The EV Tourist guide to Norway.Download an app from Fortum and add your credit card. This app covers several providers, like Recharge, and is what the manager at Eurocar recommended for our route. Many charging locations are at gas stations, near the center of town so plenty of options while charging. We learned later that we could add a non Tesla car to our Tesla account so that could have been a very good option as there were always a lot of Tesla charging stations.It is much more convenient to use a cell phone to charge so we bought a $5 SIM card at 7-11. For $15, we topped it up with 3GB data use in Norway only for a month (Update: we used less than one GB for the month. We added only on GB for second month at $8). Mycall.noThe charging stations vary in power from 50kw to 350kw. The cost per kw increases with speed but the charging time decreases. This car – VW ID.4 – has a good range: 455 km equals 280 miles. Update: We drove 4396 KM (2732 miles) with our total charging costs being $402 ($.09/KM or $.15/Mile)All 6 chargers full on a Sunday afternoon – but these are the 350 kw superchargers. All electric cars in Norway, including those with foreign registration plates, can drive through the many toll roads at either a rebated price or completely free of charge. Both riksvei (state own)- and fylkesvei (county own) ferries operate with a 50 per cent rebate for fully electric vehicles (make sure to inform ticket agent that you’re driving an EV to get rebate.) When we rented our car the manager said our AutoPASS charge would probably be less than the $58 we paid to add the second driver for our 34 day rental. (Update: the total charge was $73)
Columbines blooming are a sure sign of spring. Lots of wildflowers on the trails.
White fluffy clouds just say summer to me.
Day trip to near by Echo Reservoir to enjoy the wonderful sunshine.
Another day trip to Santa Fe – 160 miles one way to the charging station. Oh, and could not pass on some great shopping!
Nice stop for coffee break. Took about 40 minutes to add 140 miles of charge (for a total 225 miles to return home).
Our first restaurant dining since Spain in 2020 – great outdoor patio with spicy New Mexican food.
We built this kayak stand to give us more room in the garage – works great!
Another building project?
A bug hotel for our 6-year-old great-nephew. We had fun painting and decorating!
We did an overnight trip to South Fork and got a hike in together as well.
He also came to see our house and check out the kid size bridge in our Japanese Garden- a fun day of mini-golf, picnic lunch, library summer reading, and a walk along the river.
We dodged some summer storms but managed a few evening concerts in the park.
Wandered downtown on 4th of July to see all having fun floating along the river.
Cruised downtown for the car show – dressed to match so owner wanted a photo.
Tesla Model 3 is our choice for our new electric car! It is a very smooth and high tech ride.
We ordered with an 8 week delivery but were offered a show room model so we headed out to pick up with our lunch stop at Lathrop State Park – gorgeous day.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at beautiful Pueblo Lake State Park.
After many months of research we had decided that we would go all electric as it is important to lead the way into mitigating climate change.
We arrived well rested to do a thorough walk through of the new 2021 Tesla.
Our first Tesla supercharger stop in Poncho Springs, Colorado – we saw 5 other Teslas pull in while we were there. A happening spot!
We made time to take a walk at Sand Dunes National Park.
A favorite photo under 14 thousand foot Blanca Peak, south of the Sand Dunes. Very red white and blue! Wonderful to buy an American car of such quality.
We also had time on our way home to see some of the Sandhill Cranes in Monte Vista on their northern migration.
The glow of the setting sun as we start our adventures with the 2021 Tesla and the 2016 Travato.
