Day 3

Stöde to Torpshammar 

Distance: 13.3 miles / 21.4 km

Cumulative: 43.2 miles / 69.5 km

“This drink, I like it! Another!” Thor in Marvel’s Thor, 2011. 

We ended the day in Torpshammar, which is not quite Thor’s Hammer but getting close. When we arrived in town, and I use the term “town” generously, we headed to the Happy Days diner. It is, in fact, a 1950’s-America themed restaurant, with burgers, shakes, and Middle Eastern food. The big attraction was a bar, so I ordered a gin and tonic as advertised on the menu. Alas, they had no tonic so the good man offered me Sprite. I declined. We will return to the diner later. 

Today was another perfect weather day with a decent, but not overly taxing distance. As we left Stöde, we stopped by the beautiful church by the river where all signs pointed to Kristine. 

The hike was as advertised, through fields and forests, past streams, on dirt and some asphalt roads. I have avoided using adjectives like stunning, spectacular, or dramatic to describe the scenery. It is not that, but it is ridiculously picturesque, or as I said yesterday idyllic. It’s just so nice and relaxing to walk through. Today was another good day. 

Another great lunch spot. 

Then we arrived at our “hotel” in Torpshammar. It immediately gave off a kind of Swedish Shining vibe. The main door was locked; Kristine called the contact number; a woman told us to go to a side building and room 409 would have keys in the door. Okay…. We followed instructions. I looked both ways down the hallway to see if two little girls would appear. It seemed (seems) safe enough. We have still not seen another human being, and I’m ok with that. 

Our dinner is included and you guessed it, it’s at the Happy Days diner. After a brief stop at the local Coop store to buy some Fever Tree tonic we headed back for dinner. I again ordered a gin and tonic and before the proprietor could again offer me Sprite, I produced my tonic. We all laughed. And it turned out the burgers and shawarma were both really good. 

It doesn’t take much to make me happy. 

Now we’re back in the Stanley hoping the walls don’t start bleeding. Kristine has taken away my axe.