Day 8 - Favang!

Shazam!  We met with Ole Jon and his wife tonight.  Ole Jon is a relative of one of Mom's school mates.  Anyway, Ole Jon did some research on one of mom's (and my) relatives, so we discussed that in our hotel's restaurant over coffee and streudel (though it has to be called something else here, right?).  After our talk, they offered to drive us to some of the farms.  The first and most important farm to us is the one posted below.  It's called Bjorgevangen.  It was the last place that Mattie Vang (Mathea Amundson VANG) lived before she and all of her living brothers and sisters and parents moved to Timberland/Barronett.  She took VANG in the U.S. as it is part of the name of the farm: Bjorgevangen.  It looks like someone might own it, but they certainly don't live there on a regular basis.  It's beautiful, isn't it?  Ole Jon thinks that it was built between 1800 and 1850.  Mattie Vang emmigrated in 1894.  She was my great great grandmother.  [My mom is Marlys Nyberg Renz.  Her mother was Elva Rydberg Nyberg.  Her mother was Mathilda Hanson Rydberg.  And her mother was Mathea "Mattie" Vang Hanson.]  This wasn't a house or a farm that they owned.  They rented it and worked the land.  Mattie's father was also a tailor and a logger.  (Can we say jack of all trades?)  Ole Jon thinks that the last people who permanently lived here was in the 1920s.  We did see some other farms and homes, but they were not places that that family lived for very long.  We are tired and going to bed.  It is 11 p.m.  Still light enough to go for a walk, play frisbee with a dog, set up a tent, etc.  and we have no light blocking shades tonight.  Tomorrow might be a good day for a nap. 

Day 8 - Fjallbacka to Tretten

Mom in front our hotel

This is the view from our room
looking north

Just writing to let you know we made it to Tretten.  The flood is bad but the roads were fine.  We have seen a camper in the water and lots of logs.  I think campgrounds located on the river with permanent campers or small cabins were hit...as were some low lying farms and houses.  South of Lillehammer the river is wide like the Mississippi.  They call it a Lake.  The water was glasslike, but it looked high.  North of Lillehammer the river narrows and is just raging.  E6 was a good 4 feet above the river at the lowest point of the road (though the road goes up the side of the valley sometimes too), though at one point it looked only maybe 1 - 2 feet higher than the water.  I think it's starting to recede.  Janna Glomstad, of Glomstad Gjesthus, said that the flood came on really suddenly Friday and that people were trying to move campers in Ringebu Friday afternoon.  They lost 3 campers.  We think we saw one of them. 

Our hotel is up the side of the valley 5 km north of Tretten.  The drive was sort of like the drive to GrandDad's Bluff in La Crosse...before it was closed.

More later...