Stockholm to Vaxjo

We left Stockholm Wednesday morning and travelled south to the Smaland province, destination Vaxjo. Everything went without a hitch. Kris, Mom and I took the bus to the car rental and then Kris volunteered to drive. Things went really well until we lost mom under a massive map of Sweden that we were using.

Luckily she was found before the trip was over. I am not kidding when I say massive map. It must be five feet by five feet; almost impossible to open in a car. But this map is working out a lot better than the map that we used last summer when we went to Minnesota with Mom. She had brought along a map from 1957 to use. She'd say, " according to the map, there should be a road right here.......mmmmmmm....it isn't here anymore....mmmmm....I wonder why?" or "there should be an Indian reservation here.....mmmmmm...." not anymore. It was really funny. She's a good sport!
We continually remarked on how the countryside of southern Sweden is reminiscent of northern Wisconsin. Pines, ferns, mosses, farms full of boulders and of course cows! One can see how that region of the U.S. would remind Swedes of their home country. The barns and farm homes are so picturesque in reds, ochres and tile roofs. I will try to include pictures next time. The weather has been beautiful and should stay that way for a while.
After a five hour car ride, we arrived early enough to walk around Vaxjo, a beautiful quaint city. It is a college town and has many of the same ambience and characteristics of any college town but with unique architecture. Many people on bicycles which is so nice to see.
Tomorrow we will visit the Emigrants Museum and hopefully explore their archives and registries. We hope to find the names of Mom's and Dad's ancestors here and see the documentation of their emigration. We are a little nervous because there was a notice on the door that the registry is closed. Yikes, I hope not!

We hope everyone is doing well! Things couldn't be better here.....well, unless you were here too!