We drove south and then west from
Sundsvall to the county of Dalarna, known as the "folk district" of
Sweden because in this area they are known for preserving the traditional
music, crafts, and culture of the country. In the center of Dalarna is
beautiful Lake Siljan. We stopped here at a very well situated and equipped
campground. They had everything you could wish for an extended stay. 
There was a nice beach, playground
equipment for the kids, facilities for laundry, showers, a small cafe, a
kitchen, and a nice bar where you can relax and enjoy the view.
We took advantage of our stay here to do some laundry and some serious
cleaning.
Here is where Len discovered that he was getting too good at saying his one Swedish phrase, and that it was probably not the best phrase to learn and use. He was in the WC, where a man (who turned out to be the husband of the owner) was putting up some new shelves.
The man greeted Len and proceeded to converse in Swedish, so Len said "Jag kan inte tala Svenska" (I can not speak Swedish). The man laughed and continued speaking rapidly in Swedish, so Len tried "Jag förstå inte Svensk" (I understand no Swedish). The man laughed, and continued again in Swedish. Eventually, Len convinced the man that he really did not understand or speak Swedish, and the man switched to English. He told Len that his Swedish phrase and dialect was so good that he did not believe him at first. Diana later reminded Len that he would probably have a similar reaction if someone came up to him and said in perfect English "I cannot speak English".
We found that our husbil was not as common as husvagens (house trailers). Our neighbors at this camp site had a husvagen that popped out a tent complete with picture windows and curtains.
The campground was just across the
lake from the town of Leksand. The Leksand church was visible from where we
camped as a white dot hidden in the trees. Len found it interesting to sit and contemplate a scene that must have been
viewed by his ancestors nearly 400 years ago.
In the Leksand church there is a
memorial marker on the front of the ornate organ that names Uno Trolius who
was a preacher here in the 1600's, another of Len's ancestors. 
In the olden days, people traveled to church in long oar powered boats. This tradition is preserved today, and we could see people practicing with the church boats from our camp site.
Siljan is a large lake extending from Leksand on the south to Mora on the north. You may remember Mora as the place where Gust Ericksson started out on skis for Norway. One of the traditional crafts that is practiced here is carving and decorating the (usually bright red) Dalarna horses. This part of Sweden is forested and mountainous. Quite different from the rolling farmland of the southern counties of Skåne and Halland. Not far from here is the mining district of Falun, an area that has been a center of industry for a thousand years or so.
To the north of Darlana, along the border of Norway, is the mountainous central region of Sweden. This is an area where the true nature lovers can hike up and away from the population centers. Unfortunately, we did not have time to explore this part of Sweden. Instead, we continued south.
The county of Värmland is
considered by many to be the heart of Sweden. Rivers and lakes, forest and
farms, mountains and meadows, all provide candy for the eye. Nels Holgersson
and Goosy Gander visited Värmland during their wonderful adventures. Here,
the reader is provided with a touching story of a lady who leaves home in her
youth, and after many years returns to find that her people have passed on.
This is the story of the author herself, Selma Lagerlöf, who died in 1940 after becoming the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature. (She is also descended from Johannes Rudbeckius, and is therefore another of Len's distant cousins.) She is regarded as one of the major literary figures in Sweden and is honored by having her picture on the Swedish 20 kronor bill.
Her home, Mörbaka, is in the Värmland countryside, includes beautifully landscaped gardens, and is maintained as a park and museum. We arrived there too late to take the normal tour, but we had a nice visit with a young lady who serves as the landscape gardener.
If we would have had more time, we also could have visited the home of cousin Alfred Nobel, a park with sculptors by Carl Mills, and the home of John Erickson. Erickson gained fame in America during the Civil War by designing the ironclad warship the Monitor that some credit with helping the Union win. But, if we didn't push on we would never make it back to Malmö in time.
A popular vacation excursion for some Swedes is to build a log raft, pitch a small tent on it, and float down the Klarälven river that flows through the center of Värmland.
The southern edge of Värmland is bounded by the shore of Lake Vänern. Covering 5,550 square kilometers (3,449 square miles), it is the largest lake in Sweden. We spent some time at Trollhätten near the south west end of Lake Vänern. We watched as ships moved through some of the highest locks on the Göta Canal.
The Göta Canal crosses Sweden from Göteborg (Gothenberg) on the west to Stockholm on the east. If you have an extra week and some extra money, you can take a boat from Göteborg to Stockholm. Maybe on some other trip we can do the canal boat ride.
