21 June 2008: MAP

Stavanger to Oslo.

21 June 2008 The long drive to Oslo

When I woke up this morning, my thoughts were about the long drive (300miles) to Oslo from Stavanger on those narrow Norwegian roads. It was raining as I began my journey. The traffic was slow on the two lane highways running south out of Stavanger. When I left the highway, & began driving on the narrow roads, I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy anything about this drive to Oslo. This was a day of contrasts. The range of weather changed from grey & raining to bright & sunny. The traffic from heavy to light. The scenery from Spectacular high bare mountain passes to lush farm land. The route was planned to be the most direct way from Stavanger to Oslo. I made no consideration about anything that might be of interest along the way. On my trip planning program, I simply indicated the start & end point of this trip. When the calculations were done the program presented a route with no less than 30 road junctions. I don’t know how I could have done this with a bunch of paper maps. As I progressed along this 8 hour drive, I began to realize that I was enjoying this drive. The only down side to the trip was getting lost in Oslo trying to find my hotel. But that’s an old story played out in another unfamiliar city.

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A glimpse of blue sky during a rain storm.

Rain water cascades off the rock face.

A steep glacial valley & lake.

A cold winter day in JUNE!

A narrow Norway mountain road.

A typical narrow road with a typical wide truck.

Herding sheep on a high mountian road.

A reminder that I'm in Norway.

One of many mountain lakes.

The first sign to Oslo @ 200 miles.

Blue sky & a beautiful lake.

A fantastic traffic free winding road.

Rolling farm land on the way to Oslo.

A rare Norway multi lane highway.