Setting goals and HOW to achieve them

People, people, people... what a day yesterday was! The most intense, craziest, most emotional and ultimately the most awesome day we could have imagined!
But from the beginning.

The day before yesterday, we treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast of fresh rolls, coffee and eggs in the camper van at Lake Siljan. Yes, IN. Because it had been raining non-stop since the night before and was expected to continue all day. So we spent the whole of Wednesday completely unspectacularly indoors reading, watching videos and films on the laptop.

Yesterday we packed up in the drizzle and set off towards Gränsfors at around 9 a.m. André had said before the holiday that he would actually like to "only" drive 250 km a day. My Google Maps calculation for the day worked out. The satnav in the car had its own plans, however, and somehow guided us differently, so that in the end we were 50 km and half an hour longer on the route. I saw it too late, but no matter. It went like clockwork. The sun came out and shone down on us the whole time. A very good sign for what we still had planned. We couldn't have been in a better mood. In Gränsfors there is an axe forge with a museum and shop. Unfortunately we couldn't take the tour of the production facilities, you have to book that in advance. The museum was really impressive though. Axes and hatchets from the last few centuries in all possible designs... amazing! Unfortunately no axe in the shop said to André "Buy me!" So this year he was unsuccessful and hopeless again. What a pity. The trip there was still worth it.

And then the fun started (haha). How do you enter the destination into the satnav if there is no address with street and house number? OK... the coordinates are available at Park4Night, so that's it. The sun is still shining like crazy from above and we'll be there in 40 minutes. It's working!

It is worth mentioning the background story again as to why we chose this spot as our final boss and holiday destination.
Since we started discovering motorhome holidays, we have become more and more interested in and passionate about the whole outdoor theme. Being self-sufficient in nature, collecting wood, making fires, preparing food over a fire, etc. Last year we found this place at Norra Dellen: by a lake with a beach, a forest in the background with lots of wood to collect, a view of the water, sunset... THE PERFECT SPOT... like something out of a textbook. We were completely alone there. After we had put on our boots and got the tools ready, it unfortunately started to rain so heavily that we could no longer leave the car. The dream was over. That was the end of making a fire and all our plans.
And that was exactly what we couldn't leave as it was. We had to go back there again this year and do everything we had imagined there.

So yesterday we sat in the car shortly after 2 p.m., the coordinates were entered into the satnav and off we went. Since the motorhome is almost 7.5m long and more than 3m high, I don't really rely on Google Maps on my phone. The dimensions are stored in the satnav.
At some point we came to a road with signs saying that the next 23km (!) was unpaved terrain. You have no idea! Gravel road is a huge understatement. The asphalt surface had simply been removed, chippings thrown on top and you could mostly see the transverse grooves of the construction vehicles, which had dried up by now. Everything in the cupboards and furniture rattled and clattered, even at 10 km/h. We hardly said a word, just sighed in despair over and over again and asked ourselves inwardly "how are we supposed to make it through this without causing any damage?"
A bypass was also ruled out. There is only this one road, but it was still intact last year.
After about 10km, THANK GOD, the satnav took us to the right, past a small village into the forest. We were finally free of the bumpy ride. But then... the road got narrower and narrower, the forest denser and denser and the ground more and more uneven. This can't be right! If we keep driving here, we'll definitely get stuck. And the sky was now getting dark! This can't be true!
At that moment I pulled out my phone and realized: the coordinates are wrong! It really is in the middle of the forest, not on our beach. So I got out, ran behind the car from left to right and guided André, who had to move the vehicle backwards about 200m, but it felt like a few hundred meters more, to a turning point. I got out, took a deep breath and realized: we have to go back and get back on the gravel road. Oh my God! It was already raining lightly, the clock was still ticking and I asked myself: what if we get to Norra Dellen after all this crap and can't get a space???
After a desperate and calming cigarette, we set off again. Back through the village and onto the stupid track. Now I'm using Google Maps to navigate. I've also discovered the strange symbol on the satnav display with the camper van in a red circle and a question mark. Hmm.

The rest of the journey dragged on until we reached our destination on the last few meters on a fairly good road. It took us almost 2 hours. That was a long, nerve-wracking 40 minutes. But we're here...and again with rain.
Then we looked into our coveted "parking space". Oh no, it's taken... that's probably it!

Norra Dellen is and remains the final boss.

André then walked to the Volvo with the roof tent box and met the owner, fortunately a German license plate, who asked him briefly if he wanted to spend the night there.
This friendly gentleman then suggested that he would move his car to the root-strewn part of the space so that we could occupy the better half with our large vehicle. THAT was the start of a brilliant evening! Torsten introduced himself to us, from near Hamburg, accompanied by his 17-year-old, almost blind and deaf dog Willy. The two of them have been traveling around Norway, Finland and Sweden for 5 1/2 weeks. And Grandpa Willy, at around 85 years old, still somehow does everything. Hats off to him!

We parked, cranked the awning out a few centimetres so that we could protect ourselves from the rain and bought Torsten a beer. After all, he had kept the space free for us :-)
Suddenly the tension of the last two hours fell away from us, we made it and are back here! No damage, just damn dirty.
Now it was time to tackle the issue of fire. The rain let up as soon as we sat under the awning, so we checked three different weather apps on three phones. Each one said something different, of course. But as long as it's not raining, you can collect materials and prepare them. So I went into the forest with a saw and a collecting bag, while André dug a hole in the sand and got a knife, flint and kindling ready.
Then we all checked the rain radar again and were amazed: the wind had changed and the entire rain area had disappeared. Blue skies and dry from now on. Let's go! The seats were moved to the beach, a fire pit was set up and lit!
We have defeated the enemy! Finally!

Later the grill was brought out and I had my steak and toast grilled over an open fire. We spent hours talking about travel experiences, this and that, and had a wonderful evening on the beach by the campfire and the lake as smooth as glass. We have really grown fond of Torsten and Willy! Best wishes!
We only took out our cell phones to take photos. Otherwise we enjoyed the silence, the nature, the fire and the conversations. The glow of the fire was like the glow in our eyes: we defeated the final boss, Norra Dellen! Yes!!!!

Stay tuned
Tina&André