We met at the train station in Hamar. Nils N and MaryAnn had come down from Valdres, the other guests were from Hamar or Stange: Andrea, our dog-sitter, whom Husband used to work with at Nøttestad , Nils B, and also Inger and Erik, who used to live across the street from us, but recently have moved into town. And of course the children: Irene, still suffering after her wisdom tooth extraction, Ingvild with her Columbian boyfriend, and Audun who was coming down from Lillehammer on the train we were waiting for. We missed Tormod and his girlfriend sorely. I hope we'll be able to do something nice together to make up for it.
As we were buying our tickets Audun called to say that they had left Lillehammer 10 minutes late and that now they were stopped in Moelv for reasons unknown. Things got a little hectic for me for a while: it turned out that I had written down the wrong number for the cell phone to the ship - I had been given a number to call in case of a delay. Irene called her housemate who got on the internet and accessed my e-mail to find the number. With the right number I was able to call the ship and tell them that we would be about 30 minutes delayed. They promised to wait: "after all," the captain said, "it's Sunday, the weather is fine, we're in no hurry." And sure enough, the ship was waiting when we arrived, the passengers had spent the unplanned docking time swimming off the dock.
The trip from Eidsvoll to Hamar goes up the Vorma river then under the bridges at Minnesund where the Vorma flows out of the Mjøsa lake, and up Mjøsa. There is a stop on the western bank before the ship crosses over to stop in Hamar which is about half-way up the lake. The whole trip takes 3 hours. The weather was hot (80's) and sunny, but with a nice breeze on the water. Dinner was served at 4 pm in the plush dining room. The traditional meal of baked salmon, potatoes with a light sauce, cucumber salad and fresh ripe strawberries with cream for dessert was absolutely perfect. They even crushed Irene's strawberries for her so that she could eat them.
After dinner we hung out on deck, watching the familiar landmarks where we walk the dogs: Store Re, Lille Re, Stange Church and even Hammerstad, where Husband works, pass by. There wasn't any music, but they shot off the cannons about half-way through dinner. All in all a great day with good friends and family!
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