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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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August 2012 |
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We found a stave church full of staves (it was built in 1130), snow banks full of snow, and then our map indicated we could take a shortcut to Ardal. The shortcut "road" turned into a path like the bike trail in Carver Park and it got narrower as we got higher. And then, abruptly, we came upon crossbars over the road which forced us to a standstill. There wasn't another human in sight. The little shack next to us was dark and shades were pulled. Was this an occasion for bandits or marauding Vikings? I screamed at the knock on my passenger-side window. Then both Allan and I breathed a sigh of relief. The knock came from a friendly human and he was helpful. We were on the right path; they just needed to collect a toll for us to continue and they weren't in a hurry.
FOUR GENERATIONS AT TYINHOLMEN Since we drove straight through all day -- via tunnels, ferries, and mountainside roads -- we arrived at Tyinholmen that very evening of July 10th. I knew of the place because years ago Mom and Dad visited Tyinholmen, which is a hotel and ski resort on Lake Tyin, in the Opdahl family for over 100 years and four generations. I had seen pictures and heard stories but only understand it now. It's an amazingly beautiful, eerily ethereal place. I hadn't understood that Opdahls were in the hotel and ski resort business as well as farming 5,000 reindeer. All of the reindeer were higher up in the mountains for the season so we didn't see them, but my parents did. We followed the freshly black-graveled road around secluded, placid Lake Tyin -- not unlike Lake Tahoe -- and came to the large resort lodge at the very end of the road. I introduced myself to the lady at the front desk, showed her pictures of my mother, and she told us to put away our Visa card. The lady's name is Marie Skogstad; her first husband had been Ole Opdahl. Tyinholmen is owned by Helge Opdahl and Oystun Opdahl, all my relatives. Our five-star dinner, made for us by Marie, featured lake trout, perfect in texture, drizzled with a delicious sauce and served with baby white potatoes, thinly sliced raw cukes, sliced carrots, and a bottle of wine which Marie recommended with the meal. It was Domaine Du Tariquet 2012 Chardonnay, a product of France. Indeed, we saw no soil in Norway that would support a vineyard. We stayed at the Tyinholmen lodge that evening, our room and windows looking to the lake and the mountains. The next morning Marie fixed fried eggs and bacon for us plus set out the finest display of cold cuts, cheeses, breads, cereals, and fruit we had seen to date. We visited a while and Marie showed us the place and pictures, past and present. When we left, after breakfast, Marie was family. As she said, "Skogstad and Opdahl, Opdahl and Skogstad, all the same." Sure enough, the families have been marrying each other for generations like old families of Victoria and Ghent and Minneota.
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Marie Skogstad at the front desk of Tyinholmen. |