"Destination Östersund"

When our Christmas travel plans to the Baltic States got derailed because Scott and I got COVID, Sam asked if we'd consider adding a couple of days to our already planned ski trip.  She suggested Östersund because it's where Sweden's nordic ski athletes train.  She desperately misses skiing and thought it would be fun to go to Sweden's cross country mecca. 

We rented skis for the day from the Stadionbutiken in the ski stadium.  It was a bit intimidating to be in such a store, but they were sure nice, particularly when we had to convert from pounds and inches to kilograms and centimeters.  Stupid Americans.

We decided to check out some trails outside of town.  We saw a bunch of cars stopped at this one trail, but proceeded past towards our set destination.  The road was not plowed, fearful we'd get stuck, we turned around.  Some nice women explained to Scott we could ski to our original destination, but the trails right there were also lovely.  So, we wound up skiing in Fursteli, and it was indeed lovely.

Scott found the map and away we went!

Fortunately, the trails were well groomed.  I refuse to go on any trail that does not have classic tracks (the two little grooves) because they help me believe I have a lesser chance of falling and hurting myself.  I am always fearful of falling and dislocating my shoulder (which I wound up doing this trip, just a few days later).

While it was pretty much grey and white, it was so nice to be in snow...Uppsala is always on the edge, one day it snows and the next it rains.  This is why Sam was so desperate to ski and be in snow!

Scott and Sam went for "night ski" at 3:00 pm on a lit trail in town.  There were no tracks, so I opted out.  They both told me, "that was the worst trail I've ever been on.  It's good you did not go."  Alas, they know me well.  We returned our skis and checked out the stadium.  Can you imagine it full of people watching skiers come in from the woods to shoot their guns at some target?  Such a Scandinavian sort of thing!

Östersund was a cute little city, and we were pleasantly surprised by all our meals there.  Good food is always a bonus!

Our friends told us that Östersund would remind us of Duluth, and it sure did.  We are glad Sam went scrolling on the world wide web and found "Destination Östersund."  Indeed, it was a great destination!