First our flight was scheduled to arrive just before 7 in the morning. I didn't think much of it but when I got to the car rental area the door was locked and they had posted a sign saying they don't open until 8. Uh-oh. Would have been nice if they mentioned that when I reserved the car.
Okay, not really a big deal. I reserved a small EV (they described it as like a VW ID3, a car not sold in the US so I wasn't sure what to expect). What I got was a Toyota bZ4X, another car not sold in the US but much larger than the expected VW.
I'm familiar with the instrument layout in Toyota so it was an easy car for my first EV.
The built-in navigation, similar to our Lexus, had an annoying quirk of announcing turns after they had passed. "Take the next left turn" when it should have said "turn left now!" There also was no android auto capability. I missed several turns trying to get accustomed to it.
I had thought to bring my Flight Flap, which is a small sheet of silicone-coated aluminum which can be bent into a shape to support a cell phone and found appropriate positioning to give me the equivalent of a heads-up display for Google Maps.
We arrived at the hotel, the Granavolden Gjæstgiveri at roughly 9 AM and asked reception if we could check our bags, but they noticed that had a room available for us to check in. Lucky break. So we checked in, and even had plenty of time for the breakfast buffet. Then we set to exploring our surroundings.
I did not know when I booked, but the hotel is on a significant pilgrimage path in Norway, the Gudbrandsdalsleden going from Oslo to Trondheim. It is close to an old church (currently not photogenic due to construction scaffolding) and some other sights, including the Steinhuset from the 13th century. This is the oldest remaining stone building from that period that isn't of religious origin or in a city.
There were nice walking paths nearby, and we had a pleasant couple days and were able to mostly recover from our jetlag.
We did accomplish our primary objective at the Kistefos Museum. Many notable artworks. Below is a hodgepodge of images that I captured.
