Bryan and I seem to be suffering a case of inertia. Yesterday we were picked up by distant relatives of mine, Paul and Annette, to stay at their place for a night before journeying onwards. Paul has a small trailer so this was the first time in Denmark that our bikes travelled not under our own power (excluding ferries). They live about 25 km from Thisted on an island called Morsø near the town of Erslev. Last night we had a very nice Chinese dinner in Nykobing, the largest town on the island. Our plan this morning was to get up and cycle back to the mainland and along the Limfjord coastline to a town called Visby. This is where my grandfather was born and lived. I’m not sure where exactly the family home was but there is a churchyard and church (built in 1766). The last time I visited here was about 2 months before my grandfather Aksel’s death three years ago. His grandparents are buried here. My grandfather has a surviving cousin, Otto, in Denmark who was a year older. He would be around 96 years old. Unfortunatley, I will not be seeing him this trip.

We woke this morning to rain which developed to a thunderstorm. Obviously not ideal cycling weather so I asked it Annete and Paul would mind driving us to the church instead. Our plan was to leave in the afternoon cycling another direction when they had to leave for a previous engagement. So onward to Visby by car …

Visbykirke is becoming very familiar. I know where to find the graves of my relatives. The weather always seems to be raining. There is a nice view of the Limfjord over a horse pasture. It means a tremendous amount for me to have been there and to keep coming back. A tribute to my grandfather. My aunt Sheila wrote me of this about my trip. “Wish we could share this with Grandpa as it seemed he always had to take a back seat to the Norwegians. Not that he minded, as Grandma was definately number 1 in his life.” Growing up we had a number of Danish traditions but the predominant atmosphere of my mother’s side of the family is definitely Norwegian. What is wonderful, though, is that I can still share this trip with my Grandma Ruby who I am sure is thrilled on behalf of my grandfather.

The weather did improve this afternoon, but Bryan and I have convinced ourselves that we would probably not gain much distance by leaving this afternoon. Just the hassle of setting up and taking down camp. Our alternate is another night in a very cozy caravan and a dinner of pork roast. Guess we have opted for that option. So we are promising ourselves that we will leave first thing tomorrow morning regardless of the weather. Well, we probably wouldn’t leave in the middle of a thunderstorm.

It’s been three days without cycling (and 5 days of rain). We need to get moving again. This time we are going to head towards Nykobing and down the middle of Jutland. We need to pick a destination city in which to pick up Bryan’s glasses on Thursday.

Ahh, there are now fluffy white clouds in a sky of blue. Hopefully we will see some of the same tomorrow!