Copenhagen, Denmark June 6, 2009

We have been able to do a lot of free camping—which has been great, except that it means we rarely have Internet. What we are finding is that big cities have Internet cafes but they are few and far between and often hard for us to find. Small towns don’t have them at all. I think so many people have Internet at home and/or over their cell phones that Internet cafes are a dying business. We have used the T-mobile hot spot at some McDonald’s but it is about $12 an hour so not too practical. We need to compose more off line and then just have to post. But then I can’t really answer emails I haven’t gotten, off line

Germany allows you to free camp anywhere it is not posted as restricted, so we have stayed in paid parking lots and in Berlin 4 or 5 nights in a rest area off the freeway that was only 2 miles from the city center. It was great and there were lots of other campers and, of course, truckers there.

In Denmark most free camping is not allowed except for up to 11 hours in motorway rest stops. Last night we stayed in our second one in Denmark, this one right on the coast south of Copenhagen near the island of Mon. There were about 20 camping rigs there. Because of our Montana license plates, we get lots of attention wherever we go.

We hope to stay 2-3 nights in Copenhagen. We are in a campground near the city center. It is just a parking lot next to a shopping center with a fence around it and 2 trailers with showers and bathrooms—the electrical hookups are temporary, too—like the kinds used at fairgrounds. For this luxury, we are paying $45 a night. Copenhagen is frightfully expensive. A hotdog and coke at a stand is $8 or $9—at the mall a burger with coke and fries is $18. Now that does include tax and tip, but it does make you catch your breath. We filled up with diesel again today--$111. We are averaging 20 mpg, but it is still $ .30 a mile just for fuel. Thank heavens we weren’t here last summer—I would have had a heart attack with every fill up. We were in a bookstore and hoped to replace the 9 year old travel guide we have to Scandinavia but the Lonely Planet for Norway was a mere $45. so we decided not to bother. We had planned 6 weeks in Scandinavia but it will really have to be great for us to stay that long!

I am sure Mark will tell you about the Hans Christian Anderson House and our megalithic tombs visits. He has gone over to the McDonalds in the mall where there is reputedly free Internet.

Oh, one sidelight. We still can’t get electric from the campsite lines. Our converter that we brought blows every campground outlet that we plug into. The campground guy here says that there is a specialist in American camper conversions about 20 miles from here. So Monday morning he is going to call for us to see if we can get it looked at. As long as we drive a lot we don’t need the shore power but there will be lots of times when it will be a necessity—especially when we visit big cities and will be staying put. Another adventure. (Did Mark mention he backed up Wed. in a parking lot, hit a pole and broke our $700 back window?)