Iceland: Day 2

Day 2 consisted of lots of time in the water. Swimming is a big part of the Icelandic lifestyle and a must-do activity while visiting. We spent the majority of our day at The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. It is one of the most beautiful and amazing places I have ever visited!

Below are some pictures from our trek out to The Blue Lagoon. It is interesting to see how the landscape changed as we drove out of town.

Although it is hard to see, if you look at the bottom left hand corner of the picture, you can see a fish jumping out of the water. Talk about timing, huh?

Standing in the parking lot, it looked like we were standing on Mars, rather than in Iceland.

The lava rocks, which are covered by moss, surround the walkway that led up to the lagoon.

We learned that the low levels of chlorine in Icelandic pools equals high levels of hygiene. This means that if you want to swim in the pools, you have to wash yourself naked in an open shower room before getting in. Although the diagram at each pool differs, the sign identifies five areas that you are required to wash before getting in the pool. If the sign is not reminder enough, there are also "shower monitors" who stand guard and make sure protocol is correctly followed.

One of the steam baths built into the lava rock - it was HOT!

Here are some pictures from the grounds surrounding the lagoon -

After dinner, we headed to another geothermal heated pool. This outdoor pool had a waterslide and a variety of "hot pots" (hot tubs), which range in temperature from 98 to 111 degrees. It was quite an experience, especially considering it was 9 p.m. and about 28 degrees outside.

Iceland: Day 3

On our third day, we rented a car and drove out of town and into the countryside to our second hotel of the trip, Hotel Ranga, which is known for northern light sightings. Josh was very excited about the possibility of seeing them but we knew it was going to be a long shot. Luckily, the conditions were perfect and we got to see the northern lights - again, one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!

Here are some pictures from our road trip -

We stopped along the way for a 2 hour horseback ride on Icelandic horses. It was freezing but a great way to see the countryside.

Eyjafjallajokull - the volcano that erupted in March 2010

The polar bear which greeted us in the lobby

Since the hotel is known for northern light sightings, they offer to call the phone in your room to notify you when the lights are visible. Of course, Josh took full advantage so our phone was ringing at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Although I missed the ones at 2 a.m., Josh quickly ran outside, in the freezing weather, to snap a few more pictures.

Iceland: Our Last Day

We spent our last day in Iceland at the Gullfoss Waterfalls and the Geysir Geothermal Area. The Gullfoss Waterfalls are found in the middle of farmlands and it was definitely the biggest waterfall that I have ever seen.

To give you an idea of the size of this waterfall, in the bottom left corner of the picture, there is a narrow path which traverses down to the waterfall - the little specks on the path are all the people going down to get a better look!

Getting a closer look!

The path to see the waterfall was completely covered in ice. It made the trek up and down a bit tricky and we saw more than a few people fall. It reminded me of our winter days at WSU - trying to walk around the snowy hills on campus without falling.

All the rocks and grass around the falls was also covered in ice - each blade of grass had a little ice tube around it.

Our final stop before heading to the airport was the Geysir Geothermal Area. It reminded me of the geysers at Yellowstone although this was not in a national park. It is literally on the side of the road in the middle of the farmlands.

The name of this geyser is Strokkur and it spouts water up to 100 feet every few minutes.

The first thing Abi noticed when she saw this picture was the heart shaped steam cloud.

And there she blows!

On our way home...we chased the sun so our 7.5 hour flight was bright and sunny. We took off at 5:45 p.m. and landed at 5 p.m. on the same day!

A view of Greenland from the plane

Pumpkin Patch

This year we headed out to Craven Farms for our annual visit to the pumpkin patch. Thankfully, we had great weather and got to enjoy a sunny, beautiful fall day.

This is the same farm we visited in 2007 when Abi was 19 months old (Brady's current age). It was fun to compare the pictures and see how much our little girl has grown.


2007 & 2010

Ready to head out to the pumpkin field

Abi's search for the perfect pumpkin...

and then it was Brady's turn...

Happy Halloween!