7/30/15: Iceland welcomes us...

Day 1 - Thursday, July 30

Our flight got in about 8am, Iceland time.

Although, our internal clocks thought it was 3am. We had this hopeful plan of sleeping the whole plane ride so we would be raring to go when our feet hit the ground.  Well... Raring to go might not be an accurate statement when reality actually hit us.  I think the hour or two of restless and interrupted sleep I got on the plane didn't rejuvenate me like I had hoped. But... 

It still didn't stop us!  We stopped at the duty free shop to grab some wine to accompany our adventures. Then waited for our car rental company to pick us up to get our Mitshubishi Outlander. We are ready to hit the road!  Our journey started out by driving through Pingvellir National Park. We are already impressed with the beauty we see.

We had a couple stops on our agenda before heading to our B&B...

Our first point of interest... Geysir.

Here, there was one big geysir and a couple smaller ones.  Most of my photos from here are on my regular camera which I have yet to download.  

This picture is not great... It's where the geysir erupts and all those people are waiting for it... The closer we got, the more sulphur we smelled.  

Connie and I decided to walk to the other side to experience it from a different viewpoint. And boy did we experience it! 

(I do have a video I wish I couple post on here.  For anyone reading, it would possibly  make you pee your pants or spit milk out of your nose from laughing so hard!)

One would think common sense was something both Connie and I possess.  Apparently with sleep deprivation, it is the first thing to go.... Along with our powers of simple observation.  

Needless to say, we took a shower we weren't expecting.  Good news is, the water temp was 80-100 degrees.  The best part was we were both beyond shocked as to how that could've happened.  How did we miss the fact that would have happened? We actually did see people scattering away when we were watching from the other side. I honestly thought... Why are they running from a little mist?  Apparently when something goes up, it must come down and not always straight down. Maybe the intense wind had something to do with it?  

We definatly gave new meaning to the walk of shame.  Getting rained on by a geyser unexpectedly and being the only 2 people walking back to the car wet and smelling like sulphur.  Maybe it's better explained as a walk of stupidity. 

But boy did we have fun with it.  I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!    After we regained our composure (it took a long time)... We just looked at each other and said... Yep, that happened.  Here is our picture to remember our shower by... We were drenched!

After a quick change of clothes and a few more laughs.... It was on to our second point of interest...  Gullfoss waterfall.

It was magnificent. Enough said. 

So... As you can imagine, we are both running on fumes and decide to go find our B&B as we know it will still take a couple hours. Looking on the map, we find the shortest route which is an F road, meaning you can only take it if you have 4x4.  We do, so excited as it will cut time off our drive.  Then we see this sign...

and we're even more excited that we had to cross some hazards.  (Hey, girls like to have fun too!)  Sadly, I didn't get a photo of the river we were supposed to cross.  It was too hard to tell how deep it was.  We contemplated it and waited while in hopes we would see another vehicle try it so we could see how deep it was and have the confidence that we would make it through. We decided it was smarter to turn around and take the long way...

One thing we have already noticed is there are abandon and run down farms that are scattered about. For some reason... I find beauty in it though.  I think this would make an awesome back drop for a photoshoot!

But we did see our first rainbow!  

We also joked and called these marshmallow fields.  They were hay bales and were everywhere!  Our goal before heading home... To frolick through a marshmallow field!

About 3 hours later.... We made it to our B&B.  We met our host and settled in to our cute farm house. The only pic I took was this one out our bedroom window to show how light it is at 10:30pm 

We reminisced about our day, and called it a night!  These sleep deprived girls need some sleep... Good night! 

Quote of the day:  That just happened!!  

Explanation of quote of the day: Geyser 

7/29/15 - 7/30/15 Getting to Iceland...

You never know what your flights will be like, right??   As we got to the airport to leave Minneapolis, we had a long wait to check in but didn't really mind because it gave us time to catch up!  As we get through security, Connie asks me to check our gates as she already tucked her ticket safely away.  We head to gate F19... Only to find that F only goes to 16? What??  How can that be?!  After further review, F19 was my seat number!  Oops. Would this set the precidence to how the rest of trip would go? Stay tuned to find out, but if you are wondering.... We made our gate in time. 

We find our seats on the plane and start having more catch up conversation. I had to interrupt Connie as I hear the woman next to me telling someone on the phone our flight was delayed. What?! Well... We got the full story from our flight attendant. Yep, we had to be reverted due to weather so our flight will get in 30 min late. We only had an hour between flights anyway so as you can imagine, concern starts setting in, but we try to remain hopeful. As a distraction, we start talking to the woman next to me... Victoria.  

She was fun!  We were all instant friends!  As the three of us were chatting and laughing, our flight attendant, Antoinette, kept giving us updates AND brought the 3 of us, not 1 drink, but 2 drinks through the course of the flight.

Not sure if it was because she  was nervous for us about our connecting flight or that she was just that awesome. I think it was the second with a sprinkling of the first!  😊. We couldn't say goodbye without a pic. I also asked her if she can promise to be my flight attendant on every flight!  

So... The plane lands at 10:10 and our flight from NYC to Iceland was taking off at 10:30.  Originally, our flight was supposed to go out of the same gate as our incoming flight. Now it's changed.  We have 20 minutes to get off the plane (we were in the back), take a shuttle to another gate and get in the plane. Yeah right. Even Antoinette figured it was unlikely we would make it.  We told Victoria we would be calling her to hang out if we didn't.  Silver lining to the chaos?!  

Anyway... The race is on...

Because I have my Fitbit on... I realize we ran, with carry on luggage, for about a mile. I heard an announcement for final boarding and I wasn't sure we would make it. We literally found the gate, got on and they closed the doors!  That was the hardest most intense run I've ever done, but we were determined.  It's not like there is a flight to Iceland every hour!

We made it... And so did our luggage!  Iceland... Here we come!

7/29/15: Next destination.... Iceland!

Heading to the airport thinking about what an amazing adventure awaits me....  

I can't wait!  

I found this bracelet this morning and felt compelled to wear it on this trip....

Looking forward to what lies ahead and pushing my limits!

I feel so blessed to have an amazing travel companion in Connie!  She went from a stranger about 18 years ago to almost a sister to an amazing friend and travel partner.  

Let the adventure begin!! First stop... JFK. Will be in Iceland by morning. 

Home sweet home

Minnesota.  It's home. It's bitter sweet, but it's home.  Welcome home.

Our Final Day...

Friday morning and Spencer is feeling much better!  Me? Well, I'm sucking it up a bit.  Of all times to get a cold, it happens on vacation?! Yuck.  But, it's been tolerable for the most part. The worst of it being head congestion, mainly plugged years through the elevation changes.

Anyway... That didn't stop us from our day.  Started out with a little breakfast at the hotel in Frisco, then we packed up to head to Idaho Springs to go zip lining.  On our drive, we got to go through the Eisenhour Tunnel which is a mile and a half long tunnel that goes through a mountain.  On top of this tunnel is Loveland Pass.  We missed the turn off or we would have taken that instead of the interstate. We did back track a bit though and took Loveland Pass for the 4 Miles to get to the Contenental Divide. And boy was it COLD up there.  We certainly were not dressed for it!

You can see the snow/ice on the mountains....  There was actually a big ice glacier not far from where we were standing. 

The pictures don't do any of it justice... It's just amazing. 

Next stop was a little shopping in Idaho Springs. We had just enough time to kill to hit a couple shops.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to find what we were looking  for.  The second night in Manitou Springs, there was a shop that Spencer loved, but they were closed.  They had a bunch of cool, metal bronco stuff that I was hoping we would find again. Oh well, guess we will just have to go back! 😊

Time for Ziplining!!  So, the course wasn't exactly what we anticipated, however, it was still a lot of fun, even in the rain.  They had two lines next to each other so Spencer and I got to race down all of them.  I won the race 1 out of 8 times.  It was more than I anticipated so I'll be ok with it!  If I'm diligent after getting back to reality... I'll add the photos to the blog! 

So, by the time we got done with our little adrenaline rush... It was time to head to Coors Stadium for a Colorado Rockies game!!  Spencer has been looking forward to this all week.  My original plan was to surprise him, but apparently I'm not great at keeping fun secrets!  

A couple photo ops before heading in...

We ended up with some great seats!  

Spencer was hoping to get a foul ball, but instead ended up with a hand towel that the guy next to us caught.  I thought it was nice of him to give it to Spencer... That was until Spencer unfolded it and it says JEEP on it! Haha.  

We did however, walk away with a couple souvier cups and a hat bowl and some fun memories.  

Spencer was also a little bummed that Cuddyer wasn't playing, but Morneau was and he hit a 2 run Home Run!!!  

It was a fun night!  

An amazing week, we had! We reached the top of Pikes Peak, went on a Jeep Tour, explored a lot, went white water rafting, zip lining. Ate some great food, made some amazing memories.  This was the last hurrah for us in Colorado and the game was a great way to finish it off!  

It's bitter sweet that our time in Colorado has come to an end.  I would have been ok if it were to last forever. But we are also excited to get back home and finish our vacation week with a night with our best friends celebrating Will's birthday.  And then football tomorrow!  Couldn't think of a better way to ease back into reality! 

A little under the weather....

No, the weather wasn't bad today.  As a matter of fact, it was beautiful.  But, I woke up sounding like I've smoked for the last 12 years and Spencer woke up feeling not quite right.

Although he wasn't feeling the best, he still did the ALS Ice bucket challenge because he was nominated by his dear friend, Olivia Carlson.  (And just so everyone knows... He was really excited about it!)

After he completes his challenge... We packed up the car to start heading north about 60 miles to Leadville, CO to go zip lining.  As you can guess... Another beautiful drive...

However, due to the fact that Spencer wasn't feeling good and had a bad stomach, we had to cancel the trip. So, we continued on through Copper Mountain, stopping a couple times for some photo ops and as much exploring that spencer could handle...

It was all short lived as his tummy was up and down all day so we continued through to Frisco, where we decided to rest our heads.  He still rallied though, and we went to spend the afternoon in Breckenridge doing a little shopping and having dinner. 

We were back to the hotel by 7 to enjoy the pool for a bit as Spencer was feeling better. I am still a bit stuffed up, but tried to steam it all out of my by reaching the point of pruning in the hot tub! ;). Of course that didn't happen until I too completed my ALS ice water challenge.  BRRR!!

Thank goodness for the hot tub!! 

So... Tomorrow is our last day... I'm so sad to see this time come to an end... 

BUT.. We have a super fun day planned for tomorrow so I won't let the sadness set in quite yet! 😄

White Water Rafting & Hot Springs!!

Day four started with a lazy morning walking around Salida to do a little shopping, enjoying the river walk and of course, take a couple pictures...

 The "S" in the day time...

And Spencer doing the push ups he promised coach Terry...

But mid morning, we needed to head north of Beuna Vista to AVA Rafting to hit the rapids!!! 

As always.. A beautiful drive.  On one side was the collegiate mountains... They are all named after the Big 10 schools.  Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Harvard, etc. 

these are all called Chalk mountains... They all appear to be covered in chalk.

And the other side was called mosquito alley... Just a lot of granite and trees.

Spencer and I stopped off for a quick picnic lunch before we got to the rafting company.

And then it was time!  

We didn't get any other cell phone photos for obvious reasons... But spencer took some with his waterproof camera. (Maybe some day I will get them posted).  As you can imagine, it was beautiful!!!  The water was down a bit, so the rapids were pretty calm but we had a blast.  In our boat was just one younger couple from Miami and our guide, Miles.

We all had a blast.  Miles was so much fun. Spencer was hoping we would get both him and his other couple. All his wishes came true.  So, the most exciting part of the rafting trip was near the end, there is a rock that they called the diving board.  You had to scale the rocks about 20 feet up and then jump out and off!  Spencer was super excited and I was super hesitant.  When we got there spencer just assumed I wouldn't do it.  Miles encouraged me.  Spencer told me I had to.  So I climbed the rocks, very timidly, I stood on the edge, wondered what the hell I was thinking... And JUMPED!!  Yep, me!  Afraid of heights and all... I jumped off a cliff in Colorado! 

Spencer was shocked... But was already on his way up for a second jump.  I got a big hug from Miles with an I'm proud of you.  Funny how I knew this man for only 2 hours at this point but he knew how scared I was.  Apparently after watching me scale the rocks to get to the top, and seeing how timid I was, he told one of the other raft guides that he didn't think I would jump.  I proved him wrong!!  Yeah me!  

Spencer and I with our raft guide, Miles... 

The rain started coming in after we were driving away from rafting and heading to the Hot Springs... And it's still beautiful with the rays shining down through the clouds over Mt. Princeton!!

And then the Hot Springs... 

What was so cool is where we were sitting here in the river, the water was quite hot.  Yet parts were cool.  They had a bunch of rock, mostly granite, that was separating the hot spring from the river so some of the cool river water was coming in, but there were parts where we were sitting that was seriously burning us.  If you dug your feet or hands in the sand, it was crazy how hot it was.  

What a relaxing, fun, amazing time with my favorite little man!!