Glacier de Argentiere

From the town of Argentiere (quaint town between Montroc and Chamonix) we took a cable car part way up to the Aiguille des Grands Montets. A fairly short and somewhat steep hike through sheep and goats #sheeppartyonthemountain  (SO cute and explained all the poop we were dodging and curious about) led us to a spectacular and very up close view of the Argentiere Glacier (the second largest in France). Wow! Ice caves and fissures and ice towers and glacier amazingness just a few feet from the boulder field we sat in to eat our lunch. We saw 3 small avalanches which came as a surprise. Gives you an appreciation for the power of nature.

After hiking back down, we had some chill out time outside a restaurant before heading down on the gondola.

What next? A drive through a mountain pass into Switzerland on a narrow winding road with steep drop offs and CRAZY drivers who were passing up hill on blind curves. Yikes! The views were spectacular but the town we ended up in, nothing special. We turned around pretty quickly to head back. Lots of hiking trails off the side of the road and a few quaint towns and a lake we didn’t check out. Just very grateful to arrive back to our town safely. Jb did an excellent job. Another trip to the grocery store (part of our daily ritual) and home for a dinner of leftovers from previous meals. Yum!

Time to pack up for the journey to our next destination.

“What’s that noise? A controlled avalanche? No, just a glacier.” JB

Sheep and goats were adorable.

Our last day day all together.

A REAL Day Off

As requested by Leah, and agreed to by all of us, we were ready for a day of not having to be any place at any particular time and less activity than all the previous days on this trip. The forecast was for rain so this was the perfect day.

Rachel and Jb and Neil and I took a walk after breakfast exploring our little town of Montroc which is much quieter and calmer than Chamonix. Very grateful for that- we scored all the way around on Air BnB with this one. The local houses have amazing vegetable and flower gardens and are beautifully quaint. There are several trails that run through the area and one of the prettiest campgrounds I have seen. We didn’t mind walking in the drizzle and were grateful to have planned our hikes on the clear days.

This was also a shopping day and after lunch, we drove in to Chamonix, which is very busy ski townesque, not realizing the opening ceremony and kick off for the 5 day, 200 km, 3 country run was going to be taking place while we were there. Neil and JB opted out of shopping for a museum, and Leah and James split up to do their own thing and find a snack, while Rachel and I went in search of hiking pants for a petite person. The town was touristy and growing more and more crowded by the minute. Stores were expensive and claustrophobic and didn’t have any of the items we were looking for.

We ran through a downpour to meet up with the guys and Leah and James unknowingly ended up running in the runners procession with the cheering of the crowd from the sidelines. Who knew they were going to end up in the start of the local race with runners from all over the world.

Dinners have been so enjoyable.. a real family experience and loving the simple home cooked meals. So grateful to have a nice, large for Europe, kitchen and not have to eat out for each meal. Tonight JB introduced us to a traditional dish of this region: Raclette. Our kitchen happened to have a Raclette maker. Individual tiny non stick bowls to fill with cheese and slip in a heated thingy for melting. We even had some lactose intolerant friendly cheese (comte) for us. Aged cheeses are easier to digest. The cheese is then poured over cooked potato chunks and veggies and meat- pepperoni type (if desired). The meat can be warmed on the round top of the cooker. This is difficult to describe and something I had never heard of or seen. As this is a ski village, it is easy to see how this comfort food would be a popular apres ski dish in this region.

Our neighborhood

Raclette maker is the round black thing.

Annecy

Rachel has always wanted to see Annecy. We took a day trip, one hourish, drive to the charming town of Annecy with beautiful big lake, old town, and lots of people. The forecast was rain later in the day so it was a perfect day for this and our legs needed a rest from hiking. It rained lightly on and off for the second half of the day but the weather did not hold us back from enjoying anything.

We strolled around the lake, enjoyed our pre-made sandwiches in the park, strolled the old town with great old Europe looking architecture, took lots of pictures, and went in and out of stinky sausage and cheese shops. Traditional sausage is very big here and smells like stinky socks that have been left in the hot car in a gym bag for awhile. I literally gagged and had to leave a couple of shops pretty quickly. JB acknowledges the strong smell and also was in sausage heaven purchasing some “legit” authentic sausage for later consumption.

European vacation must do’s is always to have some delicious gelato which we ate in the grass under a tree not from from the slightly creepy human tree man. We rented a boat for a jaunt on the lake with James as our captain. It was nice being out on the water for a different view of the town and the lake.

JB has been doing all the driving and doing a wonderful job with negotiating narrow streets and parking garages in foreign areas with our big boat of a van. It’s nice having someone who is used to driving in Europe and can read the street signs and understand how things work on the road and in parking structures.

There is an area of the lake with very small sandy shoreline and roped off swimming and James was prepared with swim trunks and decided to dive in and then air dry in the rain -)

We decided to stay in Annecy for dinner and I had the third pizza of our trip here. Geneva wins the prize for best pizza in my book with my spinich, artichoke, and cashew topping. This pizza wins second place and everything always seems to taste better when you are eating in an outdoor cafe.

“Bigger than I expected, but charming.” ~~Neil
“I’m on the “anti-paleo diet.” ~~Neil

Lac Blanc

Today was the official beginning of my high carb diet. The baguettes are just too heavenly. The croissants are crazy amazing. And the chocolate well…It’s called V A C A T I O N and there will be plenty of time for a carb purge after I am home and back to reality.

A stop at the grocery store and the bakery and a sandwich making event and a stop at the tourist office and we got off to a very late start. Cest la vie. We took a gondola up a steep mountain and then a 6 person chair lift to get us to the starting point for our hike to Lac Blanc. The views of Mont Blanc (highest peak in Europe) were absolutely spectacular. Truly breathtaking. Words can’t fully describe. It was a gorgeously clear day with big puffy clouds making the photo ops extra plentiful and spectacular.

The terrain was rocky and somewhat rolling as we hiked up to Lac Blanc. I was surprised at how many families with young children we passed and always inspired to see the over 60 crowd out hiking too. Climbing higher and higher and getting hungrier and hungrier, we arrived at the beautiful, pale turquoise Lac Blanc. Lac Blanc is nestled in a bowl surrounded by rock boulders at the base of the Aiguelles de Chamonix. Sandwiches on fresh baguettes that we took the time to carefully prepare followed by dark chocolate were absolutely heavenly. Sitting on boulders, enjoying a meal, and treasuring the time with my family. So sweet.

There was a bit of a time crunch to get back to the gondola for the last run down the mountain so we took a short cut, eliminating the chair lift and any uphill climb to get back the way we came. It was all down hill and the girls were having issues with a painful I T bands (tendons holding the quadracep) aggravated by the constant steep downhill trek. They hung in there and even though the line appeared long from a distance, we made it back in time to catch a ride down. Apparently the last ride is not exactly as posted and we were not turned away as we feared we could be.

We topped off the day with a home cooked meal of pasta and sauce from a jar with a giant salad. Everyone dove in to the food prep and clean up and again, it felt so good to be surrounded by my family.

“Choco choco la la, choco choco lait lait, choco la, choco lait, choco latTE.” cute little dutch girls waiting in line for the gondola. ~~ Rachel and JB

‘I have to pinch myself that I am looking at something so extraordinary.” ~~Neil

Leah and James on the trail to Lac Blanc.

Mais Oui

It’s been a few days since I’ve checked in on this blog. Too busy playing and out late to write. Today (Monday) we are taking a “down day” and will attempt to summarize and get caught up on pictures and posts.

On Thursday we split up (James/Leah- Me/Neil) and enjoyed our final hours in Geneva seeing Carouge, a Grenich Village type area where a lot of stores were closed until the afternoon, getting separated for a few minutes when I got on a tram and Neil did not, getting separated again at a busy tram station when I walked away and Neil was back in a crowd, getting confused about the final leg of the trip to the Red Cross Museum and finally resorting to taking a cab so we didn’t chew up any more of our limited time being confused and getting lost. The Red Cross Museum was quite impressive and interactive and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Overall impression was that the Red Cross has done more than I ever realized and also messed up big time during World War II.

Leah and James took the UN tour and we met up at our apartment where our bags were stashed and got ourselves to the airport via tram, then bus, quite easily. JB came in from Lausanne, Switzerland where he was visiting a friend and Rachel came in on a flight from Denver.

Now we are 6.

Jam packed in a Ford van (6 people tend to have a lot of luggage), JB (and thank goodness for JB doing the driving) got us to our Air BnB, which is in Montroc, a quaint little town just past Chamonix. We were very pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous our place is- very new and modern in a building which is very old on the outside (1770). The town is off the busy beaten path of Chamonix and a hiking trail starts right past our front door. The views are gorgeous.

Our quaint and adorable AirBnB. I am officially an Air BnB lover.

Smells like pine in here and we are cooking up a storm in this gorgeous kitchen.

Cozy

View from our front door

Love this place

“I’m sorry we’re full. Impossible” (Spoken in French 4 times in a row)  ~~JB

“I don’t get the radish mousse.”  ~~Rachel

Bonjour Switzerland

We arrived in Geneva yesterday. Geneva is the French section of Switzerland since it is so close to France. We opted out of the tram/bus route to our Air BnB and splurged on a cab. Our place is cute and centrally located and so “Geneva”. Three of us trekked up 5 flights of stairs as the elevator can only fit 3 people or 1 person and 1 piece of luggage. There’s always a bit of apprehension/excitement having seen pictures online and a description but never quite sure what awaits you on the other side of a big wooden difficult to open door with knob in the middle (traditional Geneva). The Air BnB experience.  It’s all part of the fun of the  travel adventure especially in another country/culture.

This place is different than the one in Iceland in that we are actually in someone’s apartment vs an apartment that is only rented out to people. She is not here. Obviously works at the UN and has been helpful via text from Italy. Gotta love technology. It’s a funny feeling being in someone’s place with their personal belongings but also very comfortable.

First order of business: food. Except it was after 2 and that’s when most European cafes close. We also discovered that the few places that were open (mostly bakeries) don’t all take credit cards and we had not yet made it to the ATM. Leah is the best French speaker our group of 4 and no matter how rusty she is, she’s very proficient compared to me. Her first challenge was how to ask where the ATM is and trying to understand the response in a strange city was a big challenge. Finally she decided to look for a young person in the likelihood that they spoke English and voila, the 4th time was a charm.

Grocery shopping, scoping out the tram and how to buy tickets and a walk back to the apartment where everyone except me took a nap. We had to leave the house at 5 AM this morning and had been out and up late the night before so we were all pretty tired.  Figuring out the nuances of someone else’s house is interesting and after a few texts to the owner, discovered we just needed to change the bulb in the bathroom and the mystery of the wireless network and password.

The highlight of this day was meeting my friend Nesrin. Nesrin is someone I met in my coach training in classes together and coaching each other under the supervision of an instructor. After that we went on to coach each other on Skype over the course of about 6 months. I loved getting to meet her in person and seeing her charming apartment. She made a beautiful home cooked dinner for us taking into account all of our dietary preferences and restrictions. It was really nice to have a home cooked meal and great conversation complete with some laughs and some good wine. It was an interesting experience to meet someone who you have  gotten to know on an intimate  basis,  but never in person. We all seemed to connect quickly discovering similarities on our life’s journey. Nesrin gave us a lot of good tips for hikes, walking the city, eating, and local customs.

The tram runs late (all night maybe?) and we got in after midnight. Our schedule is completely turned upside down so far on this trip. Part of the travel adventure.

Gayle

“I used to be good at French and now I speak like a child.”    ~Leah

“Where are all the Swedish babes?”    ~James

More pictures coming soon. It’s late, as usual 🙂

Nesrin’s charming apartment

Nesrin

Yayy Sunshine

We drove along the southern coast of Iceland today. (Actually yesterday… I’m writing on the plane on the way to Geneva. We played so long, there was no time to write last night).

I was happy to hand over my job as natigator to James who is much more proficient with a map than I am with a GPS. After getting out of town, then stopping at a grocery store, it was for the most part, a straight shot across the flat winding coast. Green covered lava turned to kilometers and kilometers of green farmland. Beautiful, but not particularly numerous, farms sat at the base of mountains and glaciers and out in the middle of nothing. Sheep, horses, cows, hay wrapped in plastic and  clean and impressive looking farmhouses dotted the vast coutryside.

First stop- a black beach. Not sure of the name of where we were here but it was near a ferry terminal where you could catch a ferry out to an island which had a volcanic erruption as recently as the 70’s. Due to time contstraints, we decided not to do that. There were plenty of things on the agenda for the day. The black sand glistened in the sunshine. Walking the deserted beach in the warm sun felt really good. James was the only one to stick his feet in the icy water. The beach was spotlessly clean. The giant lava rocks turned out to be a great place to eat the lunch we had purchased at the grocery store. It was much better than expected too. Why is it food always tastes so good when you are eating out in the fresh air after a hike or walk? What a gorgeous stop this was.

Watching the Icelandic countryside roll by in the car was so pleasant. We were on the coast of Iceland!! I had to mentally pinch myself to let it fully sink in.

Next stop, an amazing waterfall. Much different than the other one we went to, people are able  to climb some steep steps and walk directly behind the waterfall. A first for us. You can feel and hear the power of the rush of water. Wow! This water was coming off a mountain that had a glacier up above. So the falls here are glacial run off. The water in the streams was crystal clear. You don’t get cleaner than that. And by the way, the water in Iceland is fantastic. Some of the best tasting water I’ve ever had. And this is coming from a self professed drinking water snob. Cold water is full of minerals. Hot water is full of sulphur. So there is a bit of an eau de egg effect when you wash you hair.

The name of the glacier, mountain, and waterfall escapes me right now and if I knew it, I wouldn’t be able to spell it anyway, There were several smaller waterfalls down the way. And we strolled to a big grassy area where the boys climbed up a steep area to get a better view of another waterfall. Leah and I opted to sit in the sun and observe.

Further down the road was a huge cliff that jutted out into the ocean. We were able to drive most of the way up to it and then walk out on it. It was very wide and fenced and afforded an amazing view of another pier like rock with an arch in it which was too narrow for people to walk on. Pretty incredible. Down below were miles and miles of more black beaches, crystal clear water and vast countryside. At the top of the cliff was a tiny church being repainted. And incredibly clean park restrooms. In fact all the public restrooms here are so clean – even the ones you don’t have to pay for.

This was our turn around spot and the best turned out to be the last. This was a James find on a local blog at the base of a glacier/mountain. Very off the beaten path. After a short drive on a side road and a short hike where we crossed a few streams- basically glacial runoff, at the base of a beautiful mountain with multiple waterfalls, we came to a hot pool nestle at the base of the mountain. There were no signs indicating this gem was here.

Stepping into a crude changing room to put swimsuits on and then lowering ourselves into a warm natural pool so full of algae, your feet slipped around on the  bottom. Wow! The pool was right up against the mountain and there was a spot where the water trickled right down into the pool and it was hot. Sitting on the rock ledge next to the runoff and looking up at the mountain was nothing short of delicious. Words really can’t describe. The pool had a very international feel with people from France and the US and who knows where.

The cold air was invigorating when we got out, did the awkward changing, and then hiked back to the car. By this time it was after 6 PM, but the daylight hours are so long here, it feels like 4 PM until it’s 9:30. One more stop for dinner on the way home. Pizza with cashew nuts amongst other toppings and I inhaled it.

By the time we got home it was almost 11 and there was laundry to retrieve and packing to do.  In only a few hours we were on the plane to Geneva.

I would definitely return to Iceland.

Gayle

I guess the final sentence by Gayle sums up the trip to Iceland.  I canvassed the family about whether they would consider returning to Iceland some day and the votes were 4 yes and no negatives.  We have only gotten to see a fraction of the island as it is much bigger and emptier than I imagined.  If you like the outdoors there was much more to see.

The place is clean, the people attractive and orderly and prices reasonable considering how out of the way they are.  The place looks a little like Wyoming, feels in the air like Alaska, with strange lighting and volcanic desolation.

Neil
Photos and James and Leah quotes coming soon. I am having trouble with the App and afraid I will lose what I wrote if I don’t post it right away.

Like No Other

The drive to the Blue Lagoon was a bit like driving on the moon. Except with paved roads. The landscape was flat and volcanic with a green moss or lichen type growth over the rocky lava. It was the usual cloudy rainy misty cold weather which has been a theme for us here in Iceland. 

The Blue Lagoon is basically water that has come from a geothermal energy plant. They had to figure out what to do with it because of it’s high silica content so they turned it into a spa (major tourist attraction). This was like no experience I have had before. People from all countries were wading around in pale turqoise, not too hot but nice and hot pools with a base of volcanic ash. The water apparently has healing properties and is very good for the skin because of all the minerals it contains, especially silica. Spa staff were handing out facial treatments so many of us resembled mimes all for the promise of looking 10 years younger.. ha ha. If there were any cares left, they were certainly washed away by the pounding of the waterfall and the hotspots in the water. Unlike a jacuzzi, we were able to stay in the water for about 90 minutes. Ahhh, this was heaven. 

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city center of Reyjavik searching for parking, searching for a restaurant, walking, browsing the shops. Thai food In Iceland was delicious and just as salty as it is everywhere else. We opted out of the restaurant that serves puffin as an appetizer and whale  steak as a main course. Icelandic chocolate is so so, souvenir shops are plentiful, Starbucks is no where to be found, though you can go to the Chuck Norris Grill if you want a taste of the US. 

Iceland can definitely be described as unique. In keeping with that theme, we decided not to pass up the Icelandic Phallogical Museum boasting the world’s largest collection of pickled parts. No kidding. It was good for a nice laugh, informative, but after awhile, they were just another body part in a jar which gets disgusting. 

We were all crashing and craving some simple food but discovered the grocery stores close at 6 PM so we landed at a Fish Restaurant (right next to a Texas pizza place) which was delicious.  I did wake up with a major food hangover  today (hello salty eye bags 🙂 )

We are soaking up the facts about Iceland……

Population: approximately 350,000 (same as Corpus Christi, Texas) with 2/3’s living in the capital, Reyjavik.

Most of the country is uninhabited therefore having the lowest population density of any European country.

There is virtually no crime here. People sometimes leave their babies outside while they shop. 

Biggest Industry: Fishing       Second biggest: Aluminum smelting. 

Power: Geothermal for 85% of the country. 

95% of the population has Internet. 

No standing army, only coast guard.

Icelandic words are the longest I have ever seen and impossible to pronounce (10 letter minimum for most words with the exception of Ut which means exit). (ie Breidafjorduur with accent marks that I have never seen before)

Gayle

Iceland is some ways reminds one of Wyoming, only substutue moss for grass land.  The entire country is empty in the interior and all the population around the coast.  There are some very nice farming areas but a lot of the country is just lava rock, which must be hard to plow.

Since about two thirds of the nation lives in the capitol city, it strikes one that here is a country about the size of Toledo Ohio that has it own currency, central bank, military, healthcare system, and similiar governmental functions.  It is an advanced country with airlines and industry and universities, all on a wee scale.  It goes to show what can be done with small government as we think of those tasks as requiring great size and power.

They also have their own language, that seems an amalgam of Dutch, German, Dane, and Norweigen.  I see German newspapers in town and in bookstores.  Their biggest treading partner is Germany and second in the US.  The ladies are quite atrractive here, especially if you like blonds.  Most speak English, with American accents.  The power of American TV at work , we were told by a young waitress.

Orderly, clean, and Nordic.  All living on a pile of lava in a cold North Sea.

One thing that is really neat is the constant sulphur smell around numerous geo thermal vents.  Flatulence goes largely unnoticed here, except in cramped public spaces.  This is a good place for me.

Neil

“I think Iceland should have been called Moonland. ”   James

“I think Leif Erikson was a babe.”

Pictures coming  soon.

The Golden Circle

I was surprsed when I was awakened suddenly to the words “It’s 10:30.”  In all fairness, because Leah and James did not arrive until midnight and we got to bed at 2 AM AND were jetlagged, it was “all good”.

Now we are four.

Stop 1- Pingvellir

A national shrine. Parliament from 930-1798. Natural beauty. Dramatic fissures of the earth formed by volcanic activity. A pool where they drowned women in a sack back in the 1200s.  Glad I was not there to engage in any lady crimes back in those days. Cold, misty, rainy. I’m loving this weather.

 

Stop 2- Geysir

Mmmm sulfur. Yellowstoneesque.  I’m sure you could cook a chicken. But we didn’t have one. A big geyser spews every 8-10 minutes. Baby geysers are boiling and simmering all the time.  Got very hungry and ended up eating lunch there. At the restaurant, that is. I could have eaten anything at that point.

Stop 3- Gullfoss

A national monument of Iceland with 2 spectacular cascades and a dramatic gorge below. The biggest WOW of the day for me. Spectacular.  Iceland’s world famous waterfall and certainly the most stunning one I have ever seen, not having remembered my childhood visit to Niagra. Tourists can get up close and personal with this waterfall. You can hear and feel it’s amazing power. Standing there, reminded me I was just a small spec in a very big world.

We took the scenic drive (ok, it’s all scenic) slightly off the beaten path on the way back, stopping in Hveragerdi  at Khot and Kunst for dinner where the food is cooked in geothermal steam. For the record, nobody order the pony. We also learned how the name of the town is pronounced. Would would have thought? James perfected the pronounciation by the time we got back to the car. There are sounds I didn’t know a human could make.

It’s great traveling with Leah and James and would love to write more but it’s late, the shower is waiting and less than 12 hours from now we will be at the Blue Lagoon.

“The Gullfoss waterfall is far more impressive than the twin falls of Yellowstone.” James

“This whole country smells like an egg fart.” Leah

“That’s not true, just the area around the geyser does.” Neil

“I have definitely detached from home. And that’s a good thing.”

Gayle

.

Welcome to Iceland

We are traveling again! Whoo hoo! 

It’s cold here. We came from the hot dry  112 degree heat of Phoenix, Arizona to  the moist, grey, rainy 50’s weather of Reyjavik, Iceland. It feels good. I had 3 layers of outerwear on earlier today. I was extra cold by the water… and there sure is a lot of water here. 

Today was one of the more challenging entries to a foreign country we have had in our travels. Even though most people seem to speak English, we had issues with communication. I was reminded of how we can speak the same language and still not communicate effectively. We got off to a slow start in search of our rental car company and at one point I began to wonder if I had only imagined booking a car through a local vendor (who also happens to be owner of our adorable Air BnB apartment.) No one at the airport including the major car rental companies had heard of FairCar. 

Our apartment has the look and feel of an Ikea showroom and I love the simplicity of it. It will be perfect for the four of us and it’s nice having some space and a fully equipped cute little kitchen. 

We also had technology issues with logging on to the airport wifi, figuring out how to dial a local number, etc etc culminating with my phone going completely dead in the middle of attempting to contact our host. I won’t go into any more details. It’s comical looking back on it and I learned that I always want to have an analog back up.. good old paper, for important travel details.

The terrain here is volcanic and we haven’t even gotten out in nature yet. The roundabouts are plentiful. The people are helpful and friendly and welcoming. The landscape is stark in many places.  Most restaurants are not open at 10 AM (we landed at 6 AM, starved). We ended up at the cute Haiti Cafe (go figure.. in the capital of Iceland) and indulged in some local food. 

I’m glad Neil is driving. I haven’t driven a stick shift in many years and I’m a lot better at giving out directions at roundabouts than I would be at following them. The street names are incredibly long and foreign and I’m pretty sure I am massacring them but somehow we have managed to get to where we have wanted to go despite a few wrong turns, redirects, and ending up turning around on a gravel road before we knew the secret to putting the car in reverse. We ended up trying to push the car into reverse on this road but shhh don’t tell anyone.  It was all part of the theme of the morning with things not going as expected. 

What to see when you are so tired you can hardly stand up but accommodations are not yet ready? We ended up at the famous Saga museum. In the cool, moist dark cavern we listened to Iceland’s history and folklore as we strolled amongst the life size very realistic looking figures. We both dozed off a couple of times but it was nice to be out of the rain.  Fortunately there was no pop quiz at the end of the audio tour, only a place to try on Icelandic metal attire. 

Finding the grocery store was a challenge. Even though we followed directions we found ourselves at what appeared to be more of a small shopping mall . The grocery store was somewhat hidden. It was interesting to stroll through and try to figure out what everything was.  Instead of a dairy case, there was an entire room for dairy and same for meat.  I’m excited and a little scared to try the Skyr  (sort of like yogurt) but I did buy some so now I’m committed. Not yet used to the currency and exchange rate dollar to krone. I’ve yet to know what we’ve paid for anything.  A little scary huh?

So the theme of today would be challenge and being reminded once again to keep a sense of humor and go with the flow. It’s part of the adventure of travel especially in other countries. At least we are driving on the “right” side of the road and  we have a GPS in the car and we haven’t gotten too cranky with each other. 

We are waiting for Leah and James to arrive at 11:40 PM tonight and are hoping it is still light when we head back on the 40 minute drive to the airport.  Three years ago on our travels Neil added his own words to these blogs but he’s sound asleep on the couch right now so maybe tomorrow. 

 

Not my sexiest look, but isnt that a great helmet?

  

Icelandic Secrets?

  

Weather Shock (but not missing the heat one bit)