Dropped Ro & Marty at Windstar Kennels – Maine marathon for K*, Jersey holiday for Ash & Tom. Caught an after-work flight on Friday – didn’t arrive in New Hampshire ’til almost 1 a.m. Super late arrival but crazy excited about the upcoming weekend.
Started Saturday with friends – including a pre-Memorial Day cookout in Merrimack. Sun poked out & temps soared in the 70’s. Feasted on grilled bird, corn on the cob & potato salad. SOOOO good! Many months since I’ve been East Coast – far too long. I love my Colorado home but there’s no replacing forever family.
Road tripped across the Maine border, race bib pick-up at UNE-Biddeford, then checked in at the Old Orchard Beach Inn. Maine’s first hotel, built in 1730 AND walking distance from the ocean – literally 3 blocks from sand. EXCELLENT choice!
When I think of Maine, I think lighthouses, lobsters & crazy Mainer accents.
a Mainer will say, “Jesus Mary and Joseph, it’s roastin’ out he’ah. Goin’ to Bah Habah for some Lobstah’ sounds like a good idear. ‘Cause down there, the wind comes at a wicked good clip 🙂
Got my tourist on after marathoning this go-around.
So after a well deserved shower, drove to Cape Elizabeth to see Portland Head Light. Arriving on an unseasonably warm & sunny day, Fort Williams Park was packed. Lotta pale-skinned folks flying kites & sunshine loading.
Stared out into the grey Atlantic & admired the rugged shoreline. Simply beautiful. A perfect day.
Perfect? Yep, ended Sunday with Maine lobster at The Landmark in Old Orchard Beach.
Not that I compare marathon weekends, but gotta say Maine was something special. LOVED it!
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- feasting w/ Stephen & Sheila
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- pre-race beachcombing
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- Maine’s rugged coastline – BEAUTIFUL!
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- Fort Williams Park
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- Portland Head Light
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- first shone January 10, 1791
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- “The Lighthouse” by Longfellow (1849)
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- Halfway Rock Light (half way between Cape Elizabeth & Cape Small)
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- Maine lobster DEE-LISH!
After 2 ROCKSTAR days in Iceland, gotta say the Eastern Fjords…not so much.
Iceland’s East Fjords are its most uninhabited area – largest town toured only topped 650 people. That said, easy to find beauty in even the most unforgiving of climates.
Started the day along the coast line with a short black sand hike to Hvalnes lighthouse. The chilly North Atlantic & strong undertow keeps Icelanders out of the ocean – opting for natural geothermal hot springs located all over the island.
Bowl of tomato soup for lunch (first non-fish meal in days :)) & self-toured Djúpivogur harbor. Joined Christine, an Australian on my circle tour, for a short walk-about the small fishing village. Goal: a stave church at the top of a hill.
Unexpected highlight: Stopped in a small high-end clothes shop & chatted with its female entrepreneur owner. Only local sustainable materials are used in their fashions – primarily fish leather. Concept: use all of the animal, like Viking women of generations past. Super interesting, very inspiring.
Ended the day in Egilsstaðir. Named after Egilsstaðir farm, the town (& our lodging) was near Lagarfljót lake.
Took a short walk & enjoyed the beautiful lakeside sunset. Lamb dinner & off to bed. Early start tomorrow morning – snow in the forecast (unexpected precip for Iceland, norm is mid-October).
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- black sand hike in southeast Iceland
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- Hvalnes Lighthouse
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- Djúpivogur village harbour
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- arfleifd.is – super impressive entrepreneur
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- Fashion with Flavor – fish leather
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- creepy little elf houses – found them everywhere
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- unexpected beauty outside a rock museum
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- Overnight in Egilsstaoir
I discussed Iceland as a ‘bucket list’ destination with my friend Dawn more than 4 years ago.
Soon after, a massive volcanic eruption (Eyjafjallajökull) disrupted air traffic not only in Iceland but across all of Europe as well. Additionally, I closed on my Colorado home in December 2009 (moved in Jan 2011 – a full year later).
Summed up – life happened.
Fast forward 2013. Dawn put the Iceland bug back in my ear in January. I laid down a $300 trip deposit in March. Purchased airfare in June & bam – on September 10th, boarded a plane to Reykjavik.
Had planned a volcano hike on Wednesday but landed late due to bad weather. Ho hum. Plan B – boarded Flybus at the airport with Dawn & Stephen (who arrived 2 hours earlier from Boston) and spent the day at Blue Lagoon, a hot springs resort outside of Reykjavik. Plan was to stay active & awake – adjusting to ‘Iceland’ time before our island circle tour departed Thursday (the following morning). Check, done.
Waterfalls & geysers
Spent Day 1 travelling southern Iceland. Highlights: Gullfoss, Seljalandsfoss & Skogarfoss waterfalls. Each came with a unique Viking saga; each imprinted a permanent indelible memory. Gullfoss “Golden” waterfall is thunderous & powerful – similar to our Niagara Falls. The spray alone pulled me in – addicting, left me wanting to feel a part of this amazing force. Temps hovered just above freezing but [that] didn’t stop me from my first Day 1 drenching. Adventurous, amazing start.
Trekked literally behind Seljalandsfoss waterfall – BEAUTIFUL (and cold and wet – all at the same time 🙂 ). Our tour guide Ingi-Gunnar gave us only 20 minutes at Skogarfoss waterfall. Just enough time to run UP & catch a view from the top. How many opportunities does one get to climb a waterfall in Iceland, right? FAAANTASTIC!
In between waterfalls, toured Geysir, Iceland’s largest geyser (& from where the term ‘geyser’ originates). Additionally, watched its sibling Strokkur spew boiling sulfur-laced water upwards – before nabbing a bowl of fish soup for lunch.
Ended the day at Dyrholaey, Iceland’s southernmost point, climbing large volcanic rocks overlooking the sea. WOW WOW WOW!
Glaciers & icebergs tomorrow – seriously LOVIN’ this place!
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- Destination: Reykjavik, Iceland
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- first sight of land after 7 1/2 hour flight from Denver
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- Welcome to Iceland & Hekla volcano
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- much colder than yesterday’s Colorado temps
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- Gullfoss “Golden” Waterfalls
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- HUGE waterfall – check out folks on rock shelf (center left)
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- thunderous, massive power
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- not just green but EVERY shade in my Crayola box – LOVE!
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- check out that spray – AMAZING!
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- crazy wet start to my Iceland adventure
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- Geysir – Iceland’s largest (& where the term ‘geyser’ originates)
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- Geysir’s active sibling, Strokkur
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- not as big as Old Faithful but erupts every 8 minutes
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- sheep gathering after free-ranging the Highlands all summer
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- bus detour/turnaround – literally miles of sheep
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- Seljalandsfoss waterfall
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- trekking BEHIND the waterfall – SUPER fun!
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- today’s WOW shot!
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- nope not dreaming – I’m really in Iceland
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- Skógafoss waterfall – yep, climbing this one
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- well worth the hike UP — FANNNNTASTIC!
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- look who’s at the end of my rainbow – Dawn!
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- South Shore black sand & volcanic rock
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- Dyrholaey, Iceland’s southernmost point
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- awesome day of waterfalls & geysers — glaciers & icebergs tomorrow
