Tivoli Tonight

Well, after yesterday's long post, today you get a short one.  We hauled our pile of luggage, much to the amusement of the Icelanders and Danes, from hotel to transfer bus to airport to taxi to new hotel in Copenhagen.  All four of us are ready to be in one place for a few days (or more) just so we can stop slinging bags.  Half of them are not needed right now-we just have to get them to the cruise ship-but we have to bring them with us.

Upon arrival in Copenhagen we decided to head over to Tivoli Gardens for the evening.  Dinner at the Biergarten, a wander around the lake and amusement rides and we are ready to end the night. It's midnight here and time to get some rest.

Geysers and Vikings and Waterfalls, oh my!

Today, after some decent sleep (and a couple of minor awakenings by rolling metal something--pipes?tent poles? beer kegs?--in the street) we awakened to a hearty Icelandic breakfast, and headed out for our Golden Circle tour.   We were on one of those large tour buses, not something we ordinarily do because of the "hurry up and wait" nature of waiting for the last passenger to return.  But since we were on a Big Bus anyway, we went with the top deck of a double decker version where we had a very nice view over the top of all cars, other buses and most buildings.  And since much of the tour involved driving from one place to another, we saw some beautiful rugged landscape along the way.

We first stopped at an indoor tomato greenhouse, which utilizes the abundant geothermal heat to warm the green house and power the full spectrum growing lights.  I don't know how many tomatoes are grown here, but it is safe to say they cannot grow them outdoors in Iceland, ever.  And they were growing lots.  We kinda missed some of the details of the farming operation, as we were also partaking of the famous Best Bloody Mary Ever (according the The Guardian).   Not being a fan of Bloody Mary's, I cannot attest to the quality, but the others thought it quite good.  I do know the basil was fresh, as it sits on the table and they give you herb shears to cut it up and add to your drink.  We sorta heard some story about Vikings and vodka.

We then headed out to the geyser area.  The original, Geysir, meaning 'Gusher' and from which we get the word 'geyser', is no longer spouting regularly due to underground changes from an earthquake.  But it's neighbor, Strokkur (translates as 'to churn') is much more frequent, about every 6-8 minutes on average.   What is very interesting, is that just as the geyser starts, it forms a big blue bubble of water as the geyser bursts out of the hole.  I took a video of one of the eruptions and here are two frames of the geyser.  And yes, the Vikings and modern day farmers, did/do cook food within the many hot steam vents found in the area.

After a nice lunch of traditional Icelandic lamb soup it was time to head out to the Gullfoss. Gullfoss means Golden Waterfall.  The sun was not out today, so we didn't see any golden, but it was certainly wet.  The mist thrown up by the falls was enough to feel even up in the parking area.  Tom braved the elements and hiked all the way to the edge of the falls, while the rest of us took in the sight from the upper rim.  The water flows at around 140 cubic meters per second, which creates quite a bit of rainbow forming mist when sunny.  The water comes from the glacial melt of Iceland's second largest glacier.  We heard another legend about a Viking, this a lad who crossed this river to reach his one true love on the other side.

That's Tom in the hat with the selfie stick

We headed next to the Thingvellir Park, a UNESCO World  Heritage Site.  It was some amazing landscape; the first Parliament location from 970 to 1798; also a place where the Vikings meted out justice by drowning. But also an interesting geological rarity; the rift valley between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasion tectonic plate as they slide past each other at the galloping rate of  1-2 cm per year.

After this we finally headed back to the hotel, but not without seeing the churchyard where the last Viking is interred.  And of course, we heard about the exploits and adventures of Ale, the drunken poet last Viking.  Then we were off to enjoy a nice happy hour (including fermented shark 😖 and Aquavit 😄), dinner and head to bed for a well-deserved night's rest.  For tomorrow we travel to Copenhagen.  

Blue Lagoon

We have arrived safely in Iceland;  spent several hours at the Blue Lagoon on the way in from the airport.  Having spent way too many sleepless hours on planes and buses the last two days, it was a welcome respite.  Got to our hotel, checked in, went out for an early dinner and are barely keeping our eyelids propped open.  We've been up for 30 hours straight, so need to finish this post before I fall asleep.

And we're on our way!

Greetings from Denver, CO. The first overnight stop on our next adventure.  It has pretty much taken us all day to get here on a 49 minute flight.  Left the house at 8:45, got to the Sunport in good time, through security behind a family with two little ones on leashes.  The kids were fine, but their parents kept getting tangled up in the leashes, strollers and car seats, but provided great entertainment for the rest of us in line.  Flight was uneventful, waited a bit for the hotel shuttle, checked in, ate a lunch and then connected up with cousin Sandy and husband Ken about 2:30.  

Then we started talking.  And talking. And talking.  Uber'ed over for some pizza around 7, and kept talking.  Finally stopped talking about half an hour ago, but we have plans to meet over breakfast and talk some more.  Talked so much we haven't checked in for our flight tomorrow yet. Talked so much we didn't take one picture of all of us yet, so you will just have to wait for tomorrow's report for that one.  Probably won't stop talking for the full 18 days.  

Two days and counting...

Getting ready for our next adventure, still in the throes of packing and I decided to instead dust off the 'ol blog and get it ready.   Honestly, the bedroom is a disaster, I still cannot decide if I need a couple more shirts and whether I need shorts, or not.  We will take two suitcases and one small under-seat bag each for this five week trip.  But we have eight suitcases out being tested for accommodation.   Still not absolutely sure which ones fit.  And the moneybelt I pulled out last week and put in one of the bags?   Cannot find it.  Anywhere.  So I am going with my backup one; not as silky and a little more worn, but seriously, I have looked everywhere and cannot find that sucker.  I wonder what else I checked off the list and can no longer find?

Down to Amarillo

We spent our night in Oklahoma City along with....you guessed it, more lightning, rain and thunder.  Fortunately, no tornadoes or hail, so it was a good night.  Lots of rain, but not until after we had hooked up and settled in, so we cooked in and turned in early for the night.

We met up the next morning with Tim and Tania Ewing for breakfast and a little catching up with old friends.  They are headed out today with their family on a two week RV trip of their own; yes, including Mt. Rushmore!  Seems everyone we know doing an RV road trip this summer is headed to Rushmore.

After breakfast we turned our RV west for the first time, and headed to Amarillo, TX.  We met our friends the Chittendens for dinner and conversation, and then spent the morning with the Pancake Posse and the rest of the day talking (and eating!) with the Chittendens again.  It has been wonderful seeing them again. 

Because we needed to have an RV hookup in the 100 degree heat, we spent the night at a local RV park just a stone's throw from the Cadillac Ranch.  We also got to see Mr. Baker's Peace Farm just east of town.

After a few chores at the Beach House in order to be able to leave early in the morning, we are going to bed early tonight and plan to leave at first light to be back home well before noon.  It has been an amazing trip, many new sights and firsts for us both.  We have gained an appreciation for the upper Midwest, at least in summer weather.  We have seen some beautiful parts of our country. And while we are looking forward to being home tomorrow, I am not at all looking forward to the mail, bills, laundry and chores awaiting us. Eek!  But first, one more night in the rocking Beach House (it's windy in Amarillo as a front moves through).

Thank You for traveling along with us!

Down to Missouri

We left the thunderstorms in Iowa, drove by for a short visit with a cousin in western Iowa, saw one of the covered bridges (Bridges of Madison County) and headed on down to see Tom's sister and family in the Kansas City area.  Weather was great, no storms predicted, we went to bed....and were awakened at 4 am by a thunderstorm with 50 mph winds.  All was fine with the RV, but there is a new trampoline in Gigi's backyard...we think it came from the house five doors up.  We've had a great time talking, forgetting to take enough pictures as usual when with family and we will be on our way to Oklahoma City in a couple of hours.  In the meantime, here are the pictures I do have from the last couple of days: