Bridal Veil Falls

Ok, Rick and I have been pretty busy this last month- so I have a lot to catch people up on. First, back in June, we biked up Provo Canyon one last time to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a good ride going up the canyon, but even more fun zooming back down. Here's some pics.

Welcome to Iceland!

So Lisa just got back from the International Nursing Conferance on Family Relations in Iceland. Most people would say- Iceland? What is even in Iceland? And to that I would reply- a whole lot of nothing- only 320,000 people, and almost half of it is covered by glaciers and uninhabitable- and it was WONDERFUL! It is so untamed and devoid of people, that it is just georgeous. I felt like I was on another planet- or maybe the set of Lord of the Rings. Anyway- a wonderful trip all around- and a place I'll miss.

There are basically two main towns in Iceland- the capital, Reykjavik; and the "northern capital"- Akureyi. We drove up and stayed about 70 minutes from Akureyi for the first few days.

This is the main town- Akureyi

This is basically what Iceland looks like- crystal blue waters, lots of green mountains covered in waterfalls, and surrounded by snow capped mountains.

Other than the two main cities- everyone else basically lives in these farmhouses. All white with red roofs (nobody was able to tell us why)- and just absolutely in the middle of nowhere.

Iceland has about a bizillion waterfalls- seriously- with the huge snow melt every spring, waterfalls are just everywhere the eye can see. This is obviously a bigger one- Godafoss (-foss means waterfall)

So we stayed on this farmhouse for our first 3 days in Iceland- completely out there- had to take a dirt road just to get to it- but the house was completely modern and comfortable. It was beautiful and just perfectly serene. We loved it there.

This is basically right outside the house we stayed at- an opening to some fjords.

Like I said- just a lot of nothing. It was beautiful.

This is an aerial view of the house we stayed at. Pretty, huh?

A map of Iceland

Husavik- Where Whaling Is Still Ok!

Here is the little whaling town of Husavik- here is where Iceland's whaling industry used to boom- and even today- Iceland is the only country that still actively kills whales (only the non-endangered kinds though). We went whale watching and spent the day around the area.

Our fun little group- Helen, Barb, Sarah, me, and Kalie

Icelandic colors

Here is the Minke whale- we actually saw a couple, several times- it was very beautiful and fun.

The mountains are just huge (see the tiny boat?) and you can see how the snow melts down in crevaces and creates all these waterfalls.

It was very very cold- I appreciated the orange coat.

If you look closely- I think I counted 8 waterfalls in this picture.

Sarah in front of the Whaling Museum- with a blue whale jawbone

Sperm-Whale Jawbone

Dettifoss waterfall- it was huge- and you can see the ice sheet on the right hand side of the waterfall.

Little Lisa next to the huge waterfall

We hiked through this canyon to get to the second waterfall- I shouldn't say hiked, that implies a path... we climbed over large boulders :D I got the bruises to prove it!

The view was definitely worth it though- my favorite waterfall- Selfoss. It arched around in like 50 different waterfalls. Probably, all together, about 400meters long.

Very big-see the little person on the left edge?

Icelandic Horses- they boast that they have never been inter-bred with any other species. Very sturdy.

Iceland- also called, land of the midnight sun. It is about 11:30pm here. Never got completely dark.

Myvatn- The Gateway To Hell

Myvatn is the location of the most recent geothermal (aka- lava explosions) activity in Iceland. In the Middle Ages, it was known as the gateway to Hell. There are still tons of hotpots, and smoldering lava flows in this little northern town.

Stora-Viti: a huge cynlinder cone- a past volcano. The bottom freezes with ice in the winter- here it is thawing out. It took over an hour to walk around the whole thing.

Geothermal plants that power all of Iceland- you never run out of hot water in Iceland, although it sometimes comes out smelling like sulfur :)

Hotpots on the back side of the cylinder

Leirhnjukur- the most recent lava flows in Iceland- anything black in the pictures is lava.

The lava fields go on and on for hundreds of miles, while the ground is still smoking- the picture doesn't do it justice- but if you look at the ground, you can see the smoke coming up still.

This was a little church that was right in the path of the last lava flow (in 1700-something). The pastor had the congregation in the building praying, and the lava went right around the church and into the lake- within feet. You can see the original stone base of the church, and how close the huge lava flow is.

View from top of the valley- those are little cylinders all throughout the lake.

We had lunch at The Cowshed- where the restaurant is attached to an actual cowshed, and you get to watch them milk the cows as you eat! Haha- then they bring you out fresh milk, straight from the source.

Lava Peaks in Dimmuborgir

View in Hotori park

Moss grows everywhere due to the intense snow.

Lava fields out in the lake

Cylinders in the lake at Skutustadgigar