CarolynP

Last night we traveled through numerous mountain tunnels to gt to our hotel in Akureyri. This sophisticated and thriving city is called the "Second City" and is much warmer and drier than Reykjavik. We have definitely lucked out in the weather department on this trip. The first known settler was "Helgi the lean" who arrived here around year 890. We dined with others from our group, including Renee's new friend, Zack and his father John, at the Rub 23 and enjoyed some great sushi. We are getting use to having virtual daylight around the clock. Sunset has been around 11:30 pm and rising 2:30 am, but it really doesn't get dark with dusk and dawn. Today's main event is a whale watching tour in Dalvik in the longest fjord in Iceland, Eyjafjordur Fjord. We had to ... read more

On our way to our hotel last night we stopped for fuel and our driver, Omar told us to go out by the house in the back. There we were buzzed hundred of birds who were protecting their nests. It looked like something out of Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Arriving at our hotel for the night we spotted a nearby church and a few of us went to explore. It was a Earthen structure covered by soil and grass. I read that when wood has hard to come by they started using this method for some homes. They are very energy efficient. Renee and her new friend Zack decided to climb to the top of the mountain behind the hotel, you can see the top of it behind the church in one of the pictures. ... read more

Today's itinerary was the famous Golden Circle. We missed the first stop the Thingvellir National Park, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historical, geological and cultural importance. Historically, in the year 930 AD, the Icelandic people established their Parliment and is the oldest continually operating parliament in the world. The cliff of the riff valley runs right through the Silfra Fissure which delves down through the Eurasian/N American tectonic plates. We caught up with the tour group at the geothermal hot spring area at Geysir (which is where we get our English word, Geyser). The Geysir Strokkur spouts a large steam of super heated water every 5-10 minutes. This geyser was amazing for its predictable timing of the spray. Due to the high rate of volcanic activity in Iceland, it is ... read more

Happy 4th of July you all. Spending the holiday with family. Wednesday was a nice short travel day from Williamsburg VA to Middletown MD. In Middletown, just outside Frederick, my daughter Michelle, her husband Todd and my granddaughters live. I call this Hotel Edwards! The oldest, Rachel is at Duke University were she will be a Junior this year and is working on a summer research project on cancer cells. I had the pleasure of being with four of my 13 grandchildren, Renee, Anna, John and Ryan. The boys are out from Michigan for a summer vacation with their Dad. And I can’t leave out my best buddy, Indy, the newest member of the family. Chillin by the pool is my favorite thing to do here. I am getting a nice tan. Funny things is, the ... read more

Today was another Travel Day. Taking mostly backroads again today was great, until I had to jump on 95 on my way to Williamsburg! My enjoyment today consisted of the rest stops with the beautiful flowers and trees. South Carolina had tons of moss covered tree canopies which you tend to see in any southern location movies. North Carolina is famous for a few places I have visited in the past: The Biltmore Estate and Gardens in Asheville, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke and the Outer Banks, Kill Devil Hills and the Wright Brothers, and the Great Smoky Mountains. Virginia has a lot of history, especially in Colonial Williamsburg which is a living-history museum in which was the Capital of Colonial Virginia. After arriving at my beaiutiful timeshare, it started raining so hard it was impossible to drive. ... read more