Gullfoss Waterfall in Iceland

On August 28, 2018 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Iceland17 Comments

The Gullfoss Waterfall on the Golden Circle in Iceland is truly spectacular. We visited during the winter and the falls were mostly frozen, which made them even more beautiful. It was a very cold day and the observation decks were being hit by the spray from the waterfall, making it even colder as we stood and took photographs. It is an amazing display of the forces of nature at work.

Gullfoss Waterfall translates to Golden Waterfall and is probably one of the most photographed images in Iceland. The waterfall is created by the flow of the Hvítá (White) River as it flows into a canyon. Although we could have hiked around the waterfall to see it from various views, it was way too cold while were there to take the time to do that. It was the last of the places that we visited as we drove the road that loops around several famous locations outside of Reykjavik known as the Golden Circle.

IMGP6968 — Looking Down at the Second of the Falls

As popular as Iceland has become as a place to visit, Gullfoss Waterfall can be quite a busy spot as tour buses travel there throughout the day. Watching the water as it flows down the two steep steps down into the canyon is almost mesmerizing. It was definitely a highlight of our time in Iceland and should be included as part of any visit to the island.

Braving the Elements

On September 7, 2017 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Iceland, Photo Challenge9 Comments

There are some trips that test your willingness to endure difficult conditions. That can be humidity and rain in the jungle, snow and ice in the mountains, or even overwhelming crowds. We are in the process of packing for our trip to Ecuador, which isn’t easy because we will be in Quito and climbing up the side of a volcano, which will mean that we will have cold temperatures, and we are also heading into the jungle, which means that we will be dealing with the heat. That means that we need to take cold gear as well as comfortable clothes for the jungle. In order to cut down on the amount of clothes that we need to take, we are counting on layering. During our trip to Iceland, we found some light-weight cold gear that wicks away moisture and definitely keeps you warm without being overly bulky. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is about the letter C and we have decided to share a few photos that represent being Cold. Instead of being near the top of the world, we will be at the middle of the world for the next two weeks, so it is a definitely a different experience than our time in Iceland.

DSC_0017_day3 — Sunrise over Frozen Tundra

Flying Over Wyoming and Montana

On April 28, 2017 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Montana5 Comments

We flew up to Montana for work this week, which we have done about fifty times over the past twenty years. Because we go to Montana on such a frequent basis, we tend not to give much thought to the beauty of the area. The area is truly spectacular, not just Yellowstone National Park, but the entire area. It isn’t as though the beauty of nature somehow stops at the border of the park, it is just where protection of the land and wildlife comes to an end. On this particular trip, we decided to take a few photos of the landscape as we flew over northern Wyoming and then into Montana. It might be Spring throughout most of the northern hemisphere, but here in the high-country, winter is still clinging on for another month or so. We are still getting snow occasionally as you can tell from the peaks of the mountains as our plane flew over the Rocky Mountains.

Once we crossed over the mountains and entered the valley where we were to land, the scenery turned from white peaks to lush green farmland. The growing season for plants in this region is very short, so seeing all of the green grass was very refreshing. It also means that there is a reduced chance of fires, a risk that is unfortunately high in our home state of Colorado. We decided not to go into the park this trip, mostly because of the road conditions as it continued to snow in the mountains and on the mountain passes during our entire time in Montana.

We will try not to take the beautiful scenery of Wyoming and Montana for granted during any of our subsequent trips. We live in a gorgeous part of the world and seeing it from an airplane is a wonderful way to truly appreciate how wild and wonderful it really is.