The Color Run

Just got back from Seattle with the sister and her family.  We went up to Seattle to do The Color Run.  The funnest 5k I've ever done!!

Here's our beginning shot.  We're in the sea of white (7,000 people there - Seattle sold out in record time)

My typical way to do 5ks is mainly walking with a little jogging here and there.  Laura's foot hurt and Larry J's shins started bothering him so we walked together and had a blast!  Our timing wasn't too bad, it would have been quicker if the color areas didn't get bottle-necked, but 50 minutes isn't too shabby for walking. :-)

And here we are at the finish line.

My sister took this photo of the end festivities.... I love it!  Isn't it great?!

I would do this 5k again in a heartbeat!

Photo Friday

The Louvre, Paris, April 2011

It's about freaking time 9c of 9

My last morning in Iceland was hilarious!  I went to the Blue Lagoon, which was amazing, BUT the weather was no longer the sunny day.  It was raining and soooooo windy.  But I, with everyone else there, didn't care and still enjoyed the geothermal spa.

I decided to splurge a little bit at the spa and upgraded. I had my own little locker room...

And an indoor entrance to the spa, which was very nice because....

...outside was like this.  The worker is in full rain gear and the patrons of the spa are in bathing suits.

It's about freaking time 9b of 9

This was a long day but a great one.  Went on a whale watching tour, which I was super excited for because I dream of seeing Humpback whales frolicking in the ocean.  The day was beautiful!

Besides beautiful landscapes and a beautiful day I saw a whole lot of nuthin when it came to the whales.

And then we were off on a tour of the Golden Circle...

Look, Icelandic horses.

We stopped off at Thingvellir.  Parliament was established here in 930 AD and there's another reason that this place is interesting...

As the tour guide put it 'we were in no-man's land.'  Why?  On the left is the North American plate and on the right is the Eurasian plate.

This is the Gullfoss and it's amazing!  Beware the spray will still get you wet :-)

Then off to an area full of hot springs and geysers. 

Strokkur often shoots up, once it's done the hole fills in again and you wait for the next time.

Sometimes it's small.....

Sometimes it's HUGE

This area is covered with hot springs....

I was walking the path and hearing water boiling.  They're not kidding, this stuff is hot!

We also stopped off at Kerid, which is a big hole left by a volcano.

We also drove through a small community that has to build double basements (or something like that) to protect the house from hot springs.  See this hole that's fenced off?  That used to be someone's house.  He woke up one morning and it was really hot for some reason.  A hot spring formed under his sofa.

To be continued.... my last morning in Iceland.

It's about freaking time 9a of 9

ICELAND!!  I enjoyed a very short trip to Reykjavik, Iceland and I want to visit again.  Sometime in the future I'll make it happen.  (But most likely it won't happen until I'm done with school.)

In 1986 a summit was held here with President Reagan and Gorbachev

A lot of birds were just kicking it in the ocean / harbor.  It was a bit windy this evening.

Notice the window?  HAHAHA

There were some locations with a lot of cool graffiti.

You will be assimilated.  Resistance is futile.  What can I say, I'm a nerd.

As the wind would hit this "mountain" the top would change from silver to the dark grey color.... it was pretty cool.

This is church has an observation deck, but sadly it was already closed when I arrived.  

The statue is of explorer Leif Eriksson (regarded as the first European to reach North America and was 500 years before Christopher Columbus) and was a gift from the United States in 1930 commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Thingvellir. (Thank you wikipedia)

Next time, whale watching and the Golden Circle Tour.....