North West of the Island // Iceland

Normally, I wouldn't be all about traveling all night, flying and landing at 6am local time and then setting out to explore as much as possible right away, but with only three days in Iceland, we had to make every minute count. 

It was seriously surreal. We were so overtired and everything felt like a dream. Thinking back on it even now makes it seem like a dream. The nature was like nothing we had ever seen before and it was, or is rather, so beautiful in such a unique way. 

I spent a lot of time trying to get a photo of the sheep. I never did get my dream shot, but I caught some nevertheless. They just really added to the experience. 

Unfortunately, we had to get most of Iceland from inside of our rental car. It was nice when we did get out to stretch every once in a while though. Chilly, but nice. We also ended up getting so tired that we pulled into some hotel parking lot and slept for half an hour. It was a needed reboot. 

The sun did come out briefly, but it was truly moody the whole time. It rained and was cloudy, but it all added to the effect. The towns were so perfectly European and I felt right at home.

We're already counting down the days till we can go back!

16 Hours along the South Coast // Iceland

If you follow along on Instagram, you definitely know that we hit up a few countries over the summer. We decided to take an extended and belated honeymoon and go to Europe. Seeing family and friends was amazing, but we also wanted to explore some new places on our bucket lists. Naturally, Iceland was on that list and though this particular day started out gloomy and cold, it did not disappoint. I decided to share some photos from the trip. We took hundreds, but don't worry, I'll only share a few ;-) 

We set out in our little rental car to explore the land:

We only had three days total in the beautiful country, and we used pretty much every hour to see only the surface of the amazing things it has to offer. We will definitely be revisiting Iceland in the future!

The waterfalls were plentiful and beautiful. 

Unfortunately, pretty soon after taking this picture, I decided to walk into a very innocent-looking field. It turned out to be extremely wet, and both of my feet became soaked. It was a mushy walk back to the car, and trying to dry out my shoes and socks was quite entertaining. Luckily, I had a pair of flats in the car - not an ideal walking shoe, but they did the trick. Especially because we had a long walk ahead of us...

After seeing images of this plane crash for years, my husband insisted we go see it. It ended up being quite the journey to get there (almost an hour each way!!), but it was so cool to see.

These purple/blue flowers were all over the island! I loved them :) The churches and different buildings were also really interesting to see.

Just going through these pictures is making me want to go back! We definitely will be planning a second trip some time in the future.

The blue at the glaciers was unreal. By this point we were getting pretty hungry, so we sat and stayed a while and snacked on some....crackers (Did I mention that everything in Iceland is really expensive? We found a grocery store and stocked our car with snacks).

By the time we finished at the glaciers, we realized that we'd best be heading back if we were to be in bed by midnight. The sun is decieving! 

We HAD to hit another waterfall before completing our journey. Also, can I just mention now that my husband is a CHAMP who drove the ENTIRE time?! He's amazing.

A Day in DC

Road trips are what we excel at. I have lost count of the miles we have travelled by car across North America. 30 hour drives no longer phase us, so when something is a 10 hour drive, it's a short trip for us. We set out for Maryland on a bright, sunny morning and decided to explore D.C. before we had to be at some meetings for the week.

It was the perfect, sunshiny day! Have you been to D.C.?

A Weekend in LA

We try to be spontaneous once in a while, and our quick trip to California, though not necessarily spontaneous (we went for a wedding), sure felt such since we were there for such a short time. We were able to get in some sight-seeing highlights, saw some old friends and met a few new ones too. We were definitely sad to leave the sunshine behind, but it was a great escape from the cold of the East.

We stopped in Santa Monica for a short jaunt to see what we could see. J met a lifeguard, which thrilled him to his toes. "The real Baywatch!" was his proclamation.

It was chilly - actually, the whole weekend was pretty chilly - but it was still a gorgeous day.

San Clemente was also beautiful. We saw some guy catch a lobster, and watched the sun set over the ocean. We enjoyed a bonfire and roasted some veggie dogs over the pit while laughing with friends and watching the stars. 

Speaking of stars, we were actually in LA, and on Hollywood Boulevard the day of the awards, so that was kind of neat, but I don't really have any desire to ever go back since I am not much of a city person.

But anyway, the wedding was great and saying goodbye was hard, but it was definitely a weekend for the soul.

A Christmas Road Trip

It has been a few years since I have had the privilege of a quiet Christmas at home with family. Instead, the season of late has entailed long car rides and desperate attempts to find open gas stations and food joints on Christmas Day. 

This year, while we did get to be with family (on both sides, I might add!), we did have to travel. It was not all bad and we saw a few different States, but I am looking forward to a traditional and quiet Christmas sometime soon!

Our trip actually started in Tennessee, but we didn't really document it. Chatanooga was as beautiful as ever. The warm Florida sun was a nice change from the cold Winter we left behind. We revisited the Kennedy Space Center, saw some pretty lakes, and enjoyed time with family.

I also saw my very first snake in person - and it was far enough away that I didn't faint, crack my head open and make it easy for it to eat me #irrationalfears 

We can definitely talk about this giant mug I got for Christmas. HOW GREAT IS IT?! Funny story, I actually got two! Everyone must really know I love huge mugs :)

New Orleans was not my favourite city, but there were a few interesting things to see; the architecture and Mississippi River to name a few. We even went on a steamboat ride, which was quite the adventure. But pray for New Orleans.

Galveston was terribly foggy the day we went but was still a sight to behold. It turned into a dolphin-sighting chase when some fishermen told my in-laws they had seen some. We ended up driving to a few different spots to see what we could see, but there were none to be found. 

And what is a trip to Texas without stopping at the Silos?! I made an extra excursion of 6 hours with my mother-in-law and met up with a friend in Waco. Magnolia was everything I dreamed of - and more; it was totally worth it.  

Two weeks on the road made us truly appreciate being home. As much as we enjoy roadtrips, we were glad to be back safely in the end.