Busy, exciting, awesome, adventurous Week.

Last week was crazy and awesome. On the 5th, my parents arrived and picked me up. We had to leave immediately for a drive up north for a game on the 6th. We drove about 5 hours to a teammates house in Olafsfjordur to meet up then head out for practice. After practice the team went swimming and back to the house, but my parents and I continued on 2 more hours to Husavik and arrived at 10:30 pm. We stayed at a cute guesthouse. The next day we played Völsungur and won 1-0. Getting a win and a shutout was a nice change of pace :) 

Our Guesthouse

Immediately after the game we went and got Fish and Chips then caught Silvia to try whale watching again. This time we were way more successful and saw both Minke and Humpback whales as well as some Puffins. I am particularly good at spotting Puffins, my strategy is to just look for the birds on the water that suck at flying. 

Humpback Whale Diving

On Sunday we took a detour and continued up North a bit more to see some more sites. We attempted to find a Puffin colony, but all we found were cows. 

Running away from the cows

The next stop was Ásbyrgi, a horseshoe shaped canyon believed to be the hoof print of the god Odin's 8-legged horse.

Ásbyrgi

Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe was the next destination and we accidentally took the wrong road there. The road we took was supposed to be closed to passenger vehicles for good reason. It was a one lane unpaved road with no shoulder or guardrails. It was the bumpiest hour in a car I have ever experienced. The result was fantastic though. 

Dettifoss

Going off plan but heading back to Reykjavik we stopped at Hverir, an area that smells like the worst rotten eggs ever. It is a sulfur field and has some pretty interesting geography and sulfur pots.

Hverir

We finally made it back to Reykjavik after a weekend of driving, driving, and more driving. The next morning we woke up and got on the road again. It was my dad's turn to see the golden circle.

Strokkur Geysir

We got back in time for practice and then grabbed dinner at my favorite place Saffran. The next morning was our horseback riding adventure. The Icelandic horse is awesome. It's small, sturdy, and has an extra gait. Who knew?

Icelandic Horse with Hair to match the rider

When we got back we grabbed some food and I headed back to the hotel for a nap while my parents explored downtown. We had against Haukur that night and we lost 3-0. The first half I dominated on corner kicks and crosses so in the second half they put 3 girls on me. I thought I played well, just played a better team. The next day we woke up early and walked down to the Arctic Adventures office to be picked up for our final day of Adventure. We went arctic rafting and it was incredible. I had never been rafting before and was really nervous, but decided I was just going to suck it up and enjoy every part of the experience that I could. I was the first to jump off the high cliff (6m). It was amazing, and kinda terrifying. 

I also jumped out of the boat mid rapid, and played a balance game standing on the end of the boat. I was pretty good at balancing while facing inside the boat, but the minute I turned to look outside the boat I fell in. We played some other fun games and mom got pushed in by dad. We got in a 12 passenger van with monster truck tires and drove out to Langjökull, a nearby glacier to go snowmobiling. Mom got her own while dad and I shared one. I was terrified and that wasn't made any better when a group behind us flipped their snowmobile. After they fixed that and switched drivers went a little further they flipped again and the passenger was trapped under and injured her leg. I didn't want to take my turn driving after that but decided I had to. How often do you get to drive a snowmobile on a glacier in Iceland?  I was tentative, but ended up enjoying it. Not something I want to do often though. 

Had to say goodbye to my parents the next morning which was a little easier than when my mom and sister left in June, because I knew I would be home in a week. I am so thankful for my time in Iceland and that I got to share it with my parents and Erin. I just with Ryan and Corey could have come too. Maybe next summer ;)