I am coming up on the anniversary of when things started to go wrong in my life. My sister once told me that she knew of someone who engraved a bracelet with a year on it. When asked what the year was, she said it was the worst year of her life and she wears it to remind her that everything since has to be better, because nothing can be worse than that year. I want to do this bracelet. And I thought well, it's more 2008-2009... My year started going awry almost exactly a year ago. But I suddenly got scared. I am hoping that my bad luck is restricted to a year, but what if it continues?
Then I remember there are so many things about this past year that have been good. Things I would never take back. Places I've gone, people I've met, etc. I guess that's what life is. You gotta take the bad with the good and sometimes one outweighs the other.
So, this upcoming anniversary (in a few days) is more of a New Years for me than Jan 1st was. I'm hoping for a healing of the past, and start of a new beginning. I know that's impossible to ask because it's not always so cut and dry, but with a deep breath, I still hope...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Lost in Iceland
In our journey around the Ring Road, we lost many things.
My mother, weighed down by the ring that hung around her neck, chose herself to be the bearer of such a burden. She thought it was her duty, her task to carry this so no one else would have to. She argued with my sister that her ring should be thrown into the waterfall. She insisted that it was not right, not the right time. Somewhere along the journey, it's hard to say when, she lost the ring. It no longer hung from her neck, or weighed in her suitcase. But relief from its loss did not come. Her turmoil lasts.
Did we ever actually lose our way? Not literally, but we lost other things. We were rid of preconceptions about the land, our breath was taken as we gazed at diverse landscapes, sometimes we forgot past transgressions of mother and daughter and got to know each other as adults. We were forced to lay aside fear on especially trying days. I guess you could say we found much more than we lost. Though, the ring remains unfound...
My mother, weighed down by the ring that hung around her neck, chose herself to be the bearer of such a burden. She thought it was her duty, her task to carry this so no one else would have to. She argued with my sister that her ring should be thrown into the waterfall. She insisted that it was not right, not the right time. Somewhere along the journey, it's hard to say when, she lost the ring. It no longer hung from her neck, or weighed in her suitcase. But relief from its loss did not come. Her turmoil lasts.
Did we ever actually lose our way? Not literally, but we lost other things. We were rid of preconceptions about the land, our breath was taken as we gazed at diverse landscapes, sometimes we forgot past transgressions of mother and daughter and got to know each other as adults. We were forced to lay aside fear on especially trying days. I guess you could say we found much more than we lost. Though, the ring remains unfound...
Friday, August 07, 2009
I think the worst pain in life is to have your baby die. It doesn't matter the age. Weeks or decades, I'm sure it breaks the heart permanently. I think I will now fear that most of all if I should ever have a child. Maybe that's natural of being a mother, but I will worry more than others. I never wish to feel the suffering my mother has.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Vacation 2009
Boston, Iceland, Santa Fe!
How to pack for a trip that includes such diverse climates? Well, I had one duffel bag full of shorts and tank tops for Boston that I shipped to Santa Fe, and then a hiking backpack for our two cold weeks in Iceland! It was an awesome trip planned - a few days in Boston (my mom and I had never been there) to ease us into travel mode, then a grueling 10 days on motor scooters around Iceland, followed by a girl's Spa weekend in Santa Fe to relax.
The driveway was uphill and gravel. My mom fell over with her scooter, and it fell on her bad ankle. Vik is known for the basalt sea stacks at the black sand beach, but we didn't go see them close up, because it was down another gravel road.
Luckily there wasn't much driving planned, just 40 km to the next hotel, so we drove to Skogar and relaxed in the small town at the Cultural Museum and Skogafoss. The cultural museum
had examples of Viking huts from the 1800's with grass roofs:
The other end of town had a gorgeous waterfall, Skogafoss. I climbed up the side of the waterfall as my mom soaked her foot in the icy water.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We were supposed to drive to the Golden Circle and then our Hotel in Hvergarði, which was a pretty moderate day of driving, but instead we decided just to ride to our hotel take a tour to the Golden Circle, so we wouldn't have to drive on roads that were possibly more bad.
Here's is Gullfoss and the Geyser:
The town we stayed in, Hvergarði, is on a geothermic hot spot and our hotel had some steam vents that had recently arisen after the 6.5 earthquake last year.
Here's some right off our hotel balcony:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
How to pack for a trip that includes such diverse climates? Well, I had one duffel bag full of shorts and tank tops for Boston that I shipped to Santa Fe, and then a hiking backpack for our two cold weeks in Iceland! It was an awesome trip planned - a few days in Boston (my mom and I had never been there) to ease us into travel mode, then a grueling 10 days on motor scooters around Iceland, followed by a girl's Spa weekend in Santa Fe to relax.
Friday July 10, 2009 & Saturday July 11, 2009
We left on a red-eye to Boston and got there at 8am, Saturday. We went to breakfast, then checked in to our hotel and walked the Freedom Trail. So, we toured all the historical sites (Paul Revere´s house, grave, Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, etc.) Apparently the 'Tall Ships' fleet were in town, which is the first time they've been to Boston since the centennial celebration in 1976. We walked to the North End for a great Italian dinner. We love Boston because it is so clean and has parks and great public transportation.
Here is a photo of Boston Common, the beautiful Park in the center of downtown.
Paul Revere's Grave, the honored hero of Boston (Half of the Freedom Trail is about Paul Revere)
Here is the cemetery/resting place of Paul Revere and John Hancock
More old gravestones in another cemetery
One of the "Tall Ships" - The USS Eagle, docked next to the USS Constitution
Sunday July 12, 2009
We went to the JFK Library and loved it. We couldn't understand why so many people who have been to Boston and never been to this museum. It's just outside of Boston, but the subway and a shuttle take you right to it.
We also went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which had an exhibit on Shephard Fairey. Then, we took the subway to the Hancock Tower and Trinity Church, then walked back to our hotel and another Italian dinner in the North End.
Here's our reflection in Hancock Tower.
Monday, July 13, 2009
We left on a red-eye to Boston and got there at 8am, Saturday. We went to breakfast, then checked in to our hotel and walked the Freedom Trail. So, we toured all the historical sites (Paul Revere´s house, grave, Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, etc.) Apparently the 'Tall Ships' fleet were in town, which is the first time they've been to Boston since the centennial celebration in 1976. We walked to the North End for a great Italian dinner. We love Boston because it is so clean and has parks and great public transportation.
Here is a photo of Boston Common, the beautiful Park in the center of downtown.
Paul Revere's Grave, the honored hero of Boston (Half of the Freedom Trail is about Paul Revere)
Here is the cemetery/resting place of Paul Revere and John Hancock
More old gravestones in another cemetery
One of the "Tall Ships" - The USS Eagle, docked next to the USS Constitution
Sunday July 12, 2009
We went to the JFK Library and loved it. We couldn't understand why so many people who have been to Boston and never been to this museum. It's just outside of Boston, but the subway and a shuttle take you right to it.
We also went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which had an exhibit on Shephard Fairey. Then, we took the subway to the Hancock Tower and Trinity Church, then walked back to our hotel and another Italian dinner in the North End.
Here's our reflection in Hancock Tower.
Monday, July 13, 2009
We shipped our Boston clothes to Santa Fe, and with backpacks, headed to the airport for Reykjavik. We arrived at almost midnight, right as the sun was setting, got to our hotel at 2am and went to sleep.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
This morning, we walked to Puffin Scooters rental place and then tried to navigate on the Icelandic streets around town. Everything is so much smaller than it seems on the map, so we keep passing the places we want to go.
Here's the Scooter Rental place:
Then up to the 'Pearl Station', which is a big silver dome (water storage facility) atop a hill. There, we saw 360 degree views of the city and the Saga Museum.
We saw a couple of sculpture museums with more sculptures. Here's a photo me at one that had scenic views.
We went to a film about volcanoes, which was pretty boring, then tried to sleep with the light creeping in through the curtains.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Our 2nd day in Reykjavik, we ended up taking the scooters down to Grindavik, where the Blue Lagoon is. We went in the Blue Lagoon, which was amazing, but my hair has been dry and brittle ever since, no matter how many times I put conditioner in it!!! It was our first day dealing with the high winds along the Iceland highways. Little did we know that this wasn't the worst of it.
Here's a couple photos at the Blue Lagoon:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We checked out of our hotel in Reykjavik, but as we were packing up our scooters, my mom locked her keys in the boot (read: trunk)! We had to wait a couple hours for the scooter person to track down the owner to bring us the key. How embarrassing! But luckily, we were still in Reykjavik, so it wasn't as big of a problem as it could've been if we were halfway across the country. After noon, we headed to Þingvellir, which is the place between the continents. The road there was pretty nice and the lake (Þingvallavatn) is gorgeous.
From there, we traveled up the Ring Road to Borgarnes, along the sea. The water here is so blue, I couldn't stop staring at it!
Friday, July 17, 2009
We had a very long day on the road to Akureyri, in the North. The morning took us through the mountains and it was overcast, so it was bitter cold!! Very painful. But in the afternoon, we rode through the valley and it was sunny and beautiful. We passed so many white farmhouses with red roofs, surrounded by lush green grass, and rocky mountains with waterfalls and bright blue streams. I kept thinking, why isn't this place more popular, but remembered that it's dark and frozen for half the year. I wised up later in my trip and carried my camera on my hand so I could stop for quick pictures on the side of the road, but I really regret not doing so in the North, because it was so beautiful. Suffice to say, it looked similar to the photo above.
We made it to Akureyri and checked into our little guesthouse and walked around town. We thought that we were done with our longest day on the bikes, but everyday we thought that we were on the downhill, we were wrong. Each day was a challenge.
Here's a view from Akureyri:
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The maps showed that some of the road from Akureyri to Egilsstaðir was gravel, but we asked some bikers and the tourist office who confirmed that it was all paved. Phew! It was a still a long journey through desolate lava landscapes, but the mountains in the distance were quite pretty. We thought briefly about heading North for a detour through Husavik, but we found out that road was all gravel, so we decided not to travel there. So, we missed the Icelandic Phallological Museum, but it ended up being for the best because it took all day to get to the East.
Here is Godafoss, the waterfall of the Gods:
We drove around Lake Myvatn, which was not as pretty as I expected and FULL of midges. I guess that's why it's called 'Midges Lake'! There were black clouds of swarms that I had to drive through. My mom´s scooter had a windshield, but mine did not, so they all came straight at my helmet. I shudder thinking about having to spit a few out! As we drove away from the lake, we saw Hverir, which is a geothermic hot spot with mud pots. The ground is scorched and discolored and steam comes up out of the ground. In some places, acidic water bubbles up from the ground in disgusting gray gulps. And the whole place reeked of sulfur.
We continued on across moonscapes and stopped for gas off the Ring Road, along a gravel area to a small rest-stop and cafe in the middle of nowhere.
We made it to Egilsstaðir fairly late, and were very tired from the long day, and again (wrongly) thought that our hardest days were behind us.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
We drove to Hofn along the fjords in the east. I had never seen fjords, and this was some of the prettiest landscape we saw around Iceland. We went around each fjord, hoping for a town in the next, but right when we hoped for gas or food, or any kind of town, suddenly there was nothing. After 4 straight hours of hard driving in very strong winds, I had finally reached my limit and pulled over to give my back a rest and so we could refill our tanks with our emergency gas supply. The hardest part by far was the strong winds that alomost knocked our bikes over several times. At least the views were worth it:
This is hour 3, out of the fjords, so we thought we were home free.
We finally made it to our hotel in Hofn and looked forward to some shorter driving days in the South. By this time, I was getting used to taking hot showers as a relaxation before dinner.
Monday, July 20, 2009
We rode from Hofn to Vik and hoped that there would be less wind. We lucked out and it was indeed a bit less windy, but totally overcast all day, so it was cold and not very pretty.
Here's a glacier from our hotel in Hofn:
We stopped by Jokulsarlon, an iceberg lagoon:
The rest of the drive was pretty boring, past coutless wild horses, sheep, lupin, and waterfalls.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
We left our hotel in Vik and decided to stop at a church on the hill of Vik.Tuesday, July 14, 2009
This morning, we walked to Puffin Scooters rental place and then tried to navigate on the Icelandic streets around town. Everything is so much smaller than it seems on the map, so we keep passing the places we want to go.
Here's the Scooter Rental place:
Then up to the 'Pearl Station', which is a big silver dome (water storage facility) atop a hill. There, we saw 360 degree views of the city and the Saga Museum.
We saw a couple of sculpture museums with more sculptures. Here's a photo me at one that had scenic views.
We went to a film about volcanoes, which was pretty boring, then tried to sleep with the light creeping in through the curtains.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Our 2nd day in Reykjavik, we ended up taking the scooters down to Grindavik, where the Blue Lagoon is. We went in the Blue Lagoon, which was amazing, but my hair has been dry and brittle ever since, no matter how many times I put conditioner in it!!! It was our first day dealing with the high winds along the Iceland highways. Little did we know that this wasn't the worst of it.
Here's a couple photos at the Blue Lagoon:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We checked out of our hotel in Reykjavik, but as we were packing up our scooters, my mom locked her keys in the boot (read: trunk)! We had to wait a couple hours for the scooter person to track down the owner to bring us the key. How embarrassing! But luckily, we were still in Reykjavik, so it wasn't as big of a problem as it could've been if we were halfway across the country. After noon, we headed to Þingvellir, which is the place between the continents. The road there was pretty nice and the lake (Þingvallavatn) is gorgeous.
From there, we traveled up the Ring Road to Borgarnes, along the sea. The water here is so blue, I couldn't stop staring at it!
Friday, July 17, 2009
We had a very long day on the road to Akureyri, in the North. The morning took us through the mountains and it was overcast, so it was bitter cold!! Very painful. But in the afternoon, we rode through the valley and it was sunny and beautiful. We passed so many white farmhouses with red roofs, surrounded by lush green grass, and rocky mountains with waterfalls and bright blue streams. I kept thinking, why isn't this place more popular, but remembered that it's dark and frozen for half the year. I wised up later in my trip and carried my camera on my hand so I could stop for quick pictures on the side of the road, but I really regret not doing so in the North, because it was so beautiful. Suffice to say, it looked similar to the photo above.
We made it to Akureyri and checked into our little guesthouse and walked around town. We thought that we were done with our longest day on the bikes, but everyday we thought that we were on the downhill, we were wrong. Each day was a challenge.
Here's a view from Akureyri:
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The maps showed that some of the road from Akureyri to Egilsstaðir was gravel, but we asked some bikers and the tourist office who confirmed that it was all paved. Phew! It was a still a long journey through desolate lava landscapes, but the mountains in the distance were quite pretty. We thought briefly about heading North for a detour through Husavik, but we found out that road was all gravel, so we decided not to travel there. So, we missed the Icelandic Phallological Museum, but it ended up being for the best because it took all day to get to the East.
Here is Godafoss, the waterfall of the Gods:
We drove around Lake Myvatn, which was not as pretty as I expected and FULL of midges. I guess that's why it's called 'Midges Lake'! There were black clouds of swarms that I had to drive through. My mom´s scooter had a windshield, but mine did not, so they all came straight at my helmet. I shudder thinking about having to spit a few out! As we drove away from the lake, we saw Hverir, which is a geothermic hot spot with mud pots. The ground is scorched and discolored and steam comes up out of the ground. In some places, acidic water bubbles up from the ground in disgusting gray gulps. And the whole place reeked of sulfur.
We continued on across moonscapes and stopped for gas off the Ring Road, along a gravel area to a small rest-stop and cafe in the middle of nowhere.
We made it to Egilsstaðir fairly late, and were very tired from the long day, and again (wrongly) thought that our hardest days were behind us.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
We drove to Hofn along the fjords in the east. I had never seen fjords, and this was some of the prettiest landscape we saw around Iceland. We went around each fjord, hoping for a town in the next, but right when we hoped for gas or food, or any kind of town, suddenly there was nothing. After 4 straight hours of hard driving in very strong winds, I had finally reached my limit and pulled over to give my back a rest and so we could refill our tanks with our emergency gas supply. The hardest part by far was the strong winds that alomost knocked our bikes over several times. At least the views were worth it:
This is hour 3, out of the fjords, so we thought we were home free.
We finally made it to our hotel in Hofn and looked forward to some shorter driving days in the South. By this time, I was getting used to taking hot showers as a relaxation before dinner.
Monday, July 20, 2009
We rode from Hofn to Vik and hoped that there would be less wind. We lucked out and it was indeed a bit less windy, but totally overcast all day, so it was cold and not very pretty.
Here's a glacier from our hotel in Hofn:
We stopped by Jokulsarlon, an iceberg lagoon:
The rest of the drive was pretty boring, past coutless wild horses, sheep, lupin, and waterfalls.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The driveway was uphill and gravel. My mom fell over with her scooter, and it fell on her bad ankle. Vik is known for the basalt sea stacks at the black sand beach, but we didn't go see them close up, because it was down another gravel road.
Luckily there wasn't much driving planned, just 40 km to the next hotel, so we drove to Skogar and relaxed in the small town at the Cultural Museum and Skogafoss. The cultural museum
had examples of Viking huts from the 1800's with grass roofs:
The other end of town had a gorgeous waterfall, Skogafoss. I climbed up the side of the waterfall as my mom soaked her foot in the icy water.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We were supposed to drive to the Golden Circle and then our Hotel in Hvergarði, which was a pretty moderate day of driving, but instead we decided just to ride to our hotel take a tour to the Golden Circle, so we wouldn't have to drive on roads that were possibly more bad.
Here's is Gullfoss and the Geyser:
The town we stayed in, Hvergarði, is on a geothermic hot spot and our hotel had some steam vents that had recently arisen after the 6.5 earthquake last year.Here's some right off our hotel balcony:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
We woke up to rain, but luckily it stopped by the time we had to leave for Reykjavik. The 45 km ride was one of the coldest and windiest. There were again times when I looked in my rear view mirror and thought that my mom or I would fall over from the wind. It was difficult to even stay on the road much less share it with the traffic heading into the city. We finally made it into town and turned in our scooters that we had washed that morning. They didn't make a big deal about my mom's broken mirror, so I guess it was OK. We ate lunch, then took the shuttle back to the airport. On our flight to Boston, the young woman who was sharing our row of seats had a seizure and so we yelled for emergency. The flight attendants knew what to do and put her down on the floor to lay flat. She stopped seizing after a while, but her nose was bleeding and she started turning blue. They sent a passenger to get a doctor from the front of the plane and knew just where he was sitting. When she came to, she was very embarrassed and they took her to the front of the plane. It was quite a scary experience for my mom and me. We arrived in Boston and then made it out to Manchester, so we could be close to the airport for our flight to Albuquerque the next morning.
Friday, July 24, 2009 - Monday July 27, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009 - Monday July 27, 2009
We flew to Albuquerque and used our friend, Karen's house as a base as we trekked back and forth from the airport with my girl cousins. We had a wonderful dinner at Karen's house and then drove up to Santa Fe. On Saturday, we had our massages and spa treatments, so relaxing, and went into Santa Fe for their Cultural festival both days. Here's a photo of all of us (My cousins Rachel and Chandra, me, my mom, and my aunt Debi). It was relaxing, but definately good to get home on Monday night.
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