My daughter’s school friend invited us to join them at the Sender One, LAX soft opening for the youth side of the gym. I wasn’t sure if we, the adults, would be allowed to climb but I dressed appropriately just in case. My daughter was climbing like a little spider-fast and fearless! Then I decided to have a go at it. It was so much fun with some parts being mentally and physically challenging. We had a great time.
This very early morning, 5:30AM to be exact, my friend Robbie and I started our hike up to the cave. This cave is no secret, but finding it can be tricky! A couple of hours later, we found it, but it was no easy feat getting into the cave. With a bit of moral support from Robbie, I made it up and into the cave-and it was beautiful! This cave is located just outside of Los Angeles, in West Hills.
At the lighthouse at Garður
Downtown Reykjavík
Archery practice at Bogfimisetrið
The last bit of snippets of my trip this winter, to Iceland!
This was only 5 minutes before I took my photo. See how quickly the light is lost?!
When I take my swimsuit photos in the freezing winters of Iceland, I am usually so cold that I can’t feel anything anyway, so it doesn’t bother me much, but this moment was different. This was the last photo I took from our South of Iceland trip. It was cold, windy, very super windy, and did I mention cold? I was already damp and wet from slipping into the waters of a semi-frozen river and never quite recovered from that.
Here’s the story. My daughter, her father, and I parked, and walked about 1 minute to the Black Sand Beach, Vík. As we walked, there were all sorts of warning signs about the wind speed, not to get too close to the ocean, and wearing proper shoes. Now, I know Iceland can get windy, but I thought to myself, “Is it really that dangerous?!”
It was sudden. The moment we stepped foot onto the beach, it was as if we stepped into a vortex. The unforgiving wind speed was like nothing I had felt in a really long time, in addition, it was cold and started to rain. People were dressed like they were about to submerse themselves in an ice cave. I had to cover my mouth to breathe. I stood there in slight disbelief-freezing, with my winter clothes on! With my clothes, I was as cold as people probably think I am when I take these swimsuit photos, but I’m not, but this time, I was actually that cold. I stood there thinking to myself, “No, this is silly, I can’t strip down into my swimsuit…No, no, no, we came this far, I can’t quit now…”
During that moment of internal struggle, the light hid behind the earth-it was almost pitch black. It was just 3:30PM (15:30) and we were loosing daylight by the seconds. I got close to the basalt columns, and voilà, that was the secret! The closer you get to the columns, the less wind and other elements you feel. I quickly changed out of my clothes, climbed as high as I could whilst keep safety as my main priority and smiled!
If you visit this area, be safe.
Skógafoss
We couldn’t get to Seljavallalaug (oldest swimming pool in Iceland) becuase parts of the stream we had to cross, weren’t frozen enough
Up close and personal with the Icelandic horses
Looking out from the entrance area of the oldest swimming pool in Iceland, Seljavallalaug
Peeking out from Gljúfrabúi, the hidden waterfall
What a journey! It was cold, wet, and windy. Sound familiar? Today was a day of lots of travel with my daughter and her pabbi. Together, we took a road trip through the South of Iceland. Many of these sights I had seen before, but never frozen. It was also the first time I experienced this with my daughter!