Head south to Wicklow Gap in the Wicklow Mountains
Explore some ruins along St Kevins Way (30 km trail from Hollywood to the valley of Glendalough)
Head to the West Wicklow House in Blessington, County Wicklow for a pint of Guinness and some dinner.
Return to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Stay tuned for part two, where we head west towards the Irish coast to see the Cliffs of Moher and stop for some tasty fish n’ chips at Dolan’s in Limerick City, Ireland.
Travel with us to Iceland for 5 days of Adventure and Sightseeing.
Below is a list of waterfalls (“foss” in Icelandic), craters, hot dog spots, national parks, etc visited on each day.
Time of Year – Late October
Day 1 – Notable Places Visited
Left Baltimore International Airport via Wow Air to Reykjavík
Reykjavik-Keflavik Airport and a stop at the Duty Free alcohol shop
Blue Lagoon Spa and Hotspring
Iceland Hot dog Stand – Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (Baejarins Beztu Pylsur)
Bonus Supermarket for food and groceries
A visit with the Black Death (Brennivin)
Day 2 (Golden Circle) – Notable Places Visited
Random stop on Rt 1 to gaze at mountain range
Kerið Crater (Kerid Crater)
Geysir Geothermal Field and Hot Springs
Strokkur Geyser (active)
Geysir (not currently active)
Gullfoss (Golden Falls)
Another roadside gaze at a snow capped volcanic mountain range
Þingvellir National Park (Thingvellir National Park)
Öxarárfoss waterfall (Oxararfoss)
Gallows Rock
Site of continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates
Silfra (glacial spring where you can scuba dive between the two continents)
Hot dogs from Olis Gas Station – Amazing.
Brennivin
Day 3 – Notable Places Visited
Black Sand Beach and volcanic cliffs near Vík í Mýrdal (village of Vik)
Dyrhólaey (Dyrholaey) – massive arch and southernmost point in Iceland
Mountain drive near the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier (Myrdalsjokull Glacier)
Sólheimajökull Glacier (Solheimajokull Glacier)
Skógafoss (Skogafoss waterfall)
Seljalandsfoss (waterfall that you can walk behind)
Brennivin
Day 4 – Notable Places Visited
Hvalfjörður Tunnel (Hvalfjordur Tunnel)
Landbrotalaug Hotpot natural hot springs (the larger one is tapped so you can control the temp!)
Kirkjufell (mountain)
Kirkjufellsfoss (waterfall adjacent to Kirkjufell)
Reykjavik nightlife, bars, clubs, insanity, fun
First bar – Lebowski Bar (American themed bar that was having a Halloween costume party that night)
Subsequent bars – I honestly have no idea, but it was intense 🙂
Okay, that’s enough of the Brennivin
Day 5 – Notable Places Visited
Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach (Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach)
Grotta Lighthouse
Reykjavík-Keflavík International Airport for a final round of hot dogs.
Join me for a Tour of Texas, from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to a Hike in Big Bend NP, via an adventure along the Mexican border.
For this adventure, I’ll be travelling (via air) from Philadelphia to San Antonio, Texas. After landing, the plan will be to grab a rental car and immediately travel 7 hours west, following a route along the Mexican boarder, to Big Bend National Park. Big Bend holds the distinction as America’s largest protected swath of Chihuahuan desert. Another of Big Bend’s unique distinctions is that around 118 miles of the Mexican / American boarder lay within it’s boundaries, hugging the deepest point of the Rio Grande.
My plan is to arrive at Big Bend National Park before sunset on day one and make a mad scramble for the Window Trail, which is said to boast some amazing sunset views across the Chisos Mountains. Assuming I pull this off, my next task will be to awake just before that burning globe comes back around again, and make way for the tallest peak amongst the Chisos Range – Emory Peak. After that – a quick retreat to the car, a modest rehydration and clean up, and then it will time to hop back in the rental car once again.
Just to keep thing interesting, my plan will be to take an alternate 7 hour route, further to the north, to return to San Antonio. At that point, I’ll scoop up Sara and head an additional 3 hours west to the Gulf of Mexico. More specifically, the Corpus Christi region, for some beach front camping, which would be a first for us.
Of course, all of these plans assume that everything goes as expected. I mean, they never get unexpected or sever weather on the Gulf Coast, do they? Wait… do they?
