Springing back to Iceland to see it in the green! COMPLETED 6/29 - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Saturday 29 April – part four: Isn’t nature really something?
We set off to our next destination, which was only 10 minutes away, but to get there, we had to first get through pot hole allay as they were in the midst of resurfacing the carriageway. I guess it gets a fair pounding from buses all year long.
Again, the scenery was stunning…
When we reached the Gullfoss waterfall, I decided I would take the crutch this time, as I knew it would be another fair walk, and after all the walking I’d done earlier at Geysir, I didn’t want to push it too hard. We made our way down the wooden walkway towards the viewpoint over the waterfall, and my goodness, the wind was just as bad as yesterday. A couple of times, it nearly knocked me off my feet, and that was even holding on tight to the crutch. As a result, I didn’t get many photos, because you have to put the crutch down or lift it up (which may mean knocking someone over, if they’re standing nearby ) to get any shots…
When we were done with taking photos, we headed into the shop, and we found two Christmas ornaments for the same price we’d have paid in the first shop, so not buying anything there was definitely the right decision.
We headed back to the car, and took the road down to the base of the waterfall. There are steps between the two, and they are building new steps (which to our mind we felt should have viewing platforms somewhere along them), but there was no way I was going to attempt going up and down them today.
I got some shots as we approached…
We’d visited the bottom of the waterfall last time we were here, so we knew how vicious the wind could be, but actually it wasn’t as bad as up at the top. I set off without the crutch again, as I was determined to get some more photos done here, and I managed that.
We also got a set of selfies, which came out quite well.
We were a bit amazed at some of the antics going on, with some of the Asian guys who were doing star jumps for friends who were taking photos of them. What on earth? At one point, they got close to knocking into us and if they had have done and done anything to hurt my ankle, my goodness, they’d have known about it.
After we’d finished our photos, we sat there for a minute, staring in awe at the spectacle before us. How on earth was it possible that this waterfall was now flowing freely, when we’d seen it coated in ice and snow just over a year ago? It was literally just eight weeks later in the year, and look at the scene in front of us. Totally different from what had presented itself to us on our last trip. Isn’t nature really something?
We set off again, and I know it sounds old, but the whole way throughout today, we were just constantly marvelling at how beautiful the scenery here is…
We stopped at one point when we saw Icelandic horses, as there was a small tour group there petting and feeding them, and there was a sign saying that they were happy to have visitors. These were bigger than the ones we saw last year, by quite some size!
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That is an amazing sight. The water flowing over the different rocks is mesmerizing! And yes, to think it was frozen just a few weeks prior....
So beautiful, everywhere you look. And horses!!
Haha, yes, your crutch could easily be a weapon to anybody that gets in your way.
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Such beautiful scenery and the waterfalls and the rocks with the water flowing over them are just amazing! Nice score with the ornaments as things happen for a reason by not getting one at the last stop!
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The scenery is so beautiful. It doesn't look real. The waterfall is beautiful. I love visiting waterfalls, although the ones around here are quite small. Sorry about the other tourists. Some people just don't think.
Liz
What an absolutely gorgeous waterfall. I remember your pictures from your last trip and your decision right then that you had to return to see it flowing.
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So there's parking at both the top and bottom of Gullfoss? Good to know, as Mike couldn't do the stairs. Can't wait to see how it's different still in September, compared to your two visits.
What a gorgeous waterfall! It looks like even from the bottom parking area, you can't really see the very bottom of the waterfall, although that may just be due to the angle of the pictures.
The Icelandic horses are so cute and look very soft!
The scenery is so beautiful. It doesn't look real.
I know what you mean.
Quote:
The waterfall is beautiful. I love visiting waterfalls, although the ones around here are quite small. Sorry about the other tourists. Some people just don't think.
Liz
What a gorgeous waterfall! It looks like even from the bottom parking area, you can't really see the very bottom of the waterfall, although that may just be due to the angle of the pictures.
You couldn't really see it, although maybe if you walked further out (there was a walkway), you could. There was no way I was attempting that!
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The Icelandic horses are so cute and look very soft!
I didn't pet them, so I can't confirm that, but you're right, they do look soft...
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Saturday 29 April – part five: I wasn’t expecting a sight like this…
We set off again…
Our next stop was Efstidalur II, which I knew had an ice cream barn, and therefore I figured it might have cows. Well, look what was waiting when we pulled in!
However, we had a very different animal waiting when we opened the door and went inside…
We headed into the ice cream barn, and I have to confess that I really didn’t spot what was on the other side of the barn at first, and Mark had to tell me. Well, at least he knew I wasn’t expecting a sight like this…
We debated whether to have just ice cream, or to go to the restaurant upstairs, and you still get a view from there of the cows below…
We looked at the menu upstairs, but it was a bit on the heavy side, and there was only one non-meat dish, which was pretty pricey. It was a beautiful place though…
… with some other cool views too:
We both decided we’d go for ice cream, and look at the selection!
I got mango and strawberry. I was most interested in the mango, but actually that was quite disappointing, while the strawberry was better than I expected.
It took me ages to eat it though, as I was too distracted by this adorable sight.
This is what Mark got…
We eventually headed out, with me dragging myself away from my new friends. On the way, I had to get some photos of these…
We’d also seen some people before open the door to get some better photos of the calves in the shed, so we did the same…
Sadly, we had to close the door very quickly, as one of the dogs tried to force its way in, and Mark had to grab it by the scruff of the neck to stop it getting in with the calves.
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as they were in the midst of resurfacing the carriageway. I guess it gets a fair pounding from buses all year long. 
) to get any shots… 
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Pixie Dust
Nice score with the ornaments as things happen for a reason by not getting one at the last stop! 
And the horses are so cute! 
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