Day 206-picking blueberries

 Þórgeður, Alex, and Ástrós.

   July 28-We each did our own things this morning.  Sally and Spencer drove over Bratabrekka to Búðadalur so she could go shopping at the wool handiwork store there.  Alex found Ástrós and Þórgeður and they hiked north of campus looking for blueberries.  It is a little early in the season for them, but there are many around and they taste pretty good.  Eva and Kjartan had picked some fresh and served it in cream the night before for dessert.  Joslyn rode her bike a while and then joined her sister’s berry-gathering pursuit.  Shan continued to work on the blog.  After Sally and Spencer returned, Spencer went bike-riding and berry-picking as well.


Ástrós on the right with her mother, Lára.

   We all congregated back in the apartment for a dinner of lamb.  Yum!  It was Sally’s last chance to cook Icelandic lamb and it tasted wonderful.  She then took the kids to Borgarnes where the local farmer’s co-op was holding a festival.  They arrived just as it was wrapping up, but they still got to see some animals.  They went shopping and came home.


"KB" on the side of this Ford Model A truck stands for "Kaupfélagið Borgarnesi," or Borgarnes' co-op.



Early on, we were mesmerized by this view of Bifröst and its surroundoundings from the south. Since then, we have become used to it, but we are going to surely miss it in the near future.

   Meanwhile, Shan finally got caught up on the blog.  Since he has not been caught up in two months, it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulder and he got around to take a hike as a reward.  Then, Sigrún Lilja called up to say that we could come over any time for supper, so he put all of the hiking supplies away and spent an hour packing, waiting for the rest of the family to come home.  Once they showed up, we all trooped over to Sigrún Lilja and Einar’s house for supper.  The kids played with Þórgeður and Einar, while the adults sat around talking.  Einar grilled up some fantastic lamb and plenty off side dishes, so we ate well for our last supper in Iceland.  Once we finished up, they turned on the TV to watch the Olympics on BBC.  Since we will only see the Olympics on time-delay once we get back to the States, this was somewhat of a treat.

Shan, Sigrún Lilja, Einar, and Sally.  

Spencer, Alex, Þórgeður, Einar, and Joslyn composed, practiced, and then sang to us a song about the friendship between the two families (and between Alex and Þórgeður, in particular). It was very sweet. 

   Their family is spending a month in Florida over Christmas, so we are hoping to talk them into taking a week out to fly up to Colorado.  Since they are not big fans of winter sports, though, it might be more likely that we get them to come over next summer.  In any event, we think that they are likely to be our guests in Gunnison at some point.  That will be great, because they are wonderful people and we want to host them as well as they have hosted us.
   We finally left the house around midnight and walked back home.  Alex dropped off Sally’s bike and Emma and Pálmar’s house, since we are leaving it for her.  Since the lights were on, she decided to ring the doorbell as well.  She just didn’t think that it was all that late!  When we got back home, we put the kids to work doing the final packing of their bags.  Sally cleaned the dishes and the kitchen, while Shan swept, cleaned the house, and ran the towels and washcloths through the washing machine.  We went to bed, not quite sure that we really believed that this was the last night we would be spending in the apartment!