Wandering Amerrickans

The Long and Winding Road..,

Dare I say it? Another incredible morning…

We took a quick walk around town this morning, basically back to the area I was in last night to try and get pictures with a bit more sunlight; the sunlight cooperated, but the social media vixens did not – it was a bit comical if not a tad bit frustrating to watch them rotating poses and positions. Realizing we would not have an opportunity to take an unobstructed picture, we settled for what we could and quickly retreated.

After stopping to admire the beautiful Gufufoss Falls, we made our way back up and over the pass. If there was one thing that has frustrated me about Iceland, it is that there are very few pulloffs along the road. I am so used to hitting the brakes for a photo op and in Iceland, it is rarely possible – there is zero area to ever pull off (it is like the roads are all raised and there is a mere inches on the outside of the right line – so much so that I was in shock to see a police officer having pulled a car over and they were completely blocking the one lane of the two lane highway that is the Ring Road), so stopping for an inspirational scene is pretty much out of the question.

Today our drive was taking us in and out of the Eastern Fjords as we continue to make our way around the island back towards Keflavik. There is an easier way to go between the two places by taking the mountain pass instead of the windy roads that follow the fjords, but we didn’t want the “easy” way out, we wanted to see the remote parts so we opted for the longer way.

It wasn’t long until we hit our first bit of cloud cover; we were a bit sad but pulled ourselves together while recognizing the fact that we had been lucky beyond belief up until this point. The drive was spectacular, passing areas that geologically looked different than the previous areas we had passed. We definitely noticed that there was more green as we rounded the eastern side of the island but that the same rugged looking coastline was still present.

There was one area that Jenny kept commenting on as we passed that she just wished the sun would shine quickly on it as it was so beautiful. That word actually came up a lot again today and once again, Jenny announced that she thought today may have been the most beautiful drive we had had AND the one that felt most like the Iceland she had envisioned. There was no doubt it was impressive and there were certain areas, like the area Jenny wished would just light up from the sun, that were downright mystical. I told her it looked like elves or sprites should be hopping around up there.

As I said, it is difficult to stop on a whim, though I managed to do it a few times, like when I saw our first reindeer – a solo fellow just hanging out (which is exceptionally rare and since there is zero places for them to hide, we know they were alone). A few miles down the road we then saw a herd of about seven, and then another thirty or so miles we saw another small herd and finally one more small herd. Reindeer are not native but were introduced from Norway in the late 1700s. They had a hard time surviving in Iceland and were originally thought a failure until a herd was eventually spotted. Today, there are some 6,000-7,000 of them almost exclusively in the eastern part of Iceland and rarely seen this time of year, so we were feeling particularly lucky to see so many!

We made a few other stops along the way, not much to say about them but I will share some photos.

The one spur of the moment stop that stood out, was an enormous black sand beach, that turned out to be more of a black pebble beach but held Jenny’s fascination for a long time and she readily admitted she could have stayed on for hours more. As she plopped down and rooted around for rocks that caught her fancy, I spent time noticing all the little plants that miraculously make their home in this inhospitable environment. By the time we left, Jenny managed to assemble quite the collection of rocks and made sure to let me know that there would be no mixing with the ones I collected!

I am super lucky in that not only is Jenny a navigator extraordinaire, she figured out how to shut off the damn lane departure signals on “the bronze bandit” which reset every single flipping time I restart the car! It would have been pure torture for the both of us if she hadn’t taken that upon herself to rectify.

We pulled into Hofn around 6:30 and tried to get a table out at a restaurant but they were all full so we cut our losses and settled for another night of cup o’noodles in our hotel room – good thing I was prepared!

We have a long day tomorrow – with a lot of ground to cover and a lot of sights to see; it might be challenging getting an early go as we have yet to make it on to the road before 11:00 AM but I am keeping my fingers crossed we will manage tomorrow. The clouds are hanging heavy now and the forecast has turned south… I am hoping for the best but prepared for the inevitable. I suppose we can’t say we have experienced Iceland without dealing with the harsh climatic elements it is known for.

Disappoint?… Not A Chance

We had a wonderful night sleep in our little cottage, listening to the sheep baa and the birds sing. It is so strange that the birds are still singing after midnight.

In the morning, I headed over to the main guesthouse to get wifi to upload the blog and some breakfast hat was on offer; Jenny stayed behind happy to have some Cheerios and relax a bit more. And then to see if she could coerce one of the sheep dogs to come over for some scratches… Of course she succeeded!

The owner and I got to talking and he invited us down to his sheep barn to have a look around. Upon telling Jenny, she seemed a bit reluctant, but went along with me. It turned out to be a very nice experience for both of us.

The barn held at least a hundred sheep, separated out in smaller holding pens as almost all the ewes had given birth recently so they were in with their lambs.

There were six lambs that were orphans that the farmer fed by attaching a bottle nipple to a milk container (three orphans were his and three were the next door neighbor’s but he said it was better to put them all together so he cared for them), and then there was the youngest lamb, having been born at 5:30 this morning – tiny and adorable. We viewed a few of his rams and then Jenny got to snuggle on another lamb. All the time the sheep dog moved around inside with us; he had laser sharp focus on all the sheep and watched intently as we interacted with them – especially the babies. These dogs are truly remarkable.

As we pulled out of the valley we looked towards the east and at an enormous cloud layer that hung low in the sky. We came to the fast realization that our blue-domer days had come to an end, and we would have to be content with the clouds and wind and rain. But as we headed into the fog bank, we broke through on the other side maybe 10 minutes later and we basically never had clouds again; it turned out to be another absolutely glorious day weather wise.

We stopped in Vopnsfjordur for gas and the supermarket where Jenny and I got a kick out of the three women standing inside the door when we entered who stared us up something awful followed by the young girl working the cashier who looked at us the way we looked when we stepped out of the car and the stench of fish hit us. We had some good laughs about this on our way out of town.

We missed our first planned stop – neither one of us ever saw the sign nor did we notice if the GPS was telling us to turn but by the time we figured it out we u-turned only to realize we had missed it by a lot so we u-turned again. I would love to have some sort of tracking device that follows us along on all of our trips and shows all the u-turns, backtracking and roundabout ways we take while roadtripping!

We made a quick stop at Rjúkandafoss Waterfall since it was on the side of the road and we were ready for a break to stretch the legs.

We briefly contemplated taking a detour to a canyon whose turn off was on the way but was ultimately an hour or so down the road so I put the kibosh on that after realizing the time and considering our other planned stops and as it turns out it was a good thing.

As we headed toward the northernmost peninsula of the Eastern Fjords, we hit road construction. We laughed at the prospect of this being in the US where one side would be held up forever waiting for a flagman to lead them through but here it was basically a free for all, dodging dump trucks and bulldozers and trying to choose the path of least resistance.

Once we cleared the construction, the drive was pretty nondescript until we looked ahead along the shore and didn’t see the town we were headed to. Scanning the area for any signs of where we were going, I saw the road heading up into the mountains. “Are we going over those mountains?” I asked Jenny. A quick glance at her maps app confirmed that indeed we were.

The pass we took yesterday was nothing in comparison to this one; and I mean nothing! 10% gradients, spots with no guardrails, hairpin turns, all the while trying to focus on the road and not the scenery made for one heck of a drive, especially with someone who suffers from acrophobia to some extent, especially while in a car. But I can honestly say the views were the most spectacular of the trip so far (I know I keep saying it but they honestly keep getting better and better).

After making it down into Borgarfjörður Eystri we stopped for a snack and some coffee. The day was incredible, if not a bit blustery, but the building blocked the wind so we were able to sit outside at a picnic table in the sun and enjoy the waterview.

The whole purpose of us coming here was that I wanted to see Puffins. Jenny and I had a few good laughs sitting in the construction holdup and me white-knuckled coming over the pass saying that those freaking little Puffins had better be there. I had read that this was one of the best places to see Puffins in all of Iceland and we were there at the right time of year so I decided to take the chance.

After our meal, we continued even further along the fjord where I pulled into a parking lot with loads of other cars and looked out across the small harbor to some grass topped cliffs that were dotted with thousands of little white things ( I had already slammed the brakes on once barreling down the highway and threw the car in reverse because I had seen some sea stacks dotted with hundreds of white things hoping they were puffins only to pull my binoculars out and see they were seagulls).

We made our way towards the cliffs and over to the stairs that took us up on top and immediately we were face to face with hundreds of adorable puffins! They are so cute the way they look at you and move around on the steep slope. They would dive down into their burrows and literally disappear from sight. We just loved them and got such a kick out of watching them come in for a landing, with their wings wildly flapping.

The town was super cute. Just some photos from there:

The drive back out was just as spectacular as the drive in, and just as white-knuckling but I would not have given it up for the world.

We made a quick stop at a solar powered vending machine hut that some man placed out in the middle of nowhere as a welcome stop for people making the trek out to the peninsula. It has since turned into more of a place for people to leave nice notes and messages and just say hi while traveling.

Our final stop for the day was to be where we would stay the night tonight, a town out on the Eastern Fjords called Seydisfjördur. This town, like all the towns out on the fjords also required a drive over a pass and while this one was not quite as scary, it was just as breathtaking but in a different way. Once on top, you travel along a rather level area that was still absolutely snowpacked but with bits of teal blue lakes and rushing water breaking through, plus some art installation in the middle of it all. Dropping down into Seydisfjördur was a total change in scenery as the mountains had greened up and there were enormous waterfalls every couple hundred of feet.

Jenny could not stop saying how beautiful the drive was and declared that the first day and this day were her favorites so far, as far as scenery went, but that today’s drive probably takes the cake. It is hard to imagine that so many places can elicit such responses but in Iceland, I assure it is true. I tend to agree with Jenny, that both drives over the passes and down into the two port towns today were simply magical. Of course, it would not be the same had we not had incredible skies again but we feel so lucky we did.

Our airbnb is a funky house, that has a lot of character and is perfectly located in town. We decided tonight to go out for dinner even though we had a full kitchen to cook in. We kept it simple – pizza, but it got good reviews and it completely hit the spot.

Seydisfjordur is where the ferry from Denmark (via the Faroe Islands) arrives in Iceland. Jenny and I were looking at it out the windows of the pizza place (and out the windows of our airbnb) and talking about how fun that would be to take. When I pick Jenny up at the airport, Jenny told me of these beautiful islands she had flown over and that she needed to figure out what they were. Turned out, it was the Faroe Islands. Maybe a future trip!

At 10:15 I decided to take a little walk around town. Part of the reason I had ditched the idea of going to the canyon was that I knew I was going to enjoy this little town and just spending some time in it. I only spent about 30 or so minutes out and about, but it is definitely charming and certainly someplace I will come back to for a few days when I return with Billy. One gets the feeling it is making a move – there is a definite artsy feel here and may of the building are undergoing a renovation yet you can still get a feel for the more simpler town that was. I always have mixed feelings about this – progress as many call it; there are so many sides to the debate.

It is hard to imagine our trip going better. We recognize, on a daily basis, how unbelievably lucky we have been with the weather. I had read a few reviews of Iceland where the people said it disappointed. We have traveled to some truly stunning places scenery wise (Alaska, Montana, Patagonia, Peru) and I am completely shocked by this assessment. I said to Jenny, the only thing I can imagine, is that they must have had nothing but sky to ground clouds and saw nothing but the barren earth because otherwise I am utterly astonished that anyone could surmise that Iceland disappoints – it has done nothing but thrill!

All Is Good

Ridiculous..is our luck…another bluebird day that was already warm enough for t-shirts only at 10:00AM and not a breath of air out on the fjord.

Jenny said she wished I had woke her when the bunny came by to say hi last night but I know it was better that I didn’t and allowed her to get caught up on her sleep.

Neither one of us were very hungry but we enjoyed our coffee on the deck looking out at the view, basking in the warm morning sun.

I knew today was going to be a fairly long travel day with planned stops so there was no lollygagging around this morning. We drove into Akureyi, the second largest city in Iceland, and immediately saw two enormous cruise ships which meant we were due to run into hordes of people; the good news was we had no plans to spend any time here except to pick up some more provisions and to fill up the tank. Jenny did ask to detour quickly to the church there (it is architecturally unique) and because it was open we went inside and ended up lighting a candle for my dad. The simplicity of the church was striking in comparison to the European churches we have come accustomed to when traveling – it actually reminded me more of a Congregational church back home.

We loved that the stop lights in Akureyi use hearts for the red lights – so sweet and such a nice gesture – just something that makes you smile.

Once leaving Akureyi, most people take the new 7.5 km tunnel that was built in order to avoid the mountain pass that is very difficult to travel during the winter time. But I had read that on a clear day, the views from the pass were to die for and since, up to this point, we had had our fair share of driving through the mountains, we decided that today we would drive over the mountains. I can see why this pass would be a not so wise choice in the winter but today, it was stellar!

Thirty minutes later we pulled into Godafoss waterfall and made the short hike to the look out. As our first real close up of an immense Icelandic waterfall, they were certainly worth the stop.

From here we were going to take a detour, down to see some more waterfalls that Billy had actually emailed us about but after starting down the dirt road, we were concerned that the road to the falls was what they call an “F Road” and had not yet opened for the season so we decided it best to abort the mission and turn around.

We continued east towards Myvtan Lake where we made a stop for a picnic lunch, along the shore – with a view that could not be beat.

A few more of our scheduled stops were located jus past this area in Krafla, an area which has a a lot of geothermal activity and an intense overwhelming smell of sulphur.

Stop one was Grotagjla Cave, a quick stop that was unique in the sense it was another new geological feature I had not experienced before. The cave is basically a few steps below ground with a hot water pool in the bottom – apparently for centuries it was used as a bathing site until recently, when the water heated up more so to a temperature that was not suitable for humans to enter. This location too also played a role in Game of Thrones.

Next up was Hverir – an area full of bubbling mud pots and steam vents, where the smell almost knock us off our feet. The wild thing about this area was the entire hillside had steam emanating from it at one spot or another.

We then headed to Leirhnjúkur, passing through a large geothermal plant before reaching the parking area.

The trail started off with us trudging through still present snow drifts and across wooden boardwalks that kept you off the fragile areas. We were not actually too sure what we were going to see but I had chosen it as one of the stops out of the many recommended that I thought would interest us. As we climbed up we arrived at a platform that was overlooking a fairly large colorful thermal pool. From there, we continued the march uphill until we reached an area of hardened magma with steam pouring forth from countless cracks and fissures – these lava fields stretched as far as the eye could see in some directions. Again, a new experience actually walking along a still active volcano – though it last erupted in 1984, concluding a continual ten year eruption cycle. The total hike up and around was maybe 3 miles with incredible scenery and views the entire time.

From the top of Leirhnjükur, we could see a collapsed volcano crater across the valley with a parking lot and walkway leading to the rim. A quick detour here proved to be rather unique as well, as the crater was filled with a beautiful teal colored lake that was still holding some winter ice.

Back down through the geothermal plant and on to Vatnajökull National Park we drove, to see Dettifoss waterfall, one of the most powerful waterfalls in Europe with a drop of 144 feet. The drive there was literally a moonscape – nothing but dark ground with large rocks scattered about. After a short 1/2 mile hike, you could begin to hear the thunderous roar of the falls and before we knew it we were on top of the falls where we were very lucky in that the rainbows were out in full force with all the sunshine we had.

From here we headed North through the most uninhabited landscape we had encountered yet; we drove for two hours and except for the car we followed almost the whole way, we passed one other vehicle and not one place of life until we came within a few miles of our turnoff. Our place of habitation for the evening was an absolutely adorable tiny cottage on a sheep farm that was way off the beaten path – Jenny had asked to do Iceland without the crowds as much as possible – and today we ran into a fair amount of people (mostly tour groups) but tonight- it was us, and the sheep and a friendly cat and a view that is beyond words, in the middle of freaking nowhere – so much so I got a text from my mom at 10:00 PM (who has access to our location via our linked Apple accounts) that said, “It looks like you girls are in the middle of nowhere. I hope that’s not true.”
I responded to her, “Oh, it’s true alright…but all is good.”

For sure… all is good!

On A Whim and a Prayer

We slept in a bit later today, since we stayed up a bit later last night – going to bed before midnight has proven to be difficult so far this trip. We decided that we would grab some breakfast from the bakery a few doors down ,which we enjoyed sitting outside on their patio in what was yet the most beautiful day we had had, even if the air had a slight chill to it.

Our plan for the day was to drive the entire perimeter of the Trollaskagi Peninsula but with no scheduled stops and no planned excursions; just a route we needed to follow, the only route we really could, with the freedom to stop when we saw something that inspired us to or to detour when the prospect of the unknown got too tantalizing. This area in the North of Iceland, is pretty much off the tourist track. It is not part of the “Ring Road” and has no real tourist attraction, if you will. In all my research, there were only a few people that said it was worth your time; most said there was “nothing to see” and a few said they would only do it if they had a few extra days to play with.

In all my years researching trips now, and in using all the different resources I do, I have learned to figure whose reviews and advice to listen to and whose to definitely ignore – and I am glad that today, I didn’t listen to any of the naysayers.

Since this was a trip that catered to our whim, we made stops that grabbed our attention as we came upon them:

A turf church, that was similar to the one yesterday but what stood out to us was its location – far from the road, in the middle of a field with the most incredible backdrop – dare I say God’s country?

A lighthouse, down a wickedly, rutted dirt road with an incline that would most likely be illegal in the US, painted tangerine orange that stood out like a sore thumb again the magnificent blue backdrop of the Greenland Sea.

A pullout, along the shore of Eyjarfjördur, with the most dramatic views I think I have ever witnessed.

A postcard perfect town, Siglufjordur, where we stopped for a delicious pizza, soaking in the sun, with a 360 degrees view of drop-dead gorgeous scenery.

We also saw things and had experiences we never have before:

From the pizza restaurant, we watched a helicopter airlift avalanche fencing high to the rugged mountains tops above to be secured in place on the sheer slopes.

We drove through 10 plus miles of tunnels, and I prayed that there’d be no earthquake or crash, especially while in the 7 km long one that was a one-lane tunnel but had two way traffic – go figure that!

In 100 plus kilometers of road, that followed vertical seas cliffs, we passed maybe 60 feet of guard rail. All I can really say about this, is that it is a really good thing we were on the inside lane because I do not think we would have made it around the peninsula yet!

But the highlight of the day for us was a completely unexpected detour we took after dropping down into the town of Dalvik. The mountains off to the right were calling Jenny. She thought they felt different then all the other mountains we had seen – she wanted to get closer to them and before I knew it, the navigator (Jenny) had diverted us off the main highway and had us traveling inland towards some unknown force that had its hand on her. I will agree that the whole scene was spectacular and the mountains intrigued me as well but for a completely different reason. They were wild in that they were pyramid shaped – they were pointed with an apex on top, triangular on the sides with clearly defined lateral edges – I have never seen anything like it before.

So into the mountains we headed until the road split and we had to choose which valley to head into, they both followed large rivers and both had enormous glaciers at their heads; it was such a tough decision we decided we would do both and just double back on each of them as we were certain the views were going to be breathtaking no matter what direction we were going. And indeed, we were correct – it was truly spectacular!

After our detour, it was only about an hour drive until we reached our cabin for the night. It was a small, one bedroom cabin with a simple yet functional kitchen that could handle the highly gourmand dinner of Velveeta Mac and Cheese, but it had a view to die for.

We made another mental note about Iceland today. The water in two of the three places we have stayed smells strongly of sulphur, which means the entire place has an odor to it. This evening after showering, Jenny walked out into the living room and announced, in a very matter-of-fact way, “I smell like an egg, and not in a good way.” I about lost it…because frankly…she was right!

“Why Did You Come To Iceland?”

Jenny and I both crashed hard last night around midnight. I don’t think it ever got truly dark but I know we both slept soundly and barely moved until 8:30 AM. We had a leisurely morning and a simple breakfast of Skyr (Icelandic yogurt which is like pudding) and packaged waffles Jenny had brought with her from the NL. By the time we pulled out of the driveway of our guesthouse it was 11:15, but we weren’t worried as we knew we still had a good twelve hours of daylight left!

The drive was stunning and Jenny was quick to point out how rapidly the landscape changed. At one point I had to pull over and take it all in – just stop and look at it- as it truly felt like we were driving through a moonscape. The amazing thing is once out of the car, the moonscape showed itself to be something different than what I thought it was. It was indeed lava rock but it was covered in inches-deep moss and all around on the ground, on what you first thought were weeds, were actually dainty plants growing and as you looked closer there were beautiful little flowers. It’s these moments, looking at the “obvious” and finding unexpected treasures that I love about traveling. At home it seems we always “know” what we are seeing but we don’t ever seem to be looking.

Our first stop, was a small detour to a creamery that is known for ice cream and it did not disappoint. I had my go to – chocolate; and Jenny had mocha – both delicious and you gotta love eating ice cream looking at the very cows whose milk was turned into this delightful confection.

Our drive continued North, towards the Westfjords, and by this point we had broken through the slight cloud cover we had woken up to and were enjoying another unbelievably magnificent day – a bluebird day! We hit our first dirt road, veering off the paved road across the very bottom of the Westfjords, the most rugged and desolate area of all of Iceland; had we had at least four more days, we would have included this area in the itinerary, as I think it is our kind of place – wild and remote and scenic.

As we continued on, we came upon a sign that read “seal center.” I had read about various areas one could drive to, to try and see seal colonies but I didn’t figure it into our itinerary and on a whim, we decided to take the turn. We drove through a very nondescript town deciding that most of the architecture in Iceland is incredibly simple. We contemplated turning around but Jenny pulled out her phone and took a look at a tourist map we had picked up at the gas station and suggested we just go ahead and round the peninsula – we figured it would add an hour and a half to the drive (nothing for us) so that’s what we did. Not even ten minutes into it, I thought I spied a whale blow but didn’t say anything as I thought I was mistaken. We rounded a bend and saw two cars pulled over to the side looking out towards the fjord and then Jenny saw another blow. We pulled over and watched for some time as clearly a juvenile was surfacing and then later breached! Meanwhile, what appeared to be an adult, rolled over on its side and was smacking the water with its gigantic fin – so cool and it made the detour a winner already!

As we drove along we decided on a few things in relation to Iceland – it is immense – far far bigger than it appears on maps; it has it all when it comes to the features that draw us in – endless vistas, water galore, and mountains that never cease; and boy is it uninhabited!

Once back at the Ring Road junction we made a stop for gas (wowzer – basically equating to $7.50 per gallon) and a picnic stop out of the back of the car- truly my favorite kind.

Our next stop was at Grafarkirkja, the oldest turf church in Iceland, with parts of it dating back to the 17th century. The church was not open but we walked around the outside and peered through the windows commenting on the striking difference between this church, with its simple, bare wood interior and the Black Church which was actually very colorfully painted inside.

As we came into Blönduós, the only sizable town we encountered today, we passed a sign for a grocery store, so took the turn only to find that it was closed – as in completely empty. So instead, we stopped at the Nesté attached to the gas station to see if we could grab something to eat for dinner that would be a better option than the few items I had brought from home. The young guy manning the cashier easily sold Jenny on a cup of coffee and then asked us where we were from. When I told him the United States, he replied, “The United States of America?…Very nice.” He then followed it up with, “Why did you come to Iceland?”
WHAT? Was he serious?
I shockingly replied to him, “Are you kidding me? Take a look around. You live in a gorgeous country. Why wouldn’t we want to come to Iceland.”
He quickly replied, “Well, with weather like this I agree. It just changed two days ago. It has been awful.”
I let him know he could thank us for bringing the beautiful weather with us yesterday when we arrived. He wasn’t that appreciative as he told me he had to work yesterday and today. I assured him not to worry…we were going to be here for eight more days so as long as he could get a day off between now and then, he would be in luck…
I know, I know, wishful thinking on my part!

The final stop, at what was now 7:15PM, was the Glaumbær Farm Museum, also closed at the late hour but we could see all the buildings from the outside. The oldest part of the outdoor museum dates back to the mid-18th century, with sections of the buildings being preserved much as they were then. The buildings are made from turf, with only a stone foundation and some timber/driftwood used for framing and paneling – pretty remarkable and a first for us to ever see.

At one point, I looked over and saw Jenny had just plopped down on the ground looking out over the baa-ing sheep and the picturesque scene that was in front of her from all the way left to right. She told me she was just enjoying the moment… hard not to…but I love that she just wanted to immerse herself in it.

We finally pulled into Saudárkrókur about an hour later. Jenny remarked that the town seemed fake – there was no one on the streets and nothing showing any real signs of life anywhere. It was kind of a surreal situation that almost made us feel uneasy, but once we got to our airbnb, we were relieved to find that it was very cute and cozy with everything we needed for me to whip up a Lipton chicken noodle soup packet and some grilled ham and Icelandic sheep’s- cheese sandwiches – which actually hit the spot.

It was another stellar day in Iceland, we have been so lucky with the two days of glorious weather we have had to begin the trip. One of the things we took into consideration today when contemplating the long detour was that we had to take full advantage of the weather and the views we were looking at at that moment, were only going to get better, and they did!

Our road trip today was certainly typical for us – unplanned hours of detours and stops for photos including four u-turns; three missed turns (we apparently missed both turns to the seal colonies so we never did get to see any of them); two stops for food/snacks; one “What the hell dude?”and countless laughs with immeasurable ooh and aah moments!

Oh Welcome Day…

Upon beginning our descent, there was no notice land was about to pop into the picture but suddenly the endless ocean gave way to a moonscape of a scene. Varying shades of brown with craters dotting the landscape here and there; fissures with steam wafting out; and a treeless scene was passing by below me and I was so excited that it was a beautiful day!

I landed at 6:00 AM after maybe getting two hours of semi sleep, breezed through immigration and shleppeed all my stuff, plus the couple bottles of wine I had picked up in the duty free shop, the five minute walk to the car rental agency. Checking the car out from here was also a breeze and before I knew it I was hitting my first roundabout on the five minute drive to the hotel I had booked for my evening arrival last night, that did not happen. I was feeling the lack of sleep so I immediately drew the blackout shades and passed out – not the soundest sleep but enough so that I felt like I could function a few hours later. 

My first stop was the grocery store, which I always love doing in a foreign country. Everything was pretty self explanatory except for the dairy products, the choice was endless – I am praying I am not going to be pouring kefir into my coffee tomorrow morning.

I walked around the outskirts of Keflavík town and absolutely relished the magnificent day it was. I couldn’t get over the lupine, it is everywhere – clearly invasive but boy was it beautiful.

Jenny’s flight ended up being 45 minutes delayed and after stopping at the car rental office to add her name to the rental contract as an additional driver, we finally set off some hour and a half behind schedule with a 3 hour drive to our first stop.

It was strange setting out for an adventure in a foreign country without Billy. Jenny and I have done lots of trips, just the two of us, without him but all have been domestic so this time it was a little bittersweet. We wish he could have come but with all the other trips we have taken and will take this year, he just couldn’t swing it…

Just outside of Reykjavik, we missed the exit – which as you all know – it is never a road trip for us until the first u-turn is made. However, this was more of a cloverleaf we had to make but we were able to quickly get ourselves back on track until all the turns had Jenny feeling carsick so a stop at KFC, of all places, was made. If it wasn’t for the picture board menu, Lord only knows what we would have ended up ordering.

Back on the road, and feeling less queasy we made our way out to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, a remote area with not much but sheep farms and drop dead gorgeous scenery. Jenny and I chatted a lot about her life in the Netherlands, where she is at; the things that are important and how she has recently found a lot of peace (some in unexpected ways). In between every few sentences was one of our reactions to the landscape we were passing through. It continually changed, unlike the Texas panhandle, and led us to audible gasps on quite a few occasions. The unexpected and a tad bit unnerving part was driving through a 6 kilometer long tunnel that dropped down so deep it made my ears pop! 

The further we got out on to the peninsula, the more wilder it became – the mountains got more rugged; the glaciers got bigger and the waterfalls got taller.

Our first planned stop was Budir Black Church, mainly for its setting and the photo op I knew it would give, especially considering the weather. I had tried to book us into the one and only inn located here but they were full for tonight but we still enjoyed the stop and knew for sure it was a place we could easily spend a few days wandering.

From here we turned inland to cut across the peninsula over a mountain pass, instead of taking the time to round it. As we dropped down to the other side, we both gasped simultaneously at the scenery we were passing through. As if on cue, we commented that it felt like we had just driven into another world. Of course, the lack of guardrails kept my focus on the road more than the scenery and I kept wishing we would come upon a pull out so I could actually stop and take it all in but there were none.

The next stop was at Kirkjufell mountain and waterfalls, if you ever watch Game of Thrones, apparently some scened were filmed here. The setting was stunning and of course, the clarity of the day was a huge bonus. 

The last stop was a short walk to Grundarfoss waterfall. A classic looking waterfall that pours from the glaciers straight down over a cliff.

It was 9:30 by the time we got to the guesthouse but still total daylight. Sunset is at 11:10 PM and sunrise at 3:30 AM so there is very little darkness we will have. Dinner was a cup o’noodles for Jenny and peanut butter crackers and a bit of red wine for me. No complaints, especially not when we were sitting staring at the stunning view out of our windows.

Our first hours in Iceland have been fabulous. Jenny is besides herself with all the lambs running through the fields as am I with all the Icelandic ponies. Jenny said she wanted nature, there is no doubt that she is getting just what she asked for. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings us. 

Our completely unplanned trip to Iceland came about in a matter of days. Jenny had a weeks vacation with plans for one of her best friends to visit from the States; but her friend’s planned trip to Europe was cancelled so the additional week added on to visit Jenny was also cancelled. An alternative plan was hatched for Jenny to head to Marseille to visit a girl that had been our French Exchange Student when Jenny was in tenth grade. She and Clara became fast friends over the course of her six night stay with us, and just as with everybody Jenny makes a connection with, she relishes maintaining a relationship with them, so a chance to reunite was exciting but, unfortunately, those plans fell through too and Jenny found herself with a week’s vacation and an itch to go somewhere further than a bus would take her. So what’s a travel-loving, doting mom to do? Exactly! She’s meant to offer up her time as a travel companion and once accepted, figure something out and fast!

Initially, Jenny suggested Croatia but logistically that was going to be more of a challenge. I suggested Morocco which I thought for sure she would jump at but there was some concern about us traveling as solo females. A very quick discussion on Italy had us realize that eating our way down the Amalfi Coast was to be avoided. So, I suggested Iceland – we actually had a substantial amount of Icelandair vouchers to use from a prior planned trip and it was as close to a half way point as we could get (well maybe the Azores would have been more in the middle) but Jenny said Iceland was perfect – she said she felt like time hiking and being submersed in raw nature was just what she was looking for.

Anybody who knows us, or who read our Alaska blog, knows we love road trips. We are not afraid of hours behind a windshield and seldom, if ever, find the scenery boring. Jenny’s favorite part of our drives cross country to the cabin is the part from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque- a wasteland by most accounts, but she sees beauty in it. She loves the vastness of the prairies and the far-as-you-can-see horizons. So she asked if we could do the Ring Road drive, basically circumnavigate the whole of Iceland, minus a few of the outlying areas. She knew it meant more time driving and less time on foot; more time packing and unpacking and less time relaxing; more time feeling like nomads and less time being settled but that’s what she wanted- so that’s what I planned.

Iceland’s tourist infrastructure is limited and by many accounts is overstretched with the numbers they have arriving on a daily basis- tourists far outnumber locals on many days. Finding lodging as we moved nightly in a clockwise direction certainly had its challenges but I managed to get it all booked, even if I was doing so up until two days before departure.

The day before departure I received an email that my planned afternoon flight was cancelled. Like every trip we have taken in the last four years- none have gone off without a hitch and this one too, was to be no different. But, I was rebooked on an overnight flight- far from ideal as I had planned to actually have a full night’s sleep before heading off to drive in a foreign country, deciphering foreign signs, navigating foreign roundabouts, and most likely facing some challenging weather conditions. But, not to be defeated, I decided to keep to the original plan and hope that after checking into the hotel at 8:00AM (ten hours after my original planned time), I would be able to grab a couple hours of sleep before heading out to pick up groceries and then head back to the airport to pick up Jenny before starting the trek towards the first night’s stop on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

If there is anything we have learned from all of our trips around the globe is if you aren’t flexible, adaptable and amenable, you are DOA before you even make it out the door.

The one good thing about my flight being changed, was we could enjoy a leisurely evening the night before to celebrate Billy’s birthday and Billy didn’t have to make the four hour round trip to Boston as the Amtrak schedule worked perfectly.

I was hauling an extra bag that I normally wouldn’t take but all, and I mean all, of the clothes Jenny needed to be properly outfitted for our trip, including her cumbersome hiking boots, were home in Connecticut so I had to pack for two. And since I had to pay for a second bag, I decided to bring along some easy to make food stuff for the airbnbs we would be staying in so as to cut down on costs (Iceland is ridiculously expensive) and allow us to not worry if we wanted to stay out til midnight exploring in the long daylight hours- as I knew then we would always have some food stuff to eat. Not the usual way we travel – we are foodies – but we liked the option of being self sufficient. We actually tossed around the idea of getting a camper van but the no bathroom thing with the potential for having to traverse through horrendous weather was a deal breaker for me.

So, after an uneventful train ride to Boston South Station I showed up at the peak of rush hour traffic. There is some sort of bus/train line I could have taken to Logan but I hadn’t researched it well enough beforehand so I planned on a taxi. The cabbie warned me there was a lot of traffic and it could take 30 minutes but he told me he’d drive as fast as possible. I said, “ok” and got in and then he asked me what time my flight was. I mistakenly said 6:50 (which was only 25 minutes from that point) to which he replied, “Holy hell lady! I said I’d drive fast but I can’t fly!” We both laughed when I corrected myself and he laughed all the way to the bank when he pulled up to the departure hall 10 minutes later and ran my credit card for $58! Ouch – and I was worried Iceland was going to be expensive…

August 22 – We Really Are Crazy

Early morning weather report (6:00 AMish) sunny skies; by 10:00 starting to turn overcast.

We didn’t make it out the door until 10:30, and we didn’t finish our morning grub from Conscious Coffee until 11:00. As we drove towards the junction, Denali and all the rest of the Alaska Range that was within eyeshot, was out again in almost clear view.

So what does a car full of crazies do who are supposed to be heading south to Anchorage to catch their flight? They turn north… AGAIN! 30 miles later we pull back into the South Viewpoint parking lot for the fifth time in two days to only be disappointed that Denali was hiding again. I think that from far away the clouds are lower but as you get closer like the South Viewpoint is (only 40 miles away as the crow flies), it covers the mountain. In any case, we hadn’t minded the drive and the view was still breathtaking.

As we walked back to the car, we all agreed that this had been the most challenging of all our trips weather wise. Billy quipped, “Just think, if it hadn’t stopped raining, we would never know what we had missed.”

“So,” I retorted, “the sun finally coming out, royally screwed us!” Pretty much we all confirmed. Oh well… We got to see Denali!

You all might wonder what the big deal is about just seeing a mountain. But the mountains bring us peace, they ground us and remind us of just how minuscule we are in this world. They are Jenny’s favorite place to be – more than a beach or a lake or the desert. That was why it was so rough having missed so much of the landscape – because everywhere you look in Alaska, there are mountains.

When we finally headed south the rain began to fall. We dropped the car off to which as soon as we pulled in the guys commented on how dirty it was. Well, if they only knew where this car had been!

In 18 days of driving, we covered exactly 2,785 miles of Alaskan roads; when you circle the area we traveled on a map of Alaska, it is but a very small portion of the state. We used the word immense a lot to describe Alaska and it is no understatement. While planning the trip, looking at a map made places seem so close together, this isn’t even remotely true. Distances are great and traveling is slow going if for no other reason than you are trying to absorb the scenery around you. Of course the RV brigades, constant summertime road construction. and rough roads also do a lot to slow you down.

One of the most amazing things we noticed in all the distance we covered is how almost all of it was untouched whether to development or to exploitation of resources- minus the pipeline, of course. Much of our drives were spent in comfortable silence, just simply taking it all in. Frankly, I think we were stunned by the vastness and the untrodden terrain that surrounded us.

We made lots of observations during our trip. We have come to the conclusion that Alaskans must sleep with only one pillow (we have eight on our bed at home) because no matter where we stayed, that’s all we were allotted. 18 wheelers any other place are big in Alaska they are more like 26 wheelers. Alaskans are clearly a tough, self reliant people who are not entitled in the least bit, I assume because otherwise they’d die waiting around for something they think they deserve! They take ownership of property very seriously; there are no trespassing and keep out signs everywhere (I think our neighbors might think they are in Alaska). Alaskans have staunchly conservative values and look to the Lord a lot for guidance (we felt a bit removed from this one as we tend to look to Google for help [I can’t tell you how many times, in the midst of the silence, someone would ponder something out loud and then someone else would answer, “Google it.” Of course that only worked on the rare occasions we had service]). Alaskans are either a very friendly or most unfriendly lot – we found the prior to be more common but when it was the latter, it was extreme.

We all also found it fascinating that in these wild lands, we didn’t see nearly as many animals as we would have thought. We concluded that they have so much space to roam they aren’t locked in by boundaries and thus rarely make contact. Our final animal count was: 1 hitchhiker from Fairbanks, 7 grizzlies, 2 black bears, 4 moose, 8 caribou, 1 flock of ptarmigan, 2 red fox, 1 Canadian lynx, 1 snowshoe hare and nearly a dozen sea otters. Not too bad at all.

Yesterday, we received a message from Alaska airlines to get to the airport three hours ahead as lines were long. When we got there, we walked right up to the check in counter and right up to the TSA officer- oh well. I would have gone and checked out all the float planes at the Lake Hood plane basin but instead we had a front row seat watching 747 after 747 landing and taking off as Anchorage is the fourth busiest cargo airport in the world! It was actually very entertaining to help us kill time. We even watched as a flight aborted its landing only to hit it the second go around.

The scenery on our way to Seattle was marvelous, with the most resplendent views from a flight I might have ever seen. We had an clear views of the entire Alaskan coastline, peak after stunning peak. Jenny and I commented on the size of the mountains realizing that even from 37,000 feet they looked huge, yet we noted they were all smaller than Denali – now that’s perspective!

There is no doubt we will all return to Alaska and while Billy would gladly return to where the grayling can be found, Jenny and I would love to go even more remote – and yes, I realize that that would involve a bush plane or two.

Alaska certainly drew us in. We really felt so very comfortable there, almost at home. Billy said the ruggedness and remoteness reminded him of Greer- I can see some similarities but they are really not on par with one another. I like the fact Alaska lends itself to the need to be self sufficient. There are very few whiners here; it really marches to its own drummer when compared to the lower 48. Its nickname as The Last Frontier suits it well; it gives no illusion of something it isn’t- we like that, we really really like that…

August 21- Merci Henri

First things first- We woke to a blue domer, just as Jenny had predicted. Departure day and it was gorgeous. Go figure.

We also woke to chaos as Hurricane Henri was closing in on Connecticut and both us and him were scheduled to be arriving at the same time tomorrow – not good! We tossed around ideas on what to do- just go with it and hope we can make it in? go with it knowing we could get stuck in Seattle or Chicago? Book new flights out for tonight? But as we discussed it and we realized we had the most gorgeous day of all, we had no desire to go sit in an airport stuck when we could just take the delay ahead of time, just in case, and stay on an extra day in Alaska. We would be able to make sure we have flights that shouldn’t get cancelled and roll with it. So, we rebooked our flights and will fly Anchorage to Seattle (spend the night) and then on to to Philadelphia where we need to rent a car and drive home – not the best but better than the more than likely alternative ( at least what the weather people were making it out to be).

We packed up and headed out not knowing exactly what we would be doing until we dropped out of the woods and came to the first clearing – audible gasps followed by some, “Holy sh@ts!” Then when the shock settled we couldn’t stop talking about how incredible the view was – the mountains clear as day were right there! When we checked in yesterday, the owner said, “I wish it wasn’t so cloudy so you could see the view.” Yeah, yeah I know…Now I know what view she was talking about!

It didn’t take long for the “if onlys” to start followed by a bit of a depression at all the time we had put in driving all over to have such limited views. But it also didn’t take long for Jenny to ask if we thought Denali was out too. And it took even less time for us to point the red baron in that direction, call the hotel we had stayed at before and hit the gas pedal hard when he confirmed not only a room but that Denali was out!

What, we thought, is another couple hundred miles detour, if we could get to see Denali -remember it was the one thing Jenny had wanted to see before we got here and had eluded us for the most part.

When the great one first came into view, the car went wild. We were giddy with excitement as I put the pedal to the metal. It was really overwhelming to finally see it and amazing that at over 100 miles away it took up our entire viewpoint!

As we raced north, we slowly watched the clouds coming in and start blocking the mountain. By the time we reached the Denali State Park South Viewpoint there was little left to be seen. We sat for a long time watching to see if maybe the clouds might move while coming up with a game plan to increase our chances of seeing it. And here’s where we went a little crazy.

We decided to go 30 miles more to the North Viewpoint but we didn’t have enough gas to get back to our destination to do that so we traveled south 18 miles to the nearest gas station, turned around went 18 miles north, had a big old black bear cross the highway right in front of us, stopped at the South Viewpoint again to see if it popped out, parts were visible but not all of it. We then drove the additional 30 miles north to the North Viewpoint where we saw nothing, we couldn’t even figure out where it should be with all the clouds. Turned around and drove south 30 miles to the South Viewpoint again, still only parts were visible. We then drove 50 miles to Talkeetna to check in and find dinner.

Wait times at the sit down restaurants were running upwards of 1 1/2 hours so we ordered tacos from the taco truck, grabbed a six pack of beer from the liquor store and sat at a picnic table chowing down on some delicious grub! We all agreed that we can say we saw Denali, even if it wasn’t from as close as we would have liked.

We started chatting with a family that was dining the same way as us. They were in a camper and were asking about where we had been, where we would recommend etc. Nice family from Minneapolis who we ended up giving our bear spray to as they hadn’t secured any as of yet – not such a good idea around these parts!

As we were getting up to leave, we commented on how perfectly clear the skies were now. Billy walked ahead with the family to hand off the bear spray while Jenny and I grabbed ice cream cones. While we were waiting in line, Billy texted that he could see the mountain. He got the car, picked us up and we drove 1/4 mile down the road to the viewpoint in Talkeetna where indeed, Denali was out!

As we sat looking at it, savoring our ice cream cones, Jenny turned to us and said, “We have to go to the South Viewpoint! We have to go! It will only be two hours round trip. We have to!” “Well…What else do we have to do,” I said. “Let’s go!” And this is where we went nuts…we jumped in the car and took off, stopping to grab a small bottle of bourbon, a bag of ice and two empty slushy cups. The lady told Jenny, “Welcome to the 30% club!” Only 30% of the people ever get to see Denali, so we were considering ourselves lucky!

On Jenny drove, arriving to the Viewpoint by 9:30PM, the sun still up and the mountain sitting on her throne of majesty for all to bow in awe at. The scene was spectacular and we sat there while the few remaining clouds slowly dissipated. After 30 minutes or so, we decided to see what the view was like up a trail that was off to the right.

Up we walked, hollering out to the bears, especially since we had given away our only line of defense. When we crested the hill, we all just about cried at the view. Unreal! Wow! Holy Cow! Mercy…

We sat and watched in utter disbelief that we were finally seeing not only 20,310 foot Denali, but a huge swath of the Alaska Range, as far as the eye could see, pretty much cloud free! As we and a few others sat in silence, marveling at some of Mother Nature’s finest work, a lady calmly, quietly said, “Look, there are three bears down there.” Sure enough down along the riverside we could see three bears, two cubs running wild and their mama!

Jenny, very calmly, very observantly noticed, “We are sitting here, looking not only at Denali, amazing on its own, but we are watching grizzlies too. Can it get any better than this?” “Welcome to what must be the 10%,” I responded, “Because honestly…what are the chances?”

So, merci Henri, for taking aim at Connecticut. Without you, we would not have seen her; we would have left completely defeated, instead we hit a high note, a super high note, on what should have been our departure day. Merci beaucoup Henri…merci!

August 20 – 250 Feet of Fun

Well… morning weather report brought rainy skies back. Such a bummer.

This morning we packed up and started the drive back towards Anchorage, with our destination being along the route at an area called Glacier View. Leaving Wrangell allowed for a bit more scenery as the ceiling wasn’t as low as it had been on our arrival day, so we were pleased for that. We again marveled at the fact we passed 3 campers and maybe 4 cars on the 60 mile park road – just so crazy!

We made a quick stop for gas and ice. While I was parked, looking down reading the map, someone backed into us. ARGH! It turned out to be an Israeli national who had bought his own car while he was here. The rental car sustained minor damage and after checking with them on what we should do, we continued on down the road.

We made it to our planned stop with about 30 minutes to kill, almost enough time for Billy to try and talk his way out of the activity or try and convince Jenny she didn’t need to do it for his sake.

I had signed him up to zip line with Jenny today. It was only two zips but the second one was to be a doozy. I have zip lined a handful of other times and had fun each time but this one seemed a bit over the top, so to speak. Besides, I did class IV rapids with Jenny; it was Billy’s turn to do some adventures with her!

After getting rigged with protection gear, harnesses and the piece of equipment they are suspended from, we made our way to the first drop off point (they let me ride along since the tour wasn’t full). The weather was threatening rain, but held off up to this point.

The first line required a climb up a tower that you then launch from, sending you through trees, maybe 30 feet off the ground. Billy volunteered to go first – having no issues whatsoever; Jenny followed behind. There were six other people zipping, including a hot shit 80 year old woman!

The second and final line was where I had drawn the line. It starts from a hut 15 feet back from the edge of a cliff, 250 feet high. Seconds after take off you clear the cliff’s edge and are suspended over the river valley, flying along at speeds up to 60 miles an hour, for half a mile. The lines are tandem so Billy and Jenny were able to go together, at the same time.

Billy ended up having a blast; I knew he would! The entire time took only about one hour and when it was done, we headed to our cabin for the last night in Alaska.

This little cabin was in the woods on a piece of property the owner’s parents had homesteaded. We loved chatting with guy, born and raised in Alaska, and hearing some stories about how they live and how everything there came to be.

We cooked a yummy dinner and had a Yahtzee throw down. We were also pleased to see the skies cleared. We joked how fitting it would be that the day we leave, will be the best day of the trip, weather wise!