We are back already, but the last couple days were pretty hectic, so I postponed the blog. But here we are!

On Thursday morning, we woke up in Egilsstaðir and drove to Borgarfjörður eystri to see puffins, and friends, it was so cool. They were in their little burrows on the hillside, and they even had a building for viewing them.

All of Iceland was gorgeous, but this one was something special.

Then we jumped in the car and proceeded to drive the entire way back to Reykjavik. I’m not great at driving windy, high roads, and combined with the stress of not being able to figure out if a negative rapid test would be good enough to get us back up the US, it was a bit of a stressful day. But my wife is a trouper, and after a which stop where I cried from relief (the rapid test was acceptable and we could schedule it for the next day!), it got a lot better. Here are a few pics from the drive.

We got back to Reykjavik around 10pm and headed into town for a quick hot dog and a walkabout.

And then we went back to our hotel and passed out. A lot of driving but beautiful views and a great ending.

One more day!

Friends, how has it been three days already?!

Today we left Reykjavik and headed towards Akureyri, and we are staying in a town just outside of it. The majority of the day was spent in the car, which was mostly okay except for the crazy fog and the construction vehicle who backed up when we were behind it and angrily beeped as we finally went around, because we stupidly didn’t bring our mind-reading pants on vacation with us.

On the way, we stopped at Barnafoss and chased a couple of waterfalls.

Then we ended a day with a gas station hot dog…

…before a hot tub soak…

…and a beer bath.

The beer bath was the hottest thing I’ve ever been in, but once you got past that, it was quite nice and very relaxing. It’s supposed to be good for the skin and the soul, so we shall see if that’s true or not.

Another great day all around with a hot soak at the end.

Bonus — Chris made friends with a rabbit at our AirBNB!

Friends, what a difference an actual night’s sleep makes! It would have been better if I’d used my eye mask because there are about a bajillion hours of daytime here right now, but I was too tired to find it right next to my bed. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Today was volcano hike day, the main reason for our trip. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and I didn’t even make it the whole way up. The path was pretty steep and at one point, it was rocky and narrow and uneven and I just didn’t feel good about going. Heights do give me the wheezies. So I sat down and had a rest while Chris continued on. When she came back, we realized you could see the crater from where I was after all, so I (sort of) did it!

Then we stopped for a coffee at this cute little harbor town, Grindavik.

Then it was fish and chips for dinner.

We were originally going to end the day with Thingvellir, but we decided at the last minute to try out Sky Lagoon, a geothermal spa. We went to the Blue Lagoon the last trip, and I immediately loved this one more. It had a better vibe and I was more comfortable, and after two days of hiking, it was some welcome relaxation. The only photos we have of us in it, though, are on our camera, so you’ll have to wait for those. But here is one of us outside the entrance!

A great second day all around.

Hello, friends, and welcome to a rundown of our first day in Iceland. It’s been an adventure!

We arrived early this morning, at 6:30am Iceland time (which was 2:30am ET). Despite our best efforts, we barely dozed on the plane and were exhausted by the time we landed. We agreed to beeline for our hotel and hope that our room was ready. But first, a 75-minute wait in customs, not including baggage claim, COVID questions, etc.

But we picked up our car and headed to the hotel, and the gentleman in charge told us our room would be ready in about an hour, so we ran to the store, ate some yogurt in our rental car, then dozed until it was 10:30. Then we passed out in our budget hotel room for two hours. It was the best nap I’ve ever had.

And then, the adventure part. We drove to Reykjadalur and hiked to the hot river. It was challenging but so, so worth it. This was probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

The hike was gorgeous, and then the payoff was we got to soak in the river.

The water was, as advertised, crazy hot, and our legs were red for a while after.

Then, we hiked back, which was definitely easier.

There were a lot of sheep out and about.

Then, the real reason I came to Iceland — hot dogs from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. I even told him about the Reykjavik dog at Franktuary.

It was a good first day but we are very tired. More adventures tomorrow!