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!