Vik

Our hotel in Geysir was across from the geyser which means we could watch the eruptions from the windows as we ate breakfast.  Plus it was a great viewpoint; we could see the crowds of people who had trekked from the parking lot. Their walk wasn't as bad as ours though. For a brief time, there was no wind or rain. We also saw the sun for the first time in a couple of days. It was a balmy 42 degrees with little windchill.

That geysir when you're not being pelted with ice

As it turned out, the nice weather stayed with us all day except for a brief time period of sleet when we stopped to walk to the Skogafoss waterfall which is redundant because foss means waterfall.  Another magnificent site even though our guidebook doesn't list it in the top 5 best waterfalls. If you don't want to take one of the two day hikes, you can walk up the few hundred stairs for a view from the top. It so happens 

that none of us like top views of waterfalls.

walk up these steps for a view of the waterfall

The Waterfall--it's tall

When we first set out for Vik, we had to turn onto a gravel road which made it slow going. We thought it might be like that all the way which would be odd since we were on the main road that goes around the whole island, Route 1. After a mile or so we were on paved road. We do have gravel insurance on the rental car. Also ash in case a volcano erupts. The gravel insurance you definitely need. There's a lot of one lane bridges on this route. First one at the entrance goes first. The rule was followed by most people except on a particularly long bridge when a guy came on even though we were more than halfway across. There was a small wider area on the bridge where we could pull over to let the idiot pass. Most visitors to Iceland just stay a couple of days in Reykjavik but of course, there's campers,  hikers, bike riders, adventure seekers but it's not really crowded anywhere. High tourist season is July and August.  It would be interesting to see how crowded it is then.

We thought Vik might be an actual town but it's just a few restaurants and hotels. We passed many towns like that on the way. Towns with names longer than the towns. How you can tell you've been in a town is that you see a sign with a picture of a town with a red line through it. Now leaving town.

After lunch in Vik, we decided to drive on to Jokulsaran to see icebergs in a lagoon. Mickey's neighbors recommended it. Also the drive itself. Perfect weather for a drive. Sunshine. Blue skies.

The landscape everywhere we've been is so diverse.  You can be driving alongside an old lava field and a mountain range just pops up. We passed through farm country. I'm not sure they raise anything besides sheep, horses and geese though. We read that most produce is grown in greenhouses. About 7 percent of the workers are in agriculture and 7 percent in the fishing industry.  Seventy percent now work in tourism.

Theoretically,  the island used to be 70 percent forest. The theory is the Vikings thought the trees they chopped down would grow back quickly but they didn't.  There's trees being planted now and it's clear by the lines of trees that they're trying to make wind blocks. The very few houses at the base of the mountains have a line of trees behind them. I don't know what kind of trees are being planted but these are skinny and will take a while to be useful.

There are flatlands, mountains that look like they came from Arizona, mountains that the aliens brought from Mars, mountains with waterfalls caused from melting glaciers, mountains with glaciers on top,  moss--covered lava rocks. They have everything here. Even some grass. It's truly beautiful, especially this drive because you see a lot of mountain ranges. For much of it, we could see the ocean far away to 

our right while mountains seemed close to our right. (It was the opposite on the way back.)

The 2 1/2 hour drive to Jokulsaran or Glacier Lagoon as they're calling it is certainly worth it. You can park either at the mountain side or the ocean side and walk from one to the other. Miracle of miracles, there was no rain or wind when we were there. One of the most unusual sights I've ever seen.  I'm running out of words to express wonderment so for this one I'll say Awesome and promise never to say that word again.

The Glacier Lagoon

We're back outside of Vik staying in a delightful, family-run hotel with a restaurant. Unfortunately, we cannot use the hot tub because it was going to close by the time we got ready. We're off to an island tomorrow.