Day 4 (May 29): Grimsey Island

The Arctic Circle marks the latitude above which, on the summer solstice, the sun will not set. It's actual latitude varies year by year, but it's approximately 66'33". I've never been anywhere close. 

The 66' line crosses the northern part of Iceland, but to cross the Arctic circle near Iceland, one must go to the very northern tip of a tiny island off the coast of Iceland - Grimsey Island. 

Even though this is a technicality (all of Iceland is pretty darn light all night this time of year) - I've always wanted to cross this line - and now I have!

From Dalvik, we boarded the ferry, the Saefari, for the 3 hour journey north. 

It was a very foggy morning, so we could only see the very bottom of the snow-covered mountains that we were passing - wondering what they really look like. 

The harbor at Grimsey is cute - but also a working fishing harbor, supporting the 57 inhabitants. 

Once off the boat, we took the path north toward the tip of the island, and Meg got her first look at .... puffins! 

The gulls are pretty neat too, even if they're not as showy. 

And then ... Icelandic horses! Genetically similar to the Shetland pony, we saw thousands around the island, living outside year round. 

Finally - we made it to the circle! There's a rock:

And a huge ball:

On the way back, we passed a pair of women from France with their folding bikes. I admire them - but I was glad I hadn't brought mine. It was really better hiking terrain. 

Then a mist came up - which was gorgeous but cold:

Finally we made it back to the harbor, in time to see fishermen sorting the catch, which was then weighed, put on ice and loaded onto our ferry. We thought about buying a fish - but even the smallest were way bigger than we'd be able to eat in one day. 

On the way back, the clouds lifted and we could see those dramatic snow covered mountains we missed on the way out. 

What a day!

Day 3 (May 28): Route 1

 We started our day as we ended the day before - in the hot tub, watching the bay. That morning, a seal was resting on a small rock, a pair of red-necked Phalaropes swam by, there was a loon (a Common Loon - just like in Minnesota) and the ubiquitous but pretty Eider Ducks. 

We continued along the ring road, stopping to see these characters at a little roadside pullout:

Next up was the cute fishing town of Hvammstangi:

We stopped in a little grocery and I took a picture of a very typical grocery shelf. Matching the products to the little labels above or below, entirely in Icelandic, was often difficult, even though these varieties of skyr seem pretty obvious. 

A few kilometers down an unassuming dirt road, Kolugljúfur Canyon suddenly opened up, revealing yet another spectacular waterfall, complete with parking area and hiking trails. 

Then back to route 1 as we headed to Dalvik for the night. 

Day 2 (May 27): Thingvellir and Saeberg

Thingvellir National Park

Thingvellir, or Assembly Plains was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliment of Iceland, from 930 to 1798. It's a rift valley with a gorgeous waterfall at one end. It seems pretty far out of the way to have everyone from the entire country gather - but it's fairly near Reykjavik, and most of the population has always lived in the southwest of the country. And it's dramatic. 

Meg made lunch for us in the parking lot. Bringing our kitchen along to the National Park was nifty. 

Next we took the Hvalfjörður Tunnel, which was constructed to bypass the route along the fjord. The tunnel is 6 km long and descends 541 feet below sea level. It was kind of terrifying to descent so deep and then come back up, but it was nice to save the time. 

On the other side, we stopped at our second Bonus store for more provisions. 

Finally we made it to our campground, which was thankfully open. Saeberg Environmental Center is right on the ocean, with several geothermal hot tubs positioned perfectly to enjoy the cove while soaking in the geothermal hot water. 

Iceland Day 1 (May 26th)

We didn't have much wifi while in Iceland - and we were busy - so I'm posting these upon our return home. 

Meg and I embark upon our 10 day trip to Iceland - just the two of us. 

We picked up our campervan on Sunday morning after traveling all Saturday night - and were off to travel the ring road. 

Our first stop was Rauðhólar, a pile of otherworldly rocks right outside Reykjavik - a great spot to stretch our legs. 

15 minutes more down the road and we stopped at the Hveradalir Geothermal Area, a boardwalk that passed several hot pots and bubbling mud pools. The mist came up while we were there (or the clouds descended on us?). 

Fifteen more minute got us to our first Bonus store - the low cost grocery chain we needed to feed us in this incredibly expensive country. We got groceries, bread at a bakery and then the sleepless night from the plane caught up with us. We pulled the curtains in the campervan, stretched out on the benches and both slept for an hour or so. 

Refreshed, we continued on. Eighteen minutes later, we saw a parking lot with lots of cars and stopped to see if it was something interesting. It was! Kerid crater is a scenic lake inside an old (well, only around 4,000 BC) volcanic crater. There's a path around the rim and another one down to the lake. See the map via Pokemon? Not bad. 

Our next stop took a further 30 minutes of drive - Geysir. This is one of the three major sites of the Golden Triangle. There's a geysir that erupts regularly as well as a number of smaller ones that are less regular. We hurried through, hoping to get to our campground nearby. 

Unfortunately, it was closed for the season. 

So we continued on to see Gulfoss, another of the big sights. We hopped out of the van to pop over to see it, not realizing that it was a bit of a hike, but when we arrived - wow. It's a HUGE falls, very gorgeous. 

Finally, we found a campground. It was run by the nearby bar, and we were parked in a gravel parking lot, but look at that view out the back windows! We pulled the curtains against the light, snuggled into our sleeping bags, and zonked out.