A Much Better Day

Around 3:45 pm yesterday, after having been stuck in the winter storm in southeast Iceland, the road to the west of our location was opened. A quick conversation with Energia and the course of our trip was completely changed. We canceled the northeast and northern segments of our trip and headed back west. Even as of last night the road north was still closed, so we made the right decision.

Gwen cancelled the Airbnb’s to the north and reserved a night in Hella, where we saw the caves a few days ago. I drove and hung on tight as we made our way through the windy weather for five hours - stopping once for a bio-break, a quick bite, and gas. Finally arriving in Hella around 8:45. We brought our stuff into the cottage in pitch dark and I was sound asleep by 10. Gwen knocked at one point before I went to sleep to say that the northern lights were on display, but I just couldn’t get out of bed. If you look at her journal, you’ll see what I missed! Oh well, truly I was happy just to be not sleeping in the car waiting for the darned road to open!

And I awoke to an incredible sunrise!

Today we went to Geysir https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/geysir which is a remarkable geothermal site with the Great Geyser which is dormant currently, and Strokkur which erupted several times during our visit. There are a number or fumaroles which were quite active (see extra 2).

Onward to Gullfoss https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/gullfoss an incredible waterfall - sadly my photos are lacking.

We ate a sandwich in the car and headed to Thingvellir National Park https://www.thingvellir.is/en/ which has a fascinating and ancient history. we went to the current exhibit to learn the history of the park and then walked for quite a ways. At 35 square miles we barely scratched the surface. See extras 1 and 3.

We headed back towards Hella where we’re in a different Airbnb…this one in the middle of a large farm with land all around. It’s lovely and clean and we’ll sleep well before a trip to Borganes, north of Reykjavik, where we’re planning on exploring the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

Thanks so much for all of your comments and stars and support!