8/8/15: Sweet Serendipity

Day 10, Saturday, August 8

We woke up this morning to rain. A bit sad. We've talked about how lucky we've been with the weather....  oops.  Did we brag too much?

Definitely a bit bummed out because today was supposed to be our 10 hour hike between two glaciers. We were really looking forward to it, but this rain is too much to tackle that hike as there are points that can be a little treacherous. The rain would only make that worse.   Not to mention, it would be borderline miserable. If it was only a sprinkle, we would be trekking on.  Instead, we will see all we can from the car and just wing it.

Before leaving, I thought it only appropriate to take a picture of our "hostel" that was off of road F232...

It was our third night sleeping in our car.  And maybe the last.  Although it's been a fun adventure, our hips are feeling a little bruised from the hard floor!  But... How amazing to just find a place along the way to camp!!  We get to pick our own view! I'm not sure we could get away with this in the states?

So... Onward. We have a couple things on our list to see.  Of course on our way... Another church. Have I mentioned that they are everywhere?! I love them.  

Our first point of interest was something I found on a photographers blog when researching Iceland. An old plane wreck just yards off the ocean.

This was an Old navy plane crashed in the 70's and it's been there since. The good part of the story: no one died in the crash.  The interesting part of the story: the pilot was forced to do a crash landing because he was out of gas, but later realized that he simply needed to flip a switch to the reserve tank. Oops! 

So, as much as it would have been cool to have clear blue skies, the weather seemed appropriate for a crashed plane on a black sand beach.  And boy was it windy! I don't think we got a single photo without hair across my face!

The three of us also carved our initials in the plane....

Went to Skógafoss. Hiked to top.  Several waterfalls.  This would have been the start of our long hike. 

After our mini hike, we stopped at the little cafe and had coffee (or hot cocoa for me).  There was a baby in there that I didn't notice at first, but then Diego had noticed and said to me "I think that is the happiest baby I've ever seen".  I then took a good look at the baby and she looked familiar, and then her mom looked familiar.  Remember on our flight from MN to NY before heading to Iceland... we had an extremely crabby baby on the plane.  Yep, that was her!   Apparently she really likes coffee shops, but not planes!  

Next stop: Hot bath at Seljavellir.  This is a less touristy hot bath.  From the parking lot, it was about a 10 minute hike.  They had a little building you could change in.  We put our suits on and jumped in. The end we first jumped into was warm, but it definitely got warmer as we made it to the other end. This is where the hot water was coming in off the mountain.  This is such an amazing phenomenon to me.  How is the water from the mountain hot?  But then on the other side, the river is freezing cold.   

After we were in the water for awhile... we realized how dirty it was!  It was pretty bad.  but we all got a good laugh out of it.  

While soaking in the hot bath, we saw the people from plane again.  When Connie and I were changing, we talked to them for a while. They were from MN too, which wasn't surprising being they were on our plane.  They were from Hibbing.  We found they would be on our same flight home and just hoped at that point, the baby would have a smoother ride home than the one there!  :)

We then decided to head up to the highlands to camp.  Yeah... We decided on one more night.  Why not?!  We just couldn't turn down another night of choosing our view and feeling that much more connected to Iceland!

On our drive we made a few stops... One being the "Marshmallow field".  Or so we called them! It was one of our goals to go "frolicking through a marshmallow field".  Mission accomplished!!  Thank goodness for Diego so he could capture the fun in film!  (Pictures will be added soon!)

Back on the road with Diego following behind us.  After awhile, we realized we lost him so we turned around.  A few miles back, we found him stopped on the side of the road, feeding the horses!  He is such a sweet soul!  Earlier Diego had mentioned that he bought some apples that weren't very good.  He decided to feed them to the horses.  But... Apparently those were some bad apples as the horses were not fond of them either!!  The defiantly liked the grass through!! (Pictures coming soon)

When we first turned on to F road to get to our evening destination... I drove Diegos truck so he could 'drone the drive'.  Excited to see his footage!  Connie was driving along side of us off-roading!  These roads are super fun to drive.  It's almost like being in a real live video game!!  (Pictures to come)

Soon after... We saw Hekla.  The colors were beautiful!  

Next stop was an impromptu glacier climb. Diego had packed crampons and wanted to use them to climb a glacier.  Connie and I climbed the mountain beside the glacier to snap a few photos of his climb.  (Photos to come).

The decent was fun as Diego started to slide down it.  We then spent a little time sliding down the glacier a few times.  Serious fun!! I was wearing white jacket so wasn't sure it was in my best interest... But Diego gave me his so I could experience the fun without destroying my jacket. Seriously, nicest man alive. 

Back on the road!! Did I mention how much fun they are to drive!?  I was having a blast! Connie drove the majority of the trip, but she let me share the joy on a couple of the F-roads!  But then we came to a water crossing.  Not the little ones we typically came across.  This one was BIG!   We had to get out and assess the situation.  We had learned what to look for to determine if we could cross safely, but this one we were questioning. Diego to the recuse again!  He sudden to says "there's only one way to find out" as he's taking his boots off and rolling up his pant legs.  

Mind you... This water is beyond cold!!  It was determined we think we can make it. 

At this point, I turned the wheel to Connie, since the car was in her name.  

Diego found the right line to take and we followed!

Right before he was taking off... Him and I had been talking and I had the window down. Oops... Forgot to put it back up and Amanda got all wet!! Then Connie said "you got my bed wet!"  Haha!  She had decided she was sleeping in the front seat to save her hips!  Ha!

So... We found our camping spot with another view we were looking forward to in the morning.  It was cold and super windy here so we spent most of our time inside. Diego made dyhydrated camping food for dinner and Connie and I had pizza. We also celebrated another amazing day with a couple beers.  We kept them in the Iceland cooler (outside)! 

It was an early night though... (Midnight or so) as we needed to get up early for our last full day!  Sad to see the end so close!!  

8/9/15: F-Road Frenzie

Day 11 - Sunday, August 9

We awoke to this view. 

Found cave. Asked directions.

Wanted to go to Landmannalaugar where all colors are.  

Had to cross back over double river and then over another river the other way.  That one was bigger.  We contemplated but decided against. 

We to coffee shop. Met biker from UK. Long talk.  

Said Goda Ferd to Diego

More smily lights in selfoss 

Went to Reykjavik.  

Went to church. Went up in the church for view.

Coffee shop to book b&b

Blue lagoon.  Took pics but they had 2-3 hour wait. Decided wasn't worth it: returned car.  Cool kid gave us a ride. went to B&b and sat in hot tub 

Thorhildur

8/10/15: Goda Ferd

Woke early 

Thornhilder brought us to airport

9:50 flight.  

Sad that this amazing adventure has come to an end and reality is opening the door.  It was not enough time. 

We had an abundance of fun and laughter.  I can't remember the last time I spent 12 days completely stress free.  We laughed continuously, we made amazing memories and saw things that 

8/7/15: On Top of the World

Day 9 - Friday, August 7

After rising from our second night camping... (yep, hips even more bruised)... we headed to the information center to figure out if we were snowmobiling, ice climbing or all of the above.  After we had that all figured out... we were off to the official camp grounds where we bought ourselves a shower!  It was a little on the 'not so clean side', but the shower, albeit quick, still felt nice.

We split off from Diego for a bit... he was heading back to the Glacial Lagoon as he wanted to make it all the way to the glacier (where we didn't make it yesterday) to try to get some good Drone footage of some ice caps breaking off.  We would meet back up after our days was over.

There is never a drive longer than 2 minutes you can take without feeling like pulling out the camera...  Just a couple before we reach our destination though....

Once we find where we are catching our super Jeep to start our tour, we kind of felt like we were in the wrong place.  There were others there, but no one looked like they were dressed for snowmobiling.  Connie and I had our snow pants and jackets and everyone else was in jeans and a sweatshirt.  It was then we read the info on the tour.... they provide you with a jump suit and boots. Ha... leave it to us!  Anyway... a Super Jeep picked us up to bring us part way up the glacier to where we would continue on with a sled.  I ended up riding shot gun in this super large jeep.  Fun right?  But also a little nerve wracking!  These road are NOT wide and they are very windy getting up the mountain.  The views were incredible, but I also held my breath a few times when I could no longer see the road and I thought we were driving off the edge.  I kept telling myself... he drives this everyday... he knows what he's doing... just enjoy the view!

At one point the driver stops to show us a Canyon.  A scene from Superman was shot here.  He leaned over so I could attempt a photo.  I purposely didn't crop to show my real view...

It would have been even more amazing to see from the other side.  We were told that the scene that was shot here took a week to film and that it shows for about 6 seconds in the movie!  Makes me want to watch it to see if I recognize it!

As we get higher and higher.... you can see the Ocean!

And the windy road we drove to get where we were...

And then all of a sudden.... there is the glacier...

Once we get to the "house" as our driver called it... we were suited up with helmets, boots and a snow suit.  We felt like um-pa lumpas a bit... but it was part of the experience!

And we are ready to go.... Connie is taking the first leg driving!

Pretty amazing views.... 

So... What did you do today?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  I was On Top of the World.  (Yes... The chorus of Imagine Dragons "On Top of the World" is playing in the background....)

Connie and I were riding a snowmobile on top of the largest glacier in Europe and the 3rd largest in the world, behind Greenland and Antarctica.  Really?  Even as I type it out and attach the photos... it's hard to believe we really did this.  It took my breath away.  We were up there where for as far as you could see.... was nothing but snow.  I almost think these pictures are silly because, well... it's just snow... and snow... and more snow...

Honestly.... how cool!!

After awhile.... we stopped to take it in and take a few photos....

Our guide gave us some statistics...

Over 8,000 square kilometers....  140 east to west....  More than 50 meters of snow.
He also told us how lucky we were with the weather.  We have amazing blue skies!!  It was calm and beautiful!  He said most days, you can't see the person standing next to you because you're literally in the clouds.  How blessed are we!?

 We drove a little further and then time for another stop....  a and few more photos...

And... in honor of my dad... and just like we did on top of Cotopaxi in Ecuador.... we had to make a couple SNOW ANGELS.  

Dad... you would have loved this.  I felt being up there brought me closer to you.  

After the drive down.... we had to stop in for a beer at "the house".  One of the other tidbits our guide told us while we were on top of the glacier was that this beer, named after the glacier, is brewed locally using water from the glacier.  It was a little hoppier than I typically drink but more smooth than your typical hoppy beer.  It was delicious.  

 

Outside to finish the beers while enjoying the view.... 

What a fantastic day.  The weather was great!  We never even put on our gloves!  We could see forever and just truly felt blessed.  There have been so many moments that have taken our breath away and that words can't describe.  This is one that is just added to our list.  Connie and I both talked about how if anyone doesn't believe in a higher power.... would have to after seeing this beautiful country.  I can't remember the last time I felt so moved.... like my soul has been touched.  And we still have a few more days...  I'm not even sure I can handle anymore!

Ok... so we told Diego we would meet him back at the Glacier Lagoon at 7pm.  Back on the road.... 

When we first say Diego's truck... we snuck up on him to scare him through the window.  I'm sure to anyone watching we probably looked ridiculous!  He wasn't in there.  He just had his jacket hanging over the drivers seat so it "appeared" as if he was sitting in it!  Haha!  Where is candid camera when you need it?

We were a little early anyway, so Connie and I walked around a bit. Then we got out and took some more photos. It's not that we didn't take enough yesterday.... but it is just really hard to be there and NOT take pictures.  It was much warmer today and everything looked different. All the ice caps were a bit smaller.  The sun was getting lower.  It was magical.  Magical needs a camera.  However, it's amazing how disappointed I got in the photos.  Although they look amazing... it does no justice to seeing it in person.

Because I took so many more photos... I played with my settings more and also got more creative in Lightroom....

After all our playing...  a lot of time has passed and Diego is no where to be found.  We decided to eat and then start hiking to find him.  We were certain he could hold his own, but because it was about 8:30... and hour and a half after we said we would meet... we just wanted to make sure all was well. I told Connie that as soon as we got over the first bit hill, I had a feeling we would see him.  Sure enough... we got over it and there he was.  He was walking slow.  You could tell he was beat.  He said the walk took him about 3 hours longer than he had anticipated.  But... he made it that far.... we were both just happy he didn't turn around just to meet us in time.

It was off to our next "campground".  We had a couple hour drive to get to the area we wanted to be to make the next morning more productive for our 10-hour hike!  I drove Diego part of the way so he could rest.

Night 3 of camping.... always ending the night with a "Viking" beer or two.....  Life is good.