Liquid Hot Magma

After roughly twelve hours of deep sleep we got up and conquered the breakfast buffet. Brian walked to pick up our rental car and about 5 minutes after he texted to say he'd be back in 5 minutes, he texted again:

"I just got hit."

He'd been rear-ended by one of those adorably compact delivery trucks. Not his fault at all, but it rattled him, and seriously cracked the bumper. Part of it was dangling off. The guy who ran into him was chill and stuck around while Brian called the car rental agency to tell them what happened. They said is it driveable and he said yes and they said keep driving. So he did! 

Our first stop was The Blue Lagoon because we didn't want to listen to "when are we going to the Blue Lagoon?" the entire day, and it was the right call. It's a tourist trap--just a mill churning people through--but you kinda can't tell while you're in it. Our tickets got us a drink each; we adults chose green juice and the kids chose a slushy the colour of the water. We also got to use mud masks, and in addition to the lagoon's pools, we tried a steam bath and a dry sauna. It was really cool and we're all glad we did it. I'm especially glad we did it early in the morning, because it filled up after an hour, and shortly thereafter it started to rain.

We left the Lagoon and carried on toward the Kerid Crater, but about halfway there the bumper started dragging on the road hard. We pulled off at a grocery store to see if Brian could find anything to fix it with--rope and a knife ideally. The best he could do was a pack of 5 children's elastic headbands, which he used to MacGyver the bumper so that it was secure. He's proud of his work, so please do compliment him on it when you see him next.

The crater was cool. My second favourite part, next to the crater itself, was the attendant working the little booth at the entry. He was wearing a Darth Vader t shirt, drawing his own comics, and he did his whole spiel and charged us the fee without looking up. 

From the crater we went on to the geysir--Skokkur--where we had some coffee and pastries and then walked over to watch a few eruptions. The kids were thrilled. Then we tried to hike up the mountains behind the geysir, and the skies opened up and soaked us all with icy rain. That part was pretty miserable and we finally stopped making fun of all the tourists in full waterproof hiking outfits. We sat in the parking lot drying the kids' pants and jackets on the dashboard, thereby securing their consent to continue on to the waterfall instead of turning around and going home.

At Gulfoss, we stayed dry because we didn't do the full hike, but we did see the impressive falls. And Alice found a sign in the bathroom that said DO NOT DRY YOUR CLOTHES USING THE HAND DRYERS so we know we aren't the first dumb tourists to get soaked on the golden circle. The story of the falls is a good one: a farmer refuses to sell his land to energy developers looking to dam the falls to make a fortune; his daughter carries on the fight. Even though the courts allowed the sale, the dam never happened and the park is now protected.

After Gulfoss, we fulfilled Brian's dream of eating a gas station sandwich in Iceland. It turned out not to be much of a deal--more than $15 per sandwich--but it was still cheaper than almost anything else you could eat in this country. 

Our final stop was Thingvelir National Park, where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet (and are slowly pulling apart) and where Iceland held its first 'national' assembly in the 900s (before nations, but you get the point). It is just breathtaking views in every direction, impossible to capture on camera. The visitor centre was closed for the evening so we just took some pictures (that's how I know it's impossible) at a few different lookoffs. 

Now we've returned the busted car, walked one final time through Reykjavik back to the hotel, and ordered a taxi for tomorrow at 5am. Catch us in Finland!