Squiceland Day 3 - Vik, Iceland

Day 3 - Vik Iceland - April 3, 2017

We always sleep well the night after a red-eye flight, and this trip was no exception.

We just loved our little airbnb.  Cocoa Puffs and Muu milk.  We needed a sugar hit.

We drove to Jökulsárlón which was around 2 1/2 hours from Vik.  It was raining and sleeting the whole day, so we knew we were in for a wet day.

Jökulsárlón is a beautiful glacier fed lake surrounded by black sand and rock and full of icebergs.

It was freezing, but we had a blast skipping rocks (and trying to land them on the ice chunks) and making big splashes with bigger rocks.

The bridge in the distance is the main highway that rings the island.  Just on the other side of that bridge the outlet of the lake enters the North Atlantic Ocean.

We drove over to the beach on the ocean.  Kate and Lyla were too cold to get out of the car again, so Ada could eat her dead fish in peace.

Licking the beautiful ice chunks.

A cold day for bridals and engagement photos, eh?

The main highway around Iceland is on the lower plains between the highlands and the ocean.  All along the edge of these highlands are so many waterfalls.  Every kilometer or two we were crossing a river that naturally had a waterfall as it traveled down from the highlands.  It was stunning.

We don't know what this place is or how to say it, but we were enamored by the place-names.

The above picture is an example of the waterfalls from the rain.  It is difficult to see in the picture, but there were more than 20 separate waterfalls on this face of mountain alone.  So incredible.

Doesn't the picture above just scream ICELAND!  We couldn't believe that we were actually here.

I believe that jökull is glacier, but you're on your own to translate the rest of that sign.

This was a big park and visitor's center with hiking and glacier tours. We were just looking for restrooms and a snack.

Lots more waterfalls.

Some people even get a private waterfall.

Now the snow started coming down in earnest.

We took a short muddy hike to an overlook of Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. I wanted to fly my drone over the canyon, but it was way too windy (which would turn out to be the story of our trip).

Another view of Fjaðrárgljúfur (don't ask me how to say it).

 💩 is not allowed.

We took a walk through the mossy lava fields of Eldhraun.  The moss was spongy and a few inches deep.  Once again Lyla and Kate stayed behind in the car.  As we were in the safest country in the world (and we often had these areas to ourselves) we gave them a pass.

Incredibly as we neared Vik the weather started to clear up and we were offered some beautiful views.

We weren't planning on it, but we had to take advantage of the sunlight when it appeared, so we drove another 20-30 minutes past Vik to visit Skógafoss (foss means waterfall).  This is one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland.  The amount of water and the height is an awesome sight.

Oddly enough, there were some strange animals there too.

We ate dinner at a restaurant right at Skógafoss.  I'm sure that I'll mention it a time or two, but we were shocked at the food prices.  Our average meal was $80-$100 for the family, and that was usually trying to eat on the cheap and share entrees.

We returned to Vik to sleep.  Tomorrow we visit a black sand beach, a hot geyser-fed pool and more waterfalls.

Squiceland Day 2 - KEF to Vik, Iceland

Day 2 - Keflavik International Airport (KEF) to Vik - April 2, 2018

Our flight to Iceland was a red-eye flight, so when we awoke we were already descending to the small icy island.

The flight wasn't too crowded, so Alison and Ada were able to spread out and get some sleep.

I'm sure that I've mentioned before that we can't go on a trip without somebody puking.  Funny story.  Ada was sleeping on a row of seats maybe 8 seats ahead of the rest of us.  Early in the morning one of the flight attendants came and woke up Alison and asked if she was our daughter.  Apparently Ada had puked all over herself and the seats and blanket and the flight attendant wanted Alison to go and clean it up.

Like I said, we're used to puke, but typically we would expect our 10-year-old to not puke on herself...

We landed at the airport in Iceland.  It's about 45 minutes to Reykjavik, but our plans took us to the small town of Vik, Iceland which was about 3 hours from the airport in a direct route.  We took a more circuitous route.

Lots of tired girls after the short(ish) red-eye flight.

Our first stop was the Haifoss waterfall.  This is the third tallest waterfall on the island.  The drive to the waterfall was treacherous as we had to drive through some shallow rivers and through some deep snow.  We ended up stopping on the road a few hundred yards from the parking lot when the snow was too deep and I wasn't confident that we would be able to make the drive back to the main road.

The girls weren't interested in going out into the cold wind, so they hung out in the car while Alison and I trekked to the waterfall. It was stunning.  An excellent introduction to Icelandic waterfalls.

There are actually two waterfalls right next to each other.  I could only get them in one photo in panoramic mode.

Not cool ranch, but cool American flavor.

In general, we were really disappointed with the food in Iceland.  It was super expensive and at most places the options were very limited.  We made do with what we were able to find.  Our pickiest eater is Lyla so sometimes, she gets a sweet roll for lunch.

An out of order selfie at Haifoss mentioned above.

When we saw some Icelandic horses on the side of the road, we had to stop to say hi.  They're known as a very friendly breed.

The poor horses thought that we had something tasty for them, but instead it was just more dead grass.  I felt that they were sorely disappointed.

Long flowing locks.

Our drive took us past another beautiful waterfall (actually, there were dozens, but generally not as large as this one).  Once again, the girls did not want to get out of the car in the freezing rain, so I went on my own to get a decent photo.

We made it to Vik and there was only one small store and restaurant in the small town. It closed early, and we just made it in time for dinner.  A hot dog for Ada.

Hamburger for Kate.

And, a few peanuts for dinner for Lyla.

We stayed at a lovely little Airbnb in Vik. It was the perfect little place.  If you're looking for a place to stay in Vik, let me send you here.  We were very pleased.

Tomorrow we journey to a glacier lake complete with icebergs.

Squiceland Day 1 - SLC-KEF

Day 1 - SLC-DEN-KEF - April 1, 2017

Time to document another trip.

We found a good deal on flights to Iceland from Denver.  These girls are ready for their long flights.

We had a long layover in Denver, that was extended slightly by a delayed flight.

Tomorrow we start exploring Iceland.

2017 in Review

Our 2017 in 365 seconds (one second per day).

45 flights, 10 states and 9 countries.

Here's to a awesome 2018.