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.
