Iceland Day 1 - Arrival

Early arrival. Lost my blue ball cap on the plane. Hope it finds a hip head to wear. Keflavik airport, bleary eyes. To make everything OK, I bought us a tuna sandwich and full strength coffee.

Flybus to Nord hotel. Rain walk to GoCamper. An introduction to Iceland weather. Then, introduction to the camper van.

Around the corner, we found a Kronor grocery for bread, butter, peanut butter, dates, etc., and lunch (tuna again!).

East on highway 1. The ground steamed as we crossed the great rift between continental plates. Furious geology. At Hot River, we stopped to dip in the river, but with most tired eyes, we slept instead. Later we awoke and couldn’t will ourselves out into the cool rain to reach the spring. So, we went on.

Selfoss, Hella. Pasture land with sheep. Fresh cut fields. Then, black cliffs and sand. Sunshine in the evening. Left the rain in the West.

Stopped at a couple waterfalls. Susan went behind the big one.

Vik is nestled between great cliffs and set beside the sea. Black beaches and basalt columns rising from the ocean. The stone fingers of Poseidon.

We checked into a campground and bought a couple showers. The didn’t come with hot water or privacy.

The campground was crowded with van campers like ours. After a drive around we found our spot. cooked beans and ate thick bread sliced, patted with generous butter. As dark fell (ten o’clock), we took cold, crowded showers.

Waited in line to do our dishes. Boiled water and added cocoa. Shoved our bags into the front seat. Changed into bed clothes.

The moon rose late as the light from the sun waned. It stayed low in the sky and glowed a rusty red, darker and darker as it approached the horizon. Eventually, it leaned its head in the ocean, as we crawled into our bed clothes and sleeping bags and settled into a furtive sleep.