And We're Off Again!

May 2017

For the last two years our family has explored continents on the opposite side of the equator from home, spending time during our summer in countries that are heading into winter.  This spring/summer we have chosen to stay in the Northern Hemisphere but at first will be spending time so far north that it will feel more like our winter...

On this day we fly to Iceland!!

The first leg of this year's trip is a 2 week self-drive around the island along the Golden Circle and Ring Road 1 which, without any detours, totals over 1000 miles... We are ready to hit the road!


Friday May 19-

Everyone carries his own bag-
(of course mine is the heaviest!)

Mom knows she needs rest, the boys want all night movies on the plane.

Saturday, May 20-

We landed in Keflavik Airport near Grindavik, about 45 minutes outside the capital city of Reykjavik.

The boys learned somewhere that "Iceland is green and Greenland is ice"... whoever said that was clearly talking about a different part of the country than this southern portion in which we landed.  For as far as we could see on the way to our hotel, it was just like this photo- desolate lava fields.

Also, the road signs were a little confusing... we understand it is called the Ring Road but...???

After the long day of travel, we slept for a few hours then had our first experience at a geothermal spa- The Blue Lagoon.  The water gets it's beautiful color from the silica and sulfur in the water.

The hot water is great for tight muscles & it is just plain fun to swim in a huge hot tub!

   

Silica mud face masks are good for the skin-

Time for our first Icelandic snack-(and first food since we left the US)

Our hotel was just on the other side of the geothermal power plant that created the lagoon-
the white substance that looks like ice and snow is silica!

In the winter in Iceland you can experience the Northern Lights but in the summer comes the Midnight Sun... this means that in May the sun only sets for about 3 hours per day and effectively there is 24 hour daylight.   Masks help block out the light...

This sign was in our hotel room- what a nice welcome to Iceland!