It is raining in Vik, yes, it is raining in Vik.

A neat Mercedes van camper that was parked next to us in Grindavik.

Meet Sunny T our ride for the next three days.

"As for the rest; common sense applies" Huh, would that work in the U.S.?

Cool 4x4 camper at the campground. Note the sewage cassette in the guy's hand just visible at the right hand end of the camper. This would figure in much fun later. 

Burly Iveco 6x6 camper parked behind us. These were the first of many truck pictures I would take. Go figure.

 We woke up at a leisurely 9:30 local time. Although it was chilly and windy at night we were snug in our burrows in the RV. We surmounted most of the RV learning curve and prepared to depart. First though, showers.

The shower in the RV was smaller than a phone booth, if anyone recalls what a phone booth is like!

Ashley is not impressed.

Washing your feet was a challenge especially if you're not very flexible on your left leg as I was. 

Ashley was in tears laughing at me as I'm sure it sounded like an elephant fight in a tin can. Of course it was not so funny when she tried, but we are still alive so we survived. After packing up we headed to the gas station that Johanna owns and met her. She and her family own the gas/fuel business in Grindavik and supply all of the vehicles, big trucks and boats. She told us a little more about the RV, what to do in Grindavik and her suggestion to drive east and then back west. That turned out to be the best advice of all.

Our first stop was the Bryggan Kaffi, a nautical themed cafe on the harbor in Grindavik.

Ashley got a latte, later deemed the best of her life, and I got a Swiss mocha. To go with our drinks we chose an apple cake, that was to die for.

Chocolate meringue cake.

Skyr cake.

The Swiss Mocha, Apple Cake and Latte.

Icelandic poets and a hawk.

Inquiring about the lobster soup.

After we received our drinks, Kristiann, the mid-fifties "barista" there, proceeded to regale us with Icelandic sagas, local stories, and trip planning advice. Again, it helped to meet the locals because he pointed out our next two stops. But before I continue, I must mention the lobster soup! A Swiss couple had come in after us and inquired when the lobster soup would be ready. Although we had just eaten a late breakfast, we elected to hang around for fifteen minutes and listen to Kristiann a little more. I'm really glad we did, because we picked up a to-go bowl of lobster soup and headed back to the RV to get on the road. The walk back was torture because the soup smelled so good and delicious. We thought about heading off somewhere close to stop and enjoy the soup before heading out of town, but we never made it out of the gas station parking lot! I could go on and on, but the soup was worth the whole trip in just one stop!

This, ladies and gentlemen, was worth the whole trip.

We reluctantly left Grindavik and headed east on the 427. We took a slight detour up to Seltun per Kristiann's directions.

We first passed Seltun to check out the nearby lake that Kristiann recommended, Kleifarvatn. It was large and had a black sand beach that looked to be available for camping for anyone.

Crystal clear lake waters with a volcanic pebble bed.

On the road!

It reminds me a lot of Yellowstone.

Seltun is a geologic hot spot, one of many in the area. Although we gagged at the sulphurous fumes, the colorful landscape and bubbling hot mud pots were very scenic.

But first, I had to take a picture of a Defender camper that we had been following.

Gray, bubbling mud pots.

The first of many "Super Jeeps".

After Seltun, we headed back down to 427 and continue east a little bit to Strandarkirkja. Kristiann told us we should stop in and see the church as it was the "richest church in all of Iceland". If I remember correctly, it had to do with all of the mothers of Icelandic fishermen donating to this specific church in honor of their suns and to keep them safe from the roiling waters off shore.

This Unimog with a communications shelter for a camper was at a cafe just off of 427 on the way to the church or kirkja.

Strandarkirkja

Statue of the mother, looking for her sons safe return.

Later, we would see many churches of a similar architectural style and pattern. 

The interior.

The basaltic shore.

After leaving Strandarkirkja, we continued east on 427 past Porklashofn where the road changed to 38, then right on 34 past Eyrarbakki and in to Selfoss. 

In Selfoss, we joined up with Route 1 or the Ring Road as it's more popularly known. On the eastern side of town we stopped at Bonus or one of the national grocery store chains. 

7675

Despite being called Maryland, these cookies were actually quite good!

Our next stop was in the little hamlet of Pingborg at a wool workshop. I picked up a pair of wool slippers or house shoes as I like to think of them. 

Pingborg wool workshop.

Opid=open

Continuing on, we passed through a few smaller hamlets and were passing through Hella (pronounced HET-lah) when I noticed a firehouse. Luckily I spotted a side road that looked like it would get us back there, so I turned off of Rt. 1 at the bakery and made our way back.

Flugbjörgunarsveitin Hellu (check them out on Facebook)

It didn't look like anyone was home and I figured it was a volunteer firehouse so a few outside pictures would have to do. I peered inside and saw a wondrous assortment of trucks including a crew cab Toyota HiLux on big tires and...AND... a crew cab Unimog on big tires! Oooh, I so badly wanted to get inside and oogle those trucks up close but no one was around. On the way back to the camper I noticed a man was painting his house just across the street. I figured it couldn't hurt so I wandered over to ask about the firehouse. 

After he quizzically pondered my questions about the firehouse, he corrected me, it was the RESCUE house. Not rescue as in EMS, but glacier and search and rescue house, hence the big tires to get up on to the glaciers around these parts. I won't spoil the ending to this facet of the journey, but I will say it all became very clear to me at the end of the trip. Sadly, he said the firehouse was at the other end of town and it too was volunteer so no one would be home there either. 

He did helpfully inquire about our travels and suggested we try the Westham Islands. We I said we would but we were trying to make Vik he got this faraway look in his eyes. He stepped away a few feet and peered east with narrowed eyes..."It is raining in Vik", he said with conviction. "Yes, it is raining in Vik", as if to add more emphasis. It was his matter-of-fact delivery with assurance that made me believe whatever he was saying. Together with Johanna's weather advice, these Icelanders are very weather aware. 

Not far after Hella, we turned left, or north, of the Ring Road to stop and see Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall (foss=waterfall). As we approached the waterfall, we began to see the mountains/volcanoes and the glaciers that Iceland is known for. Kristiann, from Grindavik, had told us that we would begin to see Eyjafjallajokull, or the volcano that caused all of the European flight cancellations in 2010, and Myrdalsjokull, or the volcano known as Katla. It was starting to look interesting!

Stopping at Seljalandsfoss was recommended because you can hike around behind the waterfall!

According to Wikipedia, this was a pit stop on the Amazing Race 6, so there's that also.

The first of many waterfalls and rainbows of the trip.

We got surprisingly wet from the spray because we didn't think we'd need rain pants. No bother, we dried out on the hike to the next waterfall.

Ashley found her rabbit's tail flower.

After hiking behind Seljalandsfoss, we hiked another 600 meters up the valley to Gljufrafoss, a water fall that was described as falling in to a hidden canyon. I would say that's accurate because we didn't really see it until we were right up at the mouth of the canyon. It's a short, 100 foot long canyon, but it's still pretty cool to hike in it.  

The obligatory Super Jeep shot. This time it's a Nissan Patrol

Another defender, this time on "normal" tires.

An Excursion Super Jeep.

After we saw both waterfalls, we took another side road south of Rt. 1 to the Vestmannaeyjar or Westham Islands. 12 Kilometers down you arrive at the ferry terminal to the Islands. The schedule didn't work out for us, but it is on the list for next trip. The largest puffin colony in the country is there and it is the site of the 1973 eruption that led to it being called the Pompeii of the North. Also, the world's newest island, Surtsey, is also there. 

Back on Rt. 1, we headed east once more towards Vik. Along the way we saw Skogafoss, another famous Icelandic waterfall, and passed one of what would be many sandurs or gravel out wash plains from the glaciers high above. 

We wound up in to the mountains a little bit, passed underneath much of Myrdasjokull and descended in to the oceanfront town of Vik. Vik doesn't have a harbor, but it is the center of much activity on the South Coast. We located the RV park after a little searching and checked in at the camp office. The office guy wasn't rude, but he was the first, of only a few throughout the whole trip, taciturn Icelander we encountered. Sunny T was set up in her parking spot, electric hooked up, shades up and we were set for the night. 

Looking east towards our RV spot.

Stepping out, we noticed the wind had picked up significantly and we were thankful for our hard sided accommodations. We knew of two possible dinner locations in town thanks to a friend of Ashley who had been there in June. Before then, we walked over to the Icewear factory store where they make Icelandic wool sweaters and outdoor clothing.  I saved my purchases for morning, so we continued out for a little walk out to the black sand beach. 

Reynisdrangar. Supposedly three, or four, trolls were caught returning from a ship when the sun rose so they turned to stone. 

It reminded us of the Outer Banks of North Carolina except for the black sand.

The church above Vik.

Voyage, the statue commemorating the connection between Britain and Iceland. There is a sister sculpture in Hull.

We made our way back to town, passed through the school yard and the industrial section of town, one block, and stopped in at Halldorskaffi. Located at the western end of town, Halldorskaffi is a warm, cozy restaurant that was busy with all different languages flying about the room, no doubt talking about the good food. We had to wait about fifteen minutes but it was worth it. We both had the mushroom soup and foccacia type bread before tasting the Atlantic char and the lamb sandwich. Both were fantastic and it wasn't until the last evening of the trip that I had a comparable sandwich. 

Mmmmm, mushroom soup. Oh, and Einstock White Ale.

Atlantic Char. The red peppers would be found in most dishes we had while in Iceland.

The delicious lamb sandwich.

The chocolate cake and glacier ice cream for dessert.

Ashley had read in a blog that the food in Iceland wasn't very remarkable, but so far, and throughout the whole trip, it couldn't have been farther from the truth of our experience. 

Suitably full, we walked through the dark, quiet town back to Sunny T. As the winds buffeted the RV, we were again glad we weren't tent camping.