Our Epic Iceland Adventure-July 14-21, 2-18-

Our next stop was not far, and it was the Stokkur Geysir. Here the geyser spouts almost 90 feet every few minutes. We stayed long enough to watch it spout 3 times. You will also see little bubbling hot springs all over the ground. So neat to see steam coming off a stream of water flowing over the ground.

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Our driver Joey. He did a fabulous job all week. See the little puffin in the window. I love puffins.

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Our lunch was at Fridheimar Greenhouse Farm. This was one of my favorite lunches. The bread was absolutely amazing and my favorite of the trip also. DH and I had the soup and bread, others also had the pizza. They also brought around a salad. The soup was delicious as well. Before we ate, we were given a drink of some sort, I couldn’t drink it and I saw many full or half full glasses being put down, but there were some I’m sure that did like it. Then a lady explained the working of the greenhouse. She also brought out a box of their bee’s for everyone to see.

It was so interesting to see how the tomato vines grow upward and what they do to care for them. A great learning experience. I will tell you it was very warm in the greenhouse. I was sweating with my fleece 1/2 zip. I would recommend having a short sleeve shirt under what ever you are wearing and that way you can pull off down to the short sleeve shirt. It wasn’t as warm at the table we ate at, so that was very good. The food is set up on a table and you serve yourself. They do take your drink order and bring the pizza if you ordered that.

They do have a little store if you would like to buy some of their products, and many did.

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Joey posing for a photo.

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I tried to drink this, I really did. I just couldn't, lol.

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Oh, man, that bread *does* look good! Hopefully I don't have to eat bread and cucumbers for lunch!

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It was raining when we left the greenhouse. We had a bit of riding to do to get to the next stop which was Kerid Crater. Thankfully it had stopped raining by the time we got there. We were so blessed that we really never had any heavy rain during any of the stops from this point on. It may mist or sprinkle, but only a few minutes and then gone. We actually had a lot of sunshine this trip.

I thought the Crater was beautiful, my DH just thought it was ok. We only walked around the upper rim, others did go down into the base. The info we were given described it as a volcanic crater, that was formed nearly 6,500 years ago. Located in the Grimsnes area in South Iceland, the massive crater measures 890 feet across, 560 feet wide and 180 feet deep. The water that filled it was a beautiful color. We were not there very long before boarding the bus again.

(To upload these photo's I've had to really reduce them. I hate they are appearing blurry, but you get an idea at least of the area).

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Today was our horseback riding adventure. It sprinkled through out this tour. The horses were beautiful, although I felt bad for one horse as he had a cut above his eye. We pointed this out, so hopefully he was seen about. We were in the 2nd group, the least experienced group. I guess the ride lasted about 30 minutes. We stopped for a group photo. The ground is extremely rocky, its amazing how agile the horses are.

My DH had a back issue before our trip and was doing great, well this aggravated his back. I had some Advil, so I gave him that. He was better the next day and each day after, but I was worried. So if you have any back issues, do not ride. My back was a bit sore and I don’t have back issues.

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Next was the bus ride back to Reykjavik, which was about 2 hours I think. Drew passed around snacks, so we munched and looked out the window.

Side Note: When ever we had a long way to travel on the bus, Drew and Stefan entertained us and the time flew by. They always had great trivia games to play. They would divide the bus, front vs. back. We played a game like Jeopardy that was fun. Also Disney and music trivia. They also played a Star Wars movie in the bus. This may have been the day they did that.

The Junior Adventurers had a dinner and movie night with Drew and Stefan, while the adults ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, Slippbarinn. This dinner was on ABD. My appetizer was delicious but I did not care for my hamburger, but again, I’m picky.

We went back to our room and packed our bags as we would be staying at the Hotel in Vik the next night. This is the night you need an overnight bag. We got to the hotel in Vik around 11:15pm. We left the Hotel early, really here just to sleep. Still did not sleep well, room too hot for me, but also noisy and full of light. I did wear the sleep mask, although it tended to come off at night. DH doesn’t like anything on his eyes, so the struggle was real for him. But we rolled with it.

Day 3 - I Only Have Ice for You - Busy, Busy, Long Day!!!!!!

First up this day was the Seljalandsfoss Hike. This is the waterfall you can go behind. You will need your waterproof items for this. You will get wet. I put a zip-lock bag around my camera so I could take photos. Drew and Stefan had given us aluminum water bottles that we could refill during our trip, so this was a great opportunity to do that. We put the bottles down in the stream that was coming off the falls and it was crystal clear. We made sure to have plenty water in the bottles to have with us on the trip.

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We had lunch at the Ice Cafeteria in Vik. There were stores you could shop at also. We walked down the beach to enjoy the black sand and scenery. We were not here long.

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We went up to the counter and placed our order, then waited for them to call our number. DH and I had a hamburger and fries. I mostly ate the fries as I did not like the hamburger. The meat wasn't cooked all the way and I'm funny about how my hamburgers are cooked.

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Skaftafell Glacier Hike was our next adventure. We stopped first to go to the bathroom and be fitted for our Crampons that would go over our hiking boots. If your shoes were not satisfactory to them, they would give you a pair to wear. They also gave us an ice pick, which was burdensome to me. Once everyone had their gear loaded up on the bus and rode just down the road a bit to the entrance of the hike.

There were several that did not feel like they were up for the hike and Drew and Stefan had another adventure planned for them. So they to experienced the Glacier up close. Stefan stayed behind with them and Drew went with us.

We were divided into groups of 11 or 12 and each had a trained guide that led us. We walked a good piece and just before reaching the glacier the guide helped us put on our crampons.

As you can see in the photo’s, crampons was a must for walking on that glacier. I could have spent all day just looking about. I did get hot after walking up the glacier, and took off my jacket, but then put it back on once at the top. I was never really cold though. It did sprinkle some on us. Drew took photo’s once we were all gathered at the meeting point. Then we split in our groups again for the hike back down.

Side Note: This was a very active adventure. I loved it, but it was more intense than I thought it would be.

This is where we stopped for a bathroom break, then we were fitted with the crampons and given an ice pick. If you did not have appropriate boots they would give you a pair to wear.
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Our guide Claire. She was so great.
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We loved Sean, he and his family were Adventurers like us.
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The beginning of our hike. Wow what a climb.
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Great pictures. You're making me jealous!

I'm pretty sure Skafatell glacier is where part the "ice world" part of Interstellar was filmed.

Did you go to Gljúfurárfoss, the hidden waterfall next to Seljalandsfoss?
 
We left there for the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon Boat Tour. This sight was just amazing. Seeing all of those glaciers floating about together was so beautiful.

We boarded a motorized amphibian boat, then set out among the massive icebergs broken off from Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier, now adrift on the iconic Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.

Another great adventure. We were given an chance to eat some of the ice that was floating in the water. Very old ice it was, lol.
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Thanks for posting pictures of the boat! I'm so glad it's not one of those inflatables or the rigid inflatables. The ride is supposed to be pretty rough in those. This looks way more civilized! :)

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Thanks for posting pictures of the boat! I'm so glad it's not one of those inflatables or the rigid inflatables. The ride is supposed to be pretty rough in those. This looks way more civilized! :)

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We only rode on land a short distance and it wasn't rough at all. Neither was the ride in the boat on the water.
 

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