ICELAND RING ROAD, Conclusion (July 14-25, 2018)


Well...the morning after winning the English Pubs wheel of fortune was a foggy one, both outside and within my head! We ate breakfast in the apartment then headed off for a hike/spa day, perfect. We drove back down the Ring Road about an hour, almost to Selfoss where we spent our first 3 nights. Our research discovered the Klambragil River hot spring area in Reykjadalur. When we arrived at the parking area it was packed, even the road leading to it had cars lining it. Usually we would avoid such a crowded looking area, but we did it. Once at the trail head we joined a line of hikers that included many beautiful horses!













The 3.5km trail to the hot springs was easy, but the first 3/4 is up, up, up! My fog cleared nicely during this slog! The distance, although only 2.3 miles, was deceiving and we noticed people giving up and turning back, they really shouldn't have done that! After rounding a few switchbacks with beautiful vistas we came to an upper green valley where the steam was rising all around and the smell of sulphur was in the air...kept walking!










Once we crossed through the dense fog at a small bridge with boiling water all around we saw the hidden gem lined with a small boardwalk. We were told the warmest section of the natural geothermal stream, about 105 degrees, was at the end so that's where we went. They have open air changing stations, so the shy types beware! These people won't see you again, so drop those drawers!!












With our bones still warm from the long soak we began the trek back to the car. During the hike we were starving! We read about geothermal "Earth Cooking"...let's find a place! Depending on where you read it, as much as 99 percent of Iceland's power is generated from renewable resources and of that 30 percent is from geothermal, cool. Found a great restaurant and tried very traditional items, food was great, but the fact that it was cooked by the earth's tremendous heat source was pretty cool!










Now it was time to try one more spa and a very famous one at that! The Blue Lagoon was about 30 minutes away so off we went for our 4PM pre-booked time slot. We waited until we were in the East Fjords to book this, but many recommend booking before you arrive to get the time slot that best fits your schedule. We asked around about the Blue Lagoon and the consensus was that you have to try it at least once.













We probably spent 2-1/2 hours at the lagoon. It was crowded, they served beer and wine in the lagoon, I was comfortable. My true opinion, we did it, once! An advertising genius has made the recycled waters from the visible mammoth geothermal plant into a money maker!!! Oh well.. When in Rome....







Back in Reykjavik we parked the car and since we showered at the lagoon we were quickly off to find dinner around 8PM. I know I've said we enjoyed the traditional food around Iceland, but it really is quite good. We found the Salt restaurant down on the waterfront had an available table, cool. Our daughter had Salt fish and beware they really mean SALT FISH! I had tasty Cod...again. My wife was the winner with her risky choice of lamb shank, she had never had lamb before!! A good thing for our daughter was that we had extra sauce to tame down her SALT! and my wife's portion was enough for 3!! FYI...I am literally typing this tonight with the smell of lamb shank simmering in our Dutch oven, yum!










After we finished dinner there would be no bar hopping, we were exhausted! Our final morning before our flight was spent drinking coffee, last minute shopping and walking yet some more. Reykjavik, especially Old Town, is truly an amazing little capital city.










Iceland as a whole was more than we had expected, a jaw dropping experience around every corner. At 40,000 sq miles the island nation is roughly the size of Maine or half the size of the UK and in the end we drove a total of 2,100 miles...shew! When my wife and daughter threw out the idea to visit here we knew it would be fun, but I didn't expect we would want to immediately return to keep exploring. We always find sayings that we like to repeat...Positive Is How We Live, Not all who wander are lost, take the path least travelled etc, but the windshield of an Icelandic Land Rover said it all....One Life, Live It!









The end. Until next time!!

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for taking us along on your trip!
As always all good things must come to an end.
So now we have to sit and wait for your next adventure...
Any thoughts yet?

So many thanks for taking us along on your journey!!!!

Thanks Tom, no plans right now how about you? I asked the ladies if they want to travel over Christmas break, they seem interested? where would you go for a week+ starting before xmas and home by new years day?

Travel at Christmas can be tricky. Usually it is more expensive, and it is likely the place your visiting is celebrating the holiday so folks will want to be with their families. Thus some activities may be limited.

After following your adventures, I think I would look towards Costa Rica. Maybe do a split deal and do lake and mountain hikes around the volcano, and then head to the beach for some relaxation (or vice versa). You can fly into Liberia (LIR) airport and it is about two and half hour drive to the volcano area of Arenal, and only about 40 minutes to the beach. I checked on Kayak and if you avoid the weekends the tickets would run about $850 per ticket.

My wife (really are whole family) is really into Christmas. This may be the first Christmas that as a family we do not gather on the farm together in 40 years. Our grandchildren have reached the age that they need to be in their house on Christmas morning, which we totally understand. We were the same way when they were small. I am not sure if we are going to be in Raleigh or Long Island on Christmas day. I think that is TBD. But if we were to travel over Christmas, I think it would have to be somewhere where the Christmas Magic surrounds us. Cologne, Vienna, or maybe a town in Alsace like Colmar would all be possible candidates for a Christmas getaway.

Wow that sounds good to me - Colmar for Christmas… I wonder if my sweetie would buy off on that one?

Tom--agreed, travel at Christmas time can be very tricky. Flights are out of sight expensive, all booked out, and if there are weather issues, or some other problem and you miss your flight, you could spend your whole vacation in an airport! If it were me, I'd wait until like the second week in January. VERY low travel period, much easier to get flights, accommodations, etc.

Carol, to quote the late great Don Meredith.... "If if's and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas"!

Beerman--You're braver than I am, but if you decide to do something at Christmas, I definitely will be giving it a read!!!

I finally finished reading and looking at photos of all 10 reports. I cannot explain to you how amazing your trip was for me. I knew Iceland was out there somewhere, usually reading about it in magazines and never interested me. You have the writing ability and photography to work for Travel and Leisure! Always look forward to your reports. Next trip??? I think you and your girls would love Costa Rica. It's beautiful and with all you being so active, there is plenty to do. Thanks again, I know you put forth a lot of work and effort writing this.

Thanks LBI2SXM! Iceland was always one of those places I said yea, looks cool, maybe?!. In the end, it was more than we could have imagined. Hopefully my pics and description did it justice, it is truly an amazing island! Costa Rica? looks cool, maybe?! Cheers!! "One Life, Live It"!!

Wow, wow, and wow! What an amazing trip; and beyond incredible photos.

Thanks so much for taking us along -- it was indeed a thrill. It's now on our bucket list.

Thanks Irish1223!

Thank you! What a wonderful read. I found myself setting aside time each day to read the next segment and enjoying every minute. Your daughter will cherish the memories for years and years to come. You have my interest peaked.

Thanks Maranjo! If you decide to go don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions. I see you're in MD, flights out of all the DC area airports including Bmore can be had for $300 or so depending on dates. Cheers!