Due to the high winds, the whale watching tour was cancelled, so we had the morning to relax. We got up around 8:30am….having slept about 10 hours, and meandered downstairs to the hotel restaurant where we had a big buffet breakfast. It reminded us of the buffet we had at the Hilton in London…so delicious….so expensive, but in the end free thanks to the beauty of the Gold Membership. After stuffing ourselves with good food, we loaded up the van and headed to Costco to get food for our trip. After ogling at all the stuff, we grabbed essentials like bread, milk, and of course 50 American Pancakes. We then headed next door to the Bonus store and grabbed the rest of the stuff we needed. The Bonus store was quite something with its pink pig mascot, yellow bags, and big refrigerator section with European meats and cheeses.
After getting our food, we got gas (which is cheaper at Costco) and then headed out in the wilderness of Iceland. And when I say wilderness, I mean the great frozen tundra. The wind and snow was ridiculous and visibility was minimal at best. Mike followed the Volkswagen in front of him and tried to keep in between the yellow signs on the side of the road. It was the most insane driving ever. Then suddenly, the sky would clear up and it would be sunny, and then back into the blizzard.
After getting our food, we got gas (which is cheaper at Costco) and then headed out in the wilderness of Iceland. And when I say wilderness, I mean the great frozen tundra. The wind and snow was ridiculous and visibility was minimal at best. Mike followed the Volkswagen in front of him and tried to keep in between the yellow signs on the side of the road. It was the most insane driving ever. Then suddenly, the sky would clear up and it would be sunny, and then back into the blizzard.
Finally, after about 1 hour of white knuckle driving, we made it to our rental house. Unfortunately, the rental house was down a snowy lane and the driveway was gravel with about 6 inches of snow….and our van was front-wheel drive, with tiny wheels and super top heavy. Mike instantly proceeded to get it stuck in the snow and dig it into the gravel. Fortunately, the boys were able to dig the van free and then push the van back up and out of the snow. By some miracle, they got it back up on the main road, which was pretty iffy on its own accord. We unloaded all the bags into our little cabin, which was super quaint and fun. It had a lot of land to run around on, but it was fairly snow filled, so we got all situated and got ready to leave, until Mike discovered that the van battery was dead. Being a manual transmission, the boys tried to jump it, but the van was stuck on an icy hill, so that wasn’t going to work. It was about this time that Andrew noticed green fluid leaking from the front of the van. Antifreeze. Perfect. Since Mike likes to explore everything, he found a shed that our house key unlocked and it had a tractor in it. Mike took the battery out of the tractor, found some old jumper cables and used the tractor battery to start the car. By some miracle we were able to jump the car. It took all four of us but we did it.
We were finally back off into the snow. First, we drove out toward the Geysir, grabbed some Antifreeze along the way, and then watched the Earth fart, or belch, or something like that. Madeline was quite a trooper and just loved running around in the freezing cold. The older kids need some of her enthusiasm. We then headed out to the Gulfoss waterfall. Andrew had wet feet, so we bought him new warm socks. The waterfall was quite enormous. The weird thing about it was that the water all disappears down this little ravine. We were fortunate to squeeze out a little more sunshine before the blizzard blew back in.
On the way back, Mike noticed that the heater wasn’t working that well and the antifreeze container was totally empty. He called the mechanic who drove out to our place outside of Selfoss and diagnosed the problem as the antifreeze leaking out of the car. He then drove off into the night and said that someone would call us in the morning. Very reassuring to be out in the middle of Iceland with a car that may or may not start and may or may not make it out of the snow. Not to self, when in the Artic, get a 4WD car.
To ease our minds, we opened up the hot tub and just zoned out on the deck while it snowed on us. It was really quite nice. As we were sitting there, we noticed the stars come out. Pretty soon, the whole sky was clear as could be, and then this crazy green streak started to form across the sky. The Northern Lights erupted in green splendor. It was pretty amazing, sitting in a Jacuzzi, watching a celestial light show from the back porch. It was pretty perfect. A good way to end a somewhat insane day.
On the way back, Mike noticed that the heater wasn’t working that well and the antifreeze container was totally empty. He called the mechanic who drove out to our place outside of Selfoss and diagnosed the problem as the antifreeze leaking out of the car. He then drove off into the night and said that someone would call us in the morning. Very reassuring to be out in the middle of Iceland with a car that may or may not start and may or may not make it out of the snow. Not to self, when in the Artic, get a 4WD car.
To ease our minds, we opened up the hot tub and just zoned out on the deck while it snowed on us. It was really quite nice. As we were sitting there, we noticed the stars come out. Pretty soon, the whole sky was clear as could be, and then this crazy green streak started to form across the sky. The Northern Lights erupted in green splendor. It was pretty amazing, sitting in a Jacuzzi, watching a celestial light show from the back porch. It was pretty perfect. A good way to end a somewhat insane day.
itinerary
