Day 4 - 5: Svinafell to Hofn

Miles: 81

We observed the Sabbath day and rested at the campground. We wanted to explore Svinafell a bit but it was so darn windy all day plus I was feeling worse. Later that night I had a fever and was freezing in the tent then very hot.  

Today prayers were answered and we had a terrific ride!

Glacier central here. It's all neat.

Look how blue the water is. And how white Holly's face is. I told her she can't be like those Asians that try to Westernize by getting those crappy eye and jaw surgeries and skin whitener. Dang it, Asians are hot because they don't look like White people. To quote Obi-wan, "You're supposed to beat the [westerns] not join them!"

This river was really fast flowing with the occasional ice berg floating down it.

The black sand was so soft. I wonder what the drip sand castles would be like.

Love the jagged mountains of Mordor here in the southeast.

HQCH is a champ!

There are small towns with like 5-6 houses and then they have a church. It's like a modern day Tristram. I wanna ask a local how many people attend, etc.

Rare shadow pic.

We're almost to Hofn!

It's weird being greeted by a bike path. Do this many people use it? There's only 2,400 people living here. Which is big for Iceland standards. 

We finally went out to eat! I was so ravenous.

Trying Langoustine soup! Dunno what that green stuff was.

And another serving of Langoustine. Hofn is known for it.

This was a rhubarb dessert thing. Not what I was expecting.

Happy 2 year anniversary to us! 

Nothing wrong with it.

Day 3: Vik to Svinafell

Miles: 91

I'm still really sore. Dang. I'm surprised by the amount of Americans I've been seeing. It still feels like covid season for me and I'm the only one allowed to travel like I was doing last year.

I woke up to go pee. It's so neat how there is Eternal Daylight despite ruining my Circadian Clocks.

Mornings don't have much traffic. 

This road got boring fast. 

The Quay is so weird. She put these little sausages in her PB&J that I brought from Arizona.

We took a nap here right on this bench. Very tired.

I love this sign.

"Now there's a Batman..."

Back to familiar territory!

Love these salt and pepper chips. We ate the whole bag in a sitting, which isn't saying much.

Over there we had the most dread crosswind that blew us around. It's also where Interstellar was filmed.

And speaking of Batman this is where Batman Begins was filmed. Remember when I posted that glacier up close 4 years ago? No, that's right you don't care about anything.

Camping here for two nights to observe the Sabbath. Had to lay down our bikes because of how windy it is. I hope that tomorrow we can endure the storm.

Here's a quick vid of these birds that have been dive bombing us. I almost swatted one.

Day 2: Hella to Vik

Miles: 61

Foss means waterfall in Icelandic. Surprisingly everyone speaks Icelandic and most English. I'm surprised because it's a tiny country that still hangs onto its language. Also, it's weird not seeing anything that has to do with the former British Empire or any relatively recent wars. Actually seems kinda plain without that horrible history that ravages the rest of the free world. But I digress..

The days are long, but in a good way. 

First time seeing horses laying down. And they weren't dead either, like I thought.

I realized it's easier to read Japanese than Icelandic. How do you even say that letter at the end?

Four years ago I wasn't able to visit this because I came in December and it was dark when I drove by. I love the 24 hours of daylight but it comes with a pretty price.

"And shall spring forth as grass....flowers...and all manner of vegetation."

There she is. My Chow Mein. She said that name after I called her my Asian Cuisine, "What am I, your chow mein?!" (It's better when you hear it in her English accent which I love.)

Who wants to live here?

I can get used to this. However, my rump is still really sore. Doing a cross country biking trip takes your body about a week to get used to. 

There are many small caves in the volcanic igneous rock.

Some of them even house elves, which a small portion of the population believe in here. We picked up a hitchhiker a few days before our ride and she said there was a bridge that was delayed because the locals said it would ruin the elves' habitat.

One of the rare sunny days. They told us last summer they had one sunny day for two months.

Love the small towns with the conspicuous church.

The steepest hill we've had so far. 12% grade.

Our second campsite and making dinner in the kitchen. Who wants to caption what Holly is thinking here? Post your comments below!

Day 1: Reykjavik to Hella

Miles: 64.6

First days of anything are never exactly like what you imagined. After turning in our rental car from a few days of fun, quick travel we picked up our bikes! HQCH and I decided to rent bikes instead of boxing up our Japanese Montagues and taking them with us. 

I'm loving these disc brakes.

We are also wanting to try using bikes with fatty tires like I see on IG of a few people that tour. 

We're taking a pic in front of the Bonus grocery store they have here. I keep wanting to call it the Piggly Wiggly like they do in the South. 

Reykjavik has some nice bike paths!

Either I got slower or Holly got faster since Japan but she's done an excellent job keeping up or going faster than me.

A roundabout for bikes! Yeah, I know it's pointless. 

This little fire hydrant is fun.

Pipelines for days. This is a geothermal line that picks up the heat/gas or whatever a smart person says.

The campsites here have nice kitchens to use. Great for getting out of the cold.

I'm taking a sink bath cuz I stink. We got rained on most of the day.

Now I'm washing the day's clothes!

Ready to go!

Camping outside the kitchen for our first night. Still haven't had a good night's sleep.

Pachyderms

See how bright it is outside?

Once again, HQCH and I find ourselves as packing our crap. (And I'm up all hours of the night as noted by this post time stamp.) Since this trip is shorter than the previous one, it should go relatively well. This time we'll be renting some bicycles from a local shop in Reykjavik. For the past few days we've rented a car and explored a few parts that would be more difficult to get by bicycle. 

The weirdest thing is the 24 hours of daylight (which I love). Sleep is such a waste of time. Here you don't have to do and your body won't even let you do it. For example, it's nearly 1AM and I'm wide awake with the sun still up. Also, time feels a lot longer here kinda like when you go down into deeper levels of the dream state as brain function is slowed down.

Here are several pics from the past few days. Iceland is too much fun in the summer.  Last time I was here in 2018 it was winter. Love experiencing both extreme seasons.

This is in Vik at the Black Beach. You've prolly seen something similar on IG.

Climbing up the volcano at our favorite island we ferried to called Vestmannaeyjar.

We are searching for hot springs to soak in. 

I don't think most of you guys know how much I love wind mills. 

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Holly said I looked like David Bowie. 

I asked my Snapchat peeps if they'd ever live here. Most gave a resounding "Yes!"

I like how the terrain and vegetation changes. 

Here first time driving on the right side of the road. I had to tell her often to get in the correct lane of traffic and to not get so close to the edge of pavement. 

 

And lastly, from the Rammstein concert from the night before we flew to Iceland. I can't get enough of this pic. Definition of Coolo right here. 

If you're wanting more pics and info about our Adventures remember to follow me on IG, Bookface, Snapchat, Marco Polo, Google Maps, etc.

Let's hope I can update this regularly for you ingrates guys.