"I need ketchup and a rake!"

We had some 5 hours of bus ride today, but interrupted by many stops.  Our first stop was just a spot to look at a glacier.  It was nice.  

Then we stopped at a little sod church.  It was a cute spot, but there were no services.  So it was pretty quick.  The gate in front of the church was closed, but not locked, so I (Bill) opened the latch and went to check out the church up close.  By the time I turned around about three of the ladies in our group had their phones up and one was telling me to stay put so she could take my picture.  I’m not really sure how I came to be the group’s mascot.

The graveyard sort of looks like they just put sod over the casket.

Who called this meeting?

The third stop was just a little overlook.

When the amount to pay has 6 digits...Yikes!
($460 roughly for 50 gallons).

We had a short stop at a little shop with a bathroom and gas station.  Our bus driver needed a fill up.

We then had a stop with a short hike to the end of a glacier with a little lake of glacier melt.  It was a nice little walk.  In fact, it was getting a little warm, so our coats were getting a bit much.  The ground was rough with rocks and ridges, probably evident of some previous glacial retreat (grooves and piles of debris).  It made from some interesting undulating pathways.

The bergs were a mix of white and filthy.

As the ice melts, the concentration of dirt increases, especially at the top.

Interesting how some is still white and some black.

While close, you could hear the gentle "rain" 
from the melt dripping into the water.

The pool at the beginning provided a place for reflection...:-)

Yes, that's whipped butter on a rock.

Our next stop was lunch at a little hotel along the way.  It was a nice place, and looked new.  We had open faced steak sandwiches with roasted potatoes.  The potatoes looked good, but experience so far this week suggested they might be a bit dry and some sauce would help.  The thick steak slices sat on a generous bed of lawn weeds (Theresa called them “arugula” but a weed by any other name, would it not taste as bitter? 😊).  For dessert we had a rhubarb crumble.  The rhubarb was AWESOME!

Rhubarb is awesome!!

Laval rocks covered in moss.

A nice lunch...with way too much leaves to rake!

Next we went to a walk into some moss covered rocks at Freysnes.  The moss ranged from green (when full of moisture) to grey (when more dried out.  It covered the rocks thickly, (purportedly up to 60 cm (24 inches), but none of what we saw looked that thick.

MaryAnne is in jail.

On to a black sand beach.  Pretty.  Also, familiar.  The scenery was nice and the weather as well!.

Then we went to a spot that overlooked the black beach, where lots of bird (especially puffins—although the puffins were long gone).  The sun was still shining, and the air “warm” 55-60F), so we opted to keep a light jacket and long sleeves, but not much in the way of coats  Well, the wind was STRONG so we hurried along and saw what we could, but made it back to the us 15 minutes early!

One day, this arch will be gone.

The next stop was a really nice waterfall, with 500 steps to the top for an overlook.  Mike and Bill opted “Of course!” and we hustled up there in 6 minutes!  (and back down 10 minutes later so we would not hold up the ladies)  The bottom was VERY powerful creating lots of mist and pretty much getting everyone and everything wet.  But it was cool to see!

Look out below!!

It was a LONG way up there from the parking lot!

Mike and Bill completing their downward trek.

The falls were cool from the bottom too!

The mist projects straight forward for a ways!

The name of the "E-15" volcano from 2010 fame.

Our next stop was a sort of a tribute to Eyjafjallajokull, or E-15 (E and 15 letters more).  This is the volcano that erupted in 2010, throwing a huge cloud of ash into the normal flight levels for aircraft.  It then blew East, and effectively shut down all North Atlantic air travel for days!  But, we had a competition.  Whoever could pronounce it best would win a candy bar!!

Eyjafjallajokull

Eye-Ya...Fyalda...Yokuld
Island...Mountain...Glacier

Guess who won the pronunciation challenge?!

After that, we headed to another waterfall, which had a recess behind it that you could walk behind and stand in a very dry and safe spot.  It wasn’t dry getting there, but once there, it was fine.  The walk to the back was touted as muddy, slippery, deep water, and all manner of hazards, but it wasn’t so bad.  Of course, the way out is usually more wet but the wind was blowing the water away so it was an easy escape!

Up was easy!

Down was a little sketchy.

But once down there....NICE!!!

The wind really moves this water fall.

I'm not THAT wet!!  Could use a comb tho'.

Apparently these were reserved for #1.

Hekla

We finally arrived at our hotel near Hekla, one of the most active volcanoes in Iceland (erupting at least every 10 years).  This is also a GREAT spot to watch the Northern Lights as it is far away from everything, so the sky is quite dark.  But it is also overcast and tonight’s forecast isn’t for very strong lights.  We’ll see.

We're here!  (Almost back to Reykjavik)