“Those little lambs are sooooo cute!! But also sooo tasty!!!"

How to take a four hour drive and finish in a mere ten hours...

One addendum from yesterday, my suitcase handle broke.  So, as we were packing up, Bill took a look and figured out the issue, and knew how to defeat it’s failure (can’t fix it, but can override the problem).  As I began telling Theresa, she just laughed out loud.  I think she might have designs on a short future for the suitcase, the backpack, and my shoes!

"Gorgeous", right?  Right?  ;-)

The first stop overlook.

I don't always put her on a pedestal...

Our first stop was an overlook where we saw a hill, a valley, a stream, etc.  It was pretty.  And pretty much similar to one or more of the many pics we shared yesterday.  We then headed to a spot where there is a nice little waterfall, and the salmon run upstream for spawning.  But we are a few months late.  You can buy a day pass to fish for salmon at different spots on the river for about $2,000.  But you can only catch them by fly fishing, and you have to release (can’t keep them).  I’m trying to think of a more fruitless thing to do with two grand…

My view (occasionally)

A place to catch salmon...but not today.

I like the smooth curve as the water goes over!

Golf anyone??

Glad we got the medium not large fries!!

The next stop was lunch at a little “place”.  You know those gas stations with a little food court in it?  Sort of like that.  But they had some hot food options, and they had those ‘special’ hot dogs, but THIS time they were wrapped in bacon!  Oh alright, we’ll try again!  We got two dogs and a medium French fry, since a small seemed like it wasn’t going to cut it for two of us to share.  We actually pondered a large.  WOW!

 

There is really no explanation.

As we headed to our next stop, our guide then told us a story about the last execution in Iceland, which took place about 1820 or 1830.  The short version is there was a farmer who was very wealthy and powerful, but not a nice guy.  He made use of his servant women in more than just kitchen help.  A local young man liked one of the servant girls (16 years old), and hoped to have her as his own, and well, a plot emerged where two of the servants, the young man, and his mother planned to murder the farmer, which they achieved.  The mother and the 16 year old were given prison sentences in Copenhagen.  The girl died at age 27.  But the 19 year old man and the 30 year old servant were to be beheaded.  They were held locally until the axe arrived (ordered from Copenhagen, and took a year because they didn’t have Amazon Prime).  They were not permitted to be buried in the cemetery, and their heads were put on posts as a warning to others to behave.  A local boy was conscripted to steal them and bury them in the cemetery, but he instead buried them somewhere else.  Nobody ever knew where the bodies or heads were buried, and they were pretty much forgotten.  About a century later, a ‘medium” purported to have spoken to the woman, and asked to have the bodies and head reunited and buried properly in the cemetery.  The medium pointed out exactly where the heads and the bodies were.  Others have reported having been visited by the woman, and it has become something of a celebrity story.  So, naturally we went to the site where all of this happened.

Future sweaters!

The Icelandic horses double as wind vanes, butts to the wind!

Next we had a “surprise stop”.  There is a volunteer search and rescue organization, and one tour guide a couple of years ago had a friend that served there, and on a lark arranged a quick stop through.  Since then, it is a special spot where Gate 1 Travel will try to surprise their guests, as it is pretty much on the way and cuts an otherwise long drive into smaller pieces.  It was very interesting listening to their stories.  They are definitely a community centered society (which is good since everything and everyone is pretty remote here)!

 

Rescue "vehicle"?  And climbing wall in the back.

The "sod farm".

The next stop is a sod farm.  That is, the home was built mostly in the ground and covered with sod.  Wood was sparse, so while they used post and beam constructions, the walls were all sod.  We ran around the little spot and saw a lot of cool old things, and also found a couple of anachronistic props.  We then hit a little grocery store (“supermarket”)next to a visitor center.  We checked out the Icelandic sweaters there, and while they were nice, they were not 3-4 times nicer than Theresa’s!

Inside one of the buildings.

Can you imagine cooking on this stove or in this oven?

Fancy.  The shower is on the far side by the windows.

We arrived at the hotel about 6:30, and…well, it’s a curious room!!  The bathroom facilities are behind a wall at the head of the bed.  But the toilet and sink on are one side and the shower on the other?  By the window?  OKayyyyy.  We’re here for two days so doing a little unpacking before dinner and maybe some sink laundry.

Not really sure why...

Blueberry "yogurt" and blueberry ice cream for dessert!