In the morning I woke up first and out the window HOVLSVOLLUR was a winter wonderland. The snow had fallen heavily throughout the night and there was 8” of heavy wet snow blanketing the landscape outside the Midgard Basecamp. Colleen woke next and seeing what was out the window immediately went out for a run in it. I wandered down to the community kitchen and prepared my breakfast and then back up to the room to wake Ambiana and Jakobi as check out was 1000 then packed up. I went out to the car and got into my boots which I had not worn since Pingvollum National Park and cleaned off the snow from the car. It was heavy wet snow. Back inside I asked the clerk if this weather was a typical for April and he said “Oh no, this is a good Christmas snow.” It was now check out time and at the front desk the clerk was advising guests to stay put as the rental cars do not have spikes on them and the roads were snow covered. This suited us fine as we usually did not get going til noon and today we did not have far to go and the snow was still coming down in big wet flakes. We could not however stay in the room so we moved our stuff down to the common area and hung out on their comfy sofas.
I wanted to take some pictures of the snow and had a brief period of panic as I could not find the camera among my bags. I frantically went back up and searched the room and not finding it went down to the common kitchen but it was not there either. Back upstairs I went and found it in a cuddy beside the door to the hot tub and sauna. Relief flooded me and it was only then that I remembered stashing it there when we were done soaking in the hot tub and had returned inside and were drying off and using the restrooms. Relieved I went outside and took some pictures. As I was ding so I watched a couple brushing snow off their car, get in and drive off. Back inside other guests were gathering their belongings and beginning to leave. Going back outside I walked a bit down the road and saw that around the Basecamp the roads were merely wet so back inside I proposed we move on and Colleen, Ambiana & Jakobi agreed so we packed up the car, bundled in and headed out.
At first the roads were clear but once we made it a few kilometers West on the Ring Road they became snow covered. A long line of slow moving cars passed us heading East and soon we were the third car in our own slowly growing slowly crawling line of cars headed East. We were traveling through flat outwash plains full of streams and rivers draining the distant LANGJOKULL GLACIER. We averaged 37 km/hr for a long while and since we were in no real hurry with no real plans we enjoyed the snow slow going through the white washed landscape of land and sky at times crossing bridges over the water flowing to the sea. As we traveled the snow turned gradually to sleet and, after about an hour, into rain and the roads improved. I took advantage in the change of conditions to pull ahead of the first two cars in line and with open road before me made good time to SELFOSS where the roads were no longer snow covered; merely wet
Colleen, studying the map, found us a route to GRINDAVIK along the coast that bypassed REYKJAVIK and in HVERAGARD of the steaming valley we stopped once again at the piggy BONUS supermarket to shop for supper and visited the bakery next door for some yummies for the road. We then left the Ring Road for RT 38 heading South for 23KM before turning East on RT 427 at PORLAKSHOFN. We had the sea to the South and were approaching the dark lava cliffs of HEIDINHA sugared with snow in the West. The sun soon came out, the sky turned blue adding to the beauty of the snow covered green moss on black lava landscape. It was quite beautiful.
Colleen had been studying the guidebook for the area and found some scenic spots for us to explore in the REYKJANESFOLKVANGUR NATIONAL PARK we were traveling through. We pulled off the road onto another one heading North and stopped first at a geothermal area with lots of multi-colored bubbling and steaming sulpher smelling vents crisscrossed by paths and a boardwalk winding up and around the hillsides.
It was all so beautiful in the snow with the blue of the sky above and the reds and tans and browns of the earth. We walked the paths and gazed at the bubbly hot water and steam venting from the ground.
We then got back in the car and drove along the big beautiful blue lake KLEIFFARVATN to a viewpoint where we got out and walked the shore and then to another viewpoint where we walked the top of the cliff overlooking the lake and the snow covered hills on the opposite shore.
Back in the car we drove into GRINDAVIK past the site of the recent volcanic eruption which has since ceased. We did not stop as we all had had enough of walking, added it to the NEXT TIME LIST and continued on into GRINDAVIK where we found the town pool and sat in the car in the parking lot while Colleen booked us an accommodation in town. GRINDAVIK has a long history dating back to the Viking Age. According to Landnáma, the Book of Settlements, two Viking settlers, Molda-Gnúpur Hrólfsson and Þórir Haustmyrkur Vígbjóðsson, arrived in the Reykjanes area around 934. Molda-Gnúpur established his farm in GRINDAVIK, while Þórir settled in Selvogur and Krísuvík.
GRINDAVIK is situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet. There is volcanic activity, geothermal energy, lava fields and craters in the region and The Blue Lagoon, the Instagramably famous geothermal spa, is only 5 KM from the town center. There are about 3,300 people, in GRINDAVIK most of whom work in the fishing industry. The town has a harbor, a sport club, camping, guest houses and a hostel as well as the Icelandic Saltfish Museum which opened in 2002 and tells of the history and importance of salt fish for Iceland’s survival and economy.
After what seemed like forever Colleen decided on a place to stay, booked it on her phone and we plugged the address into the GPS and it led us to storefront in a small mini mall that has been converted into a guest lodge. The check in was a lock box with directions to call but we do not have phone service only data on our ESIM so Colleen went in search of someone with a phone to help us and soon we were inside. There was a Common Area with Rooms A & B. We were in B which had 3 sets of bunk beds and a double. There were three separate bathrooms each with a toilet, sink and shower and a common kitchen and dining area with two tables and a fridge divided into Room A and Room B shelves.
After we unpacked and settled in Colleen went for a walk through town while Ambiana went for a run on a seaside path. Jakobi and I stayed in and I made us dinner. There was the usual free food shelf and I added some pasta from it to ours to give us larger portions for our last dinner in Iceland. While Colleen and Ambiana were out a French family with three sons, aged 22, 20 and 17, arrived to claim Room A. When Colleen and Ambiana returned we ate while the French family made dinner. We exchanged traveling tales with them and after we had eaten we went to the Pool to sit in the sauna and hot pots.
The swimming pool in GRINDAVIK like all the public pools in Iceland is heated by natural hot springs. There was a slide, two hot tubs of different temps as well as a cold plunge, a sauna and a steam room. I started with the steam room. then did a swim through the pool to the sauna and eventually to the cold plunge and into the hotter of the two tubs where Colleen and Ambiana were making friends with a trio of Venezuelan who were seeking refugge in Iceland from the chaos back in their country. A local icelandic woman was also in on the conversation. Jakobi was going down the slides and doing underwater handstands in the pool. I joined the conversation and sat soaking blissfully under the 20:00 sunset sky blissfully sharing stories with my fellow Earthians. If we don’t create the Global Family we are all doomed. Like the dinosaurs you might say but the dinosaurs lived for 200 million years…maybe there is a lesson to be learned from the dinosaurs and their survival stategies that we can apply to our cratering world. Probably something about balance. The richest 3 million own more than the the 99% combined. Doesn’t sound like democracy to me.
We stayed till closing time which was 21:00 and then returned to our room where we read and I watched a heartbreaking documentary called The Alpinist about the climber ????? who died tragically in 2019 in Alaska.
In the morning while Ambiana and Jakobi slept in Colleen and I went on a running adventure trying to and eventually finding the seaside path Ambiana ran on yesterday. The dawn in GRINDAVIK is spectacular to behold, especially in the winter months when the sun rises late and casts a golden glow over the snow-covered landscape. We run the seaside path through tidelands and marsh and loop back to town on a gravel road surrounded by lava fields, mountains, and the Atlantic Ocean; a contrast of colors and textures that is breathtaking to our eyes.
Upon returning to our mini-mall guesthouse we woke Ambiana & Jakobi, made breakfast. Check out was at 1100, our flight home was at 1530 and the airport was 30 minutes away so we had some time. The French family emerged from Room A, they had overslept and they hurriedly made breakfast as we packed up. Yesterday during our exchange of stories we told them of Ambiana’s upcoming year abroad and today they offered Ambiana a place to stay on her trip this fall and the mom exchanged contact info with her. The Father and I were packed and ready before the rest of our families and we stood outside and chatted while waiting. Eventually they all appeared and we packed up our respective rental cars, said good bye and headed out.Colleen on her walk yesterday found and Icelandic Cremee shop and we stopped there to get Jakobi a cremee and we shopped next door for some food for the plane.
We then headed across the snow covered volcanic plain toward KEVFLAVIC where the airport is, passing on the way the Blue Lagoon Thermal Pool and Spa as well as several tour buses heading towards it. We had, even before arriving in Iceland, decided not to visit it. Not only is it super expensive it is not even a natural spring as it is getting recycled geothermally heated and mineralized water from the nearby Svartsengi power station. I’m sure its a beautiful soak and feels great and makes a great Instagram Post but we preferred to seek out hot springs not manufactured as a tourist attraction and to soak at the community pools where the locals soak at a tenth of the price.
We returned the rental car to the same guy who checked us in. The moment of truth came and I was relieved to learn we had not accrued any speeding ticket by camera on our ten day road trip. The shuttle, driven by the same guy who picked us up 10 days ago, took us to the airport where the check in was 100% self service. The airport has the nicest restrooms I have ever seen and has the overall vibe of a luxury hotel. Boarding passes in hand, baggage on its way to our plane we moved through customs and security seamlessly and settled into the lounge to await our flight home.
