A Quieter Day Buried in the Mountains.
Our campsite on the edge of the highlands made for a quiet and beautifully rainy night. When I finally got to sleep, the rain gently started, and continued for most of the early morning--rocking us into cycles of dreams and keeping us in bed until about 10. Who's really counting though. Today is truthfully just a travel day to get in good position to the horse riding in the north tomorrow, and then we’ll head around from there towards the western fjords. I wonder if the lady from the midnight sun campsite will run into us again when we get there. She mentioned she was heading west after they finished the south.
We had a slow breakfast in one of the half-in ground and half-above ground wood/rock cabins, and snagged some hot cocoa from the cafe before packing up and driving towards Myvatn. We stopped at Dettifoss (the largest waterfall in Europe), and I'll be completely honest, the color palette was not one to write home about, but the energy in the water was truly remarkable. It made me laugh as I went to the bathroom before we headed out and found a sign asking visitors to refrain from filling their water bottles up in the sink due to a water shortage in the area. Lol. The waterfall was so powerful, and as well hiked back to the car Axelle and I came up with our duo of duex poussins…since both of our rain jackets are yellow and big. As of lately it had just been me as le poussin :)
We kept on towards Hverir (a geothermal sulfur park) since the weather was rugged and the car was just so warm. It was nice to allow myself to zone out in the backseat as Nathan drove through the rain, and the sites were both perfectly timed apart for naps and photo editing, as well as music listening and day dreaming.
At Hverir Nathan was NOT a fan of the smell, and wasn’t so taken with colors and boiling sands as Axelle and I were. The poor guy definitely struggled for a solid minute there much to my amusement. On our way into Myvatn we stopped at the geothermal baths--if they weren't located in Myvatn they'd be my favorite in the country. They're bluer than the blue lagoon, WARMER than the blue lagoon, and I like the beverage selection more. Plus it just feels more cozy in these than at BL (no hate, it just is what it is).
When Marina and I were here we barely happened upon it, and got in with beers in hand as the sun set and snow started to fall around us. Of course that was the night we saw more than just a little snow, but it seems that energy is shared with this trip. In the midst of isolation and a bit of unease, the Myvatn baths are a needed respite to energize for the rest of the journey. We soaked for hours before heading to shower, where I found out just how blind Axelle really was.
I had noticed when we were showering before the bath (as its custom to shower before AND after for cleanliness) that Axelle was only using conditioner from the provided bottles on the wall and no body wash. I figured it was just a French thing or she liked how it felt, but when she went to do the same post-swim I asked her why she was only using conditioner--to which she replied "ah la putain I cannot see nothing, I though they were all the same!" I don't know why that made me laugh so hard, but she got it right this go round with the help of my 20/20 vision.
Our campsite now is…interesting. It’s next to a sports complex, and definitely reeks of travelers en route just looking for a spot to crash. Not my favorite at all, but I managed to do some laundry before the ?landlord? cut the power and I had to finish drying my clothes on spots all around the car. It says you have to pay for laundry, but I am thinking that you just contact the landlord/campsite worker and they switch the power on and assume how long you will take. I further suppose whoever paid took way shorter than the landlord assumed so me and one other family got to do a load before it was shut off--sort of. We'll see if my clothes dry overnight like I hope. I know we horse back ride for several hours tomorrow, but I can’t sleep. I feel like everything’s moving so slow but also so fast? I just want to cover my head with the blankets in the car, look at the photos of our trip thus far with my phone screen so close to my face that my eyes burn and wish hard enough that I was back in the beginning with everyone until it comes true. Pretty pretty please.
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