I forgot my CeraVe Face Wash in the Bathroom.
We are going to pretend that says July 13 ^ For The Greater Good of Me Not Having to Remake The Entire Video.
We woke up in Ölfus, having slept questionably, and considerably colder than I had imagined I would in my horse blanket. The first night’s campsite is always the weirdest I think, and this one was no exception. It looked like a pretty full-vacation stay spot for some families, but to each their own tastes I assume. Iti and I slept relatively well given the circumstances of the uncomfy trunk and I was slightly cold, but she promised to share her duvet with me tonight so I’m hopeful. It looks very fluffy and comfy. We decided to rate our night's sleep, and while I can say it wasn't the best--I've definitely had worse. After a quick coffee and snack, we made our way south towards the start of our adventures, and had our first stop at the lava museum on the ring road right before Seljalandfoss—third time’s a charm with this one right? The lava museum was hella cool (pun intended, as its in the town of Hella), and it was beyond fascinating to see just how intense the pressure and
power of the earth is that exists right beneath Iceland. It was Iti's idea, and all creds to her on that one. It was also probably one of most aesthetic museums I've been in. Both waterfalls were still just as magical the third time--it's nice to be able to see it through fresh eyes each time. There were a great number of tourists today, but we still took turns dancing for videos and jumping like unhinged beetles all around the rocks. What's life if you can't give the tourists a show? We ate a fun lunch of PB&Js, olives, and dandelions (guess who.) on the hillside next to our parking spot before heading out.
I had seen a promising looking viewpoint above Seljalandfoss that I offered as worth checking out, and while it might not have been my best suggestion (as the road ended up being the most obvious reason I didn't see many tourists up past that point) we did have a highland-feeling waterfall all to ourselves. We tried to hike across the top of the mountain mountain to see outward, but it ended up being much further than we thought, so we went back to go sit by the easier-to-acess waterfall. Iti and I had an energy drink sampling (these drinks that Elisa was obsessed with all summer) and truly enjoyed it before we all reclined between some moss rocks for photos and to laugh quite a lot. I know we had to get on with our drive, but the joy has built so full that its hard to not stay just-one-minute-longer. We got back into our Dacia and pressed onward--stopping by the skalakot church for a mandatory jump video. Iti found a small waterfall to hike up to (thus ultimately starting our influencers in the wild series for real) before we made our way down towards one of the Iceland top 3 Waterfalls.
It was at this point in the roadtrip that Iti volunteered to drive, and introduced us to her Kazoo skills (which means I got shotgun woohoooooo. I am but a mere child.). We stopped by Skogafoss and took some fun photos (that make me laugh just as hard looking back onto them) before Iti and Nathan did the formidable stair hike that Axelle and I did with my parents…while Axelle and I took a nap on the grass (because we thought the car keys were with Iti but were actually in my pocket the entire time oopsies). We collected some dandelions for Iti but apparently half of them weren't dandelions and we could have KILLED her so I collected no more dandelions for
the rest of the day. When we reached Vik we shopped at the big Icewear store and Iti and I I found handmade Icelandic sweaters (very unexpected but in the best way!), and we ended the adventuring by taking pics and running around death beach (Reynisfjara) before deciding we better find a spot to stay.
Just past Vik, because we were NOT going to stay in another tourist capital campsite, we landed at a fun campsite in Kirkjubæjarklaustur that was right up next to a mountain. There were mostly young families camping, and we snagged a spot along the far mountain fence a little apart from the crowded campers. This ended up being the town that Marina and I had our first gas stop in on our roadtrip. So cool to think that at that time it felt so empty and remote, but now so vibrant and joyful. Many things are like that...I would do well to remember. After we set up the car for sleeping, we noticed that there were a ton of kids climbing this mountain next to the campsite, so we decided to give it a go. Halfway up we realized it was a bad move, considering the spots cut into the ridge acting as stairs were more like a loosely packed ladder, so Axelle (who had been battling a rough headache the latter half of the day...commentary on her remedies in the day video) and I took the L and enjoyed the halfway view while Iti and Nathan finished the climb. I'm not sure if they truly did though, as they informed us when they got up near the top there wasn't much of anywhere to go other than back down.
We got some hella cute family photos for our Christmas card when they got back down to Axelle & my altitude, and then went to shower. While Iti and Nathan cooked, of course Axelle and I birthed the brilliant idea to shower together since it cost 300 isk in 50kr coins for water, but it wasn’t until we were fully nude standing under the shower head counting coins did we realize we didn’t have enough. Poor Iti tried to help us out by running around asking people for coins while we waited, but 10m later we took our second L as well and just admitted defeat. Embarrassingly, I realized after dinner that I had enough coins in my shower bag the entire time. Oopsies.
Dinner was pasta (our new constant) and even though it's not the most recharging meal we could be consuming, we all felt very grateful and full at the end of today. Just going through and editing our photos now I can't help but imagine how lucky I've become to get to know each of them in a time when I needed it most. God I love this crew. If I don’t see them at least once a year for the rest of my life I’ll consider myself a failure. If I didn’t believe in past life connections before, I absolutely do now. Each of them has been so significant to me this summer, and I feel sure will continue to be so as the years go. I think I have finally let go and fallen in love with life again, and I can’t iterate to them what that means to me.
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