After a hard long day yesterday, today was beautiful. Within view of our waterfall-of-the-moment, we ate breakfast (oatmeal and hot chocolate), packed up camp – talking to several other campers about our bike all morning (which turned out to be a theme for the day) – and got on our way. Dry weather and a tail wind much of the day! By a bit before lunch time the skies became blue and sunny. Ahhhhhh.
We did 67 miles today, so 10 miles shorter than yesterday. (But the wind being in our favor made the world of difference.) During the first third of the ride we had some brutal climbs, one that even forced us to get off the bike and push. Ugh, not fun. But we made it. Traffic was somewhat lighter than yesterday, which is nice, but still more than we’d like. It is nerve-wracking – for both us and I’m sure sometimes the drivers. We are riding as aware and as carefully as possible and we really appreciate the drivers who appear to be doing the same.
We had lunch at a small cafeteria-type diner in a gas station in a town called Vik. (We can remember the short names. Many Icelandic City names are so long!) Fries and salad for Natalie, veggie pita for Pete. We had several more conversations with other travelers from all over (as well as a few locals) about the bike! It draws a crowd. Pete is a great demonstrator. Natalie has had the chance to speak French with quite a few people already. Iceland is definitely tourist-filled.
Afternoon scenery: Some more waterfalls, amazing green and dark-brown cliffs, a very huge far-off glacier/mountain, cool lava rocks in various formations, beautiful farms, blue skies!
Tonight we are in a nice campground, again by an incredibly beautiful glacier-melt waterfall (as with our site last night) in a town called Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Wow, that’s a cool name. When we rode into town, with sore, tired bodies, we grabbed a few groceries, then headed to the community pool. They we enjoyed a shower, a swim, and a wonderful soak in the hot tub. Then to our campground to set up, eat backpacking chili, visit with a few fellow travelers, and get ready for bed. Feels great.
