It's a fine line

Iceland August -September 2012

"That went quickly from adventure to miserable."

"Ah, yes. Often that is the case."

The last item purchased before leaving was rain pants. Today, they were needed. We can now say all of our contingency planning has paid off.

We knew there would be rain today and that was just fine. And then it turned into a windy, driving rain and that was not very much fun. We were plenty warm, but the wind was miserable and the fog enshrouded all there was to see.

Lighthouse at Dyrhólaey, on a day when it's needed

Even the sheep were hunkered down. And the birds were flying backwards.



After a nice lunch of tomato soup, homemade bread (have I mentioned how good the bread is?) and a lamb sandwich, we turned in for an afternoon of rest.

However, being troopers, we thought the rain had slowed and headed back out. The rain had not, but it gave John the opportunity to show off all the necessary provisions for a nature photographer. As an added benefit, we came across another fabulous waterfall.

Skógafoss (60 m)

The weather made our decision to reserve dinner tonight at the guesthouse even better. Served family style we had vegetable soup and lamb, all from the farm. You can't get much fresher than that!

Steig Farm, from the road

Throughout Iceland is a wonderful network of farms that operate guesthouses. The accommodations range from "minimal hostel" to "almost hotel". Breakfast is usually included and some offer dinner. Now that we have a good perspective, we would definitely do more research about other farms to stay at should we return.

We are at Guesthouse Steig. Our room is very modern with a private bath, is only 4 years old, and has plenty of room for our luggage. They have an assortment of dogs, ducks, and sheep (of course). They even sell traditional Icelandic sweaters for little dogs. (They would not fit Copper, but she doesn't really need one,) As an added bonus, you can take home a little ziplock baggie of volcanic ash from Eyjafjalljökull. Anybody want some?

Our very comfy room

The final leg of our journey begins tomorrow when we head to Vestmannaeyjar (the Westmann Islands). It has 2 active volcanos and an area known as the "Pompeii of the North." On the non-eruptive side of things, the island is a major nesting areas for puffins.

Hoping for no eruptions.