June 18th. Iceland Wandering the Less Traveled.

After breakfast we asked a hotel staff person for some sightseeing suggestions. He gave us an itinerary of places less often visited by tourists.

Just down the road we visited the oldest hydroelectric plant on the River Sog. It was installed in 1937 and upgraded in 1944.

Next was the 6500 year old Kerio volcano cone and walked the circuit of its immense rim. It you look carefully at the top of the far side of the rim you can see some “specks” that are people. It will give some sense of the scale of the crater.

30 minutes down the road we visited a unique hydroponic tomato farm. A brief presentation and tour preceded a $23.00 bowl of tomato soup. It was worth it! This one farm harvests over 2,000 pounds a day, 365 days a year. They supply 20% of the islands tomato consumption. Their unique restaurant is situated within one of the working greenhouses. They do “everything tomato”, including cheesecake, and two different varieties of tomato infused beer!

Lunch concluded, we drove to the Fludir hot springs pool. The Blue Lagoon attracts throngs of tourists, so many that reservations are required. We were the beneficiaries of “local knowledge” that directed us instead to the oldest public bathing spring in Iceland. Hot water is hot water, and relaxation is much easier to achieve when one is not elbow to elbow with other bathers.

We visited another set of spectacular waterfalls that join at their base. Again, a careful examination of the images will give you an idea of the size of the falls.

Eye popping scenery continues to be commonplace. As beautiful as the pictures of the last two days have been, it is a tribute to the hand of Nature and not the photographer.

Tomorrow, June 19th, is special. In 1977 41 years seemed an unimaginably long time to me.. nearly twice as long as I had then lived. Today I look back on those 41 years with wonder at just how fast they have passed. We were married 41 years ago tomorrow. Much has changed, and much remains the same. We are a bit slower and a lot grayer. However, 41 years ago we embarked upon our life together with a 30 day honeymoon camping trip that covered 9 northwest States. It was Christine’s first camping trip and it was an epic journey for a young couple… Epic like the journey we are now concluding and epic like the marriage that we share.

Peace Everyone. Pete