June 22: Reunited and It Feels So Good!
Wow! Breathtaking, vast, immense, sweeping, wonderous – after just one day in Iceland I can see that I will need to learn some new adjectives to even begin to describe the stunning scenery around me. I arrived in Keflavik, Iceland at 6:00 am this morning after flying all night from Portland, Oregon and hit the road shortly afterwards.
Making the Wednesday flight to Iceland was a little bit of a scramble as I didn’t have clearance from my neurosurgeon until the Friday before and I was out of town from Saturday to Tuesday attending college graduations for two of my children in two different states. Halfway to Iceland my eyes popped open, and I asked myself “did I remember to pack the main key to the bike?” Fortunately, I remembered I had given it to the trucker who picked up my bike a month ago and it was with my baby at the shipping yard.
Taking the airport shuttle and then a taxi from the Keflavik Airport to the shipping company in Reykjavik was almost surreal. After months of planning, working extra hours, dreaming of international travel, and preparing the bike and equipment, it was so satisfying to sit back, eat a delicious snack, take in the wide-sweeping vistas of the grassy terrain surrounding the peninsulas along the coastline, and think about how grateful I am to be on this trip.
After a month of separation, I was even more happy to see the Adventure Baby in the back of the shipping yard -- dusty, a little low in the tires, and with a loose rear view mirror but ready for adventure. After carefully loading his gear to keep the weight down low and a quick stop at a local motorcycle shop to get him in tip top shape we headed north.
The road north to Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most treasured waterfalls, was chock full of one calendar-worthy photo after another – thick-maned horses prancing in the fields, wide lush green meadows surrounded by colorful purple wildflowers, and snow-capped mountains off in the distance.
As I headed north, I stopped in Thingvellir National Park to take a short hike to a beautiful waterfall, cascading off dark brown rocks and sending a fine mist to brighten the mossy covered stones around it. A few miles down the road I also pulled over to catch a glimpse of the Great Geysir, apparently the Geyser which all other Geysers are named after. I was fortunate to walk up to it right as it was erupting and managed to get the tail end of the burst of steam on my camera.
The most breath-taking moment of the day was my first glimpse of Gullfoss – an enormous, wide, multi-tiered, cascading waterfall that stretches off into the distance, sending sheets of mist and rain in all directions on top of delighted spectators. My favorite vantage points were from below the waterfall and between two of the tiers as I felt surrounded by water and more able to see it up close.
After a long flight with little sleep and many hours on the road I was a little nervous I would be too tired driving to my youth hostel for the night. However, once the cold rain started coming down and I had to open my visor to keep my goggles from completely fogging over, the biting raindrops pelting me as I sped along did a great job of keeping me alert!
After a hot bowl of soup, some quiet time writing and reflecting while the cold Icelandic wind howls around me, and a good night’s sleep I will be ready for another day of adventure tomorrow.
