(07/28/14) Jokulsarlon

Today was a very long day. We walked ourselves over to the depot from our hotel so that we could be first to get seats on the bus. We were there with tickets printed out the night before and we got seats right in front, thankfully too, because this bus trip was to be a 14 hour tour.

Many of Iceland's biggest glacier rivers run into the Atlantic Ocean on the country's southern shore. So there were a lot of bridges that we crossed. We drove through the vast desert of Skeidarasandur, where sand storms can be so powerful they've been known to strip the paint off a car! There truly was not a lot to look at so I counted sheep that we passed. George turned on his mobile hot spot ad surfed on his phone. Our guide talked to the driver more than he talked to us, so we entertained ourselves.

Just before we reached the lagoon, we passed Iceland's biggest volcano, Oraefajokull, which also has the highest peak of the island, Hvannadalshnjukur, at 6950 feet. 

At the lagoon we jumped off the bus and climbed aboard the boats. But these were not ordinary boats! They are capable of driving short distances as well as sailing on water - amphibious vehicles. In Baltimore they are called Duck Boats and the people on them are given duck whistles. This was way classier- no whistles. Jokulsarlon lagoon started to form in the early 1920s, and is growing bigger every year. What we got to see were blocks of ice that have broken off Europe's biggest glacier, Vatnajokull, and are sailing slowly towards the ocean, which is only a mile away. Some of the icebergs are partially covered with volcanic ash from ancient eruptions, and were sculpted by melting, the wind and the water they are floating in. But it was so foggy at the time of our ride, that we really could not see very far. I got a piece of an iceberg to eat! Our guide Jorge snagged a floating chunk and then chopped it up for people to eat.

After our boat ride, we explored the area, doing an earthcache and taking pictures. I got a little too close to an Arctic Tern and it went after me, running me from the area. Man, I hate birds sometimes. We also walked to the edge of the lagoon and chose a rock. If you have ever been to our home, there are rocks all over the place. On the underside of each one is sharpie marker saying where it came from. We steal rocks. So we picked out a rock that look like it had a smiley face in it. And when we picked it up the smiley came off. It was ash! Since our pictures were not great, we popped into the little shopette and bought some postcards. I always make a big photo book of our trip and I figured that I can scan the postcards and use the images in place of some of my own. As we were leaving the area and crossing back over the bridge, we spotted something in the water. The river that runs from the glacial lagoon out to the sea is only a few hundred meters long, and is Iceland's shortest river. What did we see? I know you are dying of curiosity! It was a seal! George spotted it and I squealed. So thrilled! But it was gone too fast for me to take a photo.

On the way back, we also stopped at Skogarfoss waterfall. This waterfall is unique in Iceland because it is one of the few that you can walk behind. We were able to make a complete loop of the falls. Not without getting a little wet though... Amazingly enough there were two geocaches for us to find! One was an earthcache and the other was a regular. Everyone from our bus piled off and we took off up the trail. They were all probably bewildered when we climbed over the rope barrier and took off across the grass heading for this big boulder. The traditional cache was covered in rocks and moss. We were thrilled to find it.