Oct. 4, 2009

What a surprise, awake early with sparse sleep preparing for a road trip. Today's lineup:Isidora, Jamie, Peter, Kjartan, and myself. Headed south to see some waterfalls and the gigantic glacier, Vatnajökull, if we have time. Thought I lost the keys to the car, and after dumping all my stuff out and cursing to myself for a good half hour, turns out they were in Isadora's purse. Welp, rousing poor Kjartan after only getting about ten minutes to sleep, we piled in the car and headed off. Accidentally went north on route 1 for a bit, then got the sun on the correct side of the car and continued on. Snowed a bit on the way, but the sun was out and sparkled beautifully off of the landscape; pleasing, but rather blinding as I drove down the road. First stop was a narrow waterfall in free fall off of a large cliff face. Look in my bag and realize I forgot my camera. I can see it spilling onto my bed an hour earlier as I was dumping my bag out in search of the friggin' keys. Looks like memory will have to pick up the slack on this one, a task I'm just not sure its up to these days. Walking up to the falls, everything is coated in ice from the mist. The slim grass blades are encapsulated in inch-thick translucent tendrils. A small trail leading behind the falls, like everything else, is zero friction, so it makes for a fun crawl up and around as the mist completely soaks me. Looking back out from behind the falls, standing within the cavernous rock erosion, I thought this would make quite a nice picture, you stupid forgetful freakin' idiot crapface! Jerk! Oh well, I'll forgive myself...someday... Managed to slip and stumble my way back to the car, as Jamie and Peter gracefully skated behind me, laughing nonsensically all the way. Back in the car and onward, made it to another waterfall, Skógafoss. This one was off of a much larger river, wider and taller, and also a free-fall. A long, steep metal staircase let to the top, and Peter and I decided it rational to race to the top. Well, we made it about 5% of the way up before he was coughing in fits and I was keeled over the railing. Sucked wind the rest of the walk up. A long way down. Ice-capped cliff edge. No photos standing on the edge, as that would pretty much ensure a long, contemplative journey ending with a splat or a bounce; not sure how that works off of jagged icy rocks. Oh, but a moot point, camera-less buffoon. Watched for a while as gull-like birds jumped from the cliff face and rode the updraft from the falls, only using energy to subtly flick their wings and turn. An icicle broke off of a overhang on the top and I watched as it fell and fell for what seemed like 5 seconds, never actually seeing it hit the ground. The rock at the bottom of the river atop the falls was a smooth and high-luster black. Cool shit, basically. Back down and back on the road. Attempting to make it to the black sand beach right next to the road, took quite a while before we found a road that wasn't fenced-off. A bit of snowfall on the way. But was for the best in the end, as we ended up at a black sand beach enclosed by porous volcanic cliffs and rock arches and spires out in the middle of the water. So...picturesque. Fuck! The foaming waves were calling me, and I couldn't help but strip down, sprint, and jump in. Aand, colder than I imagined. Run away! Towel. In. Car. So. Far. Away. Dry off and sit in car as we wait for Jamie and Peter to return from laughing at whatever nonsensical object they have come across. My body finally realizes its cold and I start to shiver in a vain attempt to add to what little body heat remains. Hunger and fatigue beginning to get the best of us, as we head over a mountain pass containing the glacier Mýrdallsjökull to the small town of Vík, in search of some sustenance. Find a small restaurant at a gas station and order some overpriced food that took entirely too long to come out. A ham sandwich isn't rocket science. Not sure if rocket science works as an analogy for protracted periods of time, but it seriously was at least a half hour wait. Ate, still felt hungry. Kjarten and I acquired some fries from plates left on adjacent tables, and we headed out. Not so hungry, but still tired, and so we decided to call it a day and head back. Vatnajökull will have to wait for another day. Driving on the way back, everyone else is asleep. Now, to set the record straight, I have been speeding a lot while driving on route 1. There is nobody on the road, and the national speed limit of 90 km/hr is just too slow. But, I was doing exactly 90 with a car in front of me as another car comes racing from behind, passing us both right as we pass what looked like a cop car on the side of the road. I look behind me and there goes the siren and lights. That's what you get, sucker. Oh...its me you're pulling over, of course. "Did I do anything wrong?" "No?" But you're giving me a breathalizer for shits and giggles. First exam I got an A in in quite a while. Ok, one more challenge...start the car without stalling with the cops waiting in their car. I've been operating in the 5% range so far. But success! I come through in the clutch. Pun intended, bitches. Go to hell cops. Kjarten informs me they weren't even cops, but private security. Rather shady. Continue on to Reykjavik, taking a bit of a detour to pull along side and follow a car full of girls that Jamie and Peter thought were cute. Stalled like crazy at every stoplight in town, haha. Made it back to the house in one piece yet again. Kobi shared some great seafood pasta dish he made with us, so that took care of dinner. Zoned out for the rest of the night, eventually made it upstairs to bed.