Last full day in Iceland
This was the first morning that we didn't have a reservation to be somewhere/do something. We started with breakfast and coffee from Skool Beans, then headed west. The plan was to see some more places on the Golden Circle, like Gullfoss and Geysir. Our first stop was Skógafoss. We just admired it from the bottom and didn't climb or do the hike along the river.
We then headed to Secret Lagoon, for our third hot springs experience of the trip. Secret Lagoon is the oldest pool in Iceland. The hot water flows into the pool from springs that surround it, and there is a small geyser there too. I met a couple from Australia and got some recommendations for my planned trip there (maybe next summer). (Australia has campervans too, so that's I plan to do.) After our soak, we headed to the same mushroom restaurant (The Farmers Bistro) that I'd visited last October. Wow, now I see the difference in an August visit and an October visit. The place was packed! In October, I think there was one other table occupied. But they had a table for us, so it was fine. We both got the buffet, and it was as good the second time as it was the first!
Next up was Gullfoss. They'd closed the parking lot where I had parked last year, so we had to park at the upper visitors center lot and go down a long flight of stairs to the trail by the river. We also spent some time at the visitors center and I spent too much on a cool orange bag that I liked.
Finally, we went to Geysir and Paula got a video of a small eruption of Strokkur. Geysir, for which geysers were named, is there but is no longer active.
We decided to go to Akranes for the night, so we'd be close to Reykjavik. Our flight out the next day (Monday) was at 4:45 PM, which meant we'd need to get the campervan back by 1 PM or so. The campground was right by the water, and we were treated to a lovely sunset.
When we got up on Monday, we immediately began the search for coffee and could not find an open coffee shop in Akranes. Generally, businesses open later in Iceland, but it was like 9 AM! We finally gave up and headed to our final hot spring of the trip. We had heard about a new place not far from Akranes called Hvammsvik Hot Springs. This turned out to be our favorite hot spring of the trip, by far! First, they had a small restaurant that caffeinated us. Second, the pools were right on the water (on an ocean inlet) and they were salt water. I didn't realize it at the time, but the lower pools actually submerge at high tide. There were the hot pools, sauna and steam room, and paddle boards, for the brave (Paula did it!). We stayed in the water as long as we could, then had a lovely lunch. Mine was seafood soup, and Paula had a shrimp sandwich with so many shrimp that she couldn't finish it!
We then were late and had to drive straight back to return the van. Of course, we were in plenty of time for the flight. All went well till we were back over the US, where a thunderstorm beat us into Raleigh. We did giant circles in the sky for an hour, but finally landed.
We got the shuttle back to the hotel, but Paula decided to head home (a 2 hour drive). I crashed for the night and drove home on Tuesday. It was a great trip! It's hard to believe that it was almost a month ago. We crammed a lot into 4 days. Next summer we plan to go back to go to the northern part of the island. Paula liked campervan travel, so we'll do that again. And our first stop will be Hvammsvik Hot Springs!
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