Sunday, August 9 - Joining the GSA group

We were up and out of our guesthouse early to get the car back to the airport by 6:45 am.  The original plan was to meet the GSA (The Geological Society of America) geotour group at the airport at 7 am.  Turns out no one in the group was arriving there this morning and all were lodged in Reykjavik Saturday night.  We found out too late to change car rental details, so they said they would send a taxi to the airport to pick us up and take us to the nearby breakfast location.  The van had to pick up the others at 5 different hotels and then head to the breakfast spot with an ETA of 9 am.  We were told to relax and have a leisurely breakfast while waiting.

Once the car was dropped off and the taxi driver picked us up, he drove to the place he had been told.  But, that's not a place to eat was his comment, it's a hotel.  Back to the car rental spot for internet access so that I could show him the messages I had received.  He then made some calls and off we went, this time to an eating place near the hotel that was totally shut down.  Well, back to the hotel to ask if they could help.

Turns out we were supposed to have our breakfast at the hotel.  Happily we waved good-bye to the driver and went inside for our first Icelandic breakfast.  Yum!!  Beautiful, sliced, cold cuts and delicious cheeses on crisp bread.  Fresh coffee.  Baked scrambled eggs with all sorts of good things mixed in.  Assorted other eggs and breads with butter and spreads.  And cookies - cookies for breakfast - dessert for breakfast.  Do I need to tell you that I love to eat good food?

After a few helpings, I decided I should focus on sipping coffee while reading a book on my Kindle - in an easy chair large enough for me to curl up and be totally comfortable.  Very queenly to say the least.  (are queens allowed to curl up like that?)

When the group arrived almost an hour and half later, we joined them.  Matt, the geologist from the GSA, introduced me and Liz to the others, and I nibbled on a few more goodies while they ate their breakfast.  I was already liking this group of people.

I already knew Matt from the GSA tour in Hawaii last November.  It was good to see him again.  He first met me in Hawaii when I was almost at my worst physically - just short of needing a wheelchair.  He was one of the three men (the two guides and a tour participant from Australia) on that tour who pretty much stuck with me wherever we went.  I was so thankful to them then, and even more thankful now that I'm as healthy as the proverbial horse.  (why are you healthy as a horse and sick as a dog?)

Our leader from Iceland is Jóhann Ísak Pétursson.  He is a geologist and a teacher of geology.  It didn't take long for him to find a permanent spot in our hearts.  When he talked about sheep, he always said "sheeps."  I'll never call them sheep again in my mind.  Words like valley were pronounced with almost a "w" at the beginning and we will remember that forever as well.  He couldn't share enough and answered every question with a smile.  He even told us troll, elf and ghost stories as we drove.  Of course, the real life stories were best, and the geological information was constant.  I'd like to go and sit in on his high school classes just to learn.

Sheeps everywhere

 

I've discovered a gap in my photos and have none of this first day of the geotour.  I think I somehow managed to delete a day's worth of photos - my camera has something like folders for each day and there isn't one there for August 9.  I may steal/borrow a few others posted on our shared Facebook page so that you can see what we saw.

We first headed to a multi-cache at a lighthouse.  One of our group, Genevieve, had never been caching, so we took turns showing her what to do, and then let her be the one to find the cache and sign the log.  She will be teaching 4th grade in Minot, ND this year and hopes to find a way to use geocaching with her students.

 

After a stop at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge we headed to The Bláa Lónið, or Blue Lagoon.  We brought our swimsuits, they gave each of us a towel and a bracelet, and we headed to the showers.  Each person is required to take a full, tip to toe, soapy, shower before putting on bathing suits and getting into the water.  It took a bit to figure out where to leave our shoes and how to operate the lockers.  Somehow Liz locked mine with her bracelet, so we swapped bracelets so that she could lock hers.  Those bracelets got you in, locked and unlocked your lockers, and got you out.  If you purchased anything while in the water, that was logged onto your bracelet and you had to pay before the bracelet would allow you to go out through the turnstile.

This was a great place to begin to know each other.  We had to dig into a bucket under wooden slats for a white cream to slather on our faces.  That was supposed to dry, then you rinsed it off in the water and they gave you a dab of other white stuff to smear on your face.  After 10 minutes that was to be rinsed off.  I think I've had my first facial.  If the photo that our leader has gets sent to us, I'll post it for you to see.  They take your photo covered in the first white goo and since we did it as a group, it was only sent to our GSA leader.

A few of our group were ready to get out, and the rest of us soon followed.  They had shampoo and conditioner for your hair, and even hairdryers so that you didn't have to go out in the cold with a wet head.  It was a sunny day, one of the few that we had, but the wind was still strong and the temperature low.

Taken by one of the group who didn't go in the water

 

 

What I really wanted at that point was a nap, but off we went to do some earthcaches, all of us sneaking in little snoozes during the drives.  We visited another site where the ground had been disturbed for building, resulting in a reduction of pressure over an already active steam area.  It resulted in large amounts of steam being vented there and they had to close down the area temporarily.  They were not able to rescue the walkway that used to take you to the vent, and you can see it now in a spot not safe for walking.

 

Old walkway right under the steam

 

The next location was meant for a cache in an area with a beautiful statue of an Auk.  As we were walking, Jóhann, knowing that I was interested in pillow lava, pointed some out to me.  I asked if I could go down there.  He said yes and joined me.  I got a great explanation and a little piece of it that he said I should take home with me.  It's in plain view on my desk and is my favorite souvenir of the trip.

Thanks to Debbie for the photo

 

Debbie and her husband Mike are from British Columbia.  She has stories to tell about their many adventures, and was excited to share them.  Their photos posted on Facebook are some of my favorites from the trip.  They were good fun and I hope to hook up with them again "just over the border."

 

At this point we visited another earthcache by climbing many sets of steps.  It was about hot springs and there was a traditional cache nearby.  It's so easy to get wrapped up in the geology that until someone reminds you, you forget that there is a geocache to be found.  I know we missed some and it doesn't bother me at all.

 

We were to spend the night in a Viking Village and be treated to a Viking dinner.  The first course was hákarl which is shark meat that has been fermented and then hung to dry for months.  It is traditionally served in small cubes on toothpicks, along with Brennivín (unsweetened schnapps) to wash it down.  Our toothpicks with the hákarl had Icelandic flags on them.  We were given shot glasses of Brennivín, which is made from fermented potato mash flavored with caraway.

 

I ate my first piece of hákarl and didn't have any problem with it.  A few others didn't want theirs, so I had a second piece.  Still fine.  And then I had a third piece, immediately understood the need for the Brennivín, and downed mine.  Another first for the day - my first schnapps.

 

Then we had a great fish soup followed by a leg of lamb dinner.  We said our good nights and headed to our rooms to prepare for the next day.

 

During the dinner a Viking with an incredibly beautiful voice roamed around singing silly songs and teasing people.  I kept hoping he would break into an operatic aria.  Later he selected two from our group for a ceremony to make them Vikings with a ritual involving touching them with his sword and then making them drink something out of a ram's horn.

 

Thus ends the first day with the tour group and it was great.