Water three ways

 Our second day in Reykjavik, we planned water three ways: an early boat trip to see Puffins, a drive out to Skogafoss (waterfall), and then ending with a lovely soak at the Blue Lagoon.

We walked to the harbor and quickly found our operator, Special Tours, and noted that the ocean was moderately rough--which made my rising at 6 am to motion sickness patch up a wise move. Our guide shared that by later in the day, the seas would be very rough, so our timing was good. As was the weather--another bright, warm Icelandic summer day. So we set sail for Puffin Island--and puffins or no puffins, look at these gorgeous blues, that sky and ocean!

 

My goal this trip was to hug a puffin--a girl can dream. And, this dream was destined to be unrealized, since, oddly enough, they don't let tourists run around the islands chasing puffins to force hugs on them. But, we did get to see puffins. 

On the less populated first island, we saw these little guys grabbing some sun--and a few more in the water. Puffins are about 8 inches tall and head over to Iceland to reconnect with their little soulmates and make another puffin--known as a puffling. Seriously, very huggable.

The waters started getting much choppier on the way to the second island (the guide said that sometimes the second island is cut from the tour because of rough seas, so we were in luck). As we got closer, it looked like island two was the charm--puffins were everywhere around the boat, bobbing with the waves, flapping their tiny wings a million times a minute to fly low over the ocean. 

Then, it was bless, bless puffins! And back to shore for yummy harbor side coffee and Icelandic pancakeswith rhubarb jam and whipped cream. Perfect morning!!

 

We made a quick stop back at Extra for some ingredients to whip up a gluten-free lunch for Harper (chicken with red pepper, tomatoes, and rice) before jumping in the car for the two plus hour drive to Skogafoss. Ned was behind the wheel, and the rest of us dozed on and off along a typically striking Icelandic drive.

It was really a bit of a surprise to be able to just drive right up to one of Iceland's tallest waterfalls, but there's a parking lot a short walk away, next to the Skoga River and across from a bunch of adorable sheep, whose "baas" could be heard softly when the breeze was right on this windy day.

 

 The falls were just extraordinary. I'm certain they'd be lovely on any day, but on this day, with a sky supernaturally blue with just the right scattering of fluffy white clouds to set off the field of greens on the mountainside. Simply amazing!!

 

Up close, the mix of the chilly breeze and the intense mist made for some serious rainbow action: one, two, and three. I'm the one behind the iPhone getting soaked and frozen.

The strong of legs and lungs, could also climb over 500 steps to the very top of Skogafoss. 

That would be the two young people. My legs and lungs took me to the restroom--all that running water! So credit for these gorgeous photos goes to Harper. It's good to have fit children.

 

 

I did catch them on the downside--again, there are no, NO filters on these photos. Those colors are real!

 

Keeping our eyes on the clock, we jumped in the car for the next two plus hour drive to the Blue Lagoon for our 7 pm reservation. This time, we were awake more and could grab some pics of the drive: you get it all in Icelandic drive--ocean blues, lush greens, rugged mountains, craggy lava rocks, sandy moonscapes, and a Santa sleigh on a deserted street filled with freezing children. 

 

 

After traveling through every environment, we pulled up to the Blue Lagoon. Because the silica in the oh-so-perfectly warm blue water can destroy one's iPhone, we have limited photos. There are a million online, just search, and you can trust that every one of them is true. The water is a soft blue with a hazy steam rising just above it as the comforting, best-bath-ever temperature hits the cold air. Worth every penny!! We had the benefit of hitting the Blue Lagoon at the end of the day: it wasn't super crowded, allowing us to float around with our silica face masks drying, drinking our swim up bar beverages, and picking out faux lookalikes (we saw you almost Jesse Plemons and Vladimir Putin). It was just wonderful and we would go back every day if our schedule allowed.

Look, it's barely sunny now, meaning it's about midnight, so good night, Reykjavik! Time to end this water-log.