Iceland.

I made it to Iceland.

We made it to the Vik area early, and spent the afternoon exploring the Dyrholaey peninsula and when I say exploring, I mean putting our feet in every nook and cranny we discovered.  Mikey and I spent several hours bounding up the cliff, down to the ocean, up the cliff again, over to the other side of the cliff, down to the ocean.  A puffin on those cliffs over there, a seal in the water over there, look at the waves in this spot and on and on.

After Dyrholaey had no stone left without inspection, we ventured a few minutes up the road closer to Vik and Mikey and I ran up the beach again. We were treated to basalt columns, caves and pounding waves.  Mikey scrambled through a little tunnel in between waves and after a bit of convincing, I followed and was treated to a different view of the famous Vik spires.  I credit Mikey for talking me in to taking a slight risk going through the tunnel,  it's one thing to get swept away to sea, but it's another thing entirely to ruin a perfectly good set of camera equipment in the process.

The next morning I woke up early and trotted away from the cozy little cabins we were staying in and into the fog. I stopped at a gas station for some coffee and learned that it was free. Free! A rarity in Iceland as far as I could tell.  With a smile on my face I made my way through the black sand, closer to the spires.  I had been envisioning a photo of my bright yellow Rubber Duck against the black sand for months, and the conditions were absolutely perfect that morning.  The combination of the black sand and fog made the scene before me moody and mysterious.  The town still save for the crashing waves at my feet. 

I set my coffee down in the sand a respectable distance to the water and then proceeded to play wave roulette with my last pair of dry pants and shoes.  I lost. Several times.  It was worth every second to have those introspective hours by the water in the quiet morning. I left a big part of my heart buried in the black sand beach outside the sleepy town of Vik and I intend to go back and retrieve it as soon as I'm able.