Day 12, Sep 5: Selfoss to Reykjavik

The motorhome shook through the night with gust and the day dawned blustery and rainy. Breakfasted, packed suitcases and cleaned the interior. Set off about 0930 west and pulled in to Hveragerthi. This town, only 20 miles outside Reykjavik, sits on an active geothermal area. In the center of town is a geothermal park. The park has boiling pots, mud pots and a geyser. The locals have long used the geo-sources to cook and heat their homes. Toured the park (where you can boil an egg in one pot) and the geo-thermal heated greenhouse, where they grow tropical flowers and bananas! At the town Information center, a block away, they have a simulator that mimics a 6.6 magnitude earthquake. I stepped into that and had the experience! It bucked and shook, almost knocking me down. Wouldn't want to go through that in real life!

Back on the 1 heading west. Stopped at the ON geothermal plant. This plant produces electric power by tapping the hot water and steam heated by the magma deep below the island. We looked at the extensive information on the process and toured the geothermal exhibit - with a look at the turbines and reprocessing set up. The power generator partners with a carbon capture and storage company to recover the CO2 and other by-products from the water and steam and re-injects it into basalt formations deep underground. There, it reacts with the rock to form solids that are trapped forever in the basalt.

It was windy and raining as we covered the few remaining kilometers into Reykjavik. Traffic was now big-city-ish, with 4-lanes highways and jams. Into downtown searching for the hotel. Took a while but found it, dropped bags and left Gail, then headed to the airport 25 miles south. Stopped to wash the motorhome and final fuel up. Turned the van in without problem and caught the bus back to R and a smaller bus to the hotel about 1700. Done with camping!

Gail had checked us in and was waiting at the room. It was a toss-up as to whether a meal or a shower was more important - hadn't had lunch. We opted for food and went a few doors down to Fish Mart, as recommended by the desk clerk. Naturally, we had fish. I didn't think much of the two spring rolls I had but Gail and Marie liked their orders. Back to the hotel crash without a shower.

Two personal rants: It irks me no end to pay exhorbitant prices for food. For me, food is fuel for the body and a hamburger from McDonald's is about as good as a salmon steak. I appreciate a well-prepared meal and enjoy good food but not enough to break the bank for it. Food is very expensive in Iceland. My two standard-size spring rolls (with garnish and sauce) were $57! The fish soups we've had at various places have run around $32. This, in a country that has a large fishing industry. Other menu items are similarly dear.

Number two: I hate duvets. Most hotels, certainly in Europe and now in the US, provide heavy duvets instead of a sheet and blankets. Our hotel has them. They are far too warm for me. I wake up suffocatingly hot and throw off the duvet only to wake later chilled without it. I spent the night like that and didn't get good rest.Baca lagi