What a great trip. We traveled nearly 3,000km across Iceland, the Westfjords, the North, and directly across the Highlands - with side trips to the new volcano, the south coast, and more. We stayed overnight at a charming farm house and drank beers in a natural hot spring after wading across a frigid glacial river to get to it. We saw incredible wide open vistas, got caught in fog several times, had a flat tire, and finally got to see Iceland in all her amazing green glory. I'm leaving out a lot of stuff, but it was a great trip. Possibly the trip of a lifetime.
All made possible by our good friend and tour guide Bessi and Moonwalker Tours. We first met Bessi back in 2015 and have been traveling with him every time we go to Iceland. He's not only a great tour guide but a very good friend of ours, we even had dinner with his family while we were in Akureyri. Which was amazing. I don't think that will be a feature on any of his tours in the future, so don't expect it. But so much great food and good company. Which all goes into making any trip something truly special.
We weren't able to visit CCP's new headquarters due to COVID and Summer vacations, but we did manage to meet up with Convict, Aurora (who we bumped into several times), and former CCP employees Bartender and Ragnarok. I managed to gift some Stay Frosty lapel pins, so hopefully Convict will be able to hand those around the offices whenever they manage to get back into them again.
The Monday before we left Iceland went from 15 cases to 33 in one day. Then it was 300+, and now it is over 1,500. This is unfortunate and the travel situation there is constantly changing. We knew this going in and got a Covid test even before we left, just in case we might need it. Then, before we left the country, we went and got another one which we did need in order to leave the country. Luckily both were negative. We're both fully vaccinated and take all the precautions we can. Which I encourage everyone to do. For the most part we stayed away from crowds while in country and traveled alone with our group. From what I saw, it looks like Icelanders are taking Covid seriously.
But it always feels good to be back home. Especially this time, as I started a new job our first day back this week. Which is why it has taken me so long to post. Jumping right into a new position is hard enough, but doing so after such a long trip made it doubly so. I'm just now starting to feel human again.
So bear with me as things get back on track.
Until then.