{"id":2195,"date":"2017-02-22T21:41:59","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T04:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2017-03-12T20:54:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T03:54:06","slug":"the-day-fun-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/?p=2195","title":{"rendered":"The Day Fun Died"},"content":{"rendered":"

After such an exciting evening we’re a little slower to get up and out of the cabin this morning. Today we’re headed up to St\u00c3\u00b6ng, to see the ruins of an old Viking settlement. It is a bit of a drive, but like everywhere we’ve been since leaving Reykjavik, the roads are almost empty and the scenery is amazing.<\/p>\n

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One thing we see pretty regularly are groups of Icelandic horses, often gathering right near fences that run along the highway. They’re a funny looking breed, with stubby legs that keep them far closer to the ground than horses we are used to. They seem very friendly though, and since we’re in no rush today, stop for a few pictures.<\/p>\n

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Google Maps once again does us wrong, directing us right past the turn off to St\u00c3\u00b6ng and further up into the mountains. Fortunately, we only get about ten miles down the road before we realize the mistake, and the turnout gives us a great chance for some more photos. I’m sure we’ll have hundreds of pictures of snow-covered mountains by the time this trip is over, but it seems like every time we turn a corner it just gets better and better.<\/p>\n

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Resetting our maps, Google finds us a shortcut back to St\u00c3\u00b6ng. The road is a little rougher, but we rented a 4×4 for occasions just like this. Mom isn’t super-excited and wants to turn around, but the boys (and their driver) are having a blast and convince her to press on. That is until she sees this sign pass by the window:<\/p>\n

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\u00c3\u201cf\u00c3\u00a6rt (pronounced “oh fart” as far as I can tell) sounds like the sanitized version of my navigator’s comments, and there’s no way she’s going down this road now. Despite some pleading and cajoling, nothing we say changes her mind. Finally, we agree to turn back (had we not, I swear she was prepared to lay down in front of the car to ensure we went no further), but not before letter her know she’s killing our fun \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

Retracing our route to the original turnoff for St\u00c3\u00b6ng, we’re once again faced with warning signs. Fortunately, we’ve seen a car traveling on this road and use that to convince Mom the road can’t be that bad. Whether it ultimately was or wasn’t depends on who is telling the story, but I still blush thinking about some of the words that came out of her mouth.<\/p>\n

St\u00c3\u00b6ng is the site of one of Iceland’s earliest archeological excavations, where a Viking long house and several outbuildings were preserved under ash from a nearby volcano. It is pretty much deserted in the winter, but the buildings are unlocked and there is a guestbook inside the door so we figure it is OK to wander through.<\/p>\n

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Near St\u00c3\u00b6ng is one of the main hydroelectric power plants, which offers tours to show how the process works. Or at least they normally do. According to the sign, there is some upgrading underway so no tours until late 2017. No need to worry though, as right next to the plant is a full-scale reconstruction of the settlement at St\u00c3\u00b6ng. That sounds kind of interesting so we decide to check it out instead. That is until we get there and find it locked up tight. Apparently in Iceland, priceless 1,000 year old ruins are a free for all, but relatively new replicas need to be kept under lock and key. Nevertheless, sod houses are a bit of a rarity in Redmond, so it’s cool to just walk around it and see how they were built.<\/p>\n

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At this point we have nothing else on the agenda, and as we are heading back towards our cabin spot a side road with a sign that indicates some sort of historical sight. It is not in our guide book so we have no idea what it is we are supposed be looking for, but we eventually find a small parking area and a trail heading to the top of a small hill. Figuring it must be the spot, the boys and I head on up. Arriving at the top, we’re still no wiser as to the significance of this place but, once again, the views call for a photo session.<\/p>\n

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While Sam and I are taking pictures, Nick figures it would be a good idea to make his way to the tip of a small finger of rock. He’s halfway out by the time I turn around and see him, so all I can is watch and hope he knows what he’s doing (the last thing I want to do is startle him and have him lose his balance). The photo turned out pretty good… <\/p>\n

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…but like sausage, you don’t really want to see how it was made.<\/p>\n

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By the time we get close to the cabin it is still early afternoon, so rather than waste time sitting inside, we opt to head a little east of Hella, figuring we can see a few things in that direction and get them off our list. <\/p>\n

If there is one thing that we’ve come to appreciate in Iceland so far, it’s that the weather is nice right up until it’s not (and vice versa). So far the day hasn’t been sunny, but the temperature is mild and the wind calm. Or at least that is the case until we’re 15 miles or so down the road and in the middle of a snowstorm. In any other place we might see this as a sign to turn around, but 10 minutes later it’s like nothing ever happened.<\/p>\n

Seljalandsfoss is another famous waterfalls, and with a walking trail carved around the backside is a must see for us. As we get closer, the wind starts to pick up and the cold spray hitting your face feels like a hundred tiny needles. By the time we see the shrubs on either side of the path heavy with a thick coating of ice, my trusty travel partner has had enough. Boys are dumb though, and not only do they press on, but for the low, low price of $5, agree to stand on a rock underneath the falls for my entertainment.<\/p>\n

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With a back seat full of cold, soggy teenagers, there’s little left for us to do but head home for the day. Tomorrow we’re back on the move, heading east for K\u00c3\u00a1lfafell, where we have a date with glacier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After such an exciting evening we’re a little slower to get up and out of the cabin this morning. Today we’re headed up to St\u00c3\u00b6ng, to see the ruins of an old Viking settlement. It is a bit of a drive, but like everywhere we’ve been since leaving Reykjavik, the roads are almost empty and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iceland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2198,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2195\/revisions\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chadtown.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}