Vacation Park-Life, Staining & 1st Hike

2021-08-09Us Standard

[Photos taken 09 – 12 August 2021, posted online 18 December 2021. It’s unseasonably warm outside (7C/45F), and we await the oncoming Omicron Covid storm, while crossing fingers we don’t end up in quarantine over the holidays.]

Our last week on vacation arrived way to quickly, and the weather forecast was good enough that Finnur had reason to stain wood at house #2, and me at house #1. The kids were told to hang out with the friends so we had time to work!

We did make it to the farm-animal and family park, Bjarki’s room renovation project continued, I slathered wood-oil on some of our fence and decks, and I went on my first formal hike with the hiking group I signed up with. (35-ish images total)

Monday 09 August 2021

With Emma and Bjarki at the the farm animal and family park in Reykjavik.
Bjarki almost certainly giving his younger sister unsolicited advice on driving.
The crossing-the-water ride that never fails to entertain.
I’m almost sure there were limits on the numbers of visitors in the park, so lines were generally not that long. Luckily there were two boats being run, and they each got one at the same time.
“High” speed chase in progress.
I’m amazed this hamster wheel is still in operation, I was pretty sure some kid would quickly break a bone, but no, it’s still there and by now the wood is highly polished.
We dropped Emma off at home, and went on a hunt for an office desk chair for Bjarki. This one got chosen.
By 6 pm the sun was no longer shining quite so hard, and I managed to make myself go out and start applying wood-oil to the fence (that white stripe). I made it to the corner, and turned my attention to the decks.
Looks like there was fajitas for dinner.
I managed to keep working on the wood until 10 pm, not bad!

Tuesday 10 August 2021

Picking up the new office chair from a depot by the harbor.
There was a cruise liner docked nearby, and you could clearly hear the on-board music and announcements from this distance!
The day’s objectives included giving this chest of drawers away via Facebook. Spoiler alert: It worked!
Bjarki’s ‘new’ bedroom, with actual office chair. I’m still mulling what to do about that far corner, want something different, but can’t make my mind up as to what.
Desk in place… and… what’s that in the hallway?
Ah, yes. All the crap that came out of Bjarki’s room that was not supposed to go in there again, but now had no well defined place to go. As I was out of organizing juice, this remained the situation for a few more weeks.
7 pm and Anna checking out her sugar snap peas.
Finnur appeared back in town, and bbq-ed some sausages for dinner.
At 9 pm, the deck beginning to look a bit livelier. It was about this time that some people showed up to pick up the chest of drawers. Success!
Found a massive non-moldy strawberry! Sadly, the strawberry plants were planted way too close together, and became mold-heaven. We lost a lot of berries to it.

Thursday 12 August 2021

Waiting at a café for Anna to be done at her orthodontist’s. There were tourists milling about!
Which part of the deck is not getting any love this season? Yes, the same one that got neglected last summer as well!
A bee enjoying Anna’s sunflowers.
That afternoon I drove to meet up with the hiking group for a walk around Snorrastaðatjarnir.
Our guide telling us about the forestry effort.
Very pretty, but watch out for stray fencing!
Myself and Agnes.
Lots of little ponds that ebb and flow in size.
Walking in a line is safer.
Backlit selfie.
Very Icelandic view.
This area is nothing but endless crevasses and other geological formations. We were close to the active volcano, but it refused to show off for us. The reason for the trees in that location is probably the shelter given from the northern (freezing) winds by that tall wall. Clever forest-makers!
Overview info.
Always so weird to find tall trees in random locations in Iceland.
Berry-season!
The view out our window at 10:40 pm. Still August nights are the best!