We left Egilsstadir and headed towards Akureyri.
​We're driving down a lovely stretch of Route 1.  I saw a large waterfall in the distance.  As we neared it, there was a  parking lot to use as a view point. Next to the view point there was a path.  Linda, Mary Ellen and I headed up the trail to get a closer look It was a very smooth road, and the scenery was beautiful. 

Back on the road , Linda told me to take the next left. I did, and about half a mile up the road, it turned into a very rough, gravelly dirt road with beautiful scenery. We figured it would end soon, but it didn't. It went on for miles and miles. It really bumped the hell out of all of us. We must have been on this road for well over an hour before we returned to a smooth road. Apparently, this was some sort of shortcut that certainly didn't feel like a shortcut to us.
Once off this road, we finally made it to the Dettifoss waterfalls. It is known to be the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe. The view was spectacular. I even managed to get a video of the sound of the water. ​

Our route took us through the Myvatn lake area where we actually saw trees and the valleys had farms throughout. We stopped at Namafjall Hverir, the geothermal mud pots area. These are fascinating to see. As you walked up, you could smell the sulfur as it  started to burn the inside of your nose. It really does stink.  There are boardwalks to walk over and see the bubbling pools of mud.

​Back in the car, we headed into Akureyri, and I saw a sign about a toll tunnel ahead. The sign said I had 24 hours to log in and pay the toll if I went through the tunnel. Apparently, there is no such thing as toll booths or transponders. This tunnel seemed to go on forever. When I got into a hotel room later and logged on to pay, I found out a little information about this tunnel. The name of the tunnel is Vadlaheidar Tunnel. It is 4.7 miles long and built through the mountain. This cuts down on travel time to bypass the Vikurskard Mountain Passage, which is a hazard to travel through during bad weather.

The entrance to the Forrest Geothermal Spa. No Pictures were allowed to be taken inside.

It was now time to go to the spa. We all grabbed our bathing suits, our clothing or whatever else we needed and headed out to the Forest Lagoon. It was about a 10 minute drive from the hotel; you would never have known it was there if you hadn't been looking for it. Once inside we were told that we had to put our stuff in a locker strip down and take a shower before we could even put our bathing suits on. Luckily this spa had separate men and women showers unlike the one we visited in England.  Once in our bathing suits,  we entered this huge warm steaming pool.  We sat talking for a bit; after a while, Linda, Sandy, and Kathleen decided they had had enough of warm water and wanted to go get something to eat in the bistro. Mary Ellen and I continued to enjoy the rejuvenating waters of the spa. After a half hour more we got out showered and joined the others. We found them sitting at a table having wine and relaxing. With the spa experience finished, we headed back to our hotel. 

​

It was time for dinner, and we were hungry. I asked the concierge at the desk where he would go to get something to eat. He recommended a place called the Backpackers, right across the street. It is more like a bar than a restaurant, but it's a place that many locals like to frequent. I had one of the best hamburgers I've had in a very long time

After dinner, Mary Ellen and I decided we wanted some ice cream, so we set off to find it. I had asked the waitress at the restaurant where to go for ice cream. She said in a yellow house just down the road. We saw a yellow house, but it was a coffee house, not an ice cream parlor. We walked into a couple of stores and headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we're going whale watching.
​

The Backpackers Restaurant