Words escape me

I'm not sure how to describe my Icelandic wilderness adventure.  I know that whatever I write can not do it justice.  It was three days of driving, hiking and living in incredibly beautiful, vast and varied landscapes.  We travelled with Hinrik, our guide, a native Icelander, and Sam, a young Swiss tourist.  Here is a photo of them with Amanda as we looked down at one of many beautiful landscapes.

  We drove this wild terrain in a Land Rover Defender, a huge off-road vehicle that scaled the steepest hills and plowed through rushing rivers with ease. We were in the front vehicle with Hinrik, while Sam followed in a second, slightly smaller truck.

  Amanda and I both learned to drive the Defender, even though it was a standard, which neither of us had ever driven.  Hinrik was a patient teacher (and quite the comedian), and he let each of us drive for hours every day.  There were a few dicey moments, many stalls -- including one in the middle of a river -- and lots of laughs.  I am pretty sure the vehicle needs a new clutch now!  Hindrik also showed us to adjust the tire pressure for varied road conditions, which is what I am doing here.

I can't really describe what we saw, but I'll try.  From vast lava fields covered in an almost neon green moss to massive mountains and volcanoes to an enormous glacier, the wonders were endless.  And I didn't mention the mountain valleys with the bluest lakes and a waterfall.

Below is the glacier we drove across.  We got stuck in the deep snow and It took Hinrik a while to get us going but he managed.

Below is a picture of me at a lake we visited on our first day.

I have much more to show and tell but we just got back to our hotel in Reykjavik, and I am pretty pooped.  I need a hot shower like nobody's business.  Conditions on the road were "rustic" to put it kindly, at least to this spoiled American woman!  So I will save the rest for another post.