two backpacks and a diaper bag

Saturday, March 10. Iceland. We stayed home again on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had planned to go out again on Thursday, but we woke up around 10, and we didn’t really know where we would like to go. And after breakfast, sauntering around, and I don’t even remember what else we did, it was 2 pm and Arthur had fallen asleep. We could have still gone out but we got lazy.

The first two days staying at home was nice. The third day at home got boring. We came to Iceland with no plans for each day but this turned out to mean that we would stay home. It was easy to become complacent. Note to self: having a small plan for each day helps get us out of the house. It’s easier for us to cancel a planned activity than to create one on the day because we have the tendency to want to stay at home since it’s an easy and lazy thing to do.

So… we finally decided to go out on Friday. The destination was Godafoss. It was a 5-hour drive. We had never been to North Iceland before so this would be a new adventure.

The view was amazing! And Arthur slept for the first 3 hours so I was able to enjoy the scenery. At first it started as any other drive.

Then as we got further north, we had more snow-covered fields.

We pulled over to take a picture. Arthur was still asleep, so Sean and I got out of the car just to do a selfie and to breathe the lovely cold fresh air.

Then we got back in the car and did a quick stop at Blönduos to fill up gas. The drive from Blönduos to Akureyri was pretty too. We started approaching towering mountains covered in snow. We wondered if we were going to drive through the mountains to reach Akureyri.

Sure enough, we went through the mountains and gained elevation. For the first time during our stay in Iceland, the snow tires were of use.

Finally, we reached Godafoss. Similar to Jökulsárlón, we were able to see the waterfall from the car. It was mostly because there were not a lot of cars, and we got lucky that we were able to park closest to the waterfall.

This time, the wind was not as crazy as down in the south. The temperature was negative 4 degrees with slight wind. We decided to take Arthur on a short walk. We changed and fed Arthur, and put him in his fleece suit. Then I put on the carrier, placed Arthur in it, and wore my down jacket.

When we were in England last week, whenever we went out with Arthur, we always had him in the car seat/stroller combo so he would be protected from the cold and the wind. Even though it was also around negative 3 degrees Celsius, he was still comfortable. This time, however, we wouldn’t be able to put him in the stroller. We had to take him in the carrier. So we did.

As soon as I got out of the car, I could tell he felt the cold and the wind on his face. He frowned a bit. I think he was trying to understand what was going on. I wrapped my arm around Sean’s and we walked together towards the waterfall. It was a 15-second walk from the car to the first viewpoint. I was concerned for Arthur. I wondered if he would start crying.

We took a selfie.

Then Sean said we should walk even closer to the waterfall. I hesitated. I looked at Arthur. He still had a concerned look but he wasn’t crying. We knew that if he were uncomfortable, he would definitely cry. Or at least whimpered. I quickly wondered if he would be able to cry. Were we putting him in danger? What if it was too cold such that he couldn’t even cry?

We decided to walk closer. I could feel the mist coming towards me. I wondered if Arthur could feel it too. His face was against my chest, though. He was protected. I looked at him. He started making bubbles with his mouth. I gave him my biggest smile. He smiled back. It was a good sign.

We took another selfie.

I stood there for another second or two to take in the might of the waterfall. Then we started making our way back to the car. Arthur started whimpering. I picked up my pace. Not long after, we were back in the car. And Arthur burst into tears. The car quickly became warm. I took him out of his suit and offered him a feed. He complied.

Later on that night, I found out that babies wouldn’t cry if they become too cold. They wouldn’t have the energy to cry. They would become still and lethargic instead. So, if I was waiting to hear Arthur cry to let me know that he was too cold, I would be wrong. We just need to make sure he is dressed properly every time we go out in the cold, even if he protests at first whenever we put on his hat and his snowsuit.

Making sure Arthur is not too hot or too cold is such a tricky thing. I definitely don’t want him to get sick either. The only way to learn is by actually going through the weather conditions. I’m glad we had the car so we could test out the best outfit combination for Arthur. I wonder what this would be like once we don’t have a car and we would like to go outside to go sightseeing. We wouldn’t have as much freedom. I guess we’d just have to be more cautious as we learn.

On the way back to our Airbnb, it quickly turned dark. Arthur was a little more fussy in his car seat. I learned various ways to distract him until he fell asleep.

When the sky turned even darker, I started looking up for the northern lights. The forecast said there was solar activity.

We were about 200 km north of Reykjavík on the ring road. I looked out the window and saw what I thought was just a thin cloud. But then it started to morph and it got darker. It started turning green.

We finally found the northern lights.

It was a perfect place. We were around the area where we had taken a picture earlier in the day. No light pollution, no cars following us, very few cars coming from the opposite side. Perfect condition. Sean tried to find a place for him to pull over.

When Sean got out of the car, the light inside the car turned on, and Arthur slowly woke up. He started crying. I thought Sean and I would be able to enjoy the northern lights together outside the car. It wasn’t the case. Arthur was not cooperating. We took turns going outside to enjoy the lights. We stopped for at least 30 minutes to take it all in. I tried to take a photo with my iPhone but all I could get was darkness. Sean tried as well with his phone, but neither one of us had a camera that could do a long exposure. So these were the best we could do.

The drive to Godafoss was definitely long but we were glad to have caught the lights.

Once we reached home, we went straight to sleep.

This morning, we checked out of our Airbnb and drove to a hotel near the airport. It had snowed overnight. Reykjavík was blanketed with snow. We stopped by a mall to look for some things for Arthur. It was a nice quick window-shopping time. Then we headed down to Keflavik. Once we got to the hotel, we stayed in and took a nap.

Tomorrow, we will fly out to Helsinki. Our flight is at 7:30. We will have a very early start!