We picked up our rent car this morning and headed out on our three week driving trip around Iceland. We visited the sights on the so called Golden Circle east of Reykjavik. First among them was Thingvellir, site of the longest established parliament on earth. They started up around 930 AD. It is a beautiful site and we were blessed with sunny weather. The geology is most interesting. It is on the rift between the North American plate and Eurasian plate. They are pulling away from each other at an inch a year or something like that. The rate of separation has recently accelerated due to the Anthropogenic Global Climate Change Catastrophe. Just ask Al Gore. BTW-Obama has blamed it on George Bush. Actually, I made that all up. I am practicing my lying skills in hopes of breaking into the politician game. See, I lied again, I have no interest in politics from a practitioner's point of view.

We went to Geysir to see, you guessed it, geysers. There were quite a few fuming vents, but only one regular geyser which is Strokkur. If you have been to Yellowstone, you will find this place underwhelming, but nice.

Then we went on to Gullfoss (Golden Falls) to see a really spectacular waterfall. It was something to behold. Because of the nice (and the natives claim unusual) sunshine, there was a rainbow. It was fun to see how the rainbow followed you around as you walked along the falls. Today's photo is one that Ginny took. Very nice.

Last stop was at Kerid, a water filled volcanic crater which was, in a word (or two), very disappointing. It was hyped in the travel literature. We walked around the thing which was pleasant. It was hard to get a decent photo because the shadows were very dark.

We headed on to Selfoss where we got some food and experimented for the first time with buying fuel. The travel company gave us a card which is good for a discount and a free cup of coffee at Olis gas stops. That looks like the place we will be stopping during our trip.

Our hotel (Fosshotel Hekla) was out in the boondocks. It is very nice and very quiet. We are here for two nights.