10 of 40 Birthday Experiences!
Day One of our Iceland Vacation in August 2023: Starting at the Reykjavik airport for a small domestic flight to Egilsstadir. We got into our rental car and headed on the beautiful road. We took a break at Fardagafoss waterfall prior to heading to our amazing hotel in Seyðisfjörður. This was after driving down the road that Walter Mitty longboards down. We’ve heading into Seyðisfjörður in 2022 but were excited to come back to stay this time! We stayed in the beautiful Við Lónið Guesthouse on the rainbow road. Amazing room and highly recommend getting one with the patio looking out on the water. Then on to the restaurant at Hotel Alden for some dinner and a beer. Grabbed another few beers and dessert to-go at Kaffi Lára El Grilló - to enjoy on our patio before crashing hard!
Day Two: Breakfast back at Hotel Alden (seems great if you are staying at the hotel - but not if you are not - overpriced for minimal selections). Then we grabbed some snacks at Kjörbúðin - the grocery store - and started on the path up to Gufufoss waterfall. It was a lovely hiking path that took us the almost 4 miles up to Gufufoss - passing trees, rivers, streams, and other waterfalls along the way. Part of the path was covered in wood chips and easy for anyone. The second half was a bit more difficult with some mud paths, rocks over streams, and a decent incline. It was all very easily marked with yellow markers and we didn’t see anyone else on our path. Only a few people at the parking at Gufufoss (on the other side of the falls from the hiking path). It was a gorgeous hike and if it weren’t so warm and sunny - we would have likely gone further as the path went another 3-4 miles. But we were tired and headed back down and recovered with a few local beers from Hotel Alden. Then on to Kaffi Lára El Grilló to try their own beer and a delicious selection of vegetarian menu options. Another Einstock Porter for the road, some dessert for the patio, and muffins for the next morning.
Day Three: We ate our muffins on the patio before heading out for a game of disc golf at a gorgeous course near the start of our hiking path from the day before. Then up the road to Egilsstadir and Pizza at Askur Pizza. We’ve been here three times and each time has been amazing pizza and great beer. After lunch, we headed out to Borgarfjarðarhöfn - a well known spot for puffins. It’s also one of the easiest spots for puffin viewing - with easy steps, a coffee shop and cafe, and even a bird bind if the weather is rough. The weather was beautiful so we stood on the stairs for so long watching the hundreds of puffins before stopping for a hot cocoa and heading back to our new hotel at Egilsstadir. Would love to go back and spend more time around the puffins of the east coast again. We stayed the night at Hotel 1001 nott - which was a great hotel. Sitting area looking at the water - and even though you are right next to others - it felt private. There are hot tubs that we didn’t take advantage of - but we did go for a walk along the lake and enjoyed a delicious pescatarian (Kassie) and vegetarian (Rick) dinner at the on-sight restaurant. Including a slice of cake with a candle for Kassie’s birthday! Beautiful sunset and deep sleep.
Day Four: Amazing breakfast at the hotel before heading for a wonderful soak at vök Baths. A hot spring pool for visitors and locals. With 4 different temperature pools - the two hottest float in the lake which is beautiful. There is also a swim up bar - and a great restaurant on site that had a wonderful beyond meat boa and seafood soup. There is also a wide range of tea selections. We paid a little amount to rent towels and robes. For this bath - you do not walk far from the showers and dressing rooms so the robes aren’t necessary. The baths were lovely and a nice break before heading back to the Egilsstadir airport and a short flight back to Reykjavik.
What started as 40 from august to august has expanded to the start of 2023 to August 2024. Due to other people planning things that we want to join… before August 2023. This is the celebration of “omg Kassie survived 40 years - we never thought it would happen.” Maybe the next 40, I’ll be more careful so it won’t be so surprising. 40 “experiences” have to be #1 unique, #2 require the day and night in the location to count, #3 that’s it.
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Originally from Iowa (Kassie) and Kansas (Rick), we met in Kansas in 2005 and immediately found that we had so much in common - including our desire to someday see the world. We now live in NYC and quickly started catching up on travel after our first (just us) international trip to Iceland in 2015. We decided to start making videos for us and our family/friends to track our travels. Kassie is in Marketing, an Author (see her poetry + author videos), and Puppet Creator. Rick is an Engineer and Script Writer (see our current and coming puppet movies!)
YouTube Site: https://www.youtube.com/@KassieAndRick-ExploreManyPaths
Kassie's Author Site: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/
Joint Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore_many_paths
Kassie's Magazine: https://www.opendoorpoetrymagazine.com/