We must have left Michigan just in time. We missed the rain and had only a short delay in Boston. The flight to Iceland was a nonevent, not even long enough to catch some sleep, so we have been running since yesterday morning with no sleep. Customs was a big surprise, they just nodded us through and said have a nice trip.

The group, 19, five married couples, a grandma/granddaughter combo and the rest retired females. A very interesting,highly educated group, most have either won photo contests or are actively engaged in photography beyond family pictures. I am definitely outclassed on this trip.

After the airport, breakfast and trip orientation we went to the famous Blue Lagoon. The lagoon was formed by industrial effluent from the worlds largest geothermal plant. The plan was the waste water would run off and be absorbed by the lava beds surrounding the plant. The runoff is so full of salts that a thick floor was formed, the water could not drain and the lagoon formed. After many years of people “sneaking in” to the plant property for a good hot soak it was decided that it would be opened to the public and is now the number one tourist attraction in Iceland. This was a fabulous restorative hour.

We drove to the sea and photographed the large lava formations. The roadside is covered with blue lupine which has been imported in an effort to add more nitrogen to the soil. We also stopped to see gysers, where the surface temperature is so hot that the surface bubbles and steams. Our last stop of the day was a point where the Eurasia plate and the North American plate meet, the official geological line between the two continents.

So far Iceland looks like a moon scape cluttered with lava rocks. Below the surface there is grinding, sifting rock that is creating pressure and heat enough to power the country. Volcanos are a yearly occurrence.