Svalbarðseyri
Svalbarðseyri is a pretty church on the hill across from Akureyri (pronounced Auk-oo-rairy). We got a nice shot while the sun was rising with Akureyri, Iceland's capital in the north (population around 18,000) in the background.

Goðafoss
Goðafoss, or the "waterfall of the gods", is pretty spectacular. It was here that in year 1000 a local chieftain names Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði of the Ljósavatn district adopted Christianity as Iceland's religion and tossed their pagan relics in the waterfall. It is 12 m (about 40 ft) high and is fed by the Skjálfandafljót River (180 km or 112 mi), which is the 4th longest river in Iceland.

Jökulsárgljúfur National Park
This national park was a spectacular drive. The weather was mediocre with periodic rain and lots of dense fog. Obviously it restricted what we could see, but the fog floating around was ethereal. We stopped at such a beautiful overlook to see Öxarfjörður, and what spectacular views did we see. This is situated at the top of a very active volcanic zone that stretches from the northeast to the southwest. There are a lot of interesting landforms, and much of the environment is continually changing. There's also a large bird population that roosts here around the Tjörnes Peninsula, and the cliffs with the Atlantic Ocean below were spectacular. Sadly, we couldn't see across the bay to the mountains on the other side. There was also an earthquake lake, Skjálftavatn (skjálfta = earthquake, vatn = lake) that formed in the area in 1976 when part of the land sunk 2 m (6 ft 6 in) after an earthquake.

Ásbyrgi
According to Norse mythology, Odin's 8-legged horse Sleipnir touched his foot down and formed the horseshoe-shaped canyon called Ásbyrgi. Legend also has it that it's the capital city of the "hidden people" who live in cracks within cliffs. The canyon was most likely formed by catastrophic glacial flooding of the river Jökulsá á Fjöllum after the last Ice Age, first 8,000-10,000 years ago and again 3,000 years ago. The canyon is about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long and 1.1 km (0.7 mi) wide. The outside cliffs are 100 m (328 ft) high, and the inside piece called Eyjan ("the island") is about 25 m (82 ft) high. We tried to drive all the way to the back, but the road was getting snowier and icier as we went, so we had to turn back.

Húsavík
Húsavík is a nice little town along 85. It's a decent size town with a pool, a nice church, a marina, and many houses. We stopped in Húsavík to get some gas, and we finally got a hot dog "Iceland style". I'd read that these hot dogs were delicious, and man they were! It was wrapped in bacon, had fried and raw onions, ketchup, melted cheese, and spices.

Reykjahlið
Reykjahlið is a tiny little town with some absolutely incredible views around Mývatn (named Midge Lake after the insects that are so common here...though we've seen 1 insect so far in Iceland). Mývatn area was formed during a massive eruption 2300 years ago, and that eruption created some really spectacular landforms. It's about 100 km (65 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. It's been shaped by repeated eruptions and seismic activity over thousands of years. It's got a plethora of flora and fauna, as well. We'll be spending some time here today, and there seems to be a lot to do!

Jarðböðin við Mývatn
We FINALLY got a shower. I know, that's gross. We were doing the gas station wipe-down up to this point. When you're camping in a van, you don't really have access to a shower. We showered before we got into the Mývatn Nature Baths (Jarðböðin við Mývatn); showering beforehand is required. This bath is a man-made pool with natural thermal water pumped in to heat it. It was absolutely glorious. The thermal water in Iceland smells a bit sulfur-y, almost like a rotten egg. But you get used to it. It was 3.6 degrees C (38 degrees F) outside with a light rain and lots of fog. The water was between 36-41 degrees C (96.8-105.8 degrees F). The water itself is a beautiful light blue and had a somewhat slippery feeling to it. We laid in the water for close to 2 hours blissed out by the warmth and combination of hot water, warmer temperatures above the water, and the cold light rain. It was so relaxing. We didn't get any photos because it was foggy, and the sun was going down. Here's a nice photo of the baths. Source

Today will be more adventures around the Mývatn area!