When we were in Ireland, the seven person people mover van we drove had some amazing automatic wipers. I never touched those bad boys once, just left ’em on auto and they perfectly wiped the windshield every time Ireland rained on us (which was often and unpredictable).
Not Cjardis.
Cjardis has some actively insane auto-wipers. If you put it on auto, they go berserk and don’t stop if just one rain drop has the audacity to fall on the car. It’s very difficult to turn off the auto wipers because none of us has bothered to look up the manual for the car, so we madly bop the wiper controls enough so they turn off.
This was the struggle of our drive from Akureyri down to Reykjavik – pouring rain, wiper fight, sunshine, clouds, some rain, wiper fight, back to sunshine – classic Icelandic weather.
We made a quick detour off the ring road for the Trollskagi peninsula (yes, named after Trolls!), up to Migandifoss, which is north of Dalvik. It’s a waterfall that pours down from the side of the mountain into the sea. Nice!
We stopped at a charming cafe for some quality, non-gas station snacks before we hit the road. The barista was extremely excited to chat with us and told us about all of her favorite spots in north Iceland. The small pastries were delicious.
And then we drove for days (ok, five hours).
We made a short stop for lunch at a random waterfall I found near a golf course by Bifrost. It was pouring rain. We waited ten minutes and ate in the car, covering everything with crumbs. It became pleasant for walking after a bit, so we went down to the overlook for the falls, carefully stepping around deep puddles.
After enduring ten forevers of driving and a detour, we arrived in our oceanside condo rental in Reykjavik, and enjoyed the ability to explore it in a non-zombie-like fashion. Amazing!
The city is getting ready for pride so everything is extra gay and rainbow-y. My collection of rainbow WRC masks fit in very well this weekend. We took a long walk to stretch our legs and ended up near the church for dinner (Cafe Loki again). I got to pet some street cats on the way!
Billy the Cafe Loki cat 
Rhett’s tired of my cat selfies
We are close to the little lighthouse and Kvika foot bath, so we took a walk out that way for our pre-covid test Friday morning. The walking path goes all around the little peninsula and a golf course. There were a bajillion birds circling overhead, swarming the golf course. It felt a little bit like mario golf and I wondered if they ever flew off with a golfer or were hit by golf balls (probably, on both counts).
I underestimated the bird presence and regretted not bringing my good camera with me….
The lighthouse 
A cheese pile (it helped with navigation) 
Old WWII observation building
Google and the book said Kvika foot baths were hot springs, but the water was cold! I poked a finger in it all the way to the bottom to test it. It was a neat little carved stone, but I didn’t think it merited putting my feet in on this day. Maybe it’s hot in the evening?
And then – it was time to get brain swabbed.
Re-entry into the states requires a negative covid test taken 3 days before departure. For our first test, they took our boogers for science, but this one was the one where they scrape your brain (and presumably, take what little remains) because I couldn’t work out whether or not the US would accept the type of rapid test Iceland administered. Ugh.
The testing center had a massive line, but it moved quickly. They took our brain samples and we ran away. My results came back last in our group of six and the anxiety of waiting was very fun.
And what better place to recover from brain injury than the Icelandic Phallogical Museum!? We didn’t do this place the last time we were here – how disappointing.
The entry hall is adorned with penis-related jokes and art. Inside, they serve punny-named foods at the cafe, dick joke beers, and of course, they have a gift shop. You can walk around and learn about all the animal penises and mating habits while sipping on some Big Cock Ale or Phallic Pilsner.
It’s hard to miss this place from outside 
Hehe.
It was somehow less jokey than I expected – I didn’t think I would come away with more knowledge about animal wangs or icelandic folklore, but here I am. It’s definitely worth a visit!
Artistic ding dongs 
The majestic sperm whale penis 
The females require 4 hrs of alone time before intercourse?
Post-penis museum, we took a little walk to the lake near Reykjavik city hall before dinner. I got to pet more cats and I saw ducklings. Gay ducklings!
My final feat for the evening was decoding the symbols on the dryer.
Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting some museums (it looks like a Real Rainy Day) and on Sunday, we’ll be visiting the erupting volcano!