Vik, Iceland -- puffins??

Greetings friends and family! Robert and I are safely settled in an Icelandic farm which rents rooms, the surrounding fields filled with scruffy Icelandic sheep milling about and making charming sheep baaa sounds. We're about 15 minutes outside the town of Vik, pop 300 (and surprisingly, one of the larger towns we've encountered today). Leaving the lake district in the north, we detoured to the geologically active (read: smells like sulfur) park where we played amongst the earth cones spewing hot steam and frothing mud. It was really cool, but made our clothes stinky, stinky!! Arriving in the wonderful Egilsstaðir, we drove a short way along the nearby lake for a wonderfully satisfying hike -- straight up! -- to a series of spectacular waterfalls. Seriously proud of our accomplishment, we made our tired way to the Shell gas station for pizza dinner (we've eaten at quite a few gas stations recently...) This morning we were up early, early for the long trek overland through some rugged and unpopulated land, in the shadow of a gigantic glacier and volcano. Spectacular vistas were ours to be had, but regretfully we could see barely a thing due to the heavy mist, rain, fog, sandstorms, and blustery winds! Fortunately, even the stuff within 50 feet or so of the car was pretty amazing to our untutored eyes, though the Puffin bird has proved frustratingly elusive, visible only on local menus :-( Tomorrow morning, before our 4pm flight home, we hope to take one last dash to the coast to view the elusive bird. Wish us luck! Next post from home. Sending my love! Love T