I grew up on Long Island in New York State. With the Great South Bay to our south and Long Island Sound to our north – we were never far from a beautiful waterway. I suspect that my affinity for being on the water stems from long childhood days spent on Fire Island, at West Meadow Beach, Sands Creek and numerous other nearby beaches. Those who know me, know that I’m always happiest when I’m at the beach or at sea. This is me…who I am. So I continue to be surprised at the emotions that overcome me when I’m atop a mountain. It’s not only the ones I conquer by foot (yes, I said conquer) but also the mountains we fly to.

One of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland is Dynjandi. The ride from Endeavor to the base of the waterfall took about 30 minutes…once again the scenery was spectacular. Except when the bus drove through the mountain. Through several tunnels. Some were only one way. Yikes.

I am bedeviled with the need to take many, many photos…and further doomed with the inability to delete any of them. Seriously. Any of them.

These small farms and clusters of homes appear out of nowhere and the mountain sides are covered with waterfalls.

Here’s a view of Dynjandi from the parking lot. Please note the nicely paved walkway. (So freaking deceiving).

Looks pretty doable… so I park Timmy on a bench.

I’m still wondering why I didn’t grab his walking sticks.

Sometimes I think I’m a pretty fit 70 year old…then I climb a waterfall…and reality bites.

The climb up contained many switchbacks
Turn around and take in the view…and note how tiny folks appear

I paused here to catch my breath, pretending to take a selfie…a nice person offered to snap a pic..can you see the stress on my face?

I continued to climb, snapping pics along the way. Here are a few.

This guy, right here, on the right, the one that’s smiling … is our bus driver. He had some pretty funny stories to tell us about his kids.
Please look to the right in this pic…those tiny people are there to reference just how high I’m climbing…cause I’m still climbing.

Still climbing I decided to video my ascent for Timmy. I’m including it here … just to authenticate the whole experience.

So I made it to the top. Very windy. Very, very windy. Lots of spray. Really exhilarating. Like climbing to the Sun Gate on Machu Pichu exhilarating. 70 is the new 50. Pretty darn proud of myself.

Here I am with my new friend Scott. I’m holding on to him for dear life. It. Was. Windy.

After Scott stepped away, I took this video to share with Timmy …I was overcome with such emotion that I had to cut it off at 20 seconds. What’s with me and mountains?

Going back down was more challenging than climbing up. Hence, the absence of pics. Katie Quinn, one of the expedition crew assisted me through a particularly gnarly spot. I accepted her help after witnessing someone slip and take a nasty fall. Timmy and his happy smile were waiting for me.

One last look back at Dynjandi and another across to the fjord.

Remember what I said about my photo taking compulsion? Well I snapped in excess of thirty pics on the way back. Here are eight of my favorites. Really, you tell me which one I should have omitted.

The only way to convey the absolute stunning beauty of Iceland … these pics

My favorite pic of the day. I’m fond of waterside pics that include small boats. This fit the bill perfectly.

Back onboard, we set sail for Bird Island. Here’s the sail away view and a cute tug.

After lunch (thank me later for omitting the pics) we headed up to the helicopter pad to enjoy our approach to Bird Island.

I will often pronounce “perfect” as “perfick” …in homage to our sweet lovebug Isabel. Our afternoon with the helicopter deck all to ourselves was about as perfick as it gets. Included in this video is a visual explanation of why we didn’t visit Bird Island.

We rounded out the day with canapés on our veranda, a nap, drinks in the Cove and dinner in Prego.

Erica working her magic

Another perfick day done.

Took this pic around 10 pm…gotta love the land of the midnight sun❤️