We woke up on our 10th day in Iceland, and felt cold for the first time since arriving here. I read Iceland has the same temperatures as New York, but what makes it cold is the wind. The wind today was the kind that turns ear drums into brittle icicles and fingers into freezer-burned popsicles.

The weather: cold, windy, foggy, and rainy, also completely changed the drive to Djúpavík. When we drove it a week ago it was a magical day of rainbows, whales, foxes, and quaint old buildings. Today, the drive was full of moody waterfalls, mysterious mountains, and saturated colorful buildings. Sometimes, friends ask why we go to the same places more than once. This is why. The weather, the light, elapsed time can change everything. Two pictures of the same place under different conditions, end up being two completely different images.

We started the day with a waterfall (did I mention Peter was behind the wheel, and by default in control of the itinerary?).

We spent some time photographing the old ship wreck at the Djúpavík herring factory, before conceding defeat to the weather having a pre-lunch appetizer of Happy Marriage Cake (HMC) and a hot beverage. For those of you keeping track, this is our fourth HMC, and we have learned from our Icelandic friend, Hadda, to only consume it with copious amounts of whipped cream. Even though we were cold and uncomfortable we were much happier after this delectable treat. We will be doing a complete review of HMC cakes toward the end of the trip and announce a winner.

Our only “wildlife” sighting today was Icelandic sheep. They do spend their summers roaming freely in the mountains here, so I guess they can qualify as wild. As we were trying to get a sheep on a rock to turn its head in our direction, we started making all kinds of sounds out of the car window. Hawk demonstrated this a few days ago, and I did not give him enough credit for the expertise involved in executing these sounds correctly. When no animal sound seemed to work (we tried cats, cows, chickens, and dogs), we devolved into a group sing-along of Old McDonald’s Farm. It was a riveting rendition that had the sole effect of making the sheep turn away and provide us with a quality sheep-butt shot.