More ice caves and aurora!

Two things on our must see list were ice caves and aurora (and for me the ice beach and lagoon as well). Having checked both of them off in one day, and celebrating with pretzel m and m's, we were all very happy. So today started out by sleeping in, having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Alan made (he was our sandwich maker) and then we drove to Fjallsarlon to see another glacier lagoon. It was so windy and freezing that we quickly walked down to the lagoon to take some photos and then came back to the car to warm up! One of the few things we pre arranged was an ice cave tour and today was the day at 3pm! We were meeting or tour guide, Oscar, at the other ice lagoon so we drove back there and hung out at the cafe which had Wifi.... Hence why I could post anything so far!

3pm rolled around and we boarded a massive snow vehicle. Huge wheels and a big engine. We drove for about twenty minutes out to a cave called Crystal ice cave. This cave was huge! You couldn't walk through like the other one, but it was cleaner ice, not as much black and stunning as well. A bit harder to photograph, but still wonderful. Oscar brought his daughter to the cave too because it was Sunday! So this cave had a few sections and then at the end it was super shallow and you could duck too go further in. We spent about am hour and a half photographing the cave. It was so cold that our camera batteries were quickly dying and my phone died so I don't have many from inside on my phone. Willie, Alan, and Aaron liked the other cave better, but I enjoyed this one a lot because I could take many more abstract shots. I should also mention that the cave yesterday had beautiful columns which made it very interesting. This cave did not, so it was nice to see the differences. I sat in the front of the massive truck that took us out there so got to talk to Oscar for the whole time. He gave me great recommendations for dinner in Hofn, which we knew was known for langostine and for where we could go for the hotter potters (hot springs!).

After the tour, we made our way to vesterhorn, where we were hoping to shoot the aurora and the sunrise. This was the furthest east we were traveling. Though I wish we could do the whole ring road we don't have the time.

Dinner was in Hofn at the kaffi hornid, coffee cabin, known for their langostine. All three boys got that and I had salmon because the langostine was super expensive! I still tried some and it was delicious. My meal was terrific and the chocolate dessert was incredible. By far the best meal so far!

After dinner, we filled up with gas and headed to vesterhorn, about twenty minutes from hofn. 

When we arrived we drove out onto a little peninsula to find the best angle to shoot from. As we were exploring, the aurora started going off so we grabbed our gear and started shooting. What an amazing sight they are. The greens, reds and purples are just unfathomable and so awesome. Aaron and I started jumping up and down in awe and excitement!

They died down a little while later so we decided to try and sleep a bit as we knew it was supposed to get stronger. We woke up almost every half an hour to check. By around 3:30, after Aaron had been outside many times, they started getting really strong. So he grabbed me out of my warm comfy sleeping bag and outside I went. We stayed out shooting until the sun began to rise! It was incredible.