Page 43 - 2000 ICELAND

there. Actually we were quite comfortable as it turned out: the sleeping
bags were plenty warm; we were protected from the wind on three sides

and partially shielded on the fourth.

It took a while to get to sleep as we mulled over what we had observed. I
was assured by Kay that it hadn't all been in my imagination. She too had

seen the transformation in the room when German voices had been raised
in song. How sheltered we American children of our generation had been

during those terrible times in Europe. We were saddened by the lingering

pall of anger we had seen tonight and relieved to know we had escaped that
legacy.

Oskar found us in the morning and couldn't believe we'd slept outside.

Thereafter, he referred to us as his Viking Women.

INTERIOR DRIVE CONTINUES

It wasn’t hard to get ready to leave this morning. We were already dressed
as we had slept in all our clothes. Just had to put the boots on, roll the

sleeping bags and liners, and bring the pallets back to the bunkhouse loft.
Breakfast was very speedy and we were “on the road again.”

It was a long day’s drive through more of the same scenery, but it was not
monotonous because it is so stupendous, surprising, and spectacular. The

unrelieved bleakness and solitude made us quite ready for the Icelandic
ghost stories Oskar spun during this leg of our journey - often with those

ironic twists he says the Icelanders love. We stopped a couple time for
“technicals” and leg stretchers, but since it was raining and cold, the stops

were brief.

We did climb one hill with a memorial cairn (for a modern tragic and ironical

love story) at the top and up a second for the view. But when it came time
for the two-hour walk in the rain, a few of us opted out. So we sat in the

bus and chatted. When the walkers returned, they agreed with Oskar that it