October 2018, Iceland

The Auroras

 

Since I was a kid, I always said I wanted to see the Northern Lights

 

Honestly, we were not sure if this one was going to happen. We went to Iceland hoping this would happen but knew it may not. The time of year dictates your chances and in early October is was less than 50%. The days are split basically in half that time of year between light and dark and when you consider it could also be overcast then your odds drop significantly. In a way we were not expecting it. 

One night we decided to drive north of Akranes up the coast to the town of Borgarbyggð just on a whim. The landscape of Iceland is otherworldly. We really just wanted to get in as much of the visuals as we could. By the time we got to Borgarbyggð the sun had long set. At this point there was no sign of the lights. We grabbed a few things to eat at a convenience store since everything else in the town seemed to be shut down, filled up the gas tank and headed back to our AirBnb. 

On the way home we noticed some cars erroneously parked along the side of the road. It seemed odd they'd be parked in such a desolate area on a pitch black road - then it hit us! The Lights!!! We quickly found a place to pull over and jumped out and there they were, dazzling the night sky. The picture we took don't do them justice. They were much more amazing to see on the dark lonely road in Iceland - once upon a time.