It was nice to sleep in a bit on our last morning in Iceland and not be rushed. I got up around 8:30. Kristin and I lounged for a few minutes in our matching pajamas before we started the task of re-packing our bags for the trip home. I also finished the blog post from the day before.
We had discussed stopping at a nearby crater for one last hike, but it was raining so we said forget it. We headed back to Reykjavik and found the 66 North outlet store (clothes like the North Face or Columbia). We arrived at 11:50 to find they didn’t open until Noon due to their national holiday for there independence. No problem, we just waited the 10 minutes. Brandon was looking for a shirt he had seen earlier in the trip, but unfortunately they did not have his size. I did however buy a t-shirt.
With nothing left on our list we headed to the airport to drop off our rental car that we have affectionaly named Chuck. We were a little concerned with Chuck when we first met, but he really did pull through for us and got us everywhere we needed to go safely. We didn’t have the exact address for the rental car company plugged into our GPS, but it was located on the old U.S. Air Force base that was there. Feeling comfortable with driving around the old base, we eventually bumped into where we needed to be. We said our goodbyes to Chuck, and headed to the airport.
Checking in was easy peasy at the automated kiosk (no wait) and we dropped our bags at another counter where we all became airline employees. You put your bag on a belt where it weighs it and then you use a hand held scanner to scan the luggage tag. If all is good, the conveyer belt takes your bag away. I had never seen anything like it, but it worked pretty slick. We now had about 3 hours to kill before our flight.
I had seen an ornament I liked at gift shops earlier in the trip, but didn’t buy it thinking I would get it later. Kristin had bought the same one at Gulfoss which is what I should have also done. At the airport I was looking for it, but didn’t see it. I was starting to get mad at myself, but I asked a worker if they had it. She said yes and handed me the last one!!! I paid a couple dollars more than what Kristin had, but I was just happy to get it.
We hemmed and hawed about what to eat and what we should have on the plane, but eventually settled on fish and fries that turned out to be luke warm. All the meals we have eaten on this trip were outstanding with the exception of this one. I also bought a bag of popcorn to snack on the plane.
I think we were a little delayed in leaving, but since it was a direct flight I really didn’t pay that much attention. Three movies and two sitcom episodes later, we landed in Chicago.
We had no issues with getting our luggage or getting back to our car. We did however miss a couple of turns leaving and circled the airport once. Kristin was laughing at the fact that we could navigate around Iceland, but had a hard time finding our way out of the airport.
A quick stop at Culvers and we were home by 10:00pm. So weird after being in the land of the midnight sun to have it be dark by 8:45.
It’s safe to say that this trip has been epic and super memorable. We loved it!!
