Day 207-leaving Iceland and coming home

Once of the last things we did was tear
down the black plastic bag shades we
had used to keep out the midnight Sun.

   July 29-We tried our best to clean out the fridge of breakfast food this morning.  Sally cooked up bacon and eggs and we ate as much skyr as we could.  Then, we finished packing our bags, Shan did some final cleaning, and Sally washed the dishes that we had dirtied.  Emma, Pálmar, and Þórsteinn came over to pick up some of the stuff that we have bought over here but will not take back to the States, such the sleeping bags, food, and a step-stool for the bathroom sink.  We could not put off our good-byes any longer, so we thanked them for everything and hit the road.  We are so thankful for them and the other wonderful people who we have befriended in our short time over here.  Everyone asks us what we will miss when we leave and our new-found friends certainly top the list.

Emma, Pálmar, Spencer, Alex, Joslyn, and Þórsteinn, as we are about to leave the apartment. 

   As we drove to Borgarnes, it still did not feel like we were really leaving Bifröst for the last time.  We have driven that road and the one to Reykjavík so many times that it felt like any other trip that we have taken.  Nonetheless, we knew we were leaving, so Sally and Shan talked to the kids about the problems of reverse culture-shock on the drive.  Since we each spent a year studying abroad, we have dealt with it before, so we are hoping to lessen the shock for the kids.  We explained that their friends are not likely to understand the “life-changing” experiences that they have had.  They also need to be aware that their friends’ lives have not been held in a state of stasis while they have been gone, and they need to appreciate that changes have occurred in their circles of friends as well.  We are not sure that they quite understand the problems that will crop up.  We tried to impress upon them that they should turn to each other and to us when they need to talk about Iceland and it seems that no one else cares.  In the age of Skype, they also have the possibility of contacting their friends in Iceland relatively easily.

We left our trusty stead of these past seven months, the Toyota Corolla, in the long-term parking lot.

Marilyn and Pam followed us out to the airport with the rest of our baggage. After we checked in, we told them good-bye. These good-byes were certainly the easiest, since the distance between our homes in Gunnison and Laramie is inconsequential compared to the distance between Gunnison and Iceland. 

We went through security without any problems and did a little duty-free shopping. Sally turned in a large number of receipts for refunds of the VAT tax on her woolen purchases, and then we headed through passport control. The plane we boarded was named Hekla, after the Icelandic volcano that is one of the two "known" gateways to Hell.  We hoped that this did not bode ill for our flight........

Those seats were comfy!

   We bought the tickets for this flight back in February when we were checking airfares and discovered that the business class tickets were actually cheaper than any of the economy class tickets.  The best we can figure, someone keyed in the wrong numbers.  Apparently, not many people took advantage of this mistake, because the seats we reserved got moved into economy class and we got scooted forward in the plane.  This actually was even more advantageous, because it meant that two of our seats were suddenly in the seats usually reserved to the “Saga” (1^st) class, where Alex and Sally sat for the first part of the flight.  Spencer and Joslyn sat in the aisle and window seats of the business class, in which there is a center seat, but it contains cup holders and no people.  Shan sat in the exit row in front of the wings and was the only one in all six seats (actually, four seats, since it was also considered to be business class.)

There was tons of leg room and no other passengers in the exit row, so Sally and Alex joined Shan.

   We had free access to the interactive on-board entertainment system, so the kids zoned out in front of the pop-up screens for most of the flight.  We adults also took advantage of them and watched two movies.  We also got free food, which made the eight hour flight a little more bearable.  Overall, the distractions allowed all of us to keep our minds off of the fact that we were leaving Iceland with no idea when we might return.  

This was the view of the former U.S. military base at Keflavík as we took off.

Our final view of Iceland before we entered into the clouds was the eastern tip of the Reykjanes peninsula. The steam rising in the distance emanates from the outflow pond of the Reykjanes geothermal power plant.

The clouds parted briefly as we crossed Greenland, allowing us some nice views of glaciers and icebergs.

The skies also cleared once we got to the United States. Here is the parched ground of eastern Colorado. 

   Once we got back down to the mid-latitudes, we finally got to see some pretty cumulonimbus clouds.  It felt good to be back in the land of thunderstorms, even if we did have to get routed around one particular monster parked in northeastern Colorado.  Another one hit DIA shortly after we landed, so we got to see some lightning and experience that unique smell of rain from a thunderstorm.  It was a nice welcome back to Colorado. 

An even better welcome awaited us once we made the trek through passport control and customs.

Shan’s parents and his sister’s family had come out to the airport and were waiting for us in the terminal.
His nieces, Kailey and Stacia, had made this small banner and hung it on the railing in front of them.   



As can be seen in this picture of Spencer, Joslyn, Stacia, and their grandmother, everyone was happy to see each other. It really helped remind us that there were lots of good reasons to return to Colorado.

    With the extra help, we easily got our bags out to the original trusty steed, our Dodge pickup, which Shan's folks had kept while we were gone and had brought up to the airport.  We were thankful to have such a big vehicle again, since we were able to get all of our bags into the bed of the pickup!  We drove back to the Fritzes’ house and ordered in Pizza Hut pizza.  Shan’s folks also brought up some corn-on-the-cob that they had picked from a neighbor’s field, so we cooked some of those as well.  Eating this food and drinking a Summer Shandy on the Fritzes’ patio in our shorts in the evening definitely made us feel like we were back in Colorado!  Our decision to stay up late at night these past couple of weeks in Iceland appeared to pay off pretty well, because we were able to stay awake fairly easily until it was bedtime, and it was only a few hours after we had been going to bed in Iceland.