(Lin) By the time we woke up this morning, most of the campground had emptied out – people were likely off to early flights. A few of us showered and I made a breakfast of sautéed potatoes and ham (the potatoes slices were frozen, purchased a few days ago), plus Skyr (delicious yogurt) and cereal and hot chocolate. It was a gorgeous day — sad to be leaving with such good hiking weather!

We eventually pulled out around 10 am and performed the usual flush out and fill up before stopping by the gas station to top off the diesel before heading back to the rental company, Camper Iceland. There we spent nearly an hour repacking all of our suitcases (that we had left at the company’s office) and cleaning the entire van. Somehow it felt like we had more than we came with, despite eating most of the snacks and food we had brought from home. The rental company kindly provided a ride to the airport, and soon we were through security, etc., and eventually on the airplane for a 5 hour or so flight to Boston. As we took off, we got a gorgeous distant view of the Snæfellsjökull glacier on Snaefellsnes Peninsula, where we had just spent the last few days. We all wished it had been that clear the whole time we were there, but alas — you get the weather Iceland gives!

Ace was delighted to see us again (he stayed with a kind neighbor), and of course our usual beds will feel nice again, but we all noticed how much our eyes were bugging out with the huge living space of our house compared with the relatively small campervan quarters! It’s funny what you can get used to so quickly.

We’ve done a number of family trips together, including two bigger road trips (one in the US for five weeks, and one in Europe for three weeks), but this one ranks up there for a number of reasons. The campervan made it special and was a standout experience, one that we would do again in a heartbeat. But the incredible diversity of Iceland’s landscapes was truly unique – I’m not sure you can get everything from lavascapes to glaciers to fjords to green mossy cliffs to open beautiful highlands to rugged coastal views to black sand beaches all in one small area anywhere else in the world. It’ll be good to return to our normal lives in Rhode Island, but this was really an amazing experience.

Thanks for reading!