Happiness is a Way of Travel, Not a Destination

     Well, we made it to the last day of our magical trip to Iceland.  It's been an absolutely wonderful journey to the Land of Fire and Ice, and I think all of us are a bit sad to leave.  Well, Nick is pumped to see the dogs again, and Mike is looking forward to building a fire and watching American football, both things you cannot do easily in Iceland.  All of us are ready for a good, long, hot shower too.

     When leaving towns in Iceland, this is always the sign you see, letting you know that you are indeed leaving the town limits.  It was sad to see our last one this morning as we headed to the airport.

     We got packed up and ate our last breakfast of speed crepes (warm tortillas covered in Nutella and banana slices) very quickly this morning, so we had some time to explore the local town before we headed to the car rental place to return Sharky.  

     Keflavík probably gets more attention for being just a car rental spot and home of the main Icelandic airport, but it actually had a nice downtown with brightly colored houses, a cute little harbor, and a giant's cave.  Giants, ogres, trolls, and sprites are all part of Icelandic legends, so visiting the rustic cave home of Giganta the giant before we headed to the airport was a fun little stop.

These are stacked stones that represent giants, said to protect the harbor.

Drew finally found a door much bigger than him!

Giganta, the giant

     Driving past the moss covered volcanic rocks one last time, I had to get a couple of pics.  The incredible geology surrounding us in different ways, the ever-changing landscapes, the water at every twist and turn, some from the ocean and others from the crystal clear creeks and streams that jogged down from the mountains... every view in Iceland has been spectacular.  We will be back in America in a few hours, and home again to Indiana shortly after that.  It's been a great trip...Drew even said it was his favorite family vacation to date.  Pretty good to hear that from the guy who picked this location.  We hope it helped further plant the seed of loving to travel in all our kids.  We always try to have fun, no mater where we are, but we like exploring this wonderful world of ours as much as we can.  As the saying on the side of our camper said, "Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination."  Goodbye Iceland or "Bless!"  That's how they say goodbye in Icelandic....pretty cool, huh?!