Reykavik and the Reykjanesbaer

 From here, we go to the rental car agency and wait in line again to

get our car that only I will drive because it’s a manual like every car you rent in Europe….but the problem here is that we can’t find the car.  We go up and down lines of cars, not just Europcars,

but everyone’s in case we’re missing it, but nothing responds to our keys.  And just when I’m heading into the terminal again to demand our car, there it is sitting right outside the door, pulled up for us.  They didn’t tell us that though, so now Oscar and John are with all the luggage in the middle of nowhere and I have the car.  I pull around to where they were, but they’re gone now.  And all I have are the keys to the car, I

didn’t take anything with me including my cell phone.  So, I figure they’ve gone back to the terminal to find me and try to turn around, but can’t put the car in reverse….at all.  I only start rolling forward every time I try

to hit that far right R on the stick shift.  I’m now in the middle of the incoming and outgoing traffic gate for the rental cars and people are just going around me while I’m stuck there.  I finally stop someone and ask them how to back up and the

woman tells me that she had trouble with it too, but they now have a safety feature where you have to push down on the stick shift to get all the way to R.  Well, this at least works and I try to go back to the terminal, but there is only the taxi stand and

only taxis can get in there.  But they let me in and then the taxi drivers want me to leave, but I’m going to find my husband and son and I don’t care what they say.  I leave the car and look for them, but they’re not in the terminal.  Also, I try to go back

out to the car, but now I can’t start it.  So, I’m back in the terminal to talk to the guy I got the car from and he shows me another fucking “safety” feature that won’t let you start the car unless the steering wheel is unlocked.  Great, I feel so much safer now that I look like I can’t

       drive a goddamn car.  But I’m going to start crying soon if I don’t find John and Oscar.  I'm going on 24 hours without sleep and am in a foreign country with no way to get in touch with them, but finally there they are waiting in between the terminal and the rental cars.  I wave them over and tell them to stay put while I get the damn car working and over to pick them up and all the luggage.  We finally leave the airport 3 and a half hours after we landed…..and I’m emotionally overwrought and stressed now because of the car and everything else.  We take a second to get our tablet that has our whole itinerary, wifi hotspot, and maps on it working and the tire pressure light comes on.  Are you kidding me?  But the tire looks fine and we are going to see if this is just a temp thing.  Because, how much can go wrong in one freaking day?