Returning to the US

 We head to the changing rooms a couple of hours later all rested and

relaxed before a big flight.  The going out of Iceland part feels way better than how we came in.  We return the rental car and apparently I didn’t kill the transmission, so we’re good to lug our luggage to the terminal

because shuttles aren’t running due to COVID.  We get in to the terminal and have no trouble checking in, getting the bags checked and the attestation for the US Government gets completed by IcelandAir because we’ve shown our proof of

testing.  John gets some Cuban cigars at the duty free while he can, Oscar and I run into Kim and Rodney to hear about the end of their trip.  We also find out from a fellow traveler that US flights are leaving from some hidden terminal and gate that they announce right before the

flight and people can’t make it in time.  So, we’re suitably warned and head to the cafeteria for food.  Fish and chips seems to be the big item and can I just say….maybe the best fish and chips I’ve ever had is at Keflavir airport.  I’m serious.  Maybe the bath made us all hungry, but we

 inhaled that food like there was no tomorrow.  Again, it feels reassuring that everyone around us has also had to test to even be on the plane or most likely in the airport at all.  We head down to the secret terminal to get close to it because you go through customs again.  They announce

that the flight is indeed down here, back where we deplaned in the bottom of the airport.  We’re the first ones through and Oscar gets to play with a car down there while we talk with our fellow travelers heading back home.  The flight home is uneventful until Oscar falls

deeply asleep.  It’s 10pm in Iceland by the time we land in Chicago at 6pm and it’s understandable, but he is deeply asleep.  I’m not sure how we’re going to get him through customs.  I’m already thinking ahead to when the last train in Chicago leaves Millennium

station to get back to the car, how long customs is going to take….blah, blah, blah.  Well, customs is a breeze.  We go straight up to an agent and get waved through no problem, they don't even check our negative COVID test results.  We’re through to baggage claim in the

time that it takes to walk there, which is a miracle.  The luggage is taking a while though…..and taking a while, and taking a while.  Finally, some cases come down for the IcelandAir crew and first class…..and then nothing.  After an hour and several upset passengers including me….they tell us that lightening has shut down the airport.  Really?  Lightening.  After getting through customs in

O’Hare in 3 seconds flat, we wait two hours for our bags.  I want to just leave them, but we brainstorm what to do from here because we’re not going to make our train at Millennium station.  I ask John on a lark how much a taxi or Uber costs out to Indiana Dunes train station and it’s not

 that bad.  To get straight back to our car….it’s worth it.  We finally get our bags, bid adieu to our new friends from Green Bay and head out to our Uber.  And when we get outside, we finally understand why the baggage is so late.  They were not kidding about lightening.  I have never seen the sky light up so much, so often, and for so long. It’s crazy and our Ukranian driver has a moonroof in the car that makes it practically a convertible.  A panoramic roof that we get to watch the light show around the

Hancock building, around Willis tower….Oscar is awake now for the whole drive back to the train station.  The rain starts in Indiana and we’re going to try to head home since we beat the train even leaving Millenium Station.  The rain is awful though and the

lightening continues.  There’s some kind of stoppage on the interstate and we find out when we get there, that it’s because the interstate is flooded in one spot.  It shocks the crap out of us, but we’re through it and Oscar is unconscious in the backseat now.

I can’t do anything but concentrate on the driving in this storm, but it keeps me awake and I tell John to sleep for the next leg of the drive.  I finally have to wake him up to ask when the hell the rain is going to stop and it’s right as we split to go toward Grand Rapids.  And it does stop

finally.  John wakes up in Grand Rapids and we push through to hit the house with our new floors in it exactly 24 hours after waking up this morning in Iceland.  Which means I need another dip in the Blue Lagoon to make up for the travel….

So, Iceland.  The food was expensive, but not horribly when you only really eat one meal out.  We had breakfast at the farmhouses which were phenomenal....ate lunch on the go from the store bought stuff and then had dinner to pay for.  Our farmhouse stays were really bed and breakfasts that you would spend a ton more money on in the US and the car rental

included when the pandemic has caused cars to skyrocket was a super good deal.  Every tour we did we loved, every bath and pool we did we loved, emailing and getting responses from Hey Iceland immediately and having the wifi hotspot in the car all the time with the itinerary was great.

   The weather for the majority of our trip was amazing.  Can't really complain about much of anything.  Be aware that you will swelter in the rooms from all that geothermal heat coming in.  If you can drive a manual car, you're golden.  We went into this trip with high expectations 

because everyone has talked up Iceland and it actually exceeded those expectations.  We got to see almost everything we wanted to, got a good feel for what we need to come back and do again, and found out that we need a hot pot in the backyard.

I know it's called the land of Fire and Ice and we got to see both, but what we saw most was rainbows.  I think that will always remind me of Iceland now.  So, our hot take: run, don't walk

to Iceland.  Especially during the pandemic.  No crowds to fight and a really safe country to feel good about visiting right now.  We can't wait to go back, next time in winter to see the Northern Lights.