Iceland

Once upon a time there was a knitter (Franklin Habit) who blogged about his visit to Iceland.  When I read his blog and viewed his photos, I fell in love with the scenery and decided that someday I would visit.  That someday happened last week.  From July 1-8 my family and I drove around the country, taking in the sights and hiking trails.  We covered so much ground, it is near impossible to write about it all.  I'll just let some of our photos give the highlights.

The iconic Lutheran church in Reykjavik, with the statue of Leif Erikson in front.

Quaint cottages in Pingvellir.

Trail between the tectonic plates in Pingvellir.

Straddling the Atlantic Rift, with my right hand/foot touching the North American plate and my left touching the Eurasian plate.  (bucket list - check!!)

Hiking along the rim of a volcanic crater.

Family posed in front of Grundarfjardarbaer (might be recognized as the Mountain beyond the Wall for Game of Thrones).

Beautiful countryside along the eastern side.

One of the Airbnbs that we stayed in.

Skogafoss waterfall.  One of many that we visited throughout the week.

A cute puffin posing outside his burrow.

An Icelandic sheep ram.  He was a bit suspicious of me when I hoped out of the car to snap his picture.

An Icelandic sheep ewe and her two lambs.  

Fun fact, Iceland has twice as many sheet as residents.  Given how many we saw along the roadside, I totally believe it!

Need I say how excited I was to find this.  Full disclosure, I googled where it was located in Reykjavik and managed to talk my family into strolling by.  Unfortunately, that first evening, we arrived literally just as the shopkeeper turned the lock to close up for the night.

My family indulged me the next morning and allowed me to pay the shop another visit during business hours.

Not sure how it happened but these were stowaways in my luggage.

This trip was a bucket list item for several of us.  It has been 4 years since our big family adventure to Hawaii.  We don't have our next destination selected yet.  Hopefully 4 more years won't pass before we make another epic trip.