I truly do not know how long I have wanted to go to Iceland, I just have… for a long time. It was on the bucket list. I had seen a photo of the US Navy plane on the black sand beach, it got me looking into it more, from there I uncovered photos of waterfalls, sheep, horses, geysers, landscapes that looked out of this world, I knew I would go. Then over Christmas break 2013, we saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as a family and Anna fell in love with the scenery – much of it was shot in Iceland, the locations we found on this trip. That sparked the interest again. Add in a few years back we tried to take a road trip as a family, we were to head west, take 2 weeks off and drive to Yellowstone. the plan fell part when Barbara’s employment situation took a detour. So a year ago this week we were in NH, a simple quiet lake house vacation, we had just gotten Josie and was a perfect week. This lovely couple owned the house we rented and they came to see us and asked us if we wanted to book it again for next year (would be this week)… and without really thinking about it, I said “No thank you, I think we are going to Iceland.” That was the first time the words really came out of my mouth, the first time the family heard me say it, and the plan began. Iceland in 2017.

And here we are on the last day about to leave, it has been a great trip. Better than great, I feel like this will stay with me in ways I have not thought of yet. It is hard to put into words. I hope more than anything that one day, 5, 10, 25 years from now my kids will look back at this adventure as a milestone. Hell, we all got tattoos. I saw my plane, my waterfalls, sheep, horses, geysers, out of this world scenery and so much more. What started as a once in a life time trip, quickly became a scouting trip for future locations to visit again. Maybe it will be with just Barbie, maybe it will be just me, or a group of friends, or the kids and their families, but it will never be like this trip. The trip we got our road trip, the four of us, 950 miles in 9 days.

As for the photos, I have barely shared any, I have so many more, I was prepared, I knew what I wanted and I got them. I love these photos, yet I left so many here, it is impossible to get them all. I am not sure how to share the ones I have. They will be displayed, I have already been asked – and the answer is yes, I will have some for sale. I would love to have a show for them. Maybe rent a place and put on a true photo show. We will see, and I promise you will get to see them too. I just need time to get the right set in order. For a person that takes and posts photos daily, having a set of photos that need to be worked on ‘later’ is tough. I am open to suggestions on how you would like to see them.

I wish each of you the chance to go somewhere, wherever it is, not matter how close or far, that can add to your story. That is always my goal, add before things are subtracted. That’s the best we can do. Thanks for looking, more soon.

tr/trp