There have been a number of unexpected events surrounding the planning of this trip.  Volcanos: “no big deal” was the word from IcelandAir.  737 Max 9 groundings: only listed for the return trip, so worry about that later.  And the airline recently changed our departure airport from BWI to Dulles.

Then had our own snowy weather coupled with the usual traffic backups on I-95, so we decided to leave plenty of time for unexpected events.  And, it’s a good thing we did.

Paul was going to move the car to the top of the driveway, but came back in saying the battery was dead and he needed the battery jump starter.  That did the trick, so with the car still running, he set out to get a new battery. Last thing we wanted to worry about was a dead battery when we returned to long-term parking from our trip.

We were about to leave the driveway when the female mail person appeared down our icy hill and became very stuck on her way back up.  Paul spent some time trying to get her unstuck, with a few nearly-made-its and lots of dirty slush to go around, but no success. At this point, the neighbors were helping as well. Knowing there were more capable hands on the task, we felt okay leaving her in the ditch (which sounds bad, doesn’t it?)

Finally on the road, we were making good time until we got nearer our destination and encountered the dreaded “there is a backup on your route caused by an accident”. With only a few more miles to go, our traffic slowed to a crawl for at least 30 mins.  We finally boarded the plane and settled in for the overnight flight with a one-hour layover in Iceland.

While we were in the air (but before Iceland), Paul was planning to add a concluding comment for our travel:

Despite whatever challenges are presented en route, none of it can diminish one of the great thrills of modern travel: going to sleep in mid-air and waking up to another country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

But the trip wasn’t over yet!

Our plane arrived a half hour ahead of schedule to “winter weather conditions” at the Reykjavik airport.  No terminal gate for us.  We deplaned on the tarmac and were bussed in.  All this took a good bit of time, with just enough left to pick up a yogurt and head to the connecting flight to Glasgow.  Again, back on a bus and out to a tarmac boarding area.  Once everyone was on board, the takeoff delays started, waiting for de-icing.  First, one hour delay.  Then, a second hour.  Finally, we took off 3.5 hours late.  (In case you’re wondering, there are tarmac delay rules that airlines should follow. For domestic flights, it’s a 3 hour limit, but international it’s 4 hours, so someone was watching the clock to get the plane out in that time.) And, then let’s not forget the pair of crying babies.  You knew they would be all in on this long delay, right?

I asked Paul if he wanted to re-do his earlier words of travel optimism and he said, “it’s still worth it.”

Here are a few photos from the airport.  We’ll check back on Iceland on our way home.