2010 Iceland

The carry-on daypack, with contents (mostly camera gear) laid out and ready to pack.

The rolling duffelbag, with contents laid out and ready to pack.

The big backpack and contents, ready to pack.

Flew over my hometown on the leg from Minneapolis to Toronto. Looking down, it struck me that I'd grown up between what were, in a manner of speaking, a pair of fjords. Appropriate, given I was on my way to Iceland.

Somewhere in central lower Michigan.

The first A380 I've ever seen, at the gate in Toronto. The image doesn't do justice to how much bigger this thing was than the planes around it. It turned out to be at the gate two away from my Iceland Air flight, so I got a good view of it from the front...or at least what little bit of it was visible in the window it completely filled. Lucky me, I reached security for my international connection just as everybody who was flying on this giant did. Looked like about a dozen Emirates stewardesses and about a thousand people in all varieties of Gulf-region ethnic attire. All at once. Something tells me airports at which A380s land are going to need to enlarge their screening facilities...

Mmm...whale...

I'm not sure who thought using a mummified lawn jockey to advertise their soup was a great idea, but it didn't make me want to buy any.

Kurt miming the Leif statue in front of Hallgrimskirkja.

Saw their trucks and offices all over Iceland. Turns out it's a furniture company.

In the park near the lighthouse.

A bored-out rock filled with geothermal water, near the lighthouse.

Weird mounds of seaweed near the lighthouse. Either that, or someone's pulli dogs melted...