Dec 7. I woke at 0600, and roused Merrianne at 0710. This was our last chance to do anything, as we would depart for the airport around noon. Our Collette tour was officially over, so our guide Filippo was no longer with us. That put the Nonstop Travel Agent, Cora, in charge.

We had our final buffet breakfast.

We didn’t really have lunch, just some tidbits like boiled eggs saved from breakfast, and granola bars. Come to think of it, I probably should have stuffed myself at breakfast.

Neal led the procession to the bus stop, which was a few blocks away. I was surprised to see our driver, Marek, who was supposed to take a rest day by regulations. Apparently, he was called back on his day off.

Keflavik Airport was a different place in sunlight with only gentle winds. Security was smooth – no need to remove shoes.

It was hard to find a place for our carry-ons in the overhead bins, as we were nearly last onto the plane. Iceland Air was more strict on baggage size coming into the country than leaving. Two huge carryons, turned sideways and flat because they wouldn’t fit any other way, dominated the bin closest to our seats. But through some rearranging and asking people to put their personal items under their seats, we got our bags to fit. It was the same kind of Airbus 321, by the way – if not the exact same one.

The flight took 7 hour and 30 minutes, leaving at 5 pm local time, so basically we got into Seattle at 1 am by our body clocks. It had been hard to rest on the plane; I was totally wiped out.

Everyone went through immigration, then we said goodbye to all the Hawaii folks, who were staying overnight in Seattle. We had a plane to catch. Once again, our lack of checked baggage was a plus.

We had some food from Sam Choy’s Poke to the Max, which was expensive, but not quite as high as Iceland. I had a Loco Moco, which was substantial with 2 scoops of rice. Merrianne had a wrap.

Got in about 11 pm to San Jose, which was a sleepless 7 am by our biological clocks. Kendra picked us up.