So I decided to just start and see how things fall out. Some of the postings will be each or all of those things.
Iceland was the beginning of our European odyssey. That was because of Trout's Icelandic heritage. The Icelanders are great genealogists and that line of his ancestry goes all the way back to those who came from other parts of Scandinavia to settle there.
Trout's direct immigrant ancestors came from an island called Vestmannaeyjar. We didn't find their graves in the cemetery there in Heimaey (the only town), but we did find this monument with their names on it. They immigrated to Spanish Fork, UT along with many others who coverted to the Mormon faith.
This is the monument from several sides.
This is the area near it where most were baptized just down to the water from the monument. If I understood correctly, that enclosed lava pool is what they used. It was not changed by the volcanic eruption in the early 1970's.
His ancestors' names are on this side of the monument.
They are on the 10th line from the bottom, 2nd and 3rd names from the left side.
They are Bjorn Runolfson and Sigridur Sigvaldsdottir.
Of course these folks couldn't have been from the mainland. So the morning we arrived from the States, we rented a car and drove from Keflavik to Reykjavik to fly in a small plane to Vestmannaeyjar. These are some pretty good pictures Trout took from the plane.
It was a high wing and the wheels came out of the wings to land. 
Those aren't clouds below us. They are puffs of steam from geysers.
The weather was very windy and cold. As we approached the island it would be an understatement to say that the plane was being buffeted around. This is not a coastline with flat white sandy beaches. Visualize lots of big volcanic rocks and cliffs. Right behind us an Icelandic girl screeched and gasped most of the way. At one point she shouted, "Oh my God!" in English.This is not the plane we came on. It was much bigger. But this is the airport where we landed.
At first we were supposed to have a private tour, but there were some other visitors from the Faroe Islands, so we had a sort of semi-private tour. This is Trout getting on the bus.
A lot of the tour concentrated on the volcanic eruption. This piece of equipment was lent to the islanders from the US Navy who then had a base in Iceland. It was used to pump sea water to help cool the lava so that it would not totally overrun the town.
I took these pictures as we drove around the island a bit.
This is a lava cone, as if you couldn't tell that. At one time the islanders tried to plant grass to control erosion from the cone. It mostly didn't work.
The ground we saw was primarily lava rock and moss.
In the foreground here is where the lava stopped and is now covered with moss. This is where a big swimming pool used to be.
These are some shots of the cemetery. If you check out the link to the island above you can see photos of it partially covered in volcanic ash.
Not all graves have permanent markers.
These are good examples of family graves. If you click on the picture you can see all the Icelandic names with where they lived on the 2nd line. The houses have names instead of addresses. Our tour guide said that people were often known by their first name and the place where they lived.
Her name is Ruth. Here she is explaining something to Trout.
Pictures of this cemetery often include this angel. They usually make the angel look enormous, but it isn't.
This is the entrance to the cemetery.
We had lunch on the island and our guide tried to arrange for the whole group to see the film about the eruption and recovery from it, but they wouldn't open the theater for us. So Ruth took us to her house. We sat on her couch with her dog and saw the film on her TV. We both were so jet-lagged that we kept falling asleep, but I think we got most of it.
These shoreline is like the area the plane was coming in over. It may actually be that area.
These are a couple of pictures of the ferry after it docked on the mainland.
Okay, now if you've kept up on the timing, it is still September 5th. We arrived at Keflavik airport at about 06:30. We rented a car and drove to Reykjavik. We parked the car at the airport there to take an Air Iceland puddle jumper to Vestmannaeyjar. We took the ferry back to Thorlakshofn. A bus to Reykjavik meets the ferry, so we took that back to Reykjavik. The bus goes to a central area about a mile from the airport. We took a taxi from the bus station to the airport. We got our rental car and drove back to Keflavik where we stayed. This was a good introduction to what was to come later with the variety of modes of transportation.
We arrived at our small hotel in the middle of a big celebration with fireworks. The street our hotel was on was blocked off with revelers. We found a place to park, got checked in and tried to find something to eat, but it was pretty late so we just had soup at the hotel and went to a little grocery store for some snacks.
The bottom is lava rock and very uneven, but mostly smooth. It is not painted. The white is deposits from the minerals in the water.
The water was all around the building.
Here we are after our massages and at least an additional hour in the water. Very relaxed and happy campers.
This is a part of the lagoon that is not now in service. It's on the entrance side of the building.
And here we are showing off the mossy lava rock.
Of course the car we rented was an Opel.
The area southwest of Keflavik is very rural. We decided to take a little drive before it got dark.
What we saw were little farm-type houses, some industrial buildings and this guy.
We couldn't resist the Icelandic ponies.
I didn't take any pictures in town except this one of some typical housing.
We found a nice place to eat downtown, had a nice meal and topped it off with ice cream. So here Trout eats ice cream in Iceland.
Would we go back? Yes, but during better weather and we'd do a lot of driving all over the the country.
At first we were supposed to have a private tour, but there were some other visitors from the Faroe Islands, so we had a sort of semi-private tour. This is Trout getting on the bus.
A lot of the tour concentrated on the volcanic eruption. This piece of equipment was lent to the islanders from the US Navy who then had a base in Iceland. It was used to pump sea water to help cool the lava so that it would not totally overrun the town.
I took these pictures as we drove around the island a bit.
This is a lava cone, as if you couldn't tell that. At one time the islanders tried to plant grass to control erosion from the cone. It mostly didn't work.
The ground we saw was primarily lava rock and moss.
In the foreground here is where the lava stopped and is now covered with moss. This is where a big swimming pool used to be.
These are some shots of the cemetery. If you check out the link to the island above you can see photos of it partially covered in volcanic ash.
Not all graves have permanent markers. 
These are good examples of family graves. If you click on the picture you can see all the Icelandic names with where they lived on the 2nd line. The houses have names instead of addresses. Our tour guide said that people were often known by their first name and the place where they lived.
Her name is Ruth. Here she is explaining something to Trout.
Pictures of this cemetery often include this angel. They usually make the angel look enormous, but it isn't.
This is the entrance to the cemetery.
We had lunch on the island and our guide tried to arrange for the whole group to see the film about the eruption and recovery from it, but they wouldn't open the theater for us. So Ruth took us to her house. We sat on her couch with her dog and saw the film on her TV. We both were so jet-lagged that we kept falling asleep, but I think we got most of it.
Then we headed for the ferry. That was the original plan, and considering the weather, I was very happy about that. It was rough and long and the plane only took 30 minutes, but Trout got to sleep a little.
These pictures are through the dirty and wet windows of the ferry. Vestmannaeyjar is a major nesting area for puffins. It was too late in the year to see them (September 5th) but we did get to see what they leave behind in their nesting spots.
These shoreline is like the area the plane was coming in over. It may actually be that area.
These are a couple of pictures of the ferry after it docked on the mainland.
Okay, now if you've kept up on the timing, it is still September 5th. We arrived at Keflavik airport at about 06:30. We rented a car and drove to Reykjavik. We parked the car at the airport there to take an Air Iceland puddle jumper to Vestmannaeyjar. We took the ferry back to Thorlakshofn. A bus to Reykjavik meets the ferry, so we took that back to Reykjavik. The bus goes to a central area about a mile from the airport. We took a taxi from the bus station to the airport. We got our rental car and drove back to Keflavik where we stayed. This was a good introduction to what was to come later with the variety of modes of transportation. This is some of what we saw while on the way to Reykjavik from Thorlakshofn. It was cloudy, rainy and getting dark.
We arrived at our small hotel in the middle of a big celebration with fireworks. The street our hotel was on was blocked off with revelers. We found a place to park, got checked in and tried to find something to eat, but it was pretty late so we just had soup at the hotel and went to a little grocery store for some snacks. That was probably okay because we were both trashed. The only sleep Trout had had since Thursday night in Albuquerque was a couple of hours on the ferry. I had a few hours on the flight from Minneapolis to Keflavik. All the advice I read said to try to stay up all day when you arrive in Europe early in the morning, then go to bed at your normal time, so we did our best to follow that advice.
We still slept late the next day. We had appointments for massages at the Blue Lagoon the afternoon of the next day, but they contacted our hotel and told us to come earlier. A combination of sleeping late, the reschedule and the place taking longer to get to than we were told, made us late, so we didn't get our full hour, but what we got was great. It's a good thing we didn't do that the first day or we would've been out immediately.
So here are some pictures of the Blue Lagoon. I doubt that there is any place quite like it anywhere else in the world. Although it looks like people are up to their necks in the water, it is not deep. They're sitting or squatting down.
The bottom is lava rock and very uneven, but mostly smooth. It is not painted. The white is deposits from the minerals in the water.
The water was all around the building.
Here we are after our massages and at least an additional hour in the water. Very relaxed and happy campers.
This is a part of the lagoon that is not now in service. It's on the entrance side of the building.
And here we are showing off the mossy lava rock.
Of course the car we rented was an Opel.
The area southwest of Keflavik is very rural. We decided to take a little drive before it got dark.
What we saw were little farm-type houses, some industrial buildings and this guy.
We couldn't resist the Icelandic ponies.
I didn't take any pictures in town except this one of some typical housing.
We found a nice place to eat downtown, had a nice meal and topped it off with ice cream. So here Trout eats ice cream in Iceland.
Would we go back? Yes, but during better weather and we'd do a lot of driving all over the the country.Would we rent a car again? Definitely. It's pricey, but mandatory if you want to really get out into the countryside. There is no train, so the only public transportation is by bus, plane or taxi.
Why did we stay in Keflavik instead of Reykjavik? Convenience mostly. It's closer to the Blue Lagoon and it's only about 10 minutes from the airport. We had to be there 3 hours early for our flight to Frankfurt. It's about an hour drive into Reykjavik.
Why didn't we spend any time in Reykjavik? We didn't have enough time or interest, and Vestmannaeyjar took precendence.
