Winter Travel Plans

I'm all about the travel planning - book early and get everything nailed down. This works well until you find out minor details like your family is moving to another continent. Sooooo, our Texas to the Smoky Mountains Christmas is now morphing into a Griswold transcontinental holiday that includes 3 flights on 2 separate airlines to meet at 1 fabulous lodge in Gatlinburg with extended family.

You'd think I'd learn to do a bit more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, last minute wrangling of the travel plans after this bit of holiday rearranging, but no. Today I booked us on flights to Iceland for February break. If you envision "Game of Thrones" beyond the wall where the White Walkers are found, you'd be correct. Some of the scenes from this series have been filmed in Iceland.

It's not a very forgiving place, but that is the stark beauty of it. I get a little shivery just thinking about bitter cold, but I believe it will be an amazing experience so long as no one loses a finger, toe, or part of an ear to frostbite. 

No doubt we'll be buying or borrowing "woolies" to stay warm if we opt for ice fishing or snowmobiling. The Blue Lagoon thermal spa south of the city looks wonderfully warm, but I'm afraid a dip in the water involves shedding a robe and baring our swimsuit clad bodies to the frigid air for this memorable experience. 

I think we definitely need to find a resort that serves round the clock hot cocoa or mulled wine. Maybe throws in some pocket hand warmers and ski mask. And we can't forget a roaring fire where we can all jockey for a spot to thaw.