| For me, terms like 'white sand beaches and clear blue | | | | moved on. The great Matanuska and the idea of a |
| water' sounds a little like the beginning of a worn out | | | | glacier experience was mostly forgotten. Until now. |
| slogan, the tropical vacation version of 'order now, | | | | Glaciers actually brought it together. The mountains, |
| operators are standing by'. It may be that I'm jaded | | | | the water, fewer people, open, unspoiled nature and |
| by the over-the-top advertising or maybe I just | | | | someplace we'd never been were the core pieces. |
| imagine a white sand beach with 5000 overweight | | | | When I added glaciers, something new popped up - |
| pasty Americans overrunning it. Whatever the case, I | | | | Iceland. We wanted something different and exciting |
| don't want the same old thing. | | | | and we were going to get it. Yes, it is more than |
| My paradise is different. Since it's a Honeymoon | | | | slightly north of the equator, with not so much of |
| paradise, the most important element of course, is | | | | the fruity drinks. |
| my significant other. For me, that's all the people I | | | | There was to be one other benefit for me, too. |
| really need. I want to spend time with my new bride, | | | | Among the elements of an Icelandic adventure, I |
| and share some experiences that are really different. | | | | could squeeze in the guilty pleasure of a tour in a |
| We have beaches and fruity drinks in California, and | | | | Super Jeep, or in American terms, a monster truck. If |
| picking from the top 10 vacations menu seemed like | | | | I offered my new bride a long weekend trip or short |
| a sure-fire route to sameness. I recoil at sameness | | | | vacation stateside that centered around giant SUVs |
| and thought I could do better for our honeymoon. | | | | and off-road touring, there would have to be some |
| I thought about it. I looked on the web. I talked to | | | | reciprocal girly trip in recent context to pull that off, |
| people. I had always liked the green feeling of the | | | | or maybe some jewelry. In Iceland, I figured we |
| Pacific Northwest, but the idea of a Honeymoon to | | | | could do several things and when I brought up the |
| Seattle didn't really captivate me. I had loved learning | | | | Super Jeeps, she'd probably dig it. ...I still stacked the |
| to ski in Utah when I was young, and have always | | | | deck by setting up a horseback riding day in advance. |
| gravitated towards mountains, but my new bride | | | | How did it go? |
| loves the water (though not necessarily the beaches | | | | The trip was a hit! From the moment that the crisp, |
| in the worn out brochure). The elements I wanted to | | | | clean air greeted us in Keflavik, we were in another |
| include in our vacation seemed to be accumulating | | | | world. We had trailside meals on a quiet mountainside, |
| and I didn't have a plan yet. | | | | bathed in hot springs and heated lagoons (we had |
| When I added something seemingly obscure to my | | | | warmth and a beach, just not in the common way!) |
| wish list, the solution actually became easier. We had | | | | and rode Icelandic horses. We spent a little time in |
| been to Alaska in 2001 on a bicycle ride to raise | | | | Reykjavik too, enjoying the nightlife a bit, but the |
| money for AIDS research and had experienced, albeit | | | | time we spent outside was the best part of the |
| at a distance, the Matanuska glacier. We were | | | | experience. The trip was otherworldly and left us |
| intrigued by the idea of a glacier in person - climbing | | | | wanting to return. Fortunately, anniversaries provide a |
| it, touching it, experiencing a frozen goliath that | | | | great reason to go back! |
| seemed ancient. We had an agenda though, and we | | | | |