The Trip of a life time

Several months have passed since our epic journey. I am often in disbelief when I reflect on everything that happened over our adventure. Here's a short recap of our trip:
-Sailed across the Atlantic on a 49' Catamaran
-Enjoyed the posh life of the Mediterranean, and wined and dined in some superb restaurants (thanks to our good ole Skipper!)
-Biked across France
-Camped in castles
-Ran with the bulls in Spain and fought off pick pockets
-Enjoyed many stages of the Tour de France
-Climbed around on the Alps and massive glaciers
-Drove around the entire country of Iceland
-Ate Popsicles with the Prime Minister of Iceland (who I think was recently impeached!)

It was a dense several months.

Eric is now off in LA living with the rich and famous working in Hollywood.

(The above picture is in a row boat we stole for a gentle row around a castle in France)

I am in Raleigh, NC working in commercial real estate development. It seems like there is hardly a day when we don't think back on the many adventures those exciting months held.Quite frequently we would stumbled upon such beauty as the below picture. We were driving through a black desert when a dune dipped down just enough to give us a glimpse of these ice bergs and glaciers. The trip seemed characterized by unexpected surprises, and usually always greater than we could have imagined.There are just a few random pictures from the trip

A few Icelandic waterfalls

(Notice our tent, very small on the shore bottom right)

(Our view camping on night. Its hard to sleep when you look out over that all night. You just don't want to close your eyes.)

Enjoy the rest of the blog. If you have any questions for us shoot us an email:

Jonathan j.dunning.jenkins@gmail.com

Eric eric_mackintosh@yahoo.com

Our visit to a foreign planet

We are convinced Iceland is not another country, it is another planet.
Driving along in our SUV named the Polar Bear, Drew, Eric and I continually find ourselves buried deep in a terrain completely foreign and different than the geography we were just in a few minutes ago. There are mountains covered in waterfalls everywhere...everywhere. The largest glacier in Europe, lava fields, hot springs (Iceland has so much thermal energy boiling under it, it would not surprise us if the entire country just exploded one day), lush green fields, rocks covered think with moss, vast black sand beaches, rock faces that look as if it were impossible for them to form naturally that way...the list goes on and on.


We have trekked off to so many waterfalls and beautiful terrain. I think our favorite though, was talking to a local who gave us secret directions to a natural hot spring next to a river, nestled in the most breathtaking valley, with more waterfalls flowing off the mountains than we could count.

(Above is a picture that doesn't do it close to justice)

The country is littered with off road trails, and consequently, a huge number of the largest jacked up trucks I have ever seen. Iceland begs you to explore and trek off on to rough paths and into no-mans-land. The country´s main road which circles the whole island, actually turns to a dirt road for large sections.

(This is a picture driving down the main road. There are always sheep!)

Last weekend we attended a huge fish festival in a small town that turns from1,200 people to about 30,000 for the festival. The festival is all about friendship and fish, so consequently, there is as much free fish and sea food as you can eat, and people all over the town opening up their homes. The best part of the festival for us was that I really think we may have been the only people not from Iceland there, and most definitely the only ones from America. It was so ´Icelandic!´

We had a few goals on the trip and one was to meet the Prime Minster, or President of Iceland. Not likely of course, but a goal. We found out where both of them lived/worked and we were (naturally) turned away at both places. We were only turned away though, after literally walking right up to the President´s front door of his house and the maid answered. But yet, here we are in the middle of this fish festival in a small town and who walks literally right up? The Prime Minister of Iceland! I saw someone else shake his had while he walked by, and I didn´t know who he was, but after randomly shaking this strangers hand in a suit, we found out that he was the Prime Minister! Our trio and the Minister had a nice chat, and I went back to up him afterwards and talked to him a bit more while we enjoyed Popsicles together. True story...me, the Prime Minister, and Popsicles.


We also stalked, flanked, and caught a sheep which was one of our goals as well. Those guys are fast over Iceland´s rough terrain!


Now in just a few days we head home. So hard to believe. We will put up another post or two, and Eric will definitely be putting more rad photos up when we get home.

Jonathan

We´re in Iceland!!

Paris

We were welcomed to the city of love by my x-bosses, friend's, daughter. This was the only housing this trip we actually had worked out in advance. Helene lives in an apartment as close as you can get to the Eiffel Tower with a perfect view. Her parents house, where we stay, is outside of Paris and in beautiful country side. So we get the perfect balance of the heart of Paris and then being able to relax in country later.

Helene has taken such good care of us. She has prepared many meals (the first night we picnicked right next to the Eiffel Tower), given us maps, phone cards, a cell phone, a car, the list goes on! There were many fun evenings with her and her fiance, and other members of her family. We got to really experience Paris with real Parisians.

Of course we did all the typical things you have to do in Paris as well: visited the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumph, ate at delicious restaurants, and of course (the city of love), had a short romance with the sweet french girl from the bakery.

We fly out in just a few hours to Iceland, where we will join up with the Drew the Man Irwin!

-Jonathan

Relaxing in Style

After the bicycling up that blasted hill, which Eric so loves (and by the way, on the way down, I took a corner too hard and ate it going super fast. Now I have some lovely rode rash, but it was worth it), we again found ourselves so blessed by friends we have made on this trip. Pat, who we sailed here with, has a second home in the Alps, about 80 kilometers from Alpe d'Huez in Bourg St Maurice, and she let us take advantage of it for a while. So after sleeping in fields for a little, we again found ourselves in great comfort in a 3 bedroom, properly equipped apartment. We spent a few days relaxing and hanging out with some of Pat's great UK friends. We almost missed our train out of Bourg St Maurice leaving a small party with our new friends, finding it so hard to pull away.
*Pat you are the best!!! Thank you so much!*

Being close to the border, we hitchhiked through Italy back up to Chamonix, where we met up with one of our friends, got her to get her car, and headed back into Italy for some Italian dinner. It is such a nice concept to be able to just hop across the border to Italy for the day.


Jonathan

Alpe d'Huez

While Jonathan was playing in the sand in Spain, I was in the mountains taking care of some serious bike riding.

Call me what you’d like, but I enjoy riding my bike up big mountains. So upon leaving Pamplona, I decided to ride back over the Pyrenees Mountains into France. After pulling my trailer over the mountain range with surprising ease and time to spare, I turned my attention to some of the toughest climbs in the Pyrenees. I rode over the Col du Tourmalet two days in a row, enjoying the transition from the valley road by the river, up through the wooded areas, then above the treeline into the high meadows and bolder-fields, then up to the cliffs and literally into the clouds before reaching the top, before screaming back down again. It was great fun in the Pyrenees, but all the while I had a single goal in my mind: Alpe d’Huez.

Alpe d’Huez is the stuff of cycling legends. One of the most grueling climbs of the Tour de France and certainly the most famous, every climber in the world dreams winning atop this fabled mountain. I remember being in the middle of the Atlantic day-dreaming about the climb, my boat-mates calling me crazy.

13.8 Kilometers
21 Hairpin bends
3,350 ft elevation gain

Over the years the Alpe has become a proving ground for amateur cyclists, and during the summer months, the twisted road plays host to a constant stream of riders racing against the clock, many of whom require 2hrs to reach the top. By now, the place has become a cycling Mecca.

By the time Jonathan and I reached the bottom, my legs were absolutely spent from Chamonix, and I was in no shape to slay my dragon. Over the next two days, we watched the Tour de France come and go, and I had a great time running alongside the leading riders (I even made it on international TV!). Another day and several dozen bananas later, it was time for me to make my own assault, and by this time, I was ready. What I didn’t expect, however, was any company from Jonathan. He had spent the last two months expressing his distaste for any kind of uphill riding (using adjectives such as stupid, pointless, and the like), and literally laughing at the prospect of riding up the likes of Alpe d’Huez. But the night before I was to ride, he had a sudden change of heart and announced that he would ride as well!

I awoke the next morning feeling nervous with anticipation. My official goal was to ascend in the time of an hour and a half, but deep down, I really wanted to be on the quick side of 1’15”. I started off fast, on a pace that I could barely hold. The steepest bit is at the bottom, and I struggled to crest the knuckle before hitting the wall. I knew I had to concentrate and keep my body right on the limit, but none past. As the road wound farther up the mountain, I nearly cracked with 2Ks to go, but somehow managed to keep it together.

I made it. So did Jonathan!

The times:

Jonathan Jenkins: 1hr 20min

Eric Mackintosh: 1hr 03min

Lance Armstrong: 37min 36sec

-Eric

Chamonix