A rainfall, a windfall [ferry > Landeyjassandur -- 13mi ]

I was killing come time over coffee awaiting the afternoon ferry back to the mainland, but the skies brought intermittent downpours all afternoon. Knowing there was much of nothing for miles after the mainland's ferry harbor, I figured I may as well kick it at the coffeeshop and see what the weather was gonna do later, catching the evening boat instead.

Cafe Vinaminni

The boat ride was uneventful and the skies were dry overhead, but a rain front was moving in from the east. I opted for an alternative route via some rural gravel roads, hoping to skirt the leading edge of the precipitation. After about 10mi I lost that race and pulled over to suit up in my raingear... it wasn't too bad and I figured I'd still ride another 3-4hrs tonight. Just then a pickup truck rolled up with a slightly older rural gentleman at the wheel.

"Hello. I am farmer. My farm is 2km further, if you like, come to my house. I have coffee."

I wasn't even wet yet, but it'd be preposterous to pass up an offer like this. So after a minute of confused chatter about where I was heading, I followed him back to his farmhouse for that hot coffee. Finally, a connection with a real Icelander!

With the coffee came milk... milk from his own cows out back. I have never tasted milk like this- so creamy and smooth, lacking that slightly acrid flavor that even good organic store-bought milk always has. It was served in a glass beer pitcher, and I downed an entire mug of it before bothering with the coffee.

"I hate America," he was quick to assert, "Not the people, but military and government. I think maybe 95% of the people are good lives, but maybe 5% are terrorist to rest of world. What do you think?"

And he was genuinely searching for some honest input. I told him I more-or-less agree, and we became fast friends. I suppose he figured he wasn't likely to turn up one of those 5% of wrongdoers pedaling a touring bike down his rainy gravel road at 10pm...

After a few cups of coffee and a slice of chocolate cake, it was time for the tour of his farm. First stop, however, is "special house" (the tool barn) for a few sips off the bottle of Jameison whiskey. Today is a celebration, he said, because he'd finished harvesting his biggest winter wheat crop in years and today had gone to town to collect his payment. All I'd done is waste my afternoon in an island coffeeshop, but if he's happy, I'm happy.

Then it was time to visit the cows who'd squirted out the amazing milk in my belly. Half were just peacefully chillin' in the barn, and the others were out grazing in the field. His system was automated, but this is a legitimate small-scale milk production where the cows are healthy and (hopefully) relatively happy; they're definitely respected. He kept stressing the color of his cows.

"In America, cows for milk are only black and white, Holsteins. In Iceland, we have many, many colors!"

"Farming is hard work. But if you work very hard, make good money. No work, no money." It was a bit of a paradox coming from a man who also claimed to be one of the first Communists in Iceland and would later show me a framed photo of Lennon (not the Beatle.) But he'd done well for himself and was understandably proud of what he'd accomplished. He would be retiring soon, and his son will be taking over eventually.

The farm has been in his family since 1806- he's lived there for his entire life and his love of the farm and his land was palpable as he pointed out over and over the names of each and every volcanic peak that created the jagged horizon. Most striking is the perfect view of Eyjafjallaokull directly to the east- the one that erupted in 2010 and canceled over 100,000 airline flights. Luckily his farm hadn't been inundated with ash or floodwater.

Now it was time to drive out to see his crops (but first another few sips in the "speial house.") His main crop at this time was something he didn't know the english word for; the leaves looked and tasted a lot like kale but he said he'll later harvest the stalk that grows in the middle to use as protein feed for his cows. So who knows, but the young greens were tasty.

Do I want to see his horses? 60 of them. Sure, why not. We bounced along a doubltrack through the lumpy lavafield in his truck while he talked about how special his land and its setting is. Then he jammed on the brakes and rooted around behind the seat.

"Now we drink beer. I no like cold beer."

'Ok,' I thought, 'nothin wrong with a warm beer.'

"Beer should be open!!" And I realized he doesn't like closed beer.

The post-rain fog had settled in and we couldn't spot the horses, though he assured me that he wasn't lying about having them. "I don't like that I can't find my horses," which I took to mean that he was afraid they'd gotten free or something, and was somewhat dreading an all night manhunt for escaped horses. "They are there, but I don't like to say something and then you not see it. Maybe in morning."

As we lumbered back towards the house, he again lurched to a halt.

"Do you like red wine or white wine?" and pulled out a small collection of unopened wine bottles from behind the seat. The red was a screw cap so the choice was obvious and we each took a pull straight from the bottle. Our nearly untouched beers still sat in the cupholders, but when you celebrate the harvest, better try a little of everything I suppose.

The rain had cleared but it was late and I knew he expected me to stay the night. So for the first time in almost 4 weeks, I slept under a roof and in a bed. It felt odd, as I've really grown to love my tent nest, but a reminder of the comforts of indoor living wasn't bad either.

In the morning I met his wife, and had more milk and coffee with breakfast (Cheerios!) We talked about shifty American politics, where I'd ridden in Iceland and how he thinks I'm crazy for biking here. Before I go, he insisted, I have to take some food for dinner and we went out to the freezer. "You like lamb? Bull? Fish? What do you like?" Given the chance to try some famous Icelandic lamb, it was an easy choice. He returned with two big bags of chops.

"Oh, this is too much. Too much," I told him, thinking more about carrying all the added weight rather than his overzealous hospitality.

"No, you must take. You eat today, eat tomorrow." Pointing to his walk-in freezer, the size of your average bedroom, "It is full."

I packed the lambchops away in between my extra clothes and sleeping bag for insulation. He'd given me so much in just the 12 hours I'd been there, but I think the most valuable thing to me was the chance to really experience a snippet of life on a local farm. I'd been riding past farms for 3 weeks, always gazing at the buildings and farmhouses, wondering what's inside and what that life is like. I'd finally found out, at least this one example.

I wanted to return his kindness in some way, but cyclists don't keep a chest of gifts to dole out. I did, however, give him one of the two Ritual Chocolate bars that Robbie had donated before I left Denver. I explained that my friend makes it in Colorado, that it takes him many weeks to turn a cocoa bean into solid chocolate. "My wife, she loves chocolate!"

I was loaded up and saying my thanks & goodbyes when he interjected, "Wait! I forgot," and disappeared towards the freezer, this time returning with packages of shark fillets and smoked salmon! "I catch by my own hand. Very good, you must take." Holy shit!! Two more Icelandic delicacies that I've been dying to try, but unable to justify the high cost. At this point I actually had to rearrange my panniers to accommodate all the extra food- probably close to 10lbs now. I'd be set for the next few days to say the least, and maybe can find some other Fellow Travelers to reap the bounty.

Funny what a little rain can bring.

Gardar and his wife

An island retreat [Vestmannaeyjar -- 3 days]

Figuring that if I'm spending a month on a big island, I ought to spend a few days on a tiny one. Boarded the 10am ferry boat for the 40min trip to the Vestmannaeyjar Islands just south of the mainland. This is a group of about 15 small volcanic islands formed during the last Ice Age (10-20,000 years ago) although the most recent one, Surtsey, was formed during an underwater eruption between 1963-1966. The largest island, Heimaey, is the only inhabited one and is home to over 4000 people. It's a popular destination for bird watchers and has quite a few of the famous puffins living on its cliffs.

The campground here [there are two actually- Porsheimili is far nicer than the other up the road] is really a great setting- overlooking a cool golf course built into a lava field, the ocean and several small islands; backed by an amphitheater of towering cliffs with swarming birds and a few errant sheep. I ended up settling in for 3 pleasant nights, enjoying the chance to rest, explore, soak and linger at the town coffeeshop.

Porsheimili campground

Early on the agenda was a nice soak at the town swimming pool, with an extra hot hottub. I was randomly given a locker for my valuables, and it was (appropriately) my old courier number from the past 8+ years:

lest I forget my past...

On my second evening as I was heading to the campground's communal kitchen area, a nice Polish couple I'd met earlier were hanging out at the picnic table. Upon my arrival the exclaimed, "Come, we have made you fish! Eat dinner!" This was no joke- they'd been down at the fishing docks trying to buy a fresh fish for dinner. The fisherman must've liked them and said, "We have plenty, here take these two for free" and handed over two big fish (cod and haddock) that were so fresh they had yet to even be packed into the ice chests. Talk about a score for me! We had a little campground feast with several others, and the fish was deliciously grilled with garlic butter and lemon. I'd been intent on eating some fresh Icelandic fish, although was reluctant to fork over the $40+ most nice restaurants were charging for a good seafood meal. Talk about a bargain!

catch of the day

the Chefs of Honor- Mia & Lukas from Poland

The next day I rode the couple of miles down to the southern tip of Heimaey to what is, statistically speaking at least, "the windiest place in all of Iceland." The weather station here at Storhofdi records only an avg of 4 calm days per year and often has winds over 30m/s. It was only a gentle breeze today, however.

Storhofdi

Along the way I watched some killer whales coming up for air as they feasted on fish schools a ways off the coast. I didn't spot any puffins, although I didn't really go searching them out like most visitors do. Guess I've never been much of a bird watcher. Next it was up to the northern tip of the island by the harbor to climb the island's highest point, Heimaklettur, at 283m above sea level. The views were pretty cool, especially of the lava field created by a 1973 eruption that evacuated the island, buried 300+ homes, added 2.3 sq km of land mass and threatened to block off access to the harbor. I'm told some of the lava is still hot enough to light a cigar from the ground, although I did not test this out personally.

sheep ain't afraid of heights!

Lobster Fest 2012 [Hofn]

Pedaled the last few miles into the fishing town of Hofn to check out the Lobster Festival I was told about back at the mysterious free hottub earlier in the week.

It turned out to be pretty fun, although it was an event definitely geared towards locals and not foreign tourists... so the printed schedule and all events were only in Icelandic and I couldn't understand a word of what was going on most of the time. They had some carnival rides for the kids during the day, and at night it turned into a good excuse for everyone else to drink. But the Icelanders are pretty mellow when it comes to drinking; they were clearly having fun but not getting outrageously wasted or being obnoxious. Pretty chill vibe all around.

The local restaurants had a lot of lobster specials on offer- I didn't see any whole lobsters being served but you'd probably have to go to one of the sit-down restaurants for that. Compared to a typical Maine lobster, the Icelandic variety (I'm told) are smaller and tastier. I've been pretty good about only cooking my own food from the grocery markets so far on my journey... and as this would be my first, and in all likelihood last, Icelandic lobster festival.....

....I went a little overboard:

lobster pizza

lobster pylsur

lobster soup & lobster pylsur

As they say in Icelandic, it was "Yammy"

Thanksgiving

When you love to cook, you love Thanksgiving. We gathered with a gang of friends old and new, but first spent the day at home in the kitchen. I made my Thanksgiving standby of homemade perogies. It's something I do every year for T'giving because my dad always wanted perogies with our family's holiday meal. Since I don't have to worry about making a turkey and a million other things, I can spend a day making the dough & filling, assembling and boiling them, and finally sauteing them in my own herbed butter. 

April typically makes homemade noodles in vegetables and broth, also from a family tradition of her own:

Gobble gobble!  Thanks given for our friends, family and bounty!

garden bounty

The early season harvest is winding down now... and the mid-late summer plants are taking off finally. Enjoying a last few rounds of delicious salads while I can! Everything except for the celery in this one came from the garden: lettuce, arugula, radishes, peas, carrots, and herbs. Yum!

Frisco BBQ Fest

We'd been looking forward to making a return to the Frisco BBQ Fest since we made an impromptu trek last year. Luckily I was still feeling pretty alright after surgery, so we got into the car and headed west. Unlike the perfect mountain weather we encountered the first time, we drove through pouring rain all the way up to the tunnel. And unlike the forecast of 71' and mostly sunny, we arrived in Frisco to a blustery squall and cold rain that began within 5 minutes of parking the car. After sipping hot coffee inside a coffeeshop and April picking up a pair of warm pants at a consignment shop, the rain broke and we turned loose onto the tasty offerings. Despite the shivers, we still had a really fun evening of great BBQ and mouthwatering smells in the chilly air!

Evening in the garden

Our garden got off to a wobbly start this year, but it's coming along. We got inspired and ambitious back in early April when we were having an unseasonably warm stretch of spring. So we took our chances and sewed a bunch of seeds a few weeks earlier than we normally do. Soon after, of course, it dropped to near freezing for several nights, followed by a bunch of cold cold rain & hail while we were in Utah, and kind of stunted things. The Utah trip put us a couple weeks behind an ideal schedule for transplanting starter plants. Plus the free starters that we graciously get from Denver Urban Gardens were smaller than we'd expected.

It shouldn't sound like I'm complaining, cuz I'm not. I'm just eager to see growth spurts and be teased with the first blooms of our tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, etc. It'll happen eventually but this growing season is going to take a bit of patience. Summer has finally arrived with consistent temps in the 80's so things should be taking off now.

Plenty of lettuce, arugula, radishes, sugarsnap peas and cilantro already so we are enjoying hearty fresh salads every day. What a healthy, tasty pleasure of the early summer!

Utah bike tour preparations

Getting my trusty Bianchi cross bike set up for this year's Utah tour. Going with full panniers this time after using a B.o.b. trailer on last year's tour. Planning to start near Capitol Reef Natl Park, head through Escalante Staircase, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and back around. 8-10 solo days on the road, can't wait!

Learned a lot during last year's Utah tour so I'm setting up the bike with easier gearing, as well as ditching the clunky trailer. Now I've got a 32-12T cassette, and swapped on my mountain bike triple cranks (44-32-22T) so I can lumber up the steep inclines at a snail's pace, but still make it up. Also a handlebar bag this time around. For panniers I went with the Ortlieb roll-tops in the rear for their full waterproofness, and some larger Axiom's in the front for their many zipper pockets & compartments.

prepping the tour bike

And enjoying some fantastic meals from the garden before I hit the road!

September -- garden harvest taking off

It's been a good growing season, and the bounty is starting to pour in. April's hard work is paying off!

sunflowers bigga than yar head!

our Mitchell Community Garden

just one day's loot

homegrown dinner: stuffed summer squash, kale, beets & beans, fresh salsa.