Welcome Dinner

After my much needed sleep and two glasses of pinot noir I met with the group to head out for our welcome dinner at Nautholl.  The walk was nice.  I noticed many of the plants and flowers were simular to what we have in Canada although the daisys have much shorter stems.  It was kind of funny, the entire group was walking along the right side of the road where there was no sidewalk so there was a large plume of dust behind each walker.  A few of us noticed a sidewalk on the other side of the road and quickly crossed.  I guess this was my first introduction to the dusty conditions I would be encountering on the trail. 

 

As we walked we came upon a large glass and silver building which I soon found out was the Icelandic University.  I believe it is the only university in Iceland. 

The further we went I thought we were going into the middle of nowhere, suddenly around the corner there was a low building with large panels of glass.  The glass was open and we were treated to the view of a beautiful dining room.  Two months earlier we were asked to make choices for our dinner meals.  None of my dinner mates could remember what they ordered or what was being served.  Neither could I.  All I remembered was there was fish, chicken and lamb, which restaurant I was not sure.  Our salads were brought to us.  Mine was very thin paper like slices of meat with a sauce drizzled on it.  It was delish.  I guess I should have asked what it was and taken a picture but I was ravenous and gobbled it up like the beast in Beauty and the Beast. 



I guess I ordered the Salmon



Dessert: Creme Brule, Vanilla Ice cream and grilled pinapple

  

During our meal individuals at my table introduced themselves and shared a bit about themselves and their experiences with the JIM.  I was astonished to hear that two members at our table were alumni with 4 or more events under their belts. (amazing)



Jennifer and Jeff Salvage



Cynthia our fearless leader got up to start the welcome.  She introduced our trainer Jeff Salvage and his wife Jennifer, then she asked each of us to introduce ourselves, tell everyone where we were from and why we made the decision to join JIM. 

I was brought to tears several times as I listened to the introductions.  Especially Wendy's introduction and her story about her husband Eric.  A year ago Eric was walking with a cane, Wendy would have to do up the buttons on his shirt.  Her love for him shone through as she described how hard it was to see her husband suffer from RA.  With the training and some changes to medication Eric and now walking without a cane and doing so much better.  He nolonger requires help with his buttons and has joined Wendy on this adventure.  I had to wipe my tears and prevent myself from having an all out bawl with hiccups and sniffling because I know what it is like to have to ask someone to help you dress, it a very humbling experience.  



After the introductions we were introduced to our guest speaker Evan. Evan shared his story, and is another alumni with JIM.  He shared how he started and why he started.  More tears formed in eyes as I listened to this amazing mans story.  There are so many people out there who do not suffer from Arhritis but are out there doing things to help those who they love battle this formidable disease.

Picture Courtesy of Jeff Salvage

Our group of 31 individuals, 6 of us who suffer from one form of Arthritis or another raised a total of $220 000.00 for the research and support.  The four or five individuals who have been participating in JIM for 10 years or more have raised an astounding 1.5 million dollars.  It just astounds me the dedication of these individuals.  I am truly surrounded by some amazing people.

After the picture above everyone returned to the hotel, I chose to wander along the shore and get a picture of my feet in the ocean.  Here they are.  So far I have dipped my feet in the Pacific Ocean on the shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands, Stanley Park in Vancouver,the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax and now the North Atlantic in Iceland.  Mind you it didn't take four hours for my feet to warm up in any of the other locations.

Oh yes, I was told Iceland didn't have any rabbits, but look what I found while wandering back to the hotel.  Them's look like wabbits to me!