We Leave for the Camino in ONE WEEK
9/20/2019
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Our final preparations are in full swing. We are maintaining our morning walking schedule and wearing our backpacks most days. We notified the bank and credit cards of travel plans.
In Cedar Key we closed up the house and put the garden to bed for a month. |
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We ordered an international travel plan for our phones. Silly expensive at $70 per phone for a month, but that was the best Verizon had to offer us. It gives us each 100 minutes of voice, 100 incoming texts, unlimited outgoing texts, and .5Gb of data.
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Our packing lists are almost complete. We are weighing every item on a kitchen scale and making choices with weight as a primary factor.
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Russ is spraying our backpacks, sleeping bags, and a few other items with Permethrin to discourage bedbugs. Our entomologist neighbor told us it does not kill them, but makes their little feet burn so they go away. We are hoping that it is not needed!
I tried to buy bus tickets today to go from the Madrid airport to Pamplona. The bus is almost full and we would each have to ride with a stranger for the 5 hour trip. Hmmm, probably that is the spirit of the Camino, but I’ll try the train first before I go for it :) Onward!
I tried to buy bus tickets today to go from the Madrid airport to Pamplona. The bus is almost full and we would each have to ride with a stranger for the 5 hour trip. Hmmm, probably that is the spirit of the Camino, but I’ll try the train first before I go for it :) Onward!
We Leave for the Camino in TWO WEEKS!
9/13/2019
Our decision to walk this year was slow in coming. After taking 2018 off from walking in order for Peg to be co-chair of the American Pilgrims on the Camino's Annual Gathering, we thought perhaps it was time for a different type of adventure. In July, we realized that was wrong. Why stop walking the Camino when it still is calling us to come! We just could not stay away.
We mentioned to Pam and James that we thought we would go in October. Pam said Ola! Buen Camino! James said "cafe con leche"! Pam said "cerveza y vino tinto"! James said "We're in!" Decision made. The four of us will walk.
We mentioned to Pam and James that we thought we would go in October. Pam said Ola! Buen Camino! James said "cafe con leche"! Pam said "cerveza y vino tinto"! James said "We're in!" Decision made. The four of us will walk.
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Russ and I have walked only a tiny bit of the Camino Frances in Spain since 2013. Instead we have been walking the sections in France and Portugal. We are eager to be in Spain again. Our goal this year will be to walk from Pamplona to Burgos in about 14 days. Pamplona is at the start of the first elevation below, at 460 meters. Burgos is at the end of the second one, at 864m.
Training
It is hard to train in Florida in the summer because of the heat. Luckily, we had planned to spend several weeks in Star Lake, NY in August. We could walk three to five hilly miles a day there. Sweet! September, since coming back to Florida, has been harder but we have done pretty well. We are walking at least 20 training miles a week, including a 5-mile and a 7-mile, with our backpacks, during these last few weeks. I, Peg, have also been working to overcome "flatlander legs" by climbing the 132 steps at the Devil's Millhopper State Park each week, increasing my number of times down and up each time. I also try to get to yoga at least once a week to stretch out those leg muscles.
It is hard to train in Florida in the summer because of the heat. Luckily, we had planned to spend several weeks in Star Lake, NY in August. We could walk three to five hilly miles a day there. Sweet! September, since coming back to Florida, has been harder but we have done pretty well. We are walking at least 20 training miles a week, including a 5-mile and a 7-mile, with our backpacks, during these last few weeks. I, Peg, have also been working to overcome "flatlander legs" by climbing the 132 steps at the Devil's Millhopper State Park each week, increasing my number of times down and up each time. I also try to get to yoga at least once a week to stretch out those leg muscles.
Pam working on leg strength
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Training in the SOS race
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Walking around the lake
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Walking the Devil's Millhopper
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Gear
We didn't really need to, but we bought new backpacks . . . in pursuit of the hikers holy grail -- the perfect pack. Other new gear also twisted our arms. We will soon determine our packing list and share it and the weights.
We didn't really need to, but we bought new backpacks . . . in pursuit of the hikers holy grail -- the perfect pack. Other new gear also twisted our arms. We will soon determine our packing list and share it and the weights.
Light-weight clothes line
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Field testing
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Preparing our packing lists
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Plan
The planning is a serious part of the adventure for me. We have selected a small "pilgrim" hotel for our stay in Pamplona . . . Hotel Eslava. We also selected albergues for our first two nights on the trail. We reserved at the Camino del Pardon and Casa Maralotz, each of which has a small number of dorm-style accommodations and a couple of private rooms, as well (we hear) as great food and hospitality.
The Camino is on. It will be a slow and easy pace. Already, I wish it could be longer.
The planning is a serious part of the adventure for me. We have selected a small "pilgrim" hotel for our stay in Pamplona . . . Hotel Eslava. We also selected albergues for our first two nights on the trail. We reserved at the Camino del Pardon and Casa Maralotz, each of which has a small number of dorm-style accommodations and a couple of private rooms, as well (we hear) as great food and hospitality.
The Camino is on. It will be a slow and easy pace. Already, I wish it could be longer.