Day 2 - Friday, August 30, 2019 - Hornillos to Castrojeriz - 12.6 miles - What a Magical Landscape - 12.10 miles - Total miles to date - 25.07

I want to shout it from the rooftops, “GET OUT OF YOUR CARS, SLOW DOWN AND REALLY SEE THE WORLD AND THE PEOPLE IN IT!!!!” You are missing sooo much. As in every adventure Sally and I concoct, we make sure a car is not part of it. We want out!

I can hear some saying, “But, what about your VW camper van, that’s a car. A+ for vehicle identification, but using it to vacation in is way down on the priority list. Driving in a car is such an isolating experience. The occupants view the world thru glass as it whizzes by while seated in a chair. TV is the same thing-the world seen through glass while sitting in a chair. 

We walked about twelve miles again today, through three small towns, open fields of harvested wheat, past sunflowers stretching their necks at the sun, alongside small streams and under rows of trees lining the road. It took us 6 hours. We could have driven it in 24 minutes. What a crime that would have been. We felt the cool air of pre-dawn morning evaporating the sweat from our clothes under a star filled sky. We noticed each nuance of air movement as it stirred itself to life with the rising of the sun. We took notice of the subtle odors of the fields of harvested grain, a distant bakery, damp earth or whiffs of sea salt tainted air. We watched the world around us turn from jet black dark to faint dusk to muted light to glowing sun rise. We heard the absolute quiet of the early morning, the rustling of the stubble of wheat standing in the field, far off cry of morning doves and the sound of distant laughter as fellow pilgrims caught up and passed us on the trail. The beauty of all this is magnified 100 fold because it is all happening in unison, like a grand symphony for the senses and the soul. The touch of the cool breeze on the skin, the advancing light and the whispering sounds of air through vegetation combine in full orchestration, nourishing the soul. All of this is lost when enclosed in the glass and steel of a car. This is why we chose to leave the car behind. 

Yet this is only one aspect of the experience. The fascinating people we meet along the route, the gentle pace that allows one to understand the folds of the land, its relationship to the water that falls upon it, how the air flows over it and the uses man has found for it all come to light with a walk through the countryside. And these details are lost to sight at 60 mph! An exquisite flower tucked in the fold of the hills, the peculiar rock that seems out of place, the talkative babble of a stream working its way downhill, the sudden cool air found in the bottom of a draw. Irreplaceable experiences.

So again I say, “Get out of your cars!” You are passing by the wonders of the world.

We were up at 4:30am this morning, both of us done sleeping. We packed as stealthily as possible, then tiptoed out the door at 5:15am, hoping we did not disturb the 30+ people sleeping in the same house.

We walked up the street to the outside tables of one of the three eateries in town and sat down to eat our hard boiled eggs we had prepared the night before, and a banana.  Breakfast done, we were off.

The route climbed 400’ over 2 miles to the top of the mesa. We accomplished this in the complete darkness of a moonless sky. The stars shone brightly in the center of the sky, but dimmed to extinction at the horizons due to moisture in the air.  Once on top, we walked four miles of nearly level ground, following single lane gravel roads through the stubble left from harvested grain. At 6:30am, the faint glow on the eastern horizon heralded the coming of the sun. This faint glow added nothing to the general illumination of our surroundings, so we continued by headlamp as the air around us slowly began to illuminate. By 7:00am we were able to switch off our headlamps and travel by the morning glow. The sun poked over the horizon at 7:45am, its light welcome, the unwelcome heat it brings was not yet detectable.

About a half a dozen people passed us with the coming of the sun. Two of our favorites, Ferrari and Renault passed us for the second morning in a row. Renault gave his friend the name Ferrari when they passed us yesterday. Ferrari is 69 years old and maintains a swift pace as his trekking poles “click, click” against the ground. He named himself Renault, a self deprecating description of himself. We laugh and joke when we see them, us in English, they in Spanish and Romanian.

At about mile 6.5 for the day we entered the small Spanish village of Hontanes.  The trail begins to descend off the edge of the mesa into a draw. Nestled in this draw is Hontanes. About 100 vertical feet below the mesa and just after entering the paved streets of the town is an open air cafe with outside seating, good music (at 7:30 in the morning?) and tables and chairs. We stopped in for Sally’s morning Coke and sat next to Ferrari and Renault. Some jokes and laughter ensued, then they were up and on the trail. We followed about 5 minutes later.  The route wound down through the town, filled with albergues, and empties out in a river bottom that drains the mesa. This we followed for the next 5.5 miles. Along the way we encounter the “town” of San Anton, home to a “hospital” built in 1046AD to accommodate pilgrims and help those with St. Elmo’s Fire and Leprosy. A castle was built on the spot in the 14th century. Much of the castle and the cathedral remain as ruins. It houses an albergue which is reminiscent of a hippy colony. We stopped in for a minute, then crossed the street to a ramshackled outdoor facility to get Sally another Coke. Here we met the Spanish version of a burned out, philosophical Vietnam vet. He sold us a coke, then gave us a slice of watermelon each for free, then gave us a lesson in philosophy of life for 10 minutes.  To his credit, he did listen when we spoke, and did not try to hold us when we decided to leave. Truly a unique character.

While sitting with our “vet” I saw Sandy and Regina pass by on the road. When we finally got to walking again, they were about 300 yards in front of us. We did not try to catch them, but they stopped a few times and we finally caught up. We asked if they had seen our Spanish family. We were sure they would have caught up with us by now, but they said they were way back.

We walked the final 2 miles to the albergue with them, enjoying their company. Just as we were entering town, dad, Maximo, of our Spanish family caught up with us.  We were so worried we would get to town, hole up in an Albergue and not see them again.  As it turned out, he was headed to the same place as us, his family trailing a kilometer behind. By the time we negotiated with the proprietor of the albergue, the rest of the family arrived.  We hugged and high fived as if we had known them for years and were seeing each other again for the first time. What a wonderful family. At Albergue Rosalia we reserved beds for the night, then did a quick shopping trip to the store for bread, pasta, green beans, cookies and nectarines. We tried to exchange our US dollars for Euros at a local bank, unsuccessfully. I suppose it would be the same if a European walked into the Toledo bank with Euros, wanting to exchange them for greenbacks.  They said no.

Back at the albergue we cooked pasta and green beans for lunch, then kicked back the rest of the afternoon, writing, showering and visiting an ATM.

About 6:00pm we decided to walk around town a bit, despite the 92° temperature. We visited the cathedral in town and enjoyed the coolness of this massive stone edifice. While inside we encountered Jim, a Presbyterian minister from Michigan.  We got into Trump and politics and expressed our mutual disdain for that despicable man. After we left the cathedral we headed up town a bit to see what was there. We met Judy from Toronto on the way and talked with her for a bit, then stopped into a hiking store and bought Sally some trekking poles. This shop was in an ancient stone building facing the town square run by a very old, very sincere man, who wanted to talk. We struggled with the language barrier but what we felt from him was more important than his words; caring and sincere hopes for our success on this walk.

We headed back to the Albergue because there is a bar below it and Sally had a hankering for a glass of wine. We entered the bar, ordered a glass of wine and bottle of water (2.30 euro total bill) and enjoyed the locals as they came in for their nightly gab session. The TV in the corner was set to a 80s music station and the bar tender sang along with all the songs. Very adorable. We returned to the cathedral to get our credentials stamped then back to the bar for another wine. The bar was quite full by this time, so we moved outside to a bench. There we met Maximo, Gonzalo and Alba. Sally still had half a glass, yet Maximo insisted on buying her another glass and me a water. We enjoyed some potato chips and the wine and water. Sally reached for her wine on the stone bench next to her and knocked it to the cobblestone street where it shattered. Sally was embarrassed for sure. True, she was on her third glass of wine, but that didn’t play into the accident. Tilted stone bench and confusion of many people played a greater role. Maximo, Gonzalo and I picked up the broken glass and the singing bar keep brought out a new glass of wine, said it happened all the time and not to worry and life went on.

Last night the Castillo family invited us to dinner, but we had already eaten and declined. We regretted that. Tonight they again invited us. We were not going to make the same mistake twice. We immediately said yes. The delight registered on Maximo and Gonzola’s faces. We returned to the common room of the Albergue with them and enjoyed their company. They had been busy devising a plan to keep us with them. 

Pedro, Alba’s friend had to return home. His parents had driven to pick him up. Madara (the mom) rode back to Burgos with them and got their family car that was parked there from when they started (same day as us). Madara would drive half the distance tomorrow, then switch with Maximo who would drive the second half. Sally could ride the first half, second half or the whole thing. What kind and thoughtful people!! We decided to have Sally skip the first section because of a 600’ ascent of a ridge. She would meet us 7 miles along, then hike the rest of the way. I cannot begin to explain how much it meant to me that they would go to such lengths to keep us with them. We had been loath to lose our friends Regina, Sandy, Ferrari, Renault, The Castillo family and others by not walking to the town of Fromista with them. Now we could stay together. 

We got to bed about 10:00pm. We were sharing a room with 4 others, and they were asleep. We snuck into our shared room as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake them. Quickly, we were asleep.

As different as this is from the PCT, there are many commonalities. The people on the trail and those supporting them are kind, interesting, helpful and fun to be with. Everyone is open to new friendships. The big differences are the terrain and the language barrier. But with the right attitude, the language issue is fun and informative. The terrain is as hot as Southern California, but full of wheat and sunflowers rather than sage brush. So glad we are here.

Renault of Romania poses with us before dawn. 

Sally enjoys the trail side cafe

The sea shell is the symbol of the Camino. It is seen everywhere in all kinds of incarnations. 

The signage makes navigation a no brainer for the most part. 





San Anton. The arch goes over the road and trail, built in 1046ad. 

Spain’s version of a philosophizing Vietnam Vet. 


The kitchen in our 10€ a night Albergue 


Castle remnants above the town of Castrojeriz



Our adopted Family:
Maximo, Pedro, Sally, Chuck, Alba. Front row: Madara, Raul, Gonzalo. 

Day 1 - Thursday, August 29, 2019 - Burgos to Hornillos - We Meet the Castillo Family- 12.97 miles

There were elements of today that reminded me of our first day on the PCT five years ago. We had about 13 miles to walk. It was supposed to be very hot. There is little to no shade. The remedy?  Start early before the sun has a chance to roast you. The problem?  The albergue we were in locked the doors until 6:00am. We would have liked to start at about 5:00am, but we were locked in until 6:00am. 

We got up at 5:15am and very quietly stuffed our sleeping bags and packed our packs, trying not to disturb the 24 other people on our floor.  We could hear the rustling sounds of others doing the same as us, and no matter how hard you try to be quiet, any sound at that time of the morning is a bother to those that are still trying to sleep.

We walked down to the lobby at 5:50am, used the bathroom for a final time, then headed out the door into the dark at 6:05am.  Once outside, we saw the source of much of the party noise that had infiltrated the albergue most of the night. Across the cobblestone street was a park. There were still about 30 young people there partying and raising a ruckus.

It was warm, even in the dark at 6:05am, about 60º. The high was predicted to reach 88º today, too hot for comfortable hiking. We turned right out the door and started up the street. Sally had read that getting out of Burgos can be a bit confusing as the route twists and turns through the old streets, and she was right. I was using Guthook’s trail guide on my iPhone to guide us. This reduced the route finding problem to zero.  We found our way through the town, across the parks and out into the surrounding fields of sunflowers and grain crops without a hitch.  The symbol for the Camino de Santiago is a sea shell and there are brass ones imbedded in the sidewalks, Iron ones molded into the wrought iron railings and stenciled paintings on building and signs. Yet, as I navigated through the twists and turns with my GPS we looked for these markers and rarely saw them.  It might have been the dark that obscured them, or they just are not that prevalent. Whichever, we were soon walking gravel roads through farmland. 

We were not alone, although we did not expect to be. We had 6 people in view in front of us and a dozen or so coming up from behind. Due to the threat of hot afternoon temperatures we moved steadily, only stopping two or three times to grab some water and get a nibble to eat. At times the trail wove between the freeway overpasses and on/off ramps. Other times we were on gravel farming roads. We moved about 2.5 miles an hour, looking over our shoulder to see the approaching dawn and the coming of the sun.

Just after sunrise a Spanish family of 7 caught up with us, mom, dad, daughter (Alba-age 16), two sons (one named Raul-age 12) and a cousin (age 18). All were excited to practice their English on us, so they slowed down and walked with us a couple hours. Alba had excellent English skills and we were able to talk with her. The cousin was 18 and entering university in the fall. His English was also quite good. Raul was just entering middle school. Their middle school math and history is English immersion, yet he was quite capable of communicating.  Mom and Dad were about as good at English as Sally and I are at Spanish.  The miles went by quickly as we stuttered and struggled to hold a conversation. Yet, it was all in good fun with a lot of laughter at the frustration of the inability to communicate even the simplest ideas.

Sally and I slowed as we began an uphill section and they soon moved ahead. They were stopping in the same town as us for the night, Hornillos.  We had a little bit of a climb, just a couple hundred feet over a distance of a couple miles, followed by a quick drop down to Hornillos.

We stopped at the top of the drop to get a bite to eat. It was now nearing 11:00pm, the heat was starting, but with downhill all the way to the town we felt food was more important than speed, so we stopped for some raisin and nut bread we had purchased the day before and some cheese.  While stopped the people that left Burgos after we did started catching up and we were soon surrounded by 20-25 people.  I met Peter at this time, with his son Andrew and we enjoyed talking the 2 miles down into Hornillos.

We stopped at the first albergue in town. Here we found our family checking in. We took a private room for 45 euro rather than taking two beds at 10 euro each. We had covered 13 miles in 5 and a half hours and a quiet place to rest seemed important.

Our room had a private bath with shower. Sally lay down on the bed to rest and I hit the shower with my shirt and underwear on, washing clothes and body at the same time. Once out, I worked on this blog. Sally showered, then climbed into bed and slept until about 3:30pm-a much needed rest. While she slept I walked the length of the town (one street, about 1/4 mile long), bought a Diet Coke, and settled in the common room downstairs and met Sandy and Regina.  These college roommates of years gone by are walking the Camino. Regina is retired, Sandy not yet. I enjoyed about an hour of comparing lives and adventures before waking Sally. We headed out for dinner about 4:15pm, first buying some eggs to hard boil for the morning, then walking up and down the main street (only street) of town. We settled on dinner at the first place, sharing a salad, fries and a steak. As we were waiting at the counter to order, Regina and Sandy walked in and joined us at our outside table. They had beers while we ate and another hour of the day passed too quickly. They headed up the street to a “Moroccan” place (there are only three places in town) while we headed back to the albergue. 

Once inside we began boiling our eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast in the communal kitchen and sat in the communal living room when the father of the Spanish family came in and sat down. For the next 2 hours we again practiced our respective languages on each other, trying to get to know each other, trying to learn more of the others language and making plans for tomorrow. The rest of the family filtered in and we soon had a communal bilingual gab fest where Alba did a great job interpreting as both sides struggled to understand each other. They kept inviting us to eat dinner with them, but we had already eaten and tried to explain that to them, but eating dinner before eight o’clock is so far beyond their culture they could not understand. When the 18 year old cousin finally understood he exclaimed, “Good God!! Dinner at 5:30!!”  Regina and Sandy had entered the room and conversation a few minutes earlier and we all roared with laughter. When we excused ourselves to get to bed early again came the startled cry, “Good God!! So early!!” It repeated once more when we told him we would be rising at 4:30 to beat the heat expected tomorrow (90°).

What a great start to the adventure. Great walking and scenery. Wonderful people enroute. Comfortable lodgings and good food. 

On the trail with directional sign behind. They are everywhere along the route.



Chuck shows the starting point for us, Burgos. Sally points to the end, Santiago de Compostela.




Our albergue is the first building on the right




Hornillos is a one street town, one house deep on either side. Albergues and cafes are their only industry.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019 - Burgos, Spain

Amazingly, I slept well last night inspite of the fact that sleeping from 9:00pm to 6:30pm Madrid time is 1:00pm to 10:30pm Toledo time. But, I was tired, my body needed the rest and it didn’t seem to care what time of day it was nor where it was.

Sally was up an hour before me showering and getting ready for the day.  We had purchased some pastries last night at the grocery store next door and had those for breakfast.  Our bus back to the airport from the hotel left every 30 minutes. We picked the 7:35am and arrived in the lobby at 7:20am to let them know we wanted a ride.  There was already 12 people waiting for a ride when we arrived. A representative of the hotel asked which Terminal we were headed to (4). She moved us outside and soon a taxi pulled up and whisked us away to the airport. There were four of us in the car and not enough room in the trunk for all our luggage so I rode with my pack on my lap.

At the airport we had about an hour and a half before catching our bus to Burgos. We got Sally a Coke (no Pepsi in sight) and took a table to wait. Outside, we waited for our bus. It was a few minutes late, but soon we were boarded and on our way.

I was impressed with the bus, it was very new and super comfortable, although they did cram a lot of seats in so the leg room was far worse than an airliner. The highway between Burgos and Madrid was excellent; a beautiful divided four lane highway with stylish guardrails.  The countryside reminded me of eastern Washington-rolling brown hills dotted with houses.

We pulled into the Burgos bus station about 11:45am. It was a circular area with a pipe infrastructure supported roof. We exited the bus station into a bustling town with many, many pedestrians going about their business.  The cathedral was plainly visible across the river and we made our way in that direction, backpacks on our backs and a bag in our hands. The cathedral is very impressive, a UNESCO world heritage site and considered the greatest example of a gothic cathedral in the world. It is modeled after Notre Dame and from the outside appears exactly the same.  Later in the day we toured the inside. It is very ornate with many side chapels off the main nave. A treat worth visiting.

We made our way to the albergue (hostel) behind the cathedral and took two bunks at 6 euros each. We were on the 2nd floor and found our bunks (255 & 256) were in a room all their own, although there were no doors on the room. It used to be the laundry room, but they removed the machines, capped the pipes and put in bunk beds. It seemed like we had won the lottery, at least until later in the evening when we returned from dinner and found the lights on, yet no way to turn them off.  They are wired into the hall lights and are controlled by the people that run the hostel. We wanted to get to bed by 8:30pm. Unable to turn off the two can lights in our small room, I lay on the top bunk bathed in bright light, unable to sleep.  I devised a blindfold about 10:00pm, convinced by this time that the lights would be on all night. I peeked out from under my blindfold at 10:20pm to see the lights were off.

For lunch we had Tapas at a bar on Calle de San Lorenzo, a side street somewhat hidden from the rest of us tourists. We took a walk, then returned to the room for Sally to take a nap.  I used the time to write, take small naps and check out our hiking route for tomorrow.

I woke Sally up at 4:30pm. We toured the cathedral, then began a search for our anniversary (42nd) dinner.  In our search, we met Elaine and Nigel from England. She was a hoot and soon together we were searching for a restaurant to satisfy our wants. As is to be expected in Spain, most of the restaurants were closed until 7:30pm. Elaine and Nigel were willing to wait, we wanted to eat early so we could get to bed. We parted company and searched until we found a Tapas bar that served mussels. We ate them smothered in peppers, pickles and olive oil (our favorite) and steamed.  We also had potatoes with a white garlic sauce. Delicious.

A quick walk around the squares and back to the hostel for our two hour bright light torture session.

A word about Burgos.  The area we were able to visit adjacent to the cathedral was beautiful. It was reminiscent of Rome with one open square after another dotting the adjacent area, some with fountains, some without, all car free and teaming with pedestrian, yet there were not any crowds to speak of. People were friendly and kind.  The area was super clean without tagging.  My first impressions of Spain are excellent. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - Meeting Expectations

Where did I leave off?  Oh yes, we were sitting in the airport in London waiting for our flight to Madrid. We boarded on time, finding our plane to be about half full. This plane was in serious need of maintenance. As we rolled down the runway we heard a cracking noise as if someone had left a baggage door open and it was banging against the body of the plane. When the wheels retracted after take off it sounded as if metal was being ground off to get the doors concealing the wheels shut. When we finally pulled up to the jetway in Madrid to unload and shut off the engines it sounded as if someone or something were hacksawing off the landing gear. 

Jet lag was not the problem at this point, just a lack of sleep. It was now 1:50pm Madrid time. That’s 5:50am Toledo time. We were feeling tired. Sally slept the entire flight to Madrid. I was lucky in that I had a row of empty seats to stretch out in and I dozed. We found our way out of the airport to ground transportation. A bus to the Ibis hotel arrived as if on cue. In we hopped. We stopped at terminals 1 & 3 before arriving at the hotel. Once in the hotel, Sally slept most of the afternoon. I wrote, organized stuff, washed my shirt and showered before taking a brief rest. We hit the street about 6:00 pm and found a street side restaurant in the Barajas town square. We had a glass of wine (Sally) and a Diet Coke (Chuck) at the first restaurant, then moved next door for a bite to eat. Here we met Rob and Evon, formally of Australia but for the last 15 years living in China and teaching English language business classes. They had just finished the Camino de Santiago for the second time. We had a very enjoyable time with them, talking about long distance walking, work in China and the Camino in particular. They teach 3 hours a day, 4 days a week for 16 weeks, then get 10 weeks paid vacation. They have been long distance walking all over Europe and Ireland. At the mention of Ireland I mentioned Derek Cullin, the professional adventurer I hiked the PCT with last summer. Rob is an avid follower and knew of Derek’s battle with giardiasis. He was fascinated that I was with Derek at that time. What a small world!  We exchanged email addresses before we parted for the evening. 

On our walk back to the hotel I spotted an Orange telephone store and stopped in to buy a SIMM card for my phone. The clerk spoke zero English, but with my very little Spanish we worked out the details. I got 25Gb of data and 80 minutes of talk time for 20€. It lasts only 28 days. Sally and I will have to pull down a few movies to use that much data in 28 days. 

Since we lost our shampoo and creme rinse at the security checkpoint at Heathrow we stopped into a grocery store to buy the replacement bottles, but all were too big to pack for a month of hiking. We will have to search elsewhere. Back at the hotel I installed my SIMM card and activated it. It was now 9:00pm and time to catchup on some sleep. I was out by 9:15 with Sally following shortly thereafter as she spent some time reading about what to see and do in Madrid. Tomorrow we bus north to Burgos where we start walking west toward Santiago

Monday, August 26, 2019 - An Unexpected Meeting

I have to admit, there is an element of this day I have been dreading. The flight?  No. The airline food? No. The layover in the terminal between flights? No. It’s the jet lag. That all over body tired that accompanies shifting the internal clock nine hours ahead in the period of a 14 hour flight. I remember Versailles in 2015 and Rome In 2017. Those first 24 hours on the ground where local time is 10 in the morning and your body knows it is 1:00 in the morning and is crying out for sleep. You push through until evening, struggling to stay awake so you can force the hands of your internal clock forward, like pushing a reluctant lever forward against great resistance. Eventually it moves, but it is painful in the process. 

We were up at 4:15 am this morning, showered, breakfasted on toast and loaded into Jackie’s car at 5:05am. Traffic was abundant but moving. She dropped us at the airport at 5:40am. We had already downloaded our boarding passes so went straight to TSA precheck. The line was long, but moved quickly and we were soon on the secure side of the airport. We took the shuttle to the south terminal, found our gate and settled in for the hour and a half wait for our flight. 

About 25 minutes before we were to board, Sally and I simultaneously looked up and in unison spotted a familiar face and astonishingly said “That looks like Ruth Scott!”  Ruth was my next door neighbor growing up in Seattle. As kids we used to put on plays and make movies for the neighborhood kids. She became involved in the Park Service in Olympic National Park in high school and has never looked back. She has built a career there, working her way up to head of wilderness for the park. There is not a sweeter person on the planet. 

We called out her name and she quickly recognized us and came over. We chatted through all the boarding announcements, ignoring all the instructions. We knew we were at the back of the plane and would board last. We just kept an eye on the line as we talked and when it dwindled to nothing we finally rose and boarded the plane. 

Ruth was only two rows behind us, but in a crowded plane it might as well be at other ends of the aircraft. About 15 minutes into the flight I heard “Chuck!” and turned around to see Ruth standing and addressing me. “The seat next to me is empty. Come sit back here.”  I gathered my carry-on bag and was soon seated two rows back. 

Ruth and I had a wonderful couple hours of catching up with news of friends, family and adventures. It made for a quick first leg of our journey. She was on her way to a wilderness conference in Michigan, catching a short hop out of Detroit. We, of course, are headed for London and then onto Madrid. 

Upon landing we said goodbye. Sally and I walked the length of the Detroit airport to get to gate 54 for the flight to London. An uneventful 3 hours passed quickly and we soon boarded. As is our usual experience with buying cheap tickets from Expedia, we were in the last row of the plane. However, we were surprised to have a window and aisle seat next to each other. It was a wide body Airbus with a 2-4-2 configuration, so we had a little world to ourselves in the back of the plane.

What can you say about a 6.5 hour plane flight? It was light (and raining cats and dogs) when we left Detroit and light when we landed in London at 6:40am. In between it was dark as we raced eastward at about 600 mph.  In PCT terms, that’s a month of travel an hour. Fast.  The center row was vacant-three marvelous adjacent seats to stretch out on.  Even though my internal clock said it was only 4 in the afternoon, the darkness and quiet of the plane convinced me to have a go at a sleep. Didn’t sleep much, but rested well for an hour as I stretched out to my full length.  I relinquished the “bed” to Sally which she took over happily.  She says she didn’t sleep during the two hours she reclined, but the time went really fast for her, so I think she nodded off.

We landed in London at 6:40am, and made our way from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 via bus. We were surprised that we did not have to go through customs or any kind of security check upon entering Britain. Everyone we asked said unless we left the airport there was no need to, so we found the Iberia Airline ticket counter, got our boarding passes for London to Madrid and went through security-England style.

It was an interesting study in contrasts on how one country secures their flights compared to another. Here in London we had to remove all liquid and gel containers and put them in a separate plastic bag that they supply. This plastic bag full of liquids is then placed in a bin. Our packs came through the scanner “ship shape and Bristol fashion” but the tray with the liquids was bumped aside to be inspected by a very dedicated person.  She checked the size of each container. If it exceeded 100mL, even by a single mL she threw it away, after apologizing for having to do do. We lost two 4 oz bottles, one of shampoo and one of creme rinse and a tube of Shoe Goo.  They met the US requirement, but 4 oz is 118 mL, so to the dust bin they went.  As you can imagine, this slowed the process tremendously. It took us about 15-20 minutes to clear inspection after we had been body scanned as she thoroughly went through every bottle and electronic device.

Of course at this point I should stop writing because I am discussing Tuesday’s events in Monday’s blog post, but the two days melded into one, plus on Toledo time, all this was taking place on Monday about 11:00pm even though it was 8:00 am in London. I’ll close and continue the saga on tomorrow's post.

PS: If you noticed my postings are a bit longer than usual, blame the keyboard I decided to pack along with me.  Much easier to use than typing with your thumbs!  

Sunday, August 25, 2019 - Camino del Santiago-All Prepped and Ready

 It is nice to have time to prep for a trip. Over the past few days, Friday and Saturday, we have pondered each aspect of our upcoming walk, reviewed each item of clothing and gear and calmly contacted friends and acquaintances who have walked the Camino de Santiago about details and specifics. With 24 hours before we fly out of Seattle, we are both content with our preparation. 

Yesterday, I got into the thick of TSA regulations as to what you can and cannot take on a plane. We are not checking our packs, saving us $60 a bag, yet, Sally was hoping to take walking poles. I searched to see if they could be carried on. The TSA website said no. While wading through their list of what is and is not allowed I noticed that camp stoves can be carried on. This surprised me as they are made of metal and I suspected could be wielded as a weapon. Of course, the fuel is not allowed, but the stove itself was. We were not going to carry a stove due to the need to check it in a bag, but this new information changed my mind. I stuffed my pot and stove in my pack. Later in the day I texted my PCT friend Derek from Ireland to get his opinion about carrying a stove.  He had walked the Camino de Santiago earlier this year, and is currently walking all over Ireland. He came back with an emphatic not necessary. So out of my pack it came. 

It is fun to communicate with Derek because he uses the voice recording feature of Facebook Messenger. I enjoy hearing his Irish accent and the positive tone of voice. For this communication he was walking down a road in Ireland about midnight, explaining details about the food and coffee available on the Camino and giggling about how dark it was as he walked. It is always good to hear from him. 

Where are we off to?  Northern Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrim route for Catholics dating back centuries. Why?  Well, it is a perfect fit for us. Exercise, someplace we haven’t been, long distance-long term trip (25+ days) and lots to see and do along the way with tons of people for Sally and I to interact with. The weather will be a little bit warm (mid 80’s in the afternoons) but we don’t mind rising early to beat the heat. We mapped out days with about 10-15 miles of walking, allowing us to cover about 350 miles in our 28 days on the road. We are not carrying a tent or stove and will sleep in alburgues (hostiles) each night, subsisting off food we buy along the way (bread, meats, cheeses, eggs and fruits and vegetables where available) with a meal out each day. No camping gear nor food makes for a light pack and pleasant walking. We are excited to get started. 

Today, we drove to Jeff and Jackie’s house to play with Juno and Robby for the day. However, it didn’t all go quite like that. Yes, we did play with Juno and Robby for a time while Jeff and Jackie went to Home Depot to look at a temporary carpet for the living room in their house, but when they returned Jeff got the bug to remove the brickwork in their living room that the pellet stove they sold on Market Place had stood. This fire protection edifice consisted of a brick wall 5’ high and 6’ wide anchored to the stud wall with 4 - 16d nails and a 4’ x 6’ brick base. We grabbed some of the cardboard boxes from the wood flooring we installed last week, folded them accordion style and placed them in front of the wall. With a little coaxing, we were able to pull the wall down in one piece. Instead of slamming onto the floor, it gently crushed the boxes as it settled to the ground. Once again, I found myself wishing we had a sledgehammer. With a claw hammer, we pounded on the wall while prying on it between the bricks with a crow bar until it broke into pieces we could carry up to the pickup. Once the wall was out of the way we broke up the base brickwork and lugged it up the stairs. A quick going over with the shop vac and Jeff was ready for carpet. They hope to have it measured on Friday with installation next week. 

We spent a little time rearranging Sally’s pack, getting everything organized and in place for easy access. We have to be at the airport at 5:30am, so we were in bed in the van by 8:45pm.