Camino Dreamin'

Well, here I sit, one year after starting the Camino & I'm still not done! I'm reading Camino blogs with envy, wishing I was back on the road, walking walking walking at my slow pace 20K to the next town. I've been involved in a very hectic case for a few months now, but hopefully, things will settle down enough to let me go back & finish the route in late September or early October.

One Camino blog that I read every day (or at least every time he posts) is this one:
http://whizz-kidz-pilgrim.blogspot.com/

Gareth Thomas is walking from Winchester Cathedral to Santiago, & attempting to raise £10,000 for the Whizz Kidz Charity. Please read his blog & contribute what you can.

I'm taking a time out for the primary season

I am putting my plans on hold so I can do as much as I can to make sure this guy gets elected the next President of the United States:

I'm still here!

I'm in the planning stages for my next trip to the Camino Frances. Because this is an election year in the US, I will probably have to go in May. The presidential campaigns will kick into full gear in September (when I had planned to go) & won't be over until November (too cold). While I am dedicated to completing the Camino, I am also dedicated to returning my country to sanity & electing a Democratic President, Senate, & House of Representatives! /political mode off

I had originally decided to skip ahead to Sarria & knock off the last 100k, but that never sat right with me. So I sat down with a calendar & a map last night & figured that if I could go at least 25k/day, I could walk Leon-Santiago in 13 days. (Where, oh where, have we heard that before?) Now all I need to do is stop getting sick, get off my hind end & start walking.

Walking in my sleep

When I returned home in May from my first walk along the Camino, I had a series of unsettling experiences. Each night in my dreams, I re-lived walking and sleeping each step of the Camino. On my first night home, I was walking from St. Jean to Valcarlos. Second night home, Valcarlos to Roncesvalles. Since my usual sleep pattern has be waking up at least once between 2 & 3 a.m., I would wake up disoriented. The dreams were so real, I woke up with the expectation to be in whatever albergue or hotel I had stayed in that particular day. Most nights, I would wake up & take maybe a few seconds to realize that I was home. One night, however, I was so disoriented, that it wasn't until I got out of bed & turned on the light that I realized I was home. It was very scary waking up, wondering where my friends were & not remembering this "albergue" at all. This time, the disorientation stayed with me for a long time, throughout the day, even though I was able to fall back asleep with the cats piled on top of me. It is interesting to note that the day I reliving in my dreams was the day we climbed the Alto del Perdon & ended up in separate albergues in Puente la Reina.

For whatever reason, I did not experience this sensation when I came home from the Camino in September. I did have very spectacular, vivid dreams each night & still frequently have them now that I am home. Weird.

There's a Dance in the Old Dame Yet: Lillian & "Beza"

Before I tell this story, I want to tell you about the 2 types of young, buff men you see walking the Camino. Most of them would make their mothers proud: they are polite, almost to a fault, and always willing to help out pilgrims who need it or are struggling. I even saw one offer to carry the pack of a Polish woman who had sprained her ankle (in addition to his own pack!). I like these guys.

The other type of young, buff men I don't much care for. They walk the Camino with the attitude that if you aren't young, buff, pretty, carrying 35 lbs & walking 50km/day, you aren't worth the breath it takes to say "Buen Camino." They walk as though they own the path & if you are in their way, they brush right by you & roll their eyes at the thought that someone so old, so unattractive (to them), so out of shape, would dare walk "their" Camino. This is "Buff Guy Type 2" or "BGT2."

With this information in mind, here is my story of Lillian & "Beza."

I never got a chance to get a picture of these two women. I saw them first in Azofra, and then many times the next day on our walk to Santo Domingo. I first came across them resting next to a huge hay stack. They said it was quite comfortable, but I wasn't so sure that I could make it back up if I sat on the ground with them. Of course, they passed me, & that's when they told me their names: Lillian & "Beza," which means "Granny." I saw them again at the bar in Ciruena, where I wisely stopped to get something to drink & eat. We chatted a bit, & then I took off.

Along the way through "rolling hills" (more like mini-mountains to me), I came across two BGT2s. The BGT2s were walking together & snorted at Lillian, Beza, & I (yes they caught up with me; turtles could pass me & I'd be hard-pressed to beat molasses on Christmas morning) while we had some water & chatted.

Lillian & Beza are from Norway. Lillian is Beza's granddaughter & Beza told me her name means "Granny." Beza told me she was 78 & is walking the Camino to show the young guys that the old ladies still have it. This is when the BGT2s chose to walk by & snort. Fools. They obviously don't know any old ladies, at least feisty ones like Beza.

It wasn't long before Lillian & Beza got ahead of me, but I didn't mind. I thought I'd see them at the albergue & talk with them some more. As we walked up & down & up & down (God, those hills never ended!), I noticed the BGT2s were walking slower & slower. Heh heh. That's when Beza put it into "granny gear" & hot-footed it up the highest hill, passing the BGT2s as if they were standing still. When she got to the top, she raised her arms in victory, a la "Rocky." I cheered & then began my own long, slow climb to the top of that damn hill.

I too passed the BGT2s & they looked shocked & chagrined that they had been beaten up that hill by an old lady. Good. Maybe she turned them into the other type of Camino Buff Guy.

I hope & pray that when I'm 78, I'm as spirited & feisty as Beza!

Finally got my pictures organized

It took some doing, thanks to my computer repeatedly freezing up at the wrong time. I hope you enjoy the show!

Pilgrims on horseback

Whenever you watch a John Wayne movie, one thing you can always count on is that sometime during the film, he'll call someone "Pilgrim." I had often heard & read about pilgrims on horseback, but never saw one. I did, however, see lots of horseshoe tracks once I started in Logrono.

It wasn't until San Juan de Ortega that I actually got to see pilgrims on horseback. There were about 5 of them, on beautiful horses. The youngest one told me that they lived in Logrono & were going all the way to Santiago on horseback. On the day that I saw them, they were headed towards Burgos.

I took a few pictures & grabbed a shot of one of the pilgrims on horseback sneaking a cig. The way he was standing & what he was wearing reminded me of John Wayne & the Marlboro Man, Camino-style.