Major news & new plan for my Camino

For the past few weeks, I have been in the hospital battling hemilitic anemia. The doctors tried to control it by medication, but in the end, it turned out that my spleen was the culprit & had to be removed. Damned French ancestry! (just kidding, mes amies!) At one point, my hemoglobin count was down around 4.8. It was a miracle I could even walk at that point. I was finally released from the hospital this past Monday & slowly but surely getting my life back together again. It's a slow process, my docs say, & one cautioned it may be a year before I'm ready to walk the Camino. That's okay, because it's going to take a year to accumulate the amount of leave that I'm going to need to do it!

Were it not for about 14, maybe 15, anonymous people who donated the blood used for all the transfusions I got, I would not be here. What got me through were all the prayers & kind thoughts my friends & family & many others made for me during this time. And of course, my doctors & nurses. I don't want to leave them out because they had a heck of a time with me. I tried to be a good patient, but there were a couple of days that just wasn't possible (like right after surgery).

During all of this, I prayed constantly, asking to be healed so I could finish my Camino. This prayer evolved into a desire to walk the Camino again, this time from Roncesvalles, and attempt to raise one donation of blood for every kilometer I walk. This would be 749 pints, based on KMs given in the CSJ Guide. While it would be nice for all these donations to come from where I live, I know that would be impossible, so I've set no limits on where the donations come from. If you choose to participate, simply go to your local blood donation organization & donate blood, then let me know by posting on the blog. This will be on the honor system, as I will have no way of knowing if you actually did donate blood, but God will know & that's enough for me.

So, hopefully by next September, I'll have enough leave time saved up. And since I always start out with a plan of where I'll walk to each day, here's what I've come up with so far (and as we have seen, this is also subject to change, since I can never seem to stick with a plan once I've got it down):

Roncesvalles (because I'd like to start off with the Pilgrim Mass again)
Zubiri 22K
Cizur Menor 25K
Puente La Reina 19K
Ayegui 24K
Los Arcos 19K
Viana 19K
Navarette 22K
Azofra 22K
Granon 21K (play Quasimodo in the bell tower)
Belorado 15K (might possibly move on to Tosantos because 15K is too short)
Ages 28K (but maybe Atapuerca if I stay in Tosantos)
Burgos 23K (maybe Tarjados so I can stay in Hontanas)
San Bol 24K (because Sil likes it)
San Nicolas 25K (but if not open, Itero, 1K further on)
Carrion 35K (!!! But last time, I walked 6k from Boadilla to Fromista
in about an hour; it's all flat so this is possible)
Terradillos 26K (maybe press on to Moratinos?)
Bercianos 23K
Pte Villarente 23K
Mazarife 25K
Astorga 33K !!!!, but should be up to it by this point
Rabanal 22K Minkey, will you be there? :)
Molinaseca 26K
Villafranca 30K
La Faba 25K Oh I might decide to go all in & get to O'Cebreiro in one day.
Triacastela 26K
Barbadelo 22K (kms are off here, because this will be via Samos, so maybe 25K)
Ventas de Naron 31K
Ponte Campana 16K
Ribadiso 23K
Sta Irene 21K
Santiago!!!! 24K

If I need a rest day, I can take the bus to Burgos from Belorado. While I liked walking that area the last time, I won't miss it if I have to take a rest. At least I will keep moving forward.

If I could only make up my mind

I've been planning my 3rd trip back to the Camino. Sounds easy, right? Just pick up where you left off the last time. Weeeelllll, not so much. So far, I've toyed with starting in Sarria, Pamplona, Leon (logical choice), and Burgos. Why? My best guess is that I have a Gemini moon (according to some New Age friend) & therefore have a hard time making a decision.

I'm seriously considering starting in Burgos so I can get some mileage under my belt before heading up into the mountains again. Besides, I want to see the meseta that I wasn't able to see because my sinuses decided to act up in Sahagun last year, making me take a train to Leon. Since I've already done the touristy stuff in those towns, I feel that I can breeze through & head for little towns a few kilometers away so I can stay at different albergues than I did before. San Bol, perhaps? Hontanas? I doubt, however, I'll be able to bypass the excellent private albergue in Boadilla, unless I'm there before noon. No sense in burning 6 hours of daylight just to dip my feet in the pool or sleep in the hayloft. If I get there anytime afterwards, however, I shall be sorely tempted to stop.

So, now I'm back to curling up with my guidebooks & spiral notebook, planning out my stages (like that's been successful for me!), and checking out airfares--looks like I'll be burning frequent flyer miles this go-round. As for the time, I'd love to go in the fall, but it's an election year in the US. I suppose I could try late April-early May again & pray that it doesn't rain. Hope springs eternal!

And seriously, folks, please check out Gareth's blog & donate to his chosen charity. He's almost to Santiago, but less than 1/2 of the way to his goal. :( Help the children & toss in a quid or two (or five thousand).

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!