Clothing
Keen Targhee Mid Hiking Boots
Extra In-Sole set
1 pair Flip-Flops
4 pair Polypropylene Liner Socks
4 pair Wool Socks
2 Pair Convertible Pants
1 Pair light weight shorts
4 pair travel underwear
1 Short Sleeve Shirt
1 Long Sleeve Shirt
1 Light Jacket
3 pair light weight undershirt
1 pair thin wool gloves
Set of Long Underwear (hopefully these are not necessary)
Rain Coat (designed to also cover the pack)

First Aid Kit
Needle and thread
Bandaids
Compeed
Antiseptic Cream
Duct-tape
Pain Killers
Finger Nail & Toe Nail Clippers
Superglue
Knee Brace (Hopefully this does not need to be used)
Body Glide Foot Balm
Naproxen (Aleve)
Glucosamine

Electronics
iPhone (will get a Spanish SIM card in Pamplona)
Cable and adaptor
Camino Frances app

Sleeping Gear
Sleeping bag Liner ( basically a sheet with a zipper)
We should be able to get blankets at the Albergues or Hotels
Pillow case
Ear Plugs

Toiletries
Miniature Shampoo
Small soap (from hotels)
Small toothpaste
Floss
Travel toothbrush
Body lotion
Deodorant
Small hand sanitizer bottle
Microfiber towel and washcloth
Sunscreen SPF 30
Lipbalm
Corn Remover pads
Disposable Razor Handle with 5 blades
Toe Sleeves

Miscellaneous
Exos 58L pack
1L Water Bottle
1 empty Propel Bottle (to fill with water)
Sun Glasses
Reading Glasses
Plastic Knife/Fork/Spoon
Tilley Hat
Small Flashlight
Brush (cleaning boots)
6 Safety Pins
8 Clothes Pins
15’ cord
Assorted Zip-Lock Bags
Velcro Strips
Dawn detergent
Scallop Shell from Sanibel Island, FL
2 Tide Pods (Hope to actually use a washing machine sometime)
Cork Screw
2 plastic glasses (we are civilized, and don’t drink from the wine bottle)
Leatherman
Pocket Knife
Walking Sticks (helps to take pressure off the knees and hips)
Camino Credentials
Passport
Billfold
Camino Guide Book
A rock from a Cursillo weekend
The Cursillo Cross

Fully loaded pack weight = 22-25 pounds

A pilgrims prayer found in our Credencial del Peregrino

(our Camino passport which will get stamped along “The Way”)

God, You called your servant Abraham from Ur in Chaldea, watching over him in all his wanderings, and guided the Hebrew people as they crossed the desert. Guard these your children who, for love of your Name, make a pilgrimage to Compostela. Be their companion on the way, their guide at the crossroads, their strength in weariness, their defense in dangers, their shelter on the path, their shade in the heat, their light in darkness, their comfort in discouragement, and the firmness of their intentions; that through your guidance, they may arrive safely at the end of their journey and,enriched with grace and virtue, may return to their homes filled with salutary and lasting joy.

from the Credencial del Peregrino (the Pilgrims Passport)

Live in the moment

Welcome each day – Its pleasures and its challenges

Make others feel welcome

Share

Feel the spirit of those who have gone before you

Imagine those who will follow you

Appreciate those who walk with you today

Buen Camino!

When we told our grandchildren we were going to be walking 500+ miles across a foreign country with backpacks, Savannah (8 years old) asked:

Are you going to be hobos?

The graphic above is from a recommended list of travelers hostels.

I guess we are!

While in Villava at a pilgrims dinner with other perigrinos, Lars from Denmark, told us about three books that have been influential in inspiring people from around the world to walk the Camino. For Vicki and myself, the movie “The Way” by Emilio Estevez, and staring his father Martin Sheen, was our inspiration.

The movie is a drama and not a documentary on the Camino. For Americans and English speaking countries (Canada, UK, Australia) it has been inspirational and responsible for the increase of pilgrims from those countries.

“I’m off then” by a famous German comedian Hans Peter (Hape) Kerkeling, has been inspirational for many Europeans.

Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian , wrote “The Pilgrimage”, which has been inspiratiinal to many from Latin America

Finally, Shirley MacLaine wrote “The Camino, a Journey of the Spirit”, which has inspired many to walk the Camino.

After walking the Camino, Vicki and I have read these books. We found “I’m off then” by the comedian Hape Kerkeling, to be an entertaining and humorous account of his Camino adventure in 2001.

The Brazilian, Paulo Coelho’s  book “The Pilgrimage” we would describe as a “new age spiritual quest”.

Shirley MacLaine’s “The Camino” is the story of her 1994 spiritual and physically challenging Camino. I found it a bit whacky, with her finding herself in past, present, and future realities. However, it was humorous and her commentary on the villages which we walked through was interesting.

If you are considering walking the Camino, we would highly recommend that you watch the movie, and read these three books. They will expose you to the Camino experience, and provide you with a good background to engage in conversation with other’s (perigrinos, trekkers, pilgrims) from around the world!

Delta flight Minneapolis to Paris

Paris…a beautiful city!

We left Minneapolis at 5:00pm on Sunday, and arrived in Paris at 8:30am local time on Monday. After checking in at our hotel located at the airport/train station we took the train to central Paris, where we strolled along the Champs Elysees, walked along the Seine River, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Luxembourg Gardens. Tomorrow on to St Jean!

Vicki getting her first Camino credential stamp

After a long flight and a long day of touring, we slept in and almost missed our train. But we made it! Another long day of travel; this time by trains. The first leg was Paris to Bordeaux, with only 10 minutes between trains we did not have time to tour any of the numerous vineyards we saw from the train. The next leg was Bordeaux to Bayonne. Our train from Bayonne was late and we only had 5 minutes to get to the right track- which we did, however when we got there we were told the train is full and we would have to wait 20 minutes for a bus to take us to SJPDP. While waiting for the bus we ended up having more than 45 minutes to meet and talk to the other pilgrims n the same situation. We arrived in St Jean, the start of our Camino hike, ate our first Pilgrim Dinner, walked the streets and along the Old CIty Wall. Looking forward to starting our walking tomorrow morning.

Sunrise leaving St. Jean, God’s Masterpiece!

We left St Jean early in the morning along with 100’s of other pilgrims. This was going to be a ‘short’ day for us. Thank goodness, because we had no idea how strenuous the trip up would be. The climb was equivalent to walking up 197 flights of stairs over the 6.56 mile trek.

The scenery was breathtaking! What a welcome sign, when we finally turned the corner where we saw the Refuge Orisson. We were pleasantly surprised when we were taken to our room- we had a private twin room! No bunk beds, and just the two of us. We showered, washed our clothes and visited with other pilgrims. We found out this albergue had no wifi. In retrospect, we acknowledge that was good. Rather than being ‘connected’, we were ‘forced’ to mingle. We enjoyed our first real pilgrim dinner experience by continuing to get to know our pilgrim friends during dinner.

Continue reading →

Trail into Roncesvalles

After an early breakfast we started our walk to Roncesvalles. We met up with our new friends on and off as we were walking. We thought this day our Camino walk would be a bit easier on us. Were we wrong! Today on our 14.41 miles, we walked up the equivalent of 230 flights of stairs.
The views were again spectacular! We loved listening to the clanging of the bells that the horses, sheep, and cows were wearing.
There are not many places to sit and rest, but most of us found the lawn around an emergency shelter to be a good place to eat our sandwiches we had been carrying all morning.
After a long incline, we were happy to finally start a decline but found out we still had many more steep inclines followed by hard declines.
We also found that maneuvering around sheep, cattle, and horse poop was another challenge!
Once we entered Roncesvalles, we were beat! We were relieved when we saw the Albergue we planned to stay at- (normally you don’t need reservations this time of year). There was a very long line to get a bed. There are 2 routes to Roncesvalles, and for some reason, many more than the usual number of pilgrims are walking now. We waited for beds and actually got a premium space on the 3rd floor- We later found out this Albergue had so many people, they filled their overflow building! They hosted more than 400 people, but it didn’t feel like that.
We enjoyed another Pilgrim dinner with other folks we have met on the way.
We are having a great time!

Sheep herds along the Camino

Horses on the Camino

Vicki walking through a mine field

Here are a couple of short videos from day 2. Was having a problem inserting and viewing them when we had slow internet.