“You guys look like you’re doing well!,” he said, as his group merged with ours. I was grateful it wasn’t obvious. My hips hurt, my back hurt and my toes were killing me. “I’ve got you fooled,” I said with a smile. “What’s going on?,” he asked genuinely interested. It turned out that he was a guide, leading a group from the Netherlands...

Response: we give thanks For lavatories with toilet paper…. For lavatories with toilet paper that isn’t the consistency of gift tissue paper… For lavatories with toilet paper that doesn’t dispense one thin sheet at a time, the size of a cocktail napkin… For lavatories where you can flush the toilet paper. (Seriously. It’s a thing. Ever...

If you’ve been following since the beginning, you may remember that I referred to “a particularly stressful event” that happened at the end of our Camino. This is my story—the good, the bad, and the ugly… As per usual, I hadn’t gotten much sleep. In addition to waking with my personal, metaphorical batteries not charged, I also woke wi...

The last day’s walk to Santiago. Longest Distance is from Your Head to your Heart…

Hi all, Writing a blog was a last minute decision. Literally. I did it impulsively, the day before we left. And I didn’t understand how the system I was using worked. I thought that it would automatically send an email every time I posted. Apparently there is a second step I wasn’t taking. From now on you will receive an email when I p...

(It’s also the longest post! ☺. I’ll post pics later but honestly there’s no way I could capture the Cathedral on my cell phone.) The last day of walking into Santiago was the longest, the farthest day of the whole Camino. Nineteen miles exactly my Fitbit tells me. In the rain. The sight of the Cathedral is just like everyone says it i...

We’re back where we started, in Porto Portugal. It was a 3 hour bus ride to get back to where we started walking 2 weeks ago! I am sooo excited to share with you what happened, what’s happening, and what will happen as I continue my Camino in Virginia. There won’t be yellow arrows anymore. But there will still be good friends to help g...

I woke this morning with a desire to stop keeping stats. Feels like a milestone. A spiritual turning point. And just in time, we are running out of road. Suddenly it doesn’t matter what day something happened, it is not important to keep a log. Besides, I’m not sure I could tell you. “Where are we?,” I overheard a woman asking a man as...

The Portuguese Way is listed as “moderate” difficulty. I’m glad I didn’t start with the French Way.

Stats: The Feast of the Archangels St Michael—Pray for us St Raphael—Pray for us St Gabriel—Pray for us From Tui Spain to O Porrino Spain 29,396 steps 12.31 miles 2636 calories burned Destination: Small albergue with 14 room, 2 bathrooms shared We are on the last 100 kilometers—the “official” part if you want get a Compostela. You need...

Hard to see, select and load photos here… also Pam uses her camera to get pics a lot of the time so hopefully she has better ones than me. Going through and sharing photos is going to be a serious project. We want to make a Shutterfly video. Please hold us accountable! Have I sent a toes pic already? This is old. They are much darker n...

Crossed into Spain today! From Rubiaes Portugal to Tui Spain, Fitbit: 14.75 miles. Stayed at convent which is no longer a convent :( Highs: looking over into Tui Spain from medieval fort in Valenca Portugal. ( I did not like crossing the very high bridge however). Note: Highs and lows go together. Our first Mass on Camino was in a chur...

We got an apartment tonight (stage 9)! Spoiled rotten. Doors. Privacy. WIFI (pronounced weefee in Spain). All the things. Best night yet. More about that later. For now I can send pics!! Sneak selfie preview of tonight with the four of us-can you see the glow?! Follow the flowers, my friends!! ❤

Stage 6 Stats Ponte de Lima to Rubiaes Portugal 13.81 miles, 33208 steps 2934 calories burned Almost 6 hours of sleep! 79 sleep score!! 6th day of 12 day walk, tension between wanting to get to the next town and not wanting it to be over 3 healthy, 1 sick with head cold… to be continued HIGHS (warning there’s a lot of them, and not wel...

Vitorino dos Piães → Ponte de Lima (oldest city in Portugal). Could have spent another day there. Charming. Stats: 12.8 miles, 30,300 steps, burned 2770 calories Stayed at Youth hostel 25 euros each including breakfast Dorm style twin bunk beds , 2 bunks to a room. Shared bathrooms down the hall. Warning: “Hard day tomorrow,”everyone s...

Stats: Almost 14 miles on my Fitbit, approx 14 lbs on my back, in near 80 degree heat, 2300+ calories burned. It’s the farthest I have ever walked in one day. Highs: singing John Denver’s Song “Country Roads,” with amazing friends while we walked together in nature. Crossing the bridge built in the 1100s was another high. Huge smooth s...

Day 3 AKA “Stage 3” in Camino-speak From Sao Pedro de Rates to Barcelos. Stats: Who’s counting miles anymore? It’s a lot. Songs often come to mind when walking for hours on end. I think one of us was griping about people and how they can behave. “People are people”, someone said. Which of course then someone else sang: “People are peop...

Day 2- From Vairo to Sao Piedro de Rates, approx 11 miles, including official Camino detours and our own personal ones Let’s get the Lows out of the way: My toenails hurt and are maybe even turning purple… yeesh. Just the ones directly next to my big toes. They only bothered me once during training, on the day we walked the farthest. I...

We left the airport in Greensboro, NC at 7pm and flew 3500+ miles across the ocean, landing in Porto, Portugal at 9:30am the next day (5 hour time difference). I didn’t sleep much at all, and I also made sure the people around me didn’t sleep either. Can they pack people in any tighter on planes?! I did manage to doze off long enough, ...

We are walking the Portuguese Way, the Central Route. Who knew there were so many Caminos?! We chose this Way mostly because we only had two weeks. The full Camino takes a month. We begin in Porto Portugal and walk, God willing, to Santiago Spain. STATS Moderate terrain (through towns, countryside) Temps: highs in low 70s, lows in uppe...

Where does it start?…When we bought plane tickets?…When the wheels lift off the tarmac tomorrow or when they touch down on another continent the day after that?…Did my pilgrimage begin with the relentless packing preparations? Or did it start 14 years ago when the credits rolled at the end of the movie premiere of The Way at Virginia T...