The moment that I realized that I was high maintenance

Bartender: "Hey princess, how was the burger?"

Kristi: "I had fish and chips."

Bartender: "You're such a brat."

You could run a horse in five directions without hitting a tree

Only Molly will really get this post...

Watching the rain

Before I forget:

Otto, can you believe they drained that whole reservior at Portomarin?!?

And then we skipped a week!

Just like that, we catapulted ourselves into Galicia.

The things that they turn into hotels...

...are pretty sweet.

Relazing at the refuge

The rain did let up our last day on the meseta - which allowed a whole group of us to sit in the courtyard of the refuge, consuming insane amounts of wine.

Except when its trying to drown me...

And it kept raining....

Which was pretty, don't get me wrong...as all my friends know, I LIKE the rain.

...cause we're idiots, who didn't think it was going to rain...

We thought the sky looked so pretty....

Sjur, who forgot to hide his smokes in this one

Christine from Quebec and Sarah from all over

If anyone has contact information for these two, I would be happy to send this photo along.

A glimpse of Spanish life, #3

The farmer's bike, sheltered in a storm drain

A glimpse of Spanish life, #2

Dog waiting to enter the pastry shop

A glimpse of Spanish life

Children playing soccer in the plaza at Castrojerez, 9PM

June 2001

Same cross, 4 years earlier

October 2005

Dad passing by the red iron cross just before Hontanas.

Hontanas, June 2001

Just so that you can see the difference that a few years and a few months can make.

Hontanas, October 2005

This is the place with the near-magical sandwiches.

Madrid train station

I was going to try and do these in order and clearly I've failed already. This is my dad at the train station on our way up to the Camino. He has the stone that his good friends the Robertsons gave him to carry on the hike. A stone often signifies the unseen burdens that you carry with you in everyday life, that the pilgrimage is supposed to shed. Many people leave their stone at an iron cross in the Montes Leon. Over the years, the pile of stones around the cross has grown to be about 20 feet high.

But it was super pretty after that...

Hiking across the high mesa at dawn.

First Morning Hiking, 8AM

Yeah, we figured out that the sun wasn't going to rise untill 8:30AM after we got up and got ready to go....This guy is heading back into the refuge for his pack.

This blog I will kill, if it doesn't behave

My little blob doesn't seem to want to post photos right now. Sufice to say, my dad and I made it safely into Santiago! We were sopping wet and everything was molding and the city had never looked so good. I feel really bad for all the folks we know hiking a week behind us, because all of this weather is coming straight at them. I thought that it would be easier hiking in the Fall, because the heat is quite draining to hike in, but I've found that mud also pretty much sucks. You really learn to appreciate the good weather, all five minutes of it.

Let the photo storm begin

We made it into Santiago, wet and soggy, but really happy. I'll be posting a few photos of the trip everyday for the next few days. The OCD in me wants to photoshop all 400 of them, but I won't subject y'all to that.

The wonders of wandering

Last night we decided to hike past Palas del Rei (the town where a mean old woman shouted at me 4 years ago - I don´t forgive easily) and ended up staying in an old farmhouse at a quiet crossroads. We were the only guests and the family running the place cooked dinner for us. There were a few younger farm hands hanging out at the bar and an old farmer or two, but that was it. Then dark clouds rolled in and we felt like we were in a horror film (the part at the beginning, where the people are too oblivious to get out, despite that fact that all the signs point to something going horribly wrong). But nothing went wrong - we had a lovely quiet night and a nice walk today. The rain held off, and we only saw a few other hikers and one lone biker. We had stopped in another small refuge this afternoon, but after two hours of hanging out, we decided that we had maximized the potential of small rural villages and hiked on to the next town. Where they have internet.

Charm times three

We finished the Spanish meseta today by dragging ourselves through the last 19km to Leon, which turned out to be a much nicer city than either of us remembered. Clearly the third time adds charm. We celebrated by visiting the parador and monestary where my dad started his last camino. It was quite sad to say farwell to all the awesome people we met on this segment however. Now that we´ve hopped a train to Sarria, we have travelled a full week ahead. Tomorrow, we´ll start rambling through the tiny hill towns of Galicia. We may even whistle as we walk!

A better Camino through drugs

Advil is our friend. Even though this segment is really flat, the pack seems to get heavier everyday. We´ve reached Sahagun and its chilly and raining out. The countryside has morphed into the occational cow pasture, with old abandoned churches off in the distance. We managed to stay in a 1000 year old monestary with cloisters still attached, quite possibly the most interesting place that I´ve ever spend the night.

Number of blisters:
Kristi: 0
Dad: 0

Number of imaginary blisters:
Kristi: 0
Dad: 2

Number of times swearing at the sky: 26

Next post: A better Camino through wine!

Day 1.5

After a fairly uneven flight and train ride to Burgos, my Dad and I started out hiking around 4pm in the afternoon. Its dry and there isn´t much on the high meseta, mostly ruined farm buildings and the occational town off in the distance. Think Nebraska, with less cows. We made it about 9km to a small town called Rabe.

Today we set off at the crack of dawn, which appears to be 8am here. After passing through a few old towns, we finally made it to Hontanas, which from here on out will be refered to as the town with the really fantastic sandwiches. We pushed on past the sandwich bliss though to end up in Castrojerz, for a total of 28km for the day. I think the hopitero has just arrived and we need to pay for our bunks still, so more later.

Weight for it

Dad's pack: 15lbs
Kristi's pack: 11lbs

Note to self

1. When about to leave the country for two weeks, don't test the broken elevator.

2. Put extra flashlight in building basement for when broken elevator drops you off there with no electricity and no idea as to the location of the stairwell.

3. Don't give father a near heart attack by getting stuck in elevator/basement just before going on a two week hike.

Midnight walk #2

Chinatown on a thursday night

West side piers at dawn

What have the last 4 years of grad school done to me? Plenty...

This is what we looked like on June 7, 2001 - the last time that we hiked together until this coming Saturday...I'll be posting some before and after pictures for everyone's amusement, never fear.

Just a reminder to myself

Starting this Saturday, my Dad and I will be on our third run at the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. I'll be blogging my way through the vineyards and will post a truthful blister count for both parties involved. Not for the squeemish folks!

And on another note, my bff (best friend forever) Cara has arrived in China, having really ditched us all in fine fashion for her man. Who had better bloody well appreciate our loss and put up with loads of whining about it. Especially when I go visit. Hah!

Be cool, Soda Pop

Kirby is proving his adolescence this week by being in his first rumble and spending his free time eating dirt. Next thing he'll be putting the empty milk carton back in the fridge and leaving dirty socks everywhere.