Administriva Galore

Mom and Dad made it back from their 44-mile "dry run" in one piece, and if I say so myself, seem to have done pretty well. Dad had a number of words of wisdom, most of which included "carry less weight" in some form or fashion.

Because the Folks outdid themselves this week, we took a break from the normal Saturday morning hike, and instead did nine miles yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a hike, if a bit windy, and the "highlight" of the outing was an almost five-foot-long Sierra Garter Snake that decided to join us at one of the pit stops. For the record, I am not a fan of snakes, but of course, Dad had to take about 75 pictures of it, with Mom providing running commentary in the background, "What is he doing? What is it? Is it a snake? Why is he taking pictures of the snake? Maybe we should be back on the road instead of OVER BY THE SNAKE?" Well, you get the idea. Could be a fun 500 mile jaunt we're about to embark on, eh?

I will admit, I really enjoyed having a Saturday to do all my normal Saturday things, rather than load up a backpack and hike for 7 hours or so. I mentioned this to someone and they asked me how I would feel when I had to do that for 32 days straight. Good question. In my mind, being on the Camino will be different, because that's all I will have to do: walk till I decide to stop for the night. While I'm here, "in training", I still have all my normal chores, responsibilities, and things to take care of and worry about. Like we often say, real life really does get in the way of all the things we'd rather be doing.

So, with all my free time on Saturday, I started a list of everything I need to do before I leave. Right now, the list is growing faster than I can cross things off, but hopefully things will come together soon. Mom and Dad leave in just about nine days, I leave in 16.

In case you're curious (or want to follow us) here is Mom's tentative walking schedule:

THE HIKE BEGINS:

Date From-To KM/MI

17-Jun St. Jean-Auberge Orisson 8/4.8

18-Jun A. Orisson-Roncesvalles 17.1/10.26

19-Jun Roncesvalles-Larrasoana 27.4/17

20-Jun Larrasoana-Cizur Menor 20.9/13

21-Jun Cizur Menor-Ciraqui 26.8/16.08

22-Jun Ciraqui-Villamayor 23.7/14.22

23-Jun Villamayor-Viana 30.1/18

24-Jun Viana-Ventosa 29.5/17.7

25-Jun Ventosa-Santo Domingo 30.9/18.25

26-Jun Santo Domingo-Belorado 23.9/14.9

27-Jun Belorado-San Juan 24.1/15

28-Jun San Juan-Burgos 25.6/15.9

29-Jun Burgos-Hontanas 30.8/18.48

30-Jun Hontanas-Boadilla 29.5/17.7

1-Jul Boadilla-Carrion de los C 26.1/15.66

2-Jul Carrion-Terradillos 26.9/16.6

3-Jul Terradillos-Hermanillos 26.9/16.7

4-Jul Hermanillos-Mansilla 24.5/15.2

5 July Happy Birthday, Brian! Mansilla-Leon 18.6/11.6

6-Jul Leon-Hospital 36.4/21.6

7-Jul Hospital-El Ganso 31.12/18.12

8-Jul El Ganso-Riego 27.9/16.74

9-Jul Riego-Villafranca de Bierzo 35/21.8

10-Jul Villafranca-Ruitelan 19.3/11.6

11-Jul Ruitelan-Fonfria 21.4/13.04

12-Jul Fonfria-San Mamed 29.9/17.94

13-Jul San Mamed-Portomarin 26.6/15.96

14-Jul Portomarin-Palas de Rei 26.1/15.6

15-Jul Palas de Rei-Ribadiso 26.4/15.84

16-Jul Ribadiso-Arca do Pino 22.2/13.32

17-Jul Arca do Pino-Santiago 20.1/12.06

Apologies for the formatting - that's straight out of Excel. As you can see we have some short days and some LONG ones. Google maps should pull up all of those places, with a little bit of luck.

In other news, I spent a nice holiday weekend. I've "simplified" my life a bit by trading in two cars for a new one, which I am still trying to name, and I got another one of the old cars running and hope to get it to a point where I can get it to the next loving owner as well. After I get back from this little trip I hope to finish up the 5-speed conversion on my 1980 528i and begin rejuvenating the Dodge Coronet, which decided this week that it no longer wanted to run. There's always something right?

I am in the process of trying to decide whether to simply take my iPad on the Camino, or take my (ultralight) laptop. I fear that trying to type blog entries on an iPad could be problematic, yet am loathe to take the laptop, both for weight, and durability reasons. Anyone have any insight?

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't share my genuine gratitude to all those who have served our country and died for our freedom, as well as those who still serve. I am humbled by your sacrifice.

A Little Excitement: Four weeks from today...

Four weeks from today, I'll be walking through the alpine meadows of the French Pyrenees with my pack, my fellow pilgrims, and nearly 500 miles of Camino in front of me. Mom and Dad leave in just about three weeks. I can finally say that I'm starting to get excited. Mom seems pretty gung-ho. Dad, I'm not still sure about. It's really rather entertaining: he still occasionally makes noise about just renting a car and being the "chase vehicle" for us walkers. Mom can usually silence that nonsense pretty quickly with one of her patented "Ray Woman Death Stares."

We've been keeping up with the walking, though the folks are able to get in more mileage than I am - they are walking at home during the week and have a "test run" planned for next week. They're going to hike from their house to a hotel 22 miles or so away, spend the night, and then return the following day. They asked me if I wanted to join them. I declined. That was perhaps a poor decision on my part, but truthfully, taking up my entire weekend to do a dry run was not appealing. I do still have to keep up with regular life around here, and the amount of walking we are doing eats up a lot of time as is.

I find myself wondering if that's an allegory for life. Are we often afraid to commit to do things we know we probably should because we are so concerned with keeping up with the other less important things that seem imperative to us? I don't particularly think I'm not committed to being ready for this pilgrimage, and I don't think that not going on a "test run" makes me uncommitted or a bad person, but I do have a healthy dose of built-in Church of Christ guilt that doesn't need much encouragement.

I suppose if I wanted to take the high road, I was rationalize this by saying that I had faith that God would make up for any of my shortcomings on the Camino. Even I can't be that patronizing without getting a little sick at my stomach, so let's call it what it is: I didn't want to give up an entire weekend to walk, at this point. I will deal with the consequences.

Nonetheless, we are still walking. Last weekend was short, because I had to go out of town for work, and the folks had a fundraising dinner to attend (shameless plug: if you haven't heard about the Campaign for Pepperdine, click here: http://www.pepperdine.edu/pr/stories/2011/may/pepperdine-launches-campaign-changing-lives.htm).

The week before that we did 18 miles. I was in pretty good shape until we stopped at the halfway point for a break. Once we got moving again, it got hard. Miles 15 and 16 were the hardest, but at our usual stop before we went up the big hill (we were hiking Sycamore Canyon), I adjusted my pack. Lo and behold, the last two miles were much easier. Turns out that a little thing like your pack being too loose and shifting all over makes a BIG difference. Lesson learned.

With four weeks to go, I'm dialing back the "training" a bit. I still walk with a pack at lunch, but I am not killing myself to run and do my elliptical at home every night. Maybe I should not be, but I'm a bit afraid of doing something stupid and injuring myself at this point.

I've also begun compiling lists of things I need to do before departing for a month. It's a little more involved than being gone for just a week or two: Bills have to be set up on auto pay. Plans have to be made for battery storage for the older cars, arrangements for rent checks need to be handled, copies of passports, IDs, credit cards, etc, compiling the list of items to buy both here and there. It will all happen, but with the excitement comes a little bit of trepidation at times.

I am beginning to work through some of the materials that have been provided to me by some gracious friends, Andy Wall and Jack Williamson, who are also ministers at my church, and by a colleague (if I can be so presumptuous as to use the term), Pepperdine Provost Darryl Tippens. Hopefully this will help prepare me mentally and spiritually for the journey.

I find myself almost yearning for the opportunity to take a break from my routine and have nothing to do but walk, watch the rolling hills of Northern Spain move slowly by, and listen to what God has to say. I'd encourage you, even if you can't take a month, to find an opportunity to do the same.