May the Road Rise Up To Meet You

Well, here we are. 12 hours from now, Lord willing, I'll be sitting at the airport, waiting to get on the plane for the first leg of my journey. I'm happy to report that I made it through the Board meetings unscathed, the tax returns are mailed and filed, and my desk is clear at work.

On the way home, I got a haircut, the car is washed, I've re-packed my bag to make sure I have everything, and all that's left is change the sheets on the bed in the morning for the friend that's going to stay in the house some while I'm gone, pack the last of the toiletries and see to the cats.

The bag weighs in at 22lbs. This is perhaps a little heavier than I would really like, but it does include my hiking boots, which will come out once I'm actually en camino. On the other hand I do have a very small backpack for the plane, which will get folded into my pack once I arrive, so 22lb. may be a good figure. I am probably overpacked (I've read that most people are) but it is a surprisingly daunting task to try and fit everything you think you will need for the next thirty-five days into something you're going to need to carry for 500 miles on foot.

This is probably yet another metaphor for how cluttered we've allowed our lives to become. What do I really need for this trip? A passport, a boarding pass, some cash, and probably one change of clothes...and deoderant. What do I have? Four credit cards, some electronics, three changes of clothes, plus a swimsuit for the community showers (yes, I'm modest), shorts to sleep in, a camp pillow, etc, etc. Not to mention assorted toiletries.

And most importantly, two pounds of Gummi Bears. Temptation, thy name is Costco.

Not only is this probably a commentary on our unnecessarily cluttered lives, I wonder if it is a commentary on my need to be self-sufficient rather than to rely on God to provide what I need? Or I could be over-analyzing. Well, I do have 500 miles to think it over after all.

One of my Buyers at Pepperdine, Don Schalla, put me on to a GPS app, and I really liked it, so I invested the $2.99 and am now downloading detailed maps of the route. This will hopefully help me keep from incurring an ungodly amount of international data charges. We'll see how it goes.

My good friend Warner is picking me up in the morning to take me to the airport. It will be nice to have someone to see me off. I am a bit anxious about leaving for so long, a bit more anxious about connections, and a bit anxious about having to catch a French train. If I get that far without too many hiccups, then I'll probably be anxious about having to walk 500 miles.

As someone important at some other time and some other place probably wrote, thought, or said, "The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step". Let the adventure begin!

One week

One week from today (Western European Time) I'll be getting ready to walk the first leg of the Camino. I'm excited, and I'm a little bit nervous. Surprisingly, I'm not so concerned about logistics, though there are two plane connections for me - and more importantly my backpack - to make. I'm worried about things here. Have I got all the bills set up on AutoPay? Did I let all the credit card companies know I'll be trying to use their cards overseas? Are the cars appropriately situated for a month of disuse? Do the cats have enough food? Will the cats kill each other?

Of course, this is exactly why I'm undertaking this pilgrimage: to force myself to jettison the detritus of daily life that so many of us allow to define who we are, when really these are meaningless details of existence, not manifestations of our God-created souls.

Mom and Dad left yesterday; I ran them to the airport on my lunch break. They were surprisingly calm. Dad texted me this morning (which in and of itself was a miracle) to let me know that they had made it to Madrid and were settling in. Actually, what he said was, "Arrived safely." The rest is my inference.

I have downloaded some books to my iPad, bought a digital camera connector and a roll-up plastic keyboard for blogging. This weekend I'll pretend like I'm going to pack (which will probably actually happen Tuesday night/Wednesday morning) and will finish getting the cars, house, and cats ready for me to be away.

I can almost see the Pyrenees opening out below me as I crest the top of the pass that takes us from France across the border into Spain. The weather is a bit on the warm side, but with a breeze. We are in the mountains after all. Roncesvalles, our stop for the night, is about five kilometers off and 1500 feet down the mountain. Below that is a forest that covers the rolling foothills that in turns gives way to the very northern reaches of the Spanish Meseta. In the Dark Ages, this was the Marca Hispanica, the independent counties created out of old Visigothic city-states by Charlemagne to protect France from the advancing Moorish threat from Andalusia, and the south. I have a feeling I'll be looking forward to a cup of wine, dinner, and a hot shower.

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.

53 Days and Counting

I've just finished up a fairly grueling 10-mile hike with the folks, and since I am pretty much worthless for anything more physically involving than typing, a blog update seemed appropriate.

We are now at T-minus 53 days, and at risk of sounding overconfident, I am feeling pretty good. The hike this morning was not that long, but it was almost entirely hills. We did a rather circular route around Big Sycamore Canyon, between my house and my folks. Just to give you an idea: we started at 833 ft. of elevation and by Mile 3 had peaked at 1860ft. It was then pretty much downhill (and rocky) to a low point of 340 ft. at Mile 7. From there we climbed up to 833 ft. again, by Mile 9. Most of that was between mile 8 and 9.

I also discovered that I may have overdone it a bit on my pack. Most of the information I've found indicates that your pack with everything in it will probably weigh 20-22lbs. Just for kicks I weighed my pack after our hike last week to see how close I was. 35 lbs! So, I think I'm probably OK on the pack front.

In an effort to help myself trim down as much as reasonably possible, I'm still walking every day at work, and three times a week I come home and run for three miles then do a half-hour on the elliptical. This seems to be enough, if I watch the caloric intake, to keep the weight coming down at a reasonable pace.

Speaking of caloric intake, this week was tough. I was in Boston for most of the week at a conference. The conference was OK, the networking was great, and the meals were awesome. Lots of lobster and fresh fish and other seafood, plus good steak and desserts. So, I did my best to take it easy on calories during the day knowing that I was going to make up for it at night.

The weather, however, reminded of yet another reason why I generally don't want to live north of the Mason-Dixon line. It's late April. Boston was 45 degrees and raining. What in the world!? No one in Boston who was from there seemed particularly disturbed, but I got to tell you, I was freezing. On the other hand, it was great to walk the Freedom Trail and get to experience much of where our country was born.

Nonetheless, it's always good to get home, and it's hard to keep up the training schedule when you are traveling. The flight back from Boston turned out to be a bit of an ordeal - it was non-stop, but because President Obama apparently decided that he needed to be in LA at the same time I did (I know, I'm SO popular) my flight was apparently instructed to "slow down". Thus a not-quite-six-hour flight turned in to seven hours plus. Of course, when I finally got to my car to drive home (at midnight according to my now-on-Eastern-time body clock) there was traffic on the 405. Yay. At least it wasn't 45 and raining!

I bought an extra book for the flight back: Paulo Coelho walked the Pilgrimage about 25 years ago and wrote a book about it, appropriately called "The Pilgrimage". If you haven't read it, or another one of his novels, "The Alchemist", I highly recommend them. They are fairly short, easy reads. Very thought-provoking. His prose style is fairly plain, but he does tell a good story.

I have now ventured into the realm of random rambling, so I'll sign off for now. Not much to update on, really, but I felt like writing a bit. Thanks for joining me, and stay tuned!

Quick post to share a link

Howdy everyone. Dad forwarded me a link to a video about the Camino de Santiago, and I thought you might appreciate seeing what it's all about. The video is almost 8 minutes long, and thanks go to George Derk for putting together this excellent summary.

http://vimeo.com/19110842

Have a great week!

The Long and Winding Blog Post

OK, it's been two months since I posted, I know, but the fact of the matter is this blog is about my trip in June, and well, it's not June yet. I felt like the six people on the planet who actually read this wouldn't kill me if I didn't update this blog exactly every two weeks.

So, maybe now is a good time to fill you in on the itinerary. The early part of June is busy for me at work: we have Board Meetings, so on Monday the 13th, I'll do my duty in front of the Audit Committee, reviewing the University's tax returns, then the following morning I'll do it all again, with Financial Statements, Budget Variances and the Proposed 2012 budget thrown in for good measure. That afternoon, I'm doing a 2-hour seminar for aspiring musicians and performers (read: waiters and waitresses) on campus on how to run and manage your own business from a financial perspective.

Then on the morning of the 15th, I get on a plane. LAX to New York, New York to Barcelona, Barcelona to the somewhat small but enchanting town of San Sebastian, nestled between the French Border and the Atlantic; I arrive the evening of the 16th of June, and if all goes well, I'll beat my folks to town by about four hours. The next morning we have to be across the border (a 1 mile walk) and at the train station on the French side in time to catch a 7:30 train. I just bought these train tickets last week. This puts us at the jumping off point for the pilgrimage, St. Jean Pied-du-Port at 9:30am on the 17th of June, or roughly 36 hours after leave the States. Yeah right.

After that comes 32 glorious and probably grueling days of walking, culminating in my kissing the feet of a statue of someone important (a pilgrim? Saint James? who knows) in Santiago de Compostela 500 miles, 90-some-odd meals, innumerable blisters and random roadside bathroom breaks later. The 18th of July, I will be resting. That will be a good day. Then the morning of the 19th it's back on plane (Santiago - Madrid - New York - LA) to go to work the morning of the 20th.

I may be sick on the morning of the 20th. Just saying.

I've still been experimenting with GPS for the pilgrimage, and come to the conclusion that I like my iPhone better than any of the other GPS gadgets I've tried. This presents two problems: data and battery. I've just about resigned myself to spending some bucks on an international data plan for the month I'm gone so that the GPS can pull down maps. The $150 or so this will cost me doesn't seem overly onerous, because every GPS I've tried will require me to cart AA batteries to keep it powered, whereas the iPhone does not.

But, the iPhone won't last all day with the GPS running, so I'm testing out a solar charger that hangs off my backpack and will hopefully keep the iPhone juiced enough to make it through the day, or for the occasional "OMG is that a mountain lion?" phone call. How do you say "OMG" in Spanish?

Beyond that, I'm happy to say that training, I think, is going well. I've bought the backpack I plan to use on the trek, and the folks and I have been walking on the weekends (when it's not raining) appropriately weighted. When I first tried the backpack, I thought "Oh, this isn't bad at all." Then I put stuff in it. Yeah...

Turns out that having 20-30lbs. on your back does interesting things to your center of gravity.

And, I managed to puncture my water container thingy first time out. Of course.

I've also inherited a pair of Dad's boots that were too big for him. I love them, but I've also decided that if you walk 12 to 17 miles with 25lbs on your back, your feet are going to hurt. I now have a new appreciation for my friend Loyd, who convinced me to spring for the whirlpool tub when we were remodeling my bathroom.

I'm still walking every day at work with my pack, and this week I picked up running about three miles in the evening as well. I don't seem to be dropping weight, but maybe I will pick up some muscle where I need it and shed some fat. One can hope, right?

Mom and Dad have been more consistent than I at getting in miles, but I'm pushing them to shift from flat, sea-level hikes along the beach to inland, hilly hikes that I think will reflect more the terrain we have to deal with. That last sentence should have read..."I think will reflect more the terrain with which we have to deal."

Beyond that, not much to report. Spring is trying to sprung in Southern California, even if the last couple of weeks have been quite wet. I'm working on selling a couple of cars and generally unencumbering my life in preparation for the trek. Thanks for tuning in. Till the next installment!