Wednesday, April 28… Last night I had a dream with my dad in it. My dad was my best bud, I adored him. He always had the best advise! He died nearly 18 years ago, and twice since then I´ve felt him near me. Last night was the 3rd time. I dreamed that we were driving in a car on a rural highway and there was a tornado coming right for us. I kept telling him, “Daddy, you MUST go right!!!” He looked over at me and the message I got was, “Sandi, sometimes going right isn´t always the right way to go”. He then proceeded to drive straight through the tornado! When we came out the other side of the tornado, I was driving and my dad was gone. This left me incredibly sad, yet unafraid to tackle the road ahead. I feel so fortunate whenever my dad “visits” me.

A left groin sprain prevents me from continuing the walk up to Roncelvalles. Disappointing, but I would rather rest it and continue the Camino, than push past it and possibly have to quit. Guiermmo, the transporter takes me back down to St Jean, then up to Roncevalles, where we stayed in a room for four with Carole from England and Harriet from Sweden. A really nice room with two beds down and two beds up in a loft, very cool! Excellent pilgrim dinner and then a long hot bath and a beautiful, blessed, blissful sleep!

Thursday, April 29…

Walk from Roncevalles to Larrasoana. Up and down 4 mountains, 29 kms, rugged and steep declines, one was 10%grade! Exhausting, painful, AMAZING! I almost quit in Zibiri, but talked myself into doing the last 4.7 kms, worth the satisfaction of finishing! Stayed at the Refuge du Peregrinos in a 4 bedded room with Lucy, Carole and Harriet and across the hall from the 4 Irish sisters… they´re a hoot! Yummy pilgrims meal of asparagus, steak & fries and ice cream. Sore as hell… Slept like a log!

Friday, April 30…

Woke as sore as when I went to sleep, LOL!! Walking like an old lady, wondering how in the world I will be able to walk today! Had nuts, fruit & cafe con leche for brekkies and took 1000 mg of Acetominophen. I started the ascent up the mountain and within 20 minutes or so I was walking just fine. Some pain, but manageable… I think my muscles just gave in and humored me… LOL! Beautiful hike through the mountains. About 7 kms into the hike I had two choices, down (the easy route) or up where there was a beautiful church. The easy route is for sissies (I tell myself little fibs to get me moving!) and I took the ascent up to see this church. Carole & Harriet were there, and the nun, Maria, offered her bathroom to us. She had wonderful Gregorian chant music on, and the church and hospitality were worth the hike up! While up there, I opened up a saved email from my friend Alice Sanpere, and read it aloud to Carole. This is what it says: “I cannot wait to hear your impressions as you work through the physical pain, move into the mental challenges and swoon with spiritual growth. You´ll see what I mean. LOVE”. Alice… I am definitely seeing what you mean! Your words brought happy tears to me and Carole as we sat at this church listening to the chants and praying. Your words inspire me daily, bless you!

An interesting descent after the church and then lunch in Arre. We had a nice 30 minute break there before heading on to Pamplona. We are all walking like little old ladies, but delighted we´ve made it this far. I am ready for a blessed sleep tonite… and I got it!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

A holy day here in Spain. Everything is closed. Lucy and I are taking a rest day here because we want to explore Pamplona. We have been to a museum, and walked the route that the bulls take during the running of the bulls. That´s my update for now! Ciao!

Well… after not being able to get on the flight Tuesday night because of the volcano that no one can pronounce the name of, we’ve rebooked to fly to Casablanca, train to Tangiers, ferry to Spain, and hopefully catch a flight to northern Spain. We’re literally flying by the seat of our pants, but dammit… WE’RE GOING TO WALK THE CAMINO… 😀

The bag is packed, and weighs 6.25 kg, that’s 13.77 lbs. I’m proud that this is what I’ve whittled a 5 week walking holiday down to. Just the essentials… everything I need for my holiday is here:

The only extra thing that is packed is Oreo, a class project for a cool kid I’ve never met in Connecticut. Doing a favor for my school chum, Teri. Oreo will fly back to the U.S. from Pamplona after my 3rd day of walking… I’m happy to have the extra 200 grams of weight. Here’s a pic of Oreo, just before I put him to bed in my pack:

And here he is all snuggled in for the long plane ride to Casablanca:

So, off I go! I will miss my daily chats with a lot of you on facebook, and interacting on Mafia Wars, but it will be a nice break! I will try to send updates from the trail, when internet is available. I hope all of you have as marvelous and adventurous 5 weeks, as I will!

Love, love….

Sandi