Raleigh. August 28,2013

I am home and will go see a doctor tomorrow. The trip from London was pretty uneventful. Deb has been overly worried. Thanks for all the concern. I am glad to be home and back to our health care system. I have met Spain's socialized medicine and would rather pay higher costs than put up with mediocre care.

I plan to return to Spain the end of September to walk the last 100 kms with a friend Waguih. Our wives will have a car and Deb won't likely let me out of her sight.  Waguih, The Camino is incredible and you will be glad you walked the last portion. Now I have to figure out how to convince Deb to let me walk from Pamplona to Sarria some time in the future. Spain is a beautiful country.

London Heathrow (Via Deb)

Al is on his way home.

I'm afraid there was not much of a selection of flights when I booked them yesterday. He flew from Pamplona to Madrid to LHR today arriving late tonight.  He is staying in an airport hotel then catches a flight tomorrow morning arriving in Raleigh at 2:30.

Everything is taking him 3 to 4 times as long as usual as he is very dizzy and has to stop to rest often to keep from fainting/passing out.  I wish I could be there with him to help him get through this.

Al's doctor recommends I take him directly to the emergency room from the airport. Al does not think that is necessary. We shall see! Tomorrow can not come soon enough for either of us.

Please keep Al in your prayers.

Pamplona August 26, 2013

I went to a doctor today which God only knows how much money it cost to have a doctor confirm what I expected
. However she the doctor gave me some medicine. A medication that i take for hypertension was driving my blood pressure extremely low. Try 85/50. Recent weight loss and lots of exercise have caused my normal blood pressure to be lowthe last few times Ive seen my doctor
 So now I need  tocome home and discuss this with my doctor and recuperate. Getting older is like walking in a mind field.

Pamplona August 25, 2013

I should start by saying I am safe and in a hotel in beautiful downtown Pamplona. I walked 15 km today and it felt like 100. 15km is about 9 miles which I walk quite often in about 3 hours however today it took me 10 hours. My sickness has gotten far worse and I will see a doctor tomorrow

I just called Deb and I am returning home after I am well enough to fly. Whatever is wrong with me is not going to correct itself quickly. That is for sure. So I plan to fly home when I can fly then return the end of September with Deb and some friends from Canada to walk the last 60 miles together and for a vacation in Portugal. It is much too dangerous for me to  continue now. I plan to complete the remainder of the camimo in the future but not near future.

When I have firm travel plans I plan to post them here.

I tried really hard to continue but clearly doing so now might cost me more than a man should pay. I have gone past many memorials on the camino to fallen pilgrims. That is a price I don't wish to pay. The last week has been simply incredible and I am cut of the fabric to complete it if I am healthy. For now my camino ends-fin de camino.  For those following this from The Camino --Buen Camino.

Larrasoana Spain Day 5

I think today is day 5 walking if it isn't then look it up. I don't have time for such matters  I'm too busy jumping over, and walking through cow, horse, sheep, and dog poop. I'll bet there's some monkey and yack poop on my boots as well. Good Lord I have walked through some poop. It  is all over the camino.

I walked well over 20 km today but unfortunately it was only 15 km in the right direction. I left my hotel this morning and walked 35 minutes before I realized that I left my batons (walking poles) at the hotel. That loud cursing you heard at about 3am was me. I am not well but better. But I have to progress so I only walked to Larrasoana today which is about 16 km closer to Santiago. Let's see, I only have 10 million more miles to walk and at my current rate should be Christmas 2099. But, I am doing what I decided to do when I was 22 years old. If you can top that then bring your butt on over here. The walking isn't so bad if you don't mind climbing every dern mountain and hill in Spain carrying the equivalent of a 6 year old child on your back while climbing every stupid mountain in Spain.

I love my walking poles and my boots.  However, I at some point will set fire to me backpack along with the fully grown monkey that is riding in it. That backpack is asking for it and buddy I'm going to give it.

With God's mercy and blind pilgrim's luck I should be in Pamplona tomorrow. Of course I can't guarantee the backpack will make it.  I plan to stay another full day in Pamplona to recouperate, site see, and find a place to set fire to the backpack and monkey. I really do need the rest due to this "bug".  I'll bet setting fire to backpack will do me the most good.

I will try to post pictures soon. Seems all I get done is walking, eating,showering, stepping in poop, or trying to arrange the fore-mentioned thing or at least all but the last thing.  Oh if you need to find me in person you can fly to Spain, get a car, and drive to the last place I was three days ago. Believe  me it would take you an hour by car what took me three stupid days to haul that stupid monkey up and down and up and down evey stupid mountain in northern Spain and lower France  Dude let me tell you right after the monkey and backpack get what is coming to them then the editor interface for this blog is deadmeat.

I am going to walk slowly tomorrow too in between soaking my clothes with sweat. It ain't easy walking the camino but don't try it being sick.

Happy bday Dwight. Good night sweetie I love you and really miss you. I know if you were here you would help me carry that dern heavy backpack with that God forsaken monkey in it. xxoo.

 P.S. I almost forgot, Waguih, as part of your preparation you should find a 10 story building and walk up to the top25 times a day until you get here. Of course carrying a monkey on your back is optional. If you  walk up all those stairs each day then your pain level in Spain will merely be totally intolerable.

Biskarret Spain. Day 3

Hello from Biskarentta which is only 12 km from Rtoncesvalles. I sort of got sick and shortened the day's walk. I have a virus or something that is causing me to have  a fever and I drenched my clothes very quickly. I am sort of kinda ok now but we shall see in the morning. I had to climb a couple hills that were around 50 to 100 meters in elevation change that forced me to stop several time on each hill.  I slept the rest of the day and recover some. Enough whining.

Ramsey you did well preparing me for Spain. I was so proud of myself when I communicated with the owner of the hotel who speaks no English. Then I went to the la tienda de comida (food store) and got by fairly well with la senora that runs it. Ramsey you did good. Surprisingly I think I understand Catalan well. Catalan is the language of Spain and not Spanish they are similar but not the same.

I should apologize for the Paris post which was meant to be funny but turned out mean spirited. I love Europeans having lived in Germany for 2 years. Americans generally don't understand Europeans however I do.

Speaking of speaking the camino is absolutely incredible. It is really tough on me but absolutely incredible. The official language of the xamino is English more or less. There are many languages spoken here and one minute I speak English then German then Spanish then few words of French. It is amazing.  I have never experienced anything like this before.

My posts are being typed on a cellphone and do/will contain grammatical errors since I can't spend the time proofreading and correcting the mistakes. The editor really sucks using a cellphone.

Good night Deb I love you and really miss you. xxoo

Roncesvalles (via Deb)

This is a quick update posted by Al's wife Deb who is at home in Raleigh. Internet is pretty spotty so he asked that I post this for him.

Al reached me today via Skype from Ronesvalles.  This is the location at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains on the Spanish side.  His journey took him a 4000 foot increase then 1,000 foot drop over around 25 km. He said the trip down the mountain was far more treacherous than the trip up.  Al expected trial by fire for the first few days but he said this portion of the walk was more difficult than he had anticipated.  I do hope the worst is over.

He has already met some great people. Doug and Maddy from Prescott, AZ travel at his speed while 2 guys older than him are faster walkers - Theodor from Germany (who is tolerant of Al practicing his rusty German) and Hans from Holland. Although they walk at different speeds they meet up along the way for breaks and are at the same alberge (hostel) for the night.

Al's Spanish SIM card has not worked and he is around a week from Pamplona where he expects he can have the problem solved. If any of you need to reach Al I have his old cell phone with his US number on it and I can convey a message when he calls.

It's only been 4 days and I miss him.  It seems it's always me who leaves town and Al at home with the dogs.  Now it's my turn.  5 weeks is a long ways away!

Paris

Hello from gay Paris. And  a gay one it is. I arrived this morning from JFK New York. I would rather be a sex slave to a bunch of rabid gorillas than fly through JFK. JFK  airport is usually a zoo. Paris is far more calm but far more gay. The Big Ole Dumb Southern Boy is presently lying on a bed watching his laundry dry.  Yep I am emulating an European.

With all best laid plans troubles arise as has happened with google voice that  I had such high hopes google voice would allow me to dictate this blog instead of typing it out on this tiny keyboard on my smart phone. Yeah right this is a smart phone. If this phone were a child I would swear its mother drank vodka and smoked crack during the gestation period. Those smart folks at google decided I was French  and changed    all the logon screens into French. I studied French for a few months and I speak about 10 words and that is about 10 words more than this quad lingual Dumb  Southern Boy cares to speak. But I tried to speak some French here because it is easier than sticking my middle finger up at all these gay people.

Tomorrow I fly to St Jeab Pied Du Port. Then I stay the night at Espirit du Chemin alburgue then walk 8 km to Huntos France for the night. Deb wanted me to bust up the first day which is exceptionally tough. She knew I would be tired from sticking my middle finger up at all of the fine folks here.

If this blog entry looks like a third grader typed it then you best keep it to yourself or I'll give you some of what I've been dishing out to these gay smelly Parisiners.

Well, today is Saturday, August 17 and I am ready because tomorrow  I leave. My pack is carefully orchestrated and packed. I wanted the weight of the pack to be 20 pounds but it is running closer to 25 pounds without any water or food.  Of course the pack will lighten as things are consumed like the medications, soap, emergency food, etc. However, I have trained with a 35 pound pack for several weeks and have adjusted to the weight.  At the end of the training sessions with 35 pounds of pack, I would take the pack off and I felt my legs would propel me into the ceiling but didn't. The pack is really good about placing the load onto my hips due to an internal frame and a thick belt that goes around  my hips. I would have liked to have less weight in the pack but my shoes (Teva sandals), sleeping bag, pants, etc added up. Oh well. 

I am really sad I have to leave Deb (my wife) behind for 6 weeks. We haven't been apart this long ever in 18 years. I have a Spanish cell phone number via a SIM card that I bought online.  When I arrive in Spain the SIM card is supposed to work without any fiddling or at least I am told. I have a minor data plan and texting but both are a little pricey-- a little.  It costs 11 cents USD /minute (plus 39 cents/call connection charge) to call another number in Spain and 2 cents USD/minute  (plus 39 cents/call connection charge) to call the US. Yes, I said it is much cheaper to call the US than another number in Spain.  Go figure.  I have Skype too when I can find a WIFI connection.  I figure I wanted to talk to Deb every day so I found ways for us to talk.

I am amazed at how many people have lined up to help me make this journey. Some people have helped for a couple years like my Spanish teacher Ramsey (muchas gracias Ramsey), and others that are more recent like a gentleman at Walmart's pharmacy that helped me downsize my medications to smaller containers (for free) so I could carry them in my backpack. To all of those people that lined up to make my trip possible, I salute you. To all of  those people that are helping my wife while I am gone, I am indebted to you. In the last few months I have found I am blessed in so many ways. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart that is buried under a 25 pound backpack.

Preparation for the Start of the Camino

I am preparing  to leave Raleigh on August 18, 2013 and fly to Paris arriving on Aug 19, 2013.   I am staying in a hotel near the Orly Airport for the night to adjust to jet lag and to get a morning flight to Bayonne, France the following morning (August 20). In Bayonne, France I have arranged for a shuttle ride to  Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France which will be my actual starting point for the pilgrimage. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (SJPP) is the traditional starting point for the Camino Frances (French way) of the Camino de Santiago. I will stay in SJPP overnight at L'Espirit du Chemin which is a fairly famous place to stay for the start of "the camino".  L'Espirit du Chemin is an alburgue which is a hostel for pilgrims only. The first day of the pilgrimage will be August 21 and the day will be  a trial by fire as the elevation goes from 579' to 4719' then down to 3036' in Roncesvalles, Spain where I will spend the night. This elevation change occurs in about 15 miles.  Here is a video that someone shot of the first stage.  This is the route that Napoleon took on his march into Spain.

Most of the log entries in the future will be done via a smartphone and may lack proper grammar due to the difficulty entering and editing text. I will likely switch to kilometers in my posts in the future as most distances are measured in kilometers in Europe. 1km is equal to 0.62miles. So, 10km is about 6.2 miles.