50km update

That´s right everyone, only 50km left to Santiago!!!


We are getting excited and are now trying to plan our post arrival intinerary.  It is good that we are getting into Santiago early because we have some more time to possibly get to Fatima or Avila, but that also means we are probably going to spend more money. . .


Anywho, as to my whereabouts for the last couple days, we have been in a couple of remote towns so no access to internet.  


I tell you, though, I learned one of the greatest lessons of this trip on our walk yesterday.  Two days ago on Sunday, we started walking in what I described as a Tropical Storm.  The rain was coming from all directions and the wind almost stopped you in your tracks at times.  Shoes and socks were soaked, and spirits were really dampened.  It was very difficult to pray during the walk and I found myself getting mad at God, kind of like "come on, man, we have had amazing weather for the past 20 days, and not even an easing us into this, but 20-30mph winds and rain?"  


Yesterday, however, was almost the complete opposite.  We had heard that there was supposed to be rain, and so we were prepared for the worst.  We got a little bit, just sprinkles and nothing really worth wearing a poncho for.  I found my spirits lifted up and actually enjoying the walk and its occasional glimpses of sunshine.  It was then that God opened my eyes.  I was able to lift up prayers and praise on the beautiful day, but when it came to a day when the sky was falling, I could barely pray and thank Him for another day of life.  Another parallel to the spiritual life, huh?  I saw myself as a "fair weather Catholic" at that point, only able to praise and thank God when things were going well.  But, God also put a little something on my mind basically the whole time after I realized what I was doing, and it is a song from the Christian music group "Casting Crowns" titled I Will Praise You In This Storm.  The chorus is as follows:

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

This really helped me see what I needed to do for the rest of the trip, especially since there is another swath of rain coming in tomorrow, but it also showed me what I need to do in my life whenever troubles and spiritual "storms" come my way--thank Him for them, and see that they are bringing me closer to Him. 


Alrighty, well if I can´t post tomorrow, then the next post may be from Santiago.  I can´t believe the journey is almost over. Thank you all for your prayers during this time.  You all continue to be in mine.  Much love.


Paul

Tropical Storm Santiago

Hey folks.


We are now in Sarria and are officially at the 100km mark to Santiago.  Sarria is where many people join the Camino in order to do the last 100km, so from here on, unfortunately, we expect the numbers to go up on the trail.


As for the title of this post, there is not an actual tropical storm, as far as I can tell, but it seems very much like one outside.  This morning was the most miserable I have been on the trip so far.  We looked out the window and saw rain and wind coming down and we weren´t sure what we were in for.  After a few steps outside of the albergue door, I turned to Jason and said "you know, it isn´t too late to turn back"--in jest at first, but later in the walk, not so much.

To add insult to injury, there was a wardrobe malfunction a couple minutes into the trip.  I had my poncho on over me and my bag, with my windbreaker on underneath.  I got excited for a second because I remembered that my poncho had a short zipper in the front just below the neck to allow one to limit the amount of water getting past the poncho.  Well, apparently, my poncho is made out of recycled Glad-Bags, because when I grabbed the assistance tab underneath the zipper to stabilize the zipping process, a 12-16inch tear formed exposing my shoulder straps and windbreaker to the elements.  This quickly changed the mood.  Coupled with SOAKED feet, the morning soon became miserable.  


The rain was coming from all directions at times with 20+mph winds and 30+gusts.  Twas aweful.  We made it to Samos by accident since we had not originally planned on taking that route, and we made it to 12pm Mass at the Benedictine monastery there.  I feel kind of bad about the next part--a Taxi.  Both Jason and I did not come prepared with adequate rain gear and felt that continuing in the weather would have only made things worse--getting sick so close to Santiago or other problems.  We passed other pilgrims while in the Taxi, but most, if not all of them had adequate rain gear.  


We are dried out now and staying at a kind of shady pension place.  Nicer than some hostals, but . . .shady.


If the weather cooperates we should be in Santiago by this Friday.  I can´t believe it.  We have gone about 700km so far and only have about 100 left.  Please pray that this last stretch goes without incident and that we keep our spirits up.  Much love.


Paul

The Road Less Travelled 2.0--Slaying the Dragon. . .

Hey everyone.


Sorry for the delay, but we were in a pretty remote town last night, so no internet.


The past two days have been pretty interesting.  We started yesterday in Cacabelos, just outside of Villafranca, at the foot of the mountains that lead into Galicia.  We had decided that the route we were going to take was the Dragonte route--the most strenuous, but also most rewarding of the possible routes.  Dragonte is the name of the first town that we came to on the route, which in Spanish is translated something having to do with a dragon. . .That should have been our first clue.


The first 5km into Dragonte followed a mountain road that was almost exclusively switchbacks--one direction and then the opposite as it climbed the mountain.  We passed some people harvesting the local vineyard on the mountain, which was pretty cool to see, but even they stopped and were like "what the heck are those guys doing?"--Heck, even before we made it out of Villafranca, two people on separate occasions stopped us and pointed us in the other direction.  When we told them what we were doing, they chuckled, said ok, and left us to our demise.


We made it up and down the first of the three mountains and then things started getting tricky.  Not only is this the most strenuous route, but it is also the most ill-waymarked of the three options.  The towns we were going through were awesome.  We were travelling on legit cattle trails where we even saw a man coming back from getting hay, being pulled by two oxen and guarded by two of his dogs--very cool stuff.


Anywho, at the bottom of the first mountain was a stream that needing fording.  Little did we know that the stream was actually part of our path.  we made it across the stream relatively dry and then continued on our way. Again, I can´t stress the awesome character of these little towns that we passed through.  We started heading up the second of the two mountains and only to get stuck at a four way crossing of mountain roads, none of which looked highly travelled.  After some trial and error we finally found the right one leading up to the next town where we decided to stop for lunch.  But, before we could stop for lunch we had to deal with a white lion and a barking squirrel that was next to him--really just a huge dog that was similar to a lion in size and growl, and his little sidekick who was there for moral support.  The lion thing followed us for another 100m or so and then lost sight of us.


We continued in this little town for a little bit longer and came upon a man outside of his barn/house with his very old mother.  We chatted briefly with them and when we asked how many other pilgrims were on this route they answered "solo vosotros"--"only you (y'all)"---Nice. . .are we the only ones crazy enough to try this route? So after his kind directions, he pointed us over a nearby mountain.  We started up the path, ate our packed lunch, and pondered whether we had made a mistake.  We continued up the path and when we looked back at the town, now a couple of hundred meters away, we could see the man watching us to see if we were going the right way.  We found out quickly that we weren't when, in a very "RIIIIIIIICOLAAAA" manner, corrected us.  We went over the mountain, all this time without waymarks, and continued down the path with the least amount of bulls. . .yes, large cows with horns.  The path I chose lead us through a thicket down to a small radio beacon and then ended.  We then decided to go back up to the bulls, pondering how painful the "outtakes" of the running of the bulls really were. 


We breathed a great sigh of relief when we saw that they were securely confined to their grazing by a small piece of rope, acting, I guess, as some type of method of retention.  We passed the cows, being eyed warily by all of them, and continued down the mountain on what we were hoping was the right road.


Well, out guidebook had mentioned something about a rock-quarry at the bottom of the mountain and something about a blasting zone as well. . .both of these we soon entered after continuing to zig-zag down the mountain.  We found that pulverized rock is very interesting to walk through, but can make it through shoes and two layers of socks--to which my beige feet could attest later that evening.


So, we then made it through the active quarry and up the next mountain to a small town called San Fiz--patron Saint of champagne making and soda. . .not really, but I liked to think so.  We then came across an old man sitting by himself in a make-shift soccer field and, very much like Antonio in the last post, invited us for a descanso.  Another little trail angel.


His name was Nicanor, and he had lived in the area his whole life.  We asked him how much farther to the town we were hoping to walk to on the Dragonte route and he said about another 15km.  At this point we had already climbed two mountains, gone at least 20km in the process, and were basically spent.  He recommended taking the road to the A-6, one of Spain's big highways, and picking up the middle route there.  After some debate and rational thinking, we felt it best to forego the rest of the Dragonte route and make it alive and in daylight to Herrerias.


We stayed at an Albergue in Herrerias last night and had a nice pilgrim dinner consisting of some hearty lentel soup, two fried eggs with french fries--heart attack anyone?--and some postre or dessert.  We slept pretty well after having our tails handed to us on a silver plato by the Dragonte route.




I slept in a little bit this morning, which the body was craving after a couple days of being beaten up, and then we started the hike up to O'Cebreiro.  This was probably the roughest start to the day since the first day in St. Jean, with a 1000m climb to O'Cebreiro.  It was pretty cool getting up there though, because it was during the climb that we entered into Galicia.  Most importantly, however, was a Church in the town that had a Eucharistic miracle happen in the middle ages.  We spent some time in prayer there and then started our hike to Trescastillas.  This was a pretty long hike down the mountain, but it was made easier with some conversation with a very nice Slovenian couple that we have been travelling at the same pace as, and a young couple from Washington state.

Alrighty, well I am off to bed.  We are in a nice albergue in Trescastilla, and the bunks look pretty comfy, so I'm out.  Much love to all.

Paul

Acebo to Cacabelos

Hey everyone,

We played it smart today and decided not to have another 40km day.  We did end up walking about 30km, though, which really should be our limit in order not to overdo it.

Leaving Acebo was pretty cool.  We awoke to a mountain mist blanketing the town--like maybe 1/10 mile visibility.  We started with Matt from the States and began the trip through the cloud.  We were in it for a good hour or two before it really cleared up and we could see the cars coming up the road and vice versa.  

Although we had to take the road for the first 9km into Ponferrada, it was very pretty.  Very much kind of a Spanish Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was very quiet and conducive to prayer, which was a nice way to start the morning.  Then we got into Ponferrada. . .

Not my favorite city.  It took a long time to get in and out of, and our enthusiasm levels were not as high as yesterday.  Anywho, we made it out of there with a little bit of lunch and then walked through the suburbs to a little town called Cacabelos.

The walk into Cacabelos was probably my favorite part of the whole day.  The views back over the mountains that we came down were b-e-a-utiful.  That, and I met a little trail angel today named Antonio.

I was a couple km outside of the town and beginning to hit some natural trails when I came across a little old man sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree.  He called to me in Spanish "Ven aqui para un descanso"--come over here for a little rest.  I said sure, and was very glad I did.  I sat and talked to him for a good 10 minutes or so and found out a little bit about him.  He was born and raised in Cacabelos and had a grandson who was in seminary, studying for the Archdiocese of Miami.  He left, to his grandfather´s chagrin, after meeting a girl in the States and still lives over there.  We continued to talk and he kept the conversation pretty basic, so I was able to converse pretty well with him.  He was very much a grandfatherly old man who, when we parted, thanked me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  I told him I have a grandfather named Tony in the States and asked him to pray for him.  He said he would, so, grandpa, if you are reading this, know there is a Spanish Tony praying for you.

We are at a pretty cool hostal right now that is in a horseshoe shape around an old church--outside of course--and has two bed room layouts, so a little change from the barracks set up.  

We need some prayers for tomorrow.  The way we are taking is the Dragonte way over the mountains into Ocebeiro and it is not going to be easy.  We will be praying for you all while we do it, please pray for us!  Until next post, much love.

Paul

Astorga to Acebo

Hey folks,


Today was another beautiful day--blue skies, cool temps--couldn´t ask for better.  But, we had a streak of crazy and we turned a 27km day into a 41km day.


Astorga was nice, a little bit bigger than most of the towns where we have been staying, but still small enough to be under the definition of quaint.  We are continuing to entertain the idea of going to Fatima, so that was one of the reasons behind our decision to push past our originally intended place of rest.  The town we made it to is Acebo, not too far from Ponferrada, our next "big" city.  This is where we are hoping to pick up Jason's guidebook that he left a couple weeks ago in an albergue in Grañon.  


I am not sure where the energy and strength came from that allowed us to walk 41km, but we are very thankful that it came.  We hooked back up with Matt, the guy I mentioned a couple posts ago from the States, and he is actually staying at the same albergue as we are.  We also saw Ben from Australia last night at our albergue in Astorga.  He got an email from me yesterday saying that we were staying in Astorga and so he ran over to the place we were staying and talked to us for a while.  Great guy and a lot of fun.  He is playing in an ultimate frisbee tournament this weekend in Barcelona, so watch for him on ESPN 4 or something.


The walk today was probably one of the most beautiful and I will put some pics of it below.  Hopefully we didn't overdo it.  I would hate to have another knee flare up. . .but we won't talk about that.  Today is our 20th day of walking and we have covered almost 550km.  We have seen a lot and are excited about what is to come.  Prayers are continuing to be lifted up for you guys.  Thanks for the ones you lift up for us.  Much love.


Paul


this pc won´t let me upload pics. . .sorry :(

All roads lead to or from Rome. . .

Hey everyone,


I want to start off by giving a little shout-out to the 5th grade class at Sacred Heart Catholic School and thank them for the very nice email and prayers that I have received from them!


We finally made it to Astorga today, after many Km's on the Old Roman Road.  It is a beautiful city that I will post some pictures of as soon as I get to a computer with an SD port.


It was a long but good walk, with a total of about 30km(18.5miles) in some of the most beautiful weather I have seen in a long time.  We really can't ask for much better.   We started the day from Mazariffe at about 7:15am with the German girl and her mother, Catarina and Elizabeth, who I mentioned in some previous posts.  They have been some great company and actually some of few people we have met who are actually on the Camino for spiritual purposes.  We also met a couple from St. Louis, MO this morning and were very happy to get to speak to some Americans since there are so few on the pilgrimage.  

We got a nice cafe and had a couple of nature´s valley granola bars about mid-morning and trekked onward towards Astorga.  The walk was very pleasant, even though it was pretty chilly.  Fortunately, my newly purchased reversible fleece/windbreaker kept me warm. We stopped in a small city to pick up some lunch in a supermercado--which is the best way to go for poor pilgrims like ourselves--and stopped out of the city for a much--and then made it the last 16km or so  through the country and into Astorga.

We are bunking in an old, and if I am not mistaken, renovated palace that is now an albergue, not far from the Cathedral in Astorga.  It is relatively cheap and has some nice amenities.  The most awesome of which is the centrifuge for drying one's clothes.  Hand-washing clothes really can take it out of you, especially wringing out the water, but that is where the centrifuge comes in.  You wash the clothes, throw them in this little cylinder shaped device that looks like one of those diaper-genie things back in the States, press a button, watch it shake and come to life, and water starts pouring out of the side of it.  It comes in handy because sometimes the clothes don't always dry after a night's worth of hanging on the laundry line. Then you have to march around the countryside drying your underwear by hooking them to a caribiner on your backpack.


Anywho, I hope all is well back home.  I saw that the Panthers lost. . .but there is still plenty of season left.  God bless you all.  Much love.


Paul

Leaving Léon

Hey everyone,

We are now in a small town a little bit outside of Léon called Villar de Mazarife.

We started today a little differently than normal.  We slept in.  The hostal, which was very much like a hotel, was very accommodating for the weary, and so we took advantage of it.  Having almost the whole day off turned out to be a great blessing for our legs and I think will bear great fruit over the next few days.


However, I will say that sleeping in was not just because of laziness or weariness, but, rather, we also had to wait until the post-office opened to check to see if a package had come in for Jason.  But, unfortunately, the package, after a week in the Spanish Correo system, did not arrive.  So, for the next week or so, we are going to be checking the post-offices in the towns that we are travelling through to see if the package has made it there.  

So, we left Léon, but also in another modern-pilgrim kind of way--autobus.  Three reasons: continued knee concerns for Jason, not wanting to get behind because of the late start, and the guidebook--yes I know it isn't Scripture and we don't have to follow everything it says--suggested that we avoid this section of Léon because of it's industrial nature, which would have been worse on the knee as well.

It took us a while to find out what bus we needed to take to get us to the outskirts, but, after some broken attempts at conversing in Spanish, we finally found that the Linéa Azul(blue line) would get us to our desired destination.  

Everything really has been working out for the best, even with the hiccup at the post-office.  Yesterday, as I mentioned in the previous post, was a great blessing.  We got into town early, made it to Mass, got a great place to stay, picked up some warm jackets, and were able to spend a good amount of time in the prettiest city we have been to so far.  Today we needed to find some gloves because of the cold temps we are starting to encounter in the morning, especially when we are utilizing our walking poles.  We got a great sleep, found some relatively cheap but good gloves, got some breakfast, and then began the search for the bus.  The bus got us exactly where we needed to go and, after a relatively short walk, we are at today's desired destination ready for tomorrow's walk.


We are making good time while having an even better one.  It is not about how fast you get to Santiago, but we are noticing that since we are going to finish a couple days earlier than planned, we may have the opportunity to make it to Fatima, Portugal for a quick side trip.  Please say a prayer that we can make it there if God wills it.  


Alrighty, again, thanks for the prayers. Much love.


Paul