Interim post

Just a short post since we are dependent on free wifi. We arrived in St Jean Pied de Port yesterday. We were advised at the Pilgrims office to do not do the Napoleon route so we did the Valcarlos route. We are sitting in
a bar with our new friend Dieter drinking a couple beers. The albergue here is very clean and supper funtional. I do not think this is the norm. Our hike here was good. We feel good. the weather was great. I had to strip down to shorts and a t shirt. Only problem we had was a stupid dog that thought he could bully us. A good wap with my pilgrams staff taught him a lesson

Good Byes

On Saturday we went to the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute to view the exhibit Treasures Along the Route of Santiago de Compostela. I took a picture of St James.



Yesterday we went to the movies with our kids. Here we are in a group photo saying good bye to our son had to go to work.

Friday

We spent a couple days on Long Island visiting Palma's people. We stayed with her Aunt Lucy, a dynamite lady in her mid 80s who is sweet as can be. We visited with cousins, nephews and their children. Great fun! Today we took the train into the city and we are now at our daughter's place in Brooklyn. Funny thing is that Palma's dad grew up right around the corner from here. Weather is lousy and is expected to get worse tomorrow and Sunday. We went to what is becoming our favorite restaurant near our daughter's place. Acqua Santa in Williamsburg, a very good italian trattoria. Tomorrow we hope to go to the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute to view the exhibit Treasures Along the Route of Santiago de Compostela.
Ultreia!

We've Gone

Leaving the house for the beginning of the adventure!!

¡Buen Camino a todos!

¡Ultreia!

Leaving Home

Stage I of our journey begins today; leaving Virginia. We visited with family, friends, and our favorite local bar/restaurant, The Wine House. Lots of emails have been sent and now onto our next stop - NY to visit with more family.

I'm starting to add things to my pack. Little things, "just in case" things. I know I need to stop. Instead of emotional eating I'm experiencing emotional packing.

Hasta pronto family, friends, home, cat, yard, tv, computer, books, Virginia.....

Almost Ready

Boy the days are flying, but we are getting prepared. Got our taxes done and we are ready to drop them in the mail, and we got all the bills on automatic payment and finally got around to purchasing some travel medical insurance. All we have left to do is send our after the Camino clothes to my friend Iker in San Sebastian, clean the house, get the laptop set up for my mother-in-law so we can Skype with her and drive to NYC and visit with the kids.

The day before yesterday we looked at some lodging possibilities in SJPP. We emailed a few and ultimately took Eva's recommendation and booked where she stayed. We decided we will wing it when we get to Bordeaux. VinoTinto on the Santiago Forum stayed at a Ibis hotel near the train station, so we going to show up and see if they have a room for two nights. Middle of the week in March...shouldn't be a problem.

We got everything for our packs. Palma's pack is around 16 pounds and mine is under 25....just haven't weighed it with my 90 days worth of meds! We have had some decent days to walk and it is becoming easy to walk 8 miles. We have yet to do something longer. Hopefully, the practice we've done will be helpful. Today we walked from Rosslyn to the National Portrait Gallery and back. Beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky in the mid 50's but a bit windy.





Walking on the Fairfax Connector Trail yesterday












Today, walking by the Iwo Jima Memorial
















The Netherland Carillon a gift from the dutch that expresses the gratitude of the Dutch people for American aid received during and after World War II.











More scenes from our walk today

A lazy day

We had a snowstorm a few weeks ago that caused a neighbors tree to fall across our street and into our property and take out the power. Eleven hours later, the power people came (during the storm) and cut up the tree and restored the power. Unfortunately, they left the tree debris and I had the whole top half of this big tree in my yard. Monday I figured I would cut it up and clean up the yard. Big mistake; I wrenched my back. So, since Monday our preparation training has been sparse. We did go for an 8-mile hike yesterday but without the packs. Today we just chilled.

Tomorrow we attack the training program with gusto!!