Welcome to his pilgrimage!

This blog is from Keith’s 2012 pilgrimage to Spain. For comments previously left on specific posts, you’ll need to click the post to open its individual page. We hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for joining us for Keith’s El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. This is the last set of pictures. We hope you enjoy the slideshow. The plan is after the holidays and some rearranging of residences (our house is pending sale–yea!!), we will come back to post some info on lightweight backpacking, reference books info, etc.

Bueno caminos to all!

Sorry for the delay in posting the first of a couple slideshows of picture of Keith’s pilgrimage, but hopefully it was worth the wait! More pictures in a week or two. Take care everyone!

If you’ll recall, Burgos was the town where Keith started the walking phase of his Camino pilgrimage. This is the jet-lagged, before getting ghastly sick part of the trip. He has tons of beautiful pics to share, but as he’s organizing them, I thought I’d sneak a few on here for all of you that are anxiously waiting to see more. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

And we thought he was worn out after all that walking in Spain! The plane trip home maxed him out, but he’s happy to be back! Although, I’m pretty sure we’re probably happier to see him.

He bought the this t-shirt for two big reasons: 1) To commemorate the trip and 2) because he desperately needed the clean shirt for the trip home–more for those he was going to be sitting by than for himself. I know many of us have been next to the stinky traveler on a plane. I think it was real thoughtful of him to consider others before sitting next to them for 20 hours. :)

Keith went to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela early Tuesday so he could check out the museum before the Pilgrim’s mass. He said that it was pretty cool. He didn’t see anything totally amazing, but it was pleasant and included exhibits with tapestries and medieval art and paraphernalia. He especially liked the library.

The Cathedral is a very big place, yet he still didn’t get a seat for the mass. Apparently you have to be there an hour and a half before the mass to get one and he spent that time at the museum instead. So during the mass he spent the time milling around. Others were taking audio tours and going from chapel to chapel.

A tradition for pilgrims is to hug a statue of the apostle (St. James). You go up a tiny staircase and come up behind St. James in the big old carven altar piece. Keith said that he went twice, but his was less of a hug and more of a manly embrace. (I could totally visualize him doing the double pat on the back thing.) He said that “he was big!” On his second visit he looked out and noticed they were swinging the Botafumeiro (which is a large incense burner that was originally used to fumigate the sweaty and possibly disease-ridden pilgrims), and he thought, “Ah! Cool!!” It took 8 guys to swing it.

He did see a pair of the California women at the Cathedral and thought that was cool. They all shared congratulations and hugs and that kind of thing. The women had apparently come the day before, too. He said when the first one approached him and put her arms out so she could give him a big hug he had no idea who she was because her hair was down and on the trail she always had her hair pulled back. But a second woman that he did recognize came up and then he realized who they were.

Then it was time to bid the pilgrimage farewell and start to make his way home. Keith’s flight from Santiago to Madrid was delayed while on the runway for quite a while. He said they never really found out what happened, but it got pretty uncomfortable in the cabin because there was no air turned on. When he got to Madrid he’d missed the hotel shuttle and had to take a taxi. He finally got to the hotel after 11 PM very worn out and ready to sleep. He’s now up (since it’s already Wednesday there) and preparing to go back in time (bet he wishes he had a flux capacitor) and get his tired self home. He goes from Madrid to Dulles to Denver then home. Including layovers his trip is just shy of 18 hours long and that was one of the fastest routes available.

There will be more pictures to share once he’s back and we get them off his camera and phone. I’m sure they’ll be well worth the wait.

So…while there might be a day or two break on the blog—I plan to add more photos, any interesting tidbits from the trip home, and some other closing items over the next few weeks so don’t completely give up on checking things out. We’ll also be adding info on the gear used (no reason for people to duplicate the search for good lightweight gear if they can avoid it); info on some of the key books used to research and prepare for the trip; info on how we managed to stay in touch regularly; etc.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed the adventure so far! Back again soon!!

Keith said that today was a “grueling day.” When we talked after he arrived at the hotel he was very sore and tired, but said it was his own fault. Most of the trip to town wasn’t bad, but he got lost in the surrounding hills and that added a lot of going up and down. It rained a little all day and at one point he stopped in front of a place with spray painted doors to check the map again–which was doing him no good whatsoever because he apparently hadn’t made it onto the map yet! After a while the door opened and a guy asked him if he wanted something and said, “Come on in.” It turned out to be a commercial printing place with big old printers like they had at a place we’d visited in Portland some years ago. The guy looked up directions on the computer and being a graphics guy and all–he printed Keith a copy and put it in a plastic folder. THEN Keith went out and immediately got lost again! :( Eventually he found where he was at on the map and was able to circle back and find his way in. He was pretty much off the trail for about 40 minutes and he was so beat that it felt much longer. BUT he finally made it and is doing fine now.

He said the hotel is beautiful and a nice surprise. He said the room is reminiscent of staying in a McMenamin’s and the walls are about 2 ½ feet thick. There’s a little porch with a pair of over stuffed chairs and a coffee table and it looks out over a little garden. He was enjoying the nice breeze while we talked. He said when he arrived at the hotel, the desk clerk said, “You don’t have to walk anymore!”

When he went to the Pilgrim’s office to get his compostela they stamped his credencial with the Cathedral’s official stamp. He was disappointed that they couldn’t “Latinize” his name because it’s just not Latin friendly. I told him they should’ve gone with Keithus. Et tu Keithus? You, too, have earned your compostela??

Tomorrow he attends the Pilgrim’s mass at 12 noon and gets to spend a little time in Santiago de Compostela before flying to Madrid in the evening for his flight home on Wednesday. I am WAY looking forward to him being home.

We’ll have more tomorrow so don’t change that channel!

I’ll post more pictures and updates later today, but wanted to share the first picture taken by Keith of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral! Way to go, Keith!!

Before I speak to Keith’s impending Santiago arrival, I’ll give a quick update on his latest day’s hike. Today he travelled from A Rúa to Lavacolla. He said that this day was probably one of his favorites because the weather was nice and while there was one big hill it was not too bad. “It was pleasant and I took my time.”

He had a beer with the French guy that he’s been bumping into off and on throughout the trip and his girlfriend at a bar. He also met a guy from California who asked him what part of Washington he was from and when Keith told him he said that he’d worked for Weyerhaeuser in the 60s in Longview! He said he set chokers. Keith thought, “Wow, I’m probably the only person on this continent that knows what that means!” Keith stopped to take a picture for two Spanish couples by a Santiago monument and when he was handing the camera back to the woman his finger got ensnarled in the lanyard and she dropped the camera, but it was ok.

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and he’s going to have to give it up and figure out how to use his rain gear for his shoes. I know he’s disappointed since he got so close without having to use them. The other challenge he had today was trying to figure out how to use the shower. He just couldn’t get it to work so he gave it up and took “a damned bath.”

After he checked into his hotel today and got settled in, he wandered down to the village to see if he could get his credencial stamped at the church, but it was closed. So he watched people walking by, thinking that he might recognize someone, but didn’t see anyone he knew. After a while two Spanish guys (one of them spoke English) took their packs off and sat down next to Keith on the stone wall. They offered him an orange and after the orange they gave me a handiwipe. He said that was a nice moment. He said on the first half of the trip there was not much talk about him being on the Camino solo, but the second half of the trip he’s asked often if he is traveling alone. They seem to be trying to include him by offering him snacks and conversation. He thinks that is really cool.

Tomorrow is the day that Keith will arrive in Santiago de Compostela. The process is that he will go to the Pilgrim’s Office and they will review his credencial’s stamps to ensure he has fulfilled the minimum requirement of walking the last 100 km and gathering a minimum of two stamps a day. They will then provide him with his compostela. The next day there will be a Pilgrim’s mass at the cathedral at 12 noon and Keith’s name and home country will be announced during the mass as recognition of his accomplishment. Later on that night (Tuesday) he will fly from Santiago to Madrid in preparation for his long trip home on Wednesday. I sure am looking forward to him coming home and he seems to be excited about it, too.

Keith knew that he wasn’t going to need the blue pad he’d taken along to sleep on any longer because he has rooms/beds reserved for the rest of his travels in Spain. He also knew that the Frenchman he’d been meeting off and on was planning to sleep outside last night, but he hadn’t bumped into him for a while on the Camino and hadn’t been passed by him yet that day. So Keith left the pad leaning against a mile marker hoping that either the French guy or someone else in need would find it and enjoy using it. Later that night Keith saw the guy and his girlfriend walking through the streets of Arzua and the woman had the pad strapped to her pack. He was happy to see they’d found it. Then on his travels today he met up with the couple at a bar while taking a walking break and shared with the guy the story so he’d know it was left for them intentionally. Cool for Keith.

Now let’s get up-to-speed (but don’t get used to it—I’m traveling again over the next few days)—yesterday Keith trekked to Palas de Rei and it was kind of a tough day for him with the hills and damp weather. This was compounded with him thinking that maybe he’d packed his backpack wrong and a couple of physical aches and pain (“squishy” knees and a muscle in his back that’s been hurting like a son of a gun especially when he coughs). The rain didn’t bother him much (he is from the Northwest) and his feet stayed dry so that was at least some good news. He said it really reminds him of Washington in October.

While hiking he talked with only a few people. There were two women from Colorado and a another couple (the guy was from Midwestern Canada and his wife from Singapore). He said he listened more than talked with the couple because it was hard to get a word in edgewise as they both were talking at the same time.

Upon arriving at last night’s hotel in Palas de Rei (Complejo La Cabana) he treated himself to a hamburguesa completo (a hamburger with everything) and a beer. He said it hit the spot. The hotel was supposedly designed to look like an alpine chalet. His room had a pair of bunk beds next to his twin one (three beds for his “single” reservation) and that didn’t help evoke the theme. The several cats out hunting in the fields (nice to know they had Keith’s back) weren’t on skis so they didn’t fit the theme either.

Keith hiked from Palas de Rei to Melide today. He had a nice and mostly uneventful day but did make it 15km and got to cross a couple of medievel bridges before arriving in the very narrow streets of Melide. He said that the small delivery vans were barely making it through and the cars were parked only about 8 inches from the buildings. He is staying at a municipal albergue that’s run by the local city government. These municipal albergues are very different from the private ones that he’s been to. It’s kind of like a YMCA with bunk beds. They close the doors at 10 o’clock and you have to be out by 8 AM. Since it’s just been starting to get light at 8–it could be a little painful—especially for an undercaffeinated Keith that isn’t a morning person.

Today he went to a couple of churches and even paid to light a REAL candle (not an electric one :)). He had his card stamped up the road at a another church that he went into. It was kinda cool—the man that greeted him took him to the back office to fill out a visitor form that included his nationality, name, where he started his pilgrimage, etc. They took donations so he gave him all the change he had.

After he got settled in at the albergue he went to the lounge to charge his phone and talked with a nice Irish gentleman. He said he was feeling a little isolated and it was good to sit and visit.

Then when I was talking with him before he headed off to dinner, I heard a man holler over to him, “Hey, how are you doing? Still strong?” And he laughed and responded, “I’m good!” He said it was one of the pilgrims he’s seen from time to time on the Camino. You could hear in his voice how nice it was to be recognized by someone.

 

Yesterday Keith walked a lot of the way with a German man named Harold who didn’t mind walking slowly because he was 62 and in no particularly hurry. Keith thinks he loved to hear his voice—he talked A LOT. He’d also “break into show tunes and go into bouts of hilarity.” At one point after walking past some pretty smelly cows he said, “I had to smell you all day and now I will eat you!” Harold shared how much his generation admired President Kennedy—he was a big thing for them. Their politicians had all been around during the war and, consequently, were not very trustworthy in their eyes. Keith thought it was cool hearing how much they related to this young president and really felt that Kennedy was leading the western world into the future. It rained off and on during their trek together and Harold was stressed by it because he’d already experienced getting his shoes soaked and they’d taken days to dry. As they parted company Harold was proclaiming, “Shit weather! This is shit weather!” Fortunately, Keith did not share that view.

Later Keith came upon a group of around 20 Japanese people and he talked to a couple for a little while. Next there was a pair of Nordic guys that were way athletic. (“We will pump you up!”) They steamed by Keith then all of a sudden they each dropped and did ten pushups right there in the middle of the Camino.

When he talked to Dot and Pete from Brooklyn he thought that Dot had an Irish accent, but when he asked where she was from she just said, “Brooklyn.” Pete is a librarian for the Brooklyn library system. Keith later regretted not talking with him more.

When he arrived in Ventas de Naron at the end of the day’s hike he found Debbie and Fran there—part of the community that he is fading in and out of throughout his trek. He said it felt a little like “old home week.” Fran even asked Keith if he’d like to share a load of laundry with her. :)

When he headed down for dinner he found a guy playing a ukulele. He told him that he thought about bringing a mandolin but it was too heavy. The guys said, “This is really light. Feel how light this is!” He and the women he was with turned out to be from Israel. After a while they played some songs. The girl (they were in their late 20s lol) was playing the ukulele and the guy played a harmonica and they performed “Crazy Love” and “Blowing in the Wind.”

After dinner they sat around talking about music. A guy here from Jersey was asked who his favorite musicians were and he chose Dwight Yoakum or George Strait. Then he pulled out his iPod and played “Adelaide” much to Keith’s chagrin because he had just gotten out of his head after it being stuck there for two days. “It’s in there for good now!” he exclaimed. A hungarian girl sang a Hungarian song. Debbie chose Van Morrison. And an Australian lady picked a song called “Mountain of Love” (by Johnny Rivers).

Keith said that it was really a beautiful yesterday. The sun came up and there was a mist in the valleys. It was a good walk to Portomarin. (Note from L: Sorry everyone, but I’m catching up and talking about yesterday when he’s already in Ventas de Naron now—I’ve got some traveling of my own this week so it may take another day or two for me to get back to same-day updates. Thanks for your patience.)

 

There were a bunch of people that he walked with for a few minutes here and there. There was a group from North Carolina and Georgia and he walked with one of the women from their group named, Dolores, who was from Atlanta. She’d lost her bandana so he gave her one of his (cool kindness). He also ran into a guy from Marietta, Georgia (we’d live in Smyrna which is basically across the street) and Keith went up to him later and said, “So…Marietta–home of the big chicken!” (Which is a landmark often used when giving people driving directions in Marietta.) He laughed in surprise and said, “I guess you have been there.” That was fun.

Keith also talked with a Frenchman who’d been on the road for six weeks. He’d started in France somewhere and they were asking each other “How are your feet?” Knock on wood, but Keith’s have been problem-free and we’re hoping it stays that way. I was happy to hear Keith tell me, “I’m really loving these shoes.” That story alone deserves to be retold someday, but not now. :)

Others he bumped into on the trail included: a bunch of Americans; some people from Canada; a woman from California; a guy from Chicago; and another couple from Charlotte, NC. Interestingly enough when Keith was talking to me on the phone in the morning in Morgade before heading to Portomarin–a taxi pulled up and dropped a couple people off. They were having their suitcases taken to their destination and were only carrying tiny little packs. Much later down the Camino Keith was walking through a barn yard and a door opens and these same two people came out saying goodbye to the old man who was letting them out of the barn. Later down the road he talked to them and they turned out to be Americans. The guy was from Oregon and had a house in Vancouver. Keith asked how they got entrance to the barn and they told him that the guy waved them in and showed them his still and that it was the coolest thing. He gave them a drink and it was very strong. They showed Keith a photo of a great old copper still and he was, of course, really jealous. He was tempted to go back. We figured that the old guy must do that for random pilgrims. Another old guy who lived near there pointed at the spray painted yellow arrows (Camino markers) and said he did that (painted them). Keith said it was a lot of fun.

While waiting for his dinner (a burger—“But don’t eat the fries!!”) he was sitting outside and these people came by and were looking for a hotel and it turned out to be the one he was staying at. It turned out that the woman was from Portland. That’s the second person he’s talked to from Portland and she said she’d met three others from there herself. They’ve been saying that there have been a lot more Americans on the Camino this year than previous years. (Keith credits Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez—check out their movie “The Way” and you can see some of what Keith’s been seeing on his adventure.) After dinner he got his credencial stamped at the church–that made three stamps for the day (there’s a minimum of 2 needed).

As Keith was preparing to leave Sarria this morning, he was trying to take a picture of a black cat and the cat shied away and ran off. Keith turned to see what scared it away—thinking that maybe someone on a bike riding the Camino or something spooked it–but instead it was a herd of about 15 cows. After a while a couple dogs came after them and a long while after them a shepherd came through, too. He had an odd 2-pointed stick that he was carrying.

On the way to Morgade from Sarria the first bit was kinda tough because he was pushing himself and not stopping when he needed to, but once he realized he just needed to break a little more regularly things went much better. “You just go down these little lanes and if you get tired you walk over to the stone wall, plunk your pack down and sit for a while.”

He likes the area he’s in now more for walking and it reminds him in some ways of the Northwest with hills and trees for shade. He says that it’s been a nice change from the other stretch of the Camino which was flat. A way that it’s unlike home is the New Englandy/Irishy kind of rock walls. Also, instead of crumbling adobe and red tile roofs like the first region of the walk–he’s now seeing granite blocks and black slate roofs. This area was settled by Celts (explaining the rock walls) and at one point on the trail he even heard someone playing bagpipes.

He took a picture of a couple cats on the way out of town this morning in a store window. And saw a bunch of dogs throughout the day. The Camino goes through some people’s barn yards and fields and increases the odds of bumping into people’s pets and livestock. There was one guy that had a little motorcycle and was accompanied by a huge German Shepard (with a head twice the size as the ones here at home) and the dog loved the motorcycle and kept running ahead of it and “enjoying the hell out of it.” Another guy must’ve been on the Camino, but was also traveling with a dog. Another traveller he saw was a woman pulling a little homemade wagon with all her stuff in it. (Reminds me of Jim’s skateboard suggestion)

He arrived in Morgade with a few others—a woman named Debbie from Sacramento and an Australian woman named Fran. (Fran works for the Catholic Church and it’s her job to perform audits to ensure funds get to the right programs.) Since they walked in at the same time—they sat down together for some food. Keith had an omelet and a beer. Later that night for dinner they had bacon (approaching American bacon – at least it tasted like it), eggs, and fries (apparently something just to avoid throughout any visit to Spain).

He was pretty excited that you could have laundry done instead of him having to hand-wash his things and hang them to dry overnight. Sometimes you really need a good machine cleaning. :) This time he didn’t have a private room, but instead shared a room that accommodated six people. Since him and the other two ladies were there first they had the pick of the beds. He chose one by the window that had a little extra space for his pack. He was happy to report that the place seemed very clean. Eventually a German woman and a couple from Wisconsin also joined the shared room. It turns out that both of the man and the woman from Wisconsin had the same exact sleeping bag as Keith. (Note: We’ll post a list of supplies at the end of the blog once the trip is over and include as much info on items as we can in case anyone else can benefit from the info.)

On Keith’s way to Sahagun he passed into a new state called Leon. It’s good that he had this landmark moment because otherwise the day was “pretty dull.” He said there weren’t really any sights to see in the small villages that he passed through that day and there weren’t people passing him except for a few on bikes that whizzed by. Near the outskirts of Sahagun there were three people who finally did show up and pass him, but it was pretty much at the end of the day.

He walked just about 20 km this time and said the last couple km took a while. He could see the hotel sign from miles away and thought to himself, “I’ll bet that’s it!” He thought maybe he should get the binoculars out to confirm if it, but got to thinking about how in the movies they take out the binoculars and it never helps—“instead of seeing a far off oasis you see dancing girls.” (I totally had a Crosby and Hope vision as he described that–“The Road to Sahagun.”)

Once in Sahagun he was hoping to bump into the Canadian couple or the Irish guys, but no luck. Not even when he slowly trolled past what was supposed to be an Irish bar. He did bump into the older German lady who, unfortunately, had terrible blisters on her feet that day. She said it had been fine right up until it went terribly wrong. There was an American woman who’d been raised in Switzerland who casually joined their conversation with a “What’s up?” She could speak English and German—the best of both worlds.

That night he slept really well. I think I was as happy to hear that as he was to experience it. That gets us to today which would be when he’d need to hop a train and jump forward to Sarria in order to complete his final 115 km walk to Santiago. As he made his way from the hotel to the train station he passed through a street festival with all sorts of booths selling special sausages, cheeses, hams, salted fish, as well as some foods he had no idea what they were. Plus fruits, vegetables, and a lot of clothes with what looked like a flourishing market in women’s undergarments.

The train ride was so long that once they got to a certain point about an hour away from Sarria they rechecked tickets and directed everyone to specific cars based on their destination. In the cars all of the seats in the front part faced backwards and all the seats in back faced forward. After the adjustments to destination cars he was facing forward, but when he looked back he found that there were no longer any cars behind them. They had just dropped off the whole back of the train.

There was an interesting group of pilgrims on the train today. They all got off at the city of Leon. There was a pair of Spanish guys and one would show up and give Keith useful pieces of information then disappear again. For example: “the train is 5 minutes late.” It was nice of him, but kind of odd because most of the Spanish pilgrims can’t or don’t make the effort to speak English.

This new region is very different than the earlier places on this trek. Keith says it looks more like home (Washington state)—less desert and more green trees. He sounded happy about that.

Keith stayed in Calzadilla de la Cueza yesterday (hitting a major milestone – 100 km walked!) and after a good night’s sleep trekked his way to Sahagun today. Before leaving Calzadilla de la Cueza he had breakfast at his hotel (hostal not hostel) and they played the same music tape that they’d played the night before. He said that “no one should have to listen to “We Are the World” twice in the same year. The hostal in Calzadea de la Cueza didn’t take reservations on the internet so Keith had to call them the morning of the day he was going to arrive make a reservation. No one at the hostal spoke English and it was tough conveying a name to them. He was aiming for the Spanish version of Paul (Paulo) since “Keith” just wasn’t happening, but by the time it was all done it had morphed to “Pablo.” So when he got there he asked for his room and the guy was like, “Ah! Pablo!!!”

The hostal is set up like some of the bars in old Western movies where the bar and hotel desk are in the opposite ends of the main room and the stair case goes up and winds around where the room doors face over the bar and stuff. It meant it was a little noisy from people down in the bar in the evening, but his earplugs worked pretty well and it got real quiet after about 11 when apparently everybody got kicked out. Earlier in the evening an Irish guy bought Keith a beer. He was some type of statistician and he said that he was going to write an alternate guide to the Camino called, “My feckin’ Camino!” There was also an older Canadian couple that were biking the Camino. One of their bikes had a flat and another Irish guy was trying to help fix it. He was a funny, classic Irishman comic character—and while he was working on it he prayed out loud invoking, “Jesus Christ and all the flippin’ saints!” Sadly this didn’t get the tire fixed. Later he had dinner with the Canadian couple and they said they planned to get a ride into the next city to see if they can get it fixed or replaced since it’s a rental.

For those keeping track the pack was ok again today—it seems like he’s found a consistent solution to that problem which is good because after he takes a train to Sarria tomorrow from Sahagun he’s going to have a few days with LOTS-o-hills and the pack needs to be cooperative since the hills alone will be enough of a challenge.

I realized that there was a picture from Sept. 16th of the view from Alto Mostelares that I completely forgot to include earlier in the blog and since it’s such a beautiful view I thought I should go ahead and share it in this post:

More on Sahagun and the next phase of his journey soon! Same bat time…same bat channel!

Keith’s trek today led him to the “municipality” of Carrión de los Condes. I’m sure there’s some sort of official definition that helps them decide whether it’s a village, a town, a city, or a municipality, but I have yet to figure out the system so far. The place he’s staying at reminds him of “staying at somebody’s grandparent’s house,” but he said that he couldn’t ask for a better view. He’s on the 2nd floor and his room has a balcony that looks straight over into the Church of Santa María de las Victorias. Also, in his room is a unique shower with a triple panel door and he reports that the brand name is “Original DuschoLux.”

Today he stopped in a place called Villalazar de Sirga for breakfast and talked to the German lady he’d visited with during lunch the day before. He didn’t bump into a lot of people on the trail today, but he did chat with a guy from Tucson, AZ who asked if they were both wearing the same shoes. It turns out they were except they were originally different color schemes, but as Keith described it they were now “Camino brown.”

Some good news that he shared was, “I barely noticed I had the pack on for part of the day.” He also said that the day was a little chilly so he finally had a chance to take advantage of his ear warmer and figured out that wearing the rain jacket was the best way to deflect some of the wind. The wind has been so relentless that he’s been blowing his nose non-stop and going through Kleenex pretty steadily. Fortunately, there was a supermercado in town where he could stock up on some more along with a few other trail necessities. While at the store he noticed a brand of bread called, “Bimbo.” I don’t even know where to go with that.

Speaking of food–today’s trio of pictures have a tasty treats theme:

Good news everyone! Keith is feeling much better and is back in action. Today he successfully made his way from Frómista to Villamentero de Campos after a short train ride back to the Camino path from Palencia. His first two days back on the Camino will be shorter ones then he’ll have a longer haul on Thursday. He was also pleased to report that his backpack rode better today and that maybe he’s finally found a configuration that’s going to work for him.

Yesterday was his last day in Palencia and he spent it eating Whoppers at Burger King (the McDonald’s was elusive) and visiting the Palencia Cathedral in all its glory. He looked happier and healthier (even if his self-portraits need a little work–see below), was well-rested, and felt fine after touring around Palencia—which was his preparedness test.

The Palencia Cathedral had its own museum that had 16th century tapestries that looked really fresh–the colors were really bright on them; an El Greco; and a favorite for him (because “it was odd and my mind holds little things in it better”) was a painting that when you look at it straight-on it looks like a smear–not like anything–but in a box at the side there is an eyehole and when looking through it from the edge on there is a portrait of King Carlos. The cathedral itself had excellent architecture that he said he thought I’d really like. (No doubt :) )

The cathedral tour was given by a nun and he couldn’t understand what she was saying with exception of a few words here and there, but there was a woman who had gone to school in the states and she kindly translated some details for him. Her husband was wearing a UW (University of Washington—for those of you that might confuse that with Wyoming or Wisconsin or something) t-shirt because the woman’s sister had gone there. (Small world!)

All the walking around made him hungry and when he went in search of Burger King and found it–it turned out that it wasn’t opening for another half hour! Thankfully it was on the edge of a nice park that is on the Pisuerga River. So he walked in the park for half an hour and came back to find it still wasn’t open! He caught himself wondering how many hungry Americans they get like this—waiting and thinking, “Come on man! Open the door!” Once they finally did open, he said it was great.

Today’s Camino trek went well, but the weather was cool and windy. It was the first time on the whole trip that he had to put on his fleece. Part of the day the wind blew straight at his face, and then eventually it was hitting him from the side. It was almost strong enough to push him off the path into the big old ditch, but only almost. It also rained off and on, but only a slight patter—no big deal. Towards the end of today’s hike he thought “now it’s going to rain!” and put on his raingear but, of course, it didn’t do anything. Putting on the gear was a bust, but better safe than drenched.

I was really happy to hear that he forced himself to stop for lunch today at a hotel where he had “some sort of odd beef soup with dumplings–it was ok”, a salad with iceberg lettuce and tomato pieces, and some kind of little hamburgers. They weren’t actually hamburgers but were still pretty good. He got to speak English for a while with an older German woman who was there and that was the only person he really talked to the whole day. There just wasn’t much traffic on the path he’d taken—which was an alternate side route for a few kilometers, but with a much-needed lodging break that the main path just did not have soon enough for tonight.

Once in Villamentero de Campos he discovered that the lodging we’d reserved for him was virtually deserted (and contrary to all the documentation did NOT have WiFi). After he checked in he didn’t even see the staff when he went downstairs in the evening to check things out. So he ventured over to the nearby albergue which has a 24-bed hostel, some individual cabins, and even some teepees, but most importantly it had a bar! He thought he’d get himself some human interaction there since it was feeling a little lonely around there. Sadly the bar was pretty deserted, too, but he treated himself to a beer anyway. The bartender gave him a small bowl of nuts and when Keith dropped a couple on the floor as he was sitting down, “this little dog that had greeted me at the door snarfed them down and sat staring at me expectantly for a long time. Obviously it was that dog’s job to snarf up the peanuts from the floor.”

The serving bar was about four and a half feet wide. There were 2 speakers which were screwed into the wall with nothing to cover them and the whole wall was covered with graffiti people had inked with felt-tip pens. There was no lighting or anything and it started to get dark while he was there. During his visit three Spanish people came in individually. He figured it was probably the only bar in town. The music was ok, though, they were playing REM and one song he heard was “I’ll Take the Rain.” I’m thinking he should LEAVE the rain myself.

Apologies everyone for the couple day lag in updating the blog. I blame Keith! But who doesn’t?? But, seriously, we were in kind of a holding pattern and waiting to see how things went over the weekend.

We are happy to report that Keith’s trip to Palencia went pretty smoothly with exception of the fact that the 11 AM train never came to fruition and instead he got to hang out at the Frómista train station for six hours waiting for the next one! When he first got up that morning he seriously considered just staying where he was because he was still blechedich. But he gathered his strength (and his backpack) and got down to the station well before the supposed 11 o’clock train. And well well before the 5 o’clock train that he actually ended up on!! While waiting he visited with a Dutch couple off and on, did a little Sudoku, and just held on until the train cometh.

Once in Palencia he made it to the hotel which he says looks a little like it was built in the 60s in a Vegas style. The first night he was just wiped out, but did make it through dinner and got some rest. The second day he was feeling even a little better and he ventured out of the hotel to explore a little. He didn’t go far, but he was up and out and that was good news! He made it through a couple more meals and you could hear in his voice that he was improving. We even were able to video chat for a little while and it was good to see him smiling.

Today saw even more progress as he ventured out to do some limited sightseeing, took a few photos of buildings, and searched for the McDonald’s. Sadly the passage he’d found that lead to McDonald’s was very narrow and the wind was so strong he decided to skip that in fear of being blown into traffic! Instead he found a Chinese restaurant for lunch. He said they looked like they could use the business. He had wonton soup and pollo de la curry salsa—which didn’t taste anything like curry, but was still pretty good. The guy who served him spoke a little English and they talked for a few minutes mostly because the only other person Keith had heard speak English in the last three days was me. The waiter was very nice to him and gave him a free drink of a Chinese libation called (he said) “Flower.” It wasn’t bad. He drank it and then “left quickly to avoid ending up staffing a ship to Shanghai.” I laughed when he said that because it made me think of the McMenamin’s White Eagle Saloon (a place where we’ve spent the night) story since it’s on the Portland Shanghai tunnel system. And he continued explaining that “being sick in a foreign country makes you paranoid” and that it was very nice of the guy to give it to him, though.

Below are neat pictures from Keith’s treks this weekend: a couple of great buildings, one of the city’s historic churches (Church of Our Lady of the Street), and a steamroller or “Máquina de tren de Jardinillos” from a nearby park.

With any luck he will be ready by Tuesday to hit the road once again. He’ll have to make adjustments to his walking plan—which was always likely to happen–but he’d still like to spend more time on the Camino if he’s up to it. He can use all the positive thinking everyone has to offer him.