Journey to Inner Peace

My dogs are tired. It was rough.  We started about 10:00am in Porto. We walked along a board walk near the Atlantic Ocean. We walked on wood, gravel, cobblestones, sand, roadways and grass. Uphill and down.  Ugh!!! Things I learned today…. Buy a good rain jacket (I did), Ex-officio underwear dry instantly (my undies of choice), don’t buy earbuds from a street vendor (they wouldn’t charge), get to the albuergue (hostel) before 5pm or the beds are gone, and Portuguese people don’t up dog shit. Here are shot pictures from today’s trip: Today’s steps: 35,153!

  Ahhh…breakfast!  I learned to drink Nescafé when I was in Guam a couple years ago. It’s caffeine! So many pastries to choose from! And natural yogurt…weird texture.  We took an Uber to the train station. That was an interesting adventure buying tickets for the train. It was a leisurely 3 1/2 hour train ride to Porto. Unlike Amtrak, you have an assigned seat so I was separated from the rest of the group.I felt a bit like an outcast. But soon fell asleep and dreamed of the wonderful trip ahead of us. People around me were hacking and coughing. I suppose we didn’t learn anything with Covid. The train was a great way to see the countryside. From the train station we took an Uber to our hotel. What a beautiful place! We dropped our stuff off and decided to head out to the cathedral in Porto. We needed to get our pilgrim passports because my wise butt somehow left them at home. We paid three euros to go in and tour the old cathedral. It was beautiful. We walked all the way to...

  On Saturday April 28 we all left from our home locations of Missoula, Montana; Bozeman, Montana; and St. Louis, Missouri. Our final destination and rendezvous was Lisbon, Portugal. Mary, Sarah, and I met up in Boston before heading over the pond. The 6.5 hour flight was comfortable and uneventful. That’s a first!  Upon arriving in Lisbon our three tired brains got through immigration and customs without a hitch or Portuguese! We even got an Uber! Thank goodness the app is in English! We stayed at the Doubletree Fontana Park. Molly and Louise were several hours behind us so we decided to leave our backpacks (the rooms weren’t ready yet) and start walking. About 16000 steps later we were back at the hotel.  Streets and sidewalks are narrow and stoned. People drive like maniacs. They like their statues here. Many parks and gardens. We stopped at the top of a hill (everything is uphill) and watched a group of high school boys working on dance moves in the park. On our way d...

  The day has finally come.  I have not really slept well for a couple nights. Tossing and turning. I had a meltdown day before yesterday. Emotions got the best of me. Why? Not sure. Isn't this a vacation? Not really. Am I ready? Not really.  I fixated on the weight of my backpack for  two days. Packed and repacked. What could I do without? Goodness...I was already down to three pairs of undies, 3 pairs of socks, 2 t-shirts, hiking pants, a t-shirt dress, and a puffy coat. UGH!!!! No make up, no jewelry....what was this madness??? I even gave up panti-liners - you know what I'm talking about ladies! I figure if I wet my pants when I walk I will be washing them out each night anyway! OH MY! I figured out why I was stress eating....your backpack typically should be 10% of your body weight. Well....if I weighed more....my backpack could weigh more!  I DID NOT LEAVE OUT MY STARBUCKS VIA PACKETS!  Buen Camino!

"Pilgrimage, by its very nature, undoes certainty. It rejects the safe and familiar. It asserts that one is freer when one frees oneself from daily obligations of family, work, and community, but also the obligations of science, reason, and technology."   A suggestion by a close friend stirred a desire in my soul. "We should do the Camino de Santiago," he said. I had no idea what that was. I began to research and found a calling deep inside to plan this challenge. It was at that moment that I became.....a pilgrim. They say you become a pilgrim the exact moment you make the decision to walk the Camino. Just calling myself a "pilgrim" invoked a sense of calmness.  I have not really been a "religious" person (and certainly not since the loss of my daughter) but I did classify myself as a "spiritual" person. I did some research and it seemed most pilgrims made the Camino trek for religious reasons. I pondered why I felt the need to do this....