A Walk in the Park

….as Jay likes to say. This particular park is the width of Spain with a bit of France at the beginning. I need to clarify something I’ve shared with so many of you as we’ve talked during the plan stages of this particular piece or our trip. Our Camino does not end in Portugal. I thought the second portion of our walk was to Portugal. It’s just so happens that particular piece of land is still Spain. I thought Portugal extended all the way up the Atlantic, but Spain owns that little piece. So much for my geography skills.

Thank you so much for all your prayers this week. We have felt them so much that our difficult days have felt like nothing. I know we are so lifted in prayer, it’s as if we are floating through these miles. As we publish this particular blog, we are five days into this pilgrimage and have walked approximately 120 kilometers. This past week when our grandchildren started school I texted them our kilometers for the day and told them their first math quiz of the school year was, “How many miles have we walked?” So, how’s your math skills? How many miles are 120 kilometers?

Our Camino began in St Jean Pied-De Port, France. Oh that bed was so comfortable, we didn’t want to leave. Up and over the Pyrenees was our goal for the next couple days.

Our first day we ran into only one other pilgrim. Her name was Darlene from Utah. It was so great to talk to someone who spoke English. We haven’t had a conversation with another since August 14th. I think I might have talked too much. All of a sudden she needed to stop and get her poles out, and we never saw her again. Oops!!

We chose to take the Valcarlos route instead of the Napoleon route due to weather. Everyone else, except Darlene and us took the Napoleon. As we talked to other pilgrims at our first night’s destination, they all shared how cold and wet the Napoleon route was and they didn’t see a thing. This is what they contended with all day and what we saw when our routes converged.

Most of our day was great along the river and through the valley. And then we had the big climb at the end of our day to see the fog.

There is so much I could share each day. As we are walking it’s difficult to decide what you are going to focus on seeing. The old Gothic style churches are amazing. The other ornate buildings and statues are something to see as well.

So are the different animals, such as the pig who decided to lift her head up from eating to pose as soon as she saw Jay get his camera.

Or maybe the gorgeous landscape this area of the world has on display.

I’ve discovered how much I love waterfalls. I already knew I liked to see them, however I have this new awareness of how drawn I am to them.

Jay has loved all the wild blackberries we get to eat along the trail these past five days.

And the old bridges the Romans built in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Exploring the city of Pamplona was great too. This is the city where the “Running of the Bulls” occurs. Jay thought he might participate. Then hang out with Ernest Hemingway in his favorite haunt.

As much as I love waterfalls, I love meeting different pilgrims on this journey and meeting the towns people. One particular local was Javier González. He and his mother live in Zubiri. His house is located on the corner of the Camino as you exit Zubiri. The gate is his backyard.

We met Javier walking to Zubiri from Venter del Puerto. He was out for his daily walk, a very fast walker, may I say. (Judy Davis and Teresa Field, you could keep up with him for sure.) We chatted for a bit while walking and then he was gone. Jay and I said, “This guy was the happiest person we’ve met today. Wish we could have kept up with him.” (It was late in our day and we still had miles to go.) After going to the Mercado (Supermarket) we walked over the bridge in Zubiri to begin our last section of our walk for the day when this guy yells from his backyard, “Hey, you are from California, from Sacramento, California.” We looked over and there he was, the happiest man that day! Javier comes out of his backyard, takes our picture, then asks if he can post it on his Instagram. We are email buddies now. He emailed some great ideas while in Pamplona. Javier, we made your Instagram, you made our blog.

I know this blog is getting long, so I’ll wrap it up with this. All these areas of interest are amazing in this small world we live in, however there is nothing better than being with the one who created all this and the privilege of sitting at the feet of His Son, Jesus, throughout the day.

Blessings and Buen Camino!