Dear Christine and Renee’.

Except for a few brief spits of rain this morning it has remained dry.

The sun came out and (thankfully) helped my shoes to dry along the way.

They had remained wet and uncomfortable from yesterday.

Speaking of uncomfortable: In the morning when I wake up my lower back and right hip are really tight and painful. Ibuprofen barely helps. But an hour of walking and I feel good again.

Somewhat similarly Britton starts to feel twinges of discomfort in his right knee by the end of a long day walking.

Again, it is not the one day walking, rather it is the day-after-day walk that is the challenge. In these matters we are not alone.

We see other pilgrims with taped ankles, taped knees, blisters… and we think we are not doing so badly. (Knock on wood!)

Today we encountered a grandfather and grandson from France walking the Camino. Grandson is 14 and grandfather 62. We are not alone!

Britton’s shyness again raised its head. It occurred to me that he is not shy with using his language skills, he is just shy as most 15-year-olds are in meeting strangers. Give him a little time with people and he is more personable than many adults.

I think he and I have found our comfort levels with one another. We seem to both now seem instinctively to know what to expect from each other. It’s all good!

There was time today for a little fun and to pose behind some “cut outs”.

One remarkable sight we had been alerted to was that of a huge olive tree at the entrance to a local bodega. The tree is huge and reputed to be well over 1000 years old!

I have continued to work through plans to assure us of reaching Santiago in time, but with a minimum of discomfort. As pilgrim Anna from Montana has recently told us, “There is no trophy for suffering the most!”

We are doing a good job of taking care of each other.

Love to both of you. Peace. Dad.

PS. in the evening there was again dinner with our Polish friends!

Dear Christine and Renee’.

I had thought there would not be much to say about today other than to report the return of the cold and rain that we experienced early on.

I was wrong.

First just to emphasize: It was cold, an arthritis triggering cold and dampness. There were, however, other sites which distracted us from the discomfort. 

It rained throughout most of the day. Perhaps those conditions contributed to the nonstop conversation that occurred between Britton and me. Through his questions he knows more about our history than any of the grandchildren, and possibly our own children. Yet this was not the highlight of the day.

We reached Ventosa after another 20+km hike that lasted nearly 6 hours. Our venue for the night was Hotel Rural Las Aguedas. I expected a clean and functional establishment. What we received was nothing short of elegant!

Our room was spacious and well appointed.

Down the hall was a sitting room that would be welcoming in any 5 star establishment. Yet this very small rural hotel has only 7 rooms.

For €22 per person our hostess, Rocio, personally cooked a three course dinner, which included bread and a fine local wine.

The same meal in the States would be at least twice the cost. And the setting…!

There were only four of us at table. The other two guests were ab delightful couple from Poland, Kasia & Witek Obszynski, from Cracow.

They are walking the Camino, his fourth and her first. Kasia is struggling through some tendinitis.

Our dinner and conversation extended to almost 3 hours. As it luck has it they will be spending tomorrow night “down the road” at the same small establishment as us. We have committed to continue discussions where we left off. These are people that I know you would enjoy hosting either in Kansas City or Colorado.

The dinner was amazing! Vegetable and fruit salad so colorful that should be memorialized in a painting.

A chicken paella that tops anything that I’ve had on any of my prior visits to Spain.

There was also an excellent dessert and delicious local Rioja wine.

The evening’s experience had taken us from Camino Purgatory to Camino Heaven.

We have a relatively short day tomorrow, only 16 km. I have been working through some reservations for the next few days including train tickets from Burgos to Leon.

Love to both of you. Peace. Dad.

Dear Christine and Renee’.

First of all to you Christine: I give all my love and gratitude for 47 years of your love and our partnership. I lit a candle to us.

Today was another 20+ km day. The sun was out and it warmed quickly.

There was a steep climb at the beginning but we are growing accustom to the variances in topography.

Bigger climbs await us ahead.

Walking 20 or more kilometers in a day it’s not such a big deal, but doing it every day does wear on the body and soul.

I have made some decisions. I want Britton to enjoy this and not become “burned out” in the same way that I once burned out his mother (you Renee!) on backpacking.

There is a very nice four-star hotel about 20km before Burgos. The owner of the hotel has set aside a wing for pilgrims. While many of the guests are paying hundreds of dollars a night the pilgrims pay about 20. We get to eat with the upscale guests and from our experience there in 2013 it is the pilgrims who are the celebrities.

The next day Britton and I will bus into Burgos and skip the suburbs. We will get a hotel for the night and tour the magnificent cathedral. We will get train tickets to Leon and thus skip the desert-like high plains known as the Meseta. This is not just in the interest of comfort, but in looking at our calendar we do not have enough days to otherwise complete the journey into Santiago. We will still qualify for our Compostelas.

I succeeded in getting tickets to visit the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It’s a darn good thing that I did it now because they are already virtually sold out for the early part of July.

Christine, you may recall that when you and I walked into Logroño in 2013 there was a delightful woman who invited us into her home where she provided refreshments and memorabilia on the Camino, only asking for a donation.

This was Maria, daughter of the modern Camino’s famous Felisa (1910-2002) who for most of his adult life “stood guard”, just as Maria was doing, greeting pilgrims entering La Rioja. Sadly, Maria died in 2021.

Today as Britton and I were walking toward Logroño I recognized the home. Two ladies, one older, and one younger, were providing refreshments and Camino memorabilia, again asking only a donation. I showed them the picture of you with Maria, and one of the ladies said in broken English, “My mother!”. The younger lady said, “My grandmother!”. They were also in the process of setting up to celebrate the birthday of their five-year-old son/grandson.

We joined for hugs and a picture. It was a wonderful renewal of a time eleven years gone and which spanned 5 generations.

I will sign off here and finish this post with photographs and captions where appropriate.

Love to you both. Happy Anniversary, Christine. Dad

After a visit to the cathedral, we adjourned for an incredible variety of tapas and amazing wine. 

And after dinner… 

Dear Christine and Renee’.

Our hike today from Albergue Oasis Trails at Villamayor Monjardin to Torres del Rio was done in a leisurely six hours, 13 miles, and 30,000 steps.

There were no major hills to climb, and although it was warm, the sun stayed behind clouds most of the day.

At one point, we perceived a thread of rain, but it never materialized.

As with the sisters at Zabaldika, I was mere steps from Oasis Trails and I found that I really missed the company of the good people who took care of us. Both are very spiritually rich places.

About halfway on the road, we encountered another “oasis”.

This time it was a food truck.

Incredibly, it was operated by a gentleman, Wes, originally from Vancouver Canada, assisted by a young lady, Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards) from Arizona who has just graduated from high school. She is here in Spain helping out over the summer before starting college in the fall.

Again, very spiritual people. Wes asked if he could pray over me for good health and a safe Camino for us.

We are just back from dinner. Britton has really come out of his shyness today and acted as an interpreter for two French speakers at dinner. He conducted himself throughout the dinner mostly in French. He is really happy with himself and I have expressed how proud I am of him. I know the two of you would be as well.

Before dinner, Britton and I swim in the Alberges’ swimming pool (WHAT A LUXURY!!!)…

and visited a very unusual 12th century Knights Templar church, Inglesia de Santo Sepulcro, here inTorres del Rio.

I will let the pictures speak to what we saw, as well as some of the other visual highlights of the day.

Love to you both. Peace. Dad

PS. Christine, it has been 47 years. What a gift you have been to me. Happy Anniversary. I Love You!