July 31st / Tuesday / Paris, France

Hello everyone...I think I may have forgotten how to use a computer it's been so long. I still have not mastered the French keyboard but no matter I will be home, yes...home in a few more days. There's no place like home, I'm clicking the heels of my beautiful sparkling red shoes together...there's no place like home...there's no place like home. Marc has shared with you why I am still in Paris, I'll be well to fly home on Thursday. I now understand why I was so very tired when I shouldn't have been. On this journey I've mastered another level of intuition, for those interested ask when I return. Genevieve & Bernadette went to visit their niece today and wanted me to come along but I declined since I really wanted to rest and take a walk. They needed to travel by Metro (train)for one hour maybe a little longer because the train they normally take had a closed section, they will be back in a couple of hours. Nicole left yesterday (Monday) morning as planned. While waiting for the taxi yesterday morning that Genevieve arranged the prior day nicole and I had some soft & hard chuckles watching my wonderful French Ladies...I'm guessing the French are serious worrier's and I thought it was just my mom. The two of them took turns pursing their lips together then making the sound puh, puh, puh, nodding their heads sideways because the taxi was not there yet...he was to arrive at 9 am, it was 9:03; this continued for another 20 mins. (I should mention that after seeing the Doctor on Sunday at Genevieve's home I was told I absolutely could not fly home, it was the law! To make a long story short-Genevieve had called the Taxi 3 times...1)to pick up 2 people 2)pick up only 1 person)3)pick up 2 people... we decided not to call them back and make matters worse)...now to continue with the story, Nicole & I were silently laughing our hearts out while sharing eye contact. After much puhhing Genevieve had had it and returned to her 6th floor apt to call the company...upon her return she was thoroughly disgusted; the taxi man had been arrested - for speeding! Oh my gosh, I could not contain my laughter any longer! Laughing at this time with bronchitus & asthma was difficult for me but I could not stop! Laughter was pouring out of me. Life Is Good. I see humor around every corner on this journey and I'm loving it. Genevieve had called another Taxi which would arrive in 5-30 mins; again both women are standing at the wrought iron doors to their apt complex with folded arms, anxious, worried faces, knodding from side-side continuously with many more puh's! Nicole & I are busting up, sitting across a full side-side ceiling-floor mirror looking at ourselves and laughing more; couldn't have been a better send off in the continuing saga of Nicole & AriZona fashion. I was trying to document this with a picture but while I was doing so...the taxi was pulling around the corner...hurry! hurry! Nicole, the taxi is here! Hurry; more laughter as we finish taking the picture just as they rush in the two steps to make sure we are coming. I thought there was a disaster somewhere with all the seriousness. Can you hear me laughing through this letter? I am grinning from ear to ear. I don't believe I will get another chance alone as they believe it is too dangerous and would want to be by my side, protecting me & with love. They are wonderful and so very kind to take care of me since I could not leave. They are truly the doting Aunties. I shall be at this computer for a short while and would love to hear from anyon. I Love and Miss You All...slowly walking the streets of Paris, the sun is shining, I just took off my long sleeve light top and now enjoying my sleeveless tank top. LIFE IS GOOD everywhere I look. Lots of Love - AriZona

In Paris a Few More Days

Marc here again-

AriZona has come down with acute asmatic bronchitis. Her Doctor in Paris told her she can't fly until Thursday. After much consternation and hours on the phone with US Airways, she will be arriving at 8:35 PM on Thursday.

There was only one seat available, so Nicole is headed home now and will arrive this evening. It's sad they couldn't finish the final leg of their great adventure together, but both will be home in their own beds soon.

Marc

Paris

Marc Here.

It's a summer Saturday in Paris, so AZ and Nicole are doing it like true Parisians...Going to the Countryside. Some Fountain Hills friends go to to (his) Benoit's family summer home for the summer. The girls are riding the train to Benoit and Patty's, spending the night and then headed back to Paris on Sunday for the finish of the Tour de France.

They will spend Sunday Night with Jenvieve and Bernadette and then catch the plane home on Monday, July 30. AZ doesn't know if she will get another chance to blog for a few days.

They will have been gone for 53 days. Walked over 600 miles. A remarkable accomplishment. Never did I dream at this age, I would be living with a 55 year old hot babe athelete. Neither did I think of living with such a wonderful soul and who continually oozzes happiness. Twenty-five dammed good years we will have been married on August 13. I'm a very lucky man, and I salute you AriZona, the love of my life. Yes, you are right...Life Is Good.

ILY

Marc

July 23 - Bayonne, France

Hello everyone...we are doing well, having a wonderful visit with Franciosé & Jean-Marc and, all their wonderful friends. they are extremely gracious hosts, picking us up at the train station, creating fabulous french meals; franciosé taking us to lunch with co-workers trying out their English and then spending the afternoon with Jean-Marc on the beaches in Barritz and later more friends and franciosé's sister, Kati- spelling? and eating dinner. this morning nicole and i are in Bayonne exploring this wonderful city which i dearly loved in 2002 while both Franciosé & Jean-Marc are at work; meeting Franciosé at noon with Jean-Marc picking us up at 3pm. we have much to share with all who want to know but it won't be on the french keyboard for my blog, the letters are placed differently and really slows me down. tomorrow, July 26th-Thurs. we will be heading north to Paris via the TGV train. i'm excited to visit our friends in Paris and nearby Paris and...i'm really looking forward to seeing my wonderful marc once again and, our grandson Tyler who is visiting in Arizona from the state of WA...there's no place like home. i haven't counted the days but i think it will be 7 weeks upon returning home. i don't believe i will have an opportunity to be on the computer-only thru tonight...yes, i will check for any news from anyone later tonight. I Love each and everyone one of you, thank you for letting me share this adventure with you, it's been fun. Bonjour - LIFE IS GOOD - AriZona home on July 30th

Santiago - Hendaye, Spain

Sunset in Finisterre: imagine this...we finished eating dinner about 9:30 pm and knew we needed to hurry up to the lighthouse to catch the sunset; it is a 40 min. walk. neither of us wanted to go for a walk but on the other hand we did want to go to the lighthouse, the end of the world. in nicole and arizona fashion we needed to do some fast walking, i mean realllly fast. the sunsets here in spain are around 10 pm. as usual there was an old woman who pointed to her watch probably telling us we needed to hurry. gracias, and start running some more. nicole and i love to challenge each other saying silly things like: i can walk faster than you; i´ll push you over the hill if you don´t move it; both of us can´t walk side by side, move it; i´m younger than you i can walk faster, laughing i of course zoom ahead; then nicole is running her tiny little feet faster and making me laugh even more; cars are passing and we´ll say something like...great can´t you see we´re pilgrims and offer us a ride...haven´t we walked far enough...laughing more, asking what would we do if someone stopped and offered a ride, laugh some more..knowing we would not get in a car when we are so very close to finishing the camino and touching the last milestone marker. well, you get the point; we don´t take things seriously and laugh a lot! when we get to the top it is just about dark and really don´t notice a sunset. we take a couple of pictures of ourselves and someone else then walk further on to the point, more pic´s. it´s at this point nicole wants me to take a picture and i tell her i can´t because i have to go to the bathroom, i really have to go. she tells me there aren´t any people around you can go there, or there. i look at her and say i´m not going to the bathroom in a bush...here, you´ve got to be kidding. it´s getting dark and i can´t tell who is nearby and it isn´t the appropriate place to go as we have done all along the camino...it´s what a pilgrim does. i tell her i have to find a place, i run and notice the lighthouse restaurant and gift shop still has its lights on...i run to the door, it´s locked...i knock and a man opens the door and i plead as best i can in spanish to use the aseo; he lets me in, gracias. outside it´s really getting dark, i softly yell...nicole...again...nicole, no answer. i can´t see and don´t figure she is still out at the point so i head back to the main area where the road starts to go down...nicole...no answer. great, i don´t know where she is and she didn´t know where i ran off to. i see two guys that may have seen the two of us together but they say they didn´t see anyone else down at the point. i´m starting to wonder if she decided to start walking back to the hotel thinking i did the same. problem was, we both had black shirts on, the only thing light was my hair. the two guys ask as best they could in english if they could help...yes, yes please. so we start back down to the point, i´m getting a little anxious not knowing where she might be. while walking i´m saying nicole, nicole...where are you. finally i say nicole and she answered...she had been waiting down at the point where i last saw her. we were both a little anxious not having anything like this happen during our entire trip...very interesting...i decided we need to have a reflector tape of some sort on our clothing so we could see. the two guys gave us a ride down the mountain to our hotel, gracias. we weren´t laughing and hopefully we learned something. a long story i know and i hope you were laughing as you imagined the situation...so it wasn´t the great sunset we imagined but yet we had a great time until it got dark. LIFE IS GOOD.

tomorrow morning on july 22nd we are leaving by train to hendaye, spain not far from france. we´ll spend the night in hendaye and the next morning (july 23rd) go to lourdes, france where we´ll spend the day and then take another train later that afternoon to bayonne to stay with our wonderful friends francoise and jean-marc.

on july 25th we´ll take the TGV train to Paris here we will stay with our neighbors mother (genvieve, and aunt bernadette) for one night. on the 27th we will take the metro (train) to friend´s who live in fountain hills and are in france during our stay. they´ve invited us to their family home where they have a large family (i believe) and a planned activity...putting on a new roof on the farm house...i´m really excited, i brought my work gloves and ready to pitch in. we´ll leave patti and benoit´s either the night of the 28th or morning of the 29th to go back to genvieve´s. nicole and i will try to get in a quick trip to paris and spend the night with my wonderful french ladies then leaving the morning of the 30th to catch the plane from paris to philadelphia. we´ll arrive in the evening around 8:30 pm. that is our agenda so i´ll write very soon as i still want to be in touch. Love to Everyone...ILY...LIFE IS GOOD...Have Fun...AriZona

Onward to Finisterre...July 17, 18....arriving July 19th

Here i am in my favorite place...Fisterra as it is known in Spain. why it has two names i don´t know. leaving Santiago on the morning of july 17th took awhile. nicole gifted me with a book i discovered when we were in sarria for finisterre which gave different directions than the old route i took in 2002. it took awhile to figure it out, i´m one for always taking a different route but, the route took us through the university instead of getting us on our way - it was okay, but i preferred starting on the road to finisterre because i just love it! to me, the road to finisterre isn´t the camino, although it is perceived as such. there is more time to reflect. in the book nicole gifted me Ä Pilgrim´s GD to the Camino Fisterra¨ there are many quotes and reflections which add to my own thoughts. Quote: I feel that our progress towards the goal will be in exact proportion to the purity of our means. -Mahatma Gandhi
besides giving practical info what is particulary interesting to me is the daily insights , such as...

Day 1: we are surrounded by trivia. there is much to distract us from the inner path, but what profit is there in the outward journey if it is not accompanied by expanded awareness? a pilgrim must travel on two paths simultaneously. the tourist will look for the stone altar, the pilgrim an altered state. the one seeks sacred sites the other in-sight. will you make time today for contemplation and reflection? will you rebuild the bridge to the source of your own inner knowing? as Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us in Essays of the Over-Soul, ¨The faith that stands on authority is not faith.¨

Day 2: Quote: as a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. -Leonardo da Vinci Insight: we generally experience death and dying as unwelcome visitors. yet to be born anew we must first allow our old, outworn perceptions die. over identification with out physical bodies limits our understanding of who we really are and induces fear. we need to let go of many of our old and cherished beliefs in order that we can become part of the New. a strong heart helps us climb the mountains of life and lifts us out of the mundane world. Quote: Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone...Kindness in another´s trouble...Courage in our own -Ye Wearie Wayfarer, -Adam Lindsay Gordon

Day 3: Whither your goal? what higher purpose brought you thus far? without a vision quest we are lost indeed. to walk through this life without a spiritual intention is to travel down a cul-de-sac with only our own mortality waiting at the end. what awaits you at your journey´s end? to walk the inner path with a pure motive and openness of mind is to journey on an endless spiral upwards to the source of owr own immortality. will you take time today to reflect on the purpose of your life and the means of fulfilling it?

i have much to contemplate. on the last day of my walk towards Finesterre my feet hurt very little, not worth thinking about. knowing my feet knew this last day´s journey well as did my heart and soul. it is the end of this journey for me but, a new beginning as well. tonight we will go to the lighthouse (the end of the world) to see the sunset. i will write more but i don´t want to miss a single moment...tomorrow we leave to go back to Santiago. ILY AriZona

Finisterre Finale

Marc Here. Arizona an Nicole finished their 600 mile journey arriving in Finisterre around 7:00 PM on July 19. A wonderful day to end a wonderful walk. What an accomplishment. Great Job to both you and Nicole. AZ will blog tomorrow. I Love You Babe.

Day ? / Santiago - Finisterre

We´re not finished yet...leaving tomorrow morning for Finisterre taking the next three days to get there. It has been raining hard off/on here in Santiago for the past two days and don´t know what the weather will bring us. But we are tried and true Pilgrims´and can deal with what ever is before us. I am sad to say I have no idea what kind of communication there will be for the next three days but soon you will hear from me (us). I need to leave so we can get some sleep for our next journey and more stories. put in the good word to the weather gods for us please. LIFE IS GOOD....AriZona Thank you everyone, for all the wonderful support and messages along the way. Sweet Dreams, or should I say, Have a Fun Day!

S A N T I A G O !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! July 15, 2007

okay everyone you´d laugh so hard if you watched nicole and i entering Santigo! AMAZING RACE fans are you ready.......we left monte do gozo (a 45 min. walk to the edge of Santiago, and 1 hr. to the church) this morning at 11:15 and needed to be at the church for the Pilgrim´s Mass at Noon...we did it with two minutes to spare and laughing, literally running, grinning from ear to ear because we knew the Amazing Race cameras we covering the pilgrims. letting out a few wooo hooo´s, okay, maybe a little more than that to cars driving by and they returning smiles, some locals pointing to their watches reminding us of the Pilgrim´s Mass which made us dash even more....passing more pilgrim´s´encouraging them to quicken their steps and hopefully forgetting their tired and weary bodies......Wooooo Hoooooo! the mass was just starting, nicole and i had our packs on and trekking poles in hand; nowhere to stash them as we silently tried to squeeze our bulky selves into a place where we could hear the pilgrim´s prayer and possibly see the cystern swing ever so galantly across the church. i missed seeing this in 2002 and did not want to miss it again. the cystern in ancient times was used to help ease the the smell of the pilgrim´s for the locals and priests. i must say i can´t wait to get this pack off my back because even i cannot stand the smell! it´s okay to laugh because i do, every morning and every evening. yes, i say my prayers waiting for this moment. i have no idea what will happen on the plane home, they may have a special section for the pilgrim´s.

i found my old haunt, the cyber cafe that i loved dearly when last in Santiago. thank goodness not too much change here for this old pilgrim. i welcome change, but i have to say i do delight in remembering and going directly to my favorite places....i still have my memory intact! Woooo Hoooo!

the Camino has a special way of taking care of every need, it has never failed me. after hunger pangs struck nicole and i, we started searching for pasta....out of thousands of people the first person i asked was a pilgrim i´ve seen a couple times since arriving this morning (this was after we searched the city for pasta), she pulled out her Santiago map and told us exactly where to go. Nicole and I had the biggest smiles as we dashed off and then turned around to give a thumb´s up and saying thank you as they watched us, also laughing. LIFE IS GOOD! We are now full and happy once again acknowledging how the Camino takes care of us. and now, i´m typing away to all those i love.

Thank you Marc & Cindy for letting everyone know the pilgrim´s were okay and not to worry. we didn´t stop at the normal albergue´s like the majority of pilgrim´s so this threw us off not knowing if there were computers or telephones...i´m hoping i took good notes for next year. next year? did i just say that...i get delirious at times i´ve warned you. okay, i´ll think about it.

we´ve had a wonderful, often tiring journey, but an unforgetable one so far; either tomorrow or Tuesday we will start on our last leg of this pilgrimage...another three day´s walk to Finisterre, Spain....aka: the end of world as known to Christopher Columbus. this is my favorite indiana jone´s part of the camino...so, i´m hoping there won´t be any changes in that part of the world...if there is, i´ll deal with it and hopefully see it with new eyes.

i had another treat today. i haven´t reread my blogs so i don´t know if i´ve already mentioned this. when nicole and i were in molineseca turning a corner there was a young woman who turned the same corner at the same moment as we did. without hesitation i walked up to her and touched her arm and said....i know you...you were in finisterre in 2002...we met and walked together from the lighthouse. of this i was positive, but how could that be...here, now...five years later. she is here in spain at the same moment in time as i am. incredible! she just looked at me and said, no. yes, i say in 2002...you were. she looks again, starts to say no then realizes yes she was there. she looks at me and i know the moment she recognized me. what are the chances of that occuring? we decided to meet today at the church for the pilgrim´s mass, she would be with her father. we came in a different door of the church and did not see her. as i said the Camino takes care of me...later, in another part of town while nicole was on the phone with her mom, i was sitting on a stone ledge of a fountain listening to the water, admiring the people and my surroundings...when i hear, AriZona! yes, it was Vanessa...destiny. i wonder what is in store for the two of us, this was not just a chance meeting...this is destiny, she agrees. she has a radiant energy that i still love and can´t wait getting to know her for longer than a day. i love life! i´ll end this blog and work my way backwards for a day or two, i don´t have my journal with me. it is very difficult to remember what happened when and where. after doing this kind of journey it´s difficult for everyone we encounter including ourselves to carry on a detailed conversation that is even within a couple of day´s walk. it´s difficult to imagine but it is true. you have one goal... have food, water, sleep, a way to hand wash your clothes and, get to your day´s destination. simple, but at times challenging. ILY (in case you´ve forgotten: I Love You) LIFE IS GOOD....AriZona

morning of the 30th Day - Sarria to Portomarin for the moment

we left Sarria at 8:30 this morning. already extremely tired from a few days of hard walking not wanting to lift one foot and then then the other; the fog only adds to the confusion we are feeling. nicole has this little laugh when she´s tired which makes me laugh each time i hear it...heh, heh or mmm then a little laugh. when we are this tired it doesn´t take much to set us off laughing because we are slowly moving, but still moving. a cow just mooed and nicole said, ¨did you hear that?¨ Hear what? the cow mooed she said. I told her then moo if it makes you feel better...then she did her little laugh and again we laughed. a little further on walking around a corner we see a blue triangle (as a child we used to draw houses with triangle tops, just like this) topped telephone booth in a field next to a single house so we decided to make a couple of quick phone calls since it was going to be another big day for us. while nicole is making her phone call i´m standing around when also in a field not far from the telephone a coke machine surrounded by weeds clicks on...i start laughing...really, it´s in the middle of nowhere. after nicole got off the phone she shared with me a comment her mom made to her...are you carrying food? OUR RULES now: NO MORE CARRYING FOOD! we don´t use it often times and it just adds too much weight. one thing we both decided since leaving o´cebriero...it was NOT the last big climb! i´m thinking nicole will forever more need therapy if she ever hears the words Ït´s close¨again! I´m not kidding. well, this is it, we need to head out it is now 6:10 pm and the days are coming to a close for santiago but then another three long days to finisterre. i will let marc know when we can be in front of a cam in santiago waiving a sign or something in front of nicole and i so you can tell it is us saying ¨Hello¨ to all of you. Lots and Lots of Love...AriZona
p.s. if anyone would like to view nicole´s blog site it is....www.whereintheworldisnicolez.blogspot.com there you can see a picture of what nicole looks like and view her comments of our journey.

28th Day - 7-11-07 / Triacastela - Sarria

We had a good day of walking. the morning was cloudy, cool and the birds were chirping somewher in the thick bushes and trees which lined our road; several brooks were babbling over rocks and underneath grasses, we could hear it - just not see it. the dew was still sitting on the plant leaves. there were two groups of four people - one group in front and one behind us. we all started climbing with lots of heavy breathing. we were in god´s country (heaven), trees covered with vines curling up into their tree tops, grass , more trees; there were many hues of green. as our daughter chanda wonce said (in third grade) heading back home to boise, id from seattle, we asked her what she thought about us moving to seattle and living there: she rested her head on her hands that laid on the long front seat of our ´85 chevy suburban, Ï´m in Heaven! she sang. marc and i looked at each other and burst out laughing. it was a fun trip for us even after we had vehicle problems shortly after leaving boise headed to seattle.

back to my story...still climbing, i feel as wet as the plants appear to be. the mountains are testing our climbing abilities once again as are the cow pies. everywhere i look there are windows of opportunity; i often see a window looking through plants, trees, doorways it doesn´t matter...i also call these portals. while walking i just envisioned groups of people, family and friends gathered in many different places, cheering nicole and i on as we reach our goal...cameras on as we reach the steps of santiago...justas in the Amazing Race comes close to finishing. all you Amazing Race fanatics know the exhileration of this feet (wink, wink). later in the day i run as best i could with back pack, trekking poles on angled jutting rocks, sometimes slippery with mud, down a darkened path with rock wall sides covered with plants. i was happy as a 5 year old child once again only in a _ _ year old body. i played well today in areas that would slow others down, wow it was fun! on to the next story...our time again is short...it is 5:50 pm and we still need to walk another 5 or 6 kms. we´ve had another hard day of walking. AriZona

27th Day of Walking - 7/10/07 / O´ Cebriero - Triacastela

hello everyone, i´m baaack for now anyway. we arrived in tracastela about 5pm. the walk into triacastela was one of beauty: walking through a tunnel of trees lined on both sides and curving inward at their tops creating their ¨tunnel¨. walking on a dampened dirt path winding down and down into the village. from above in the mountains the village looks large but when walking through it and following our yellow arrows not much is seen. found a new albergue which was very nice. we had a dinner of meat, fries, salad and one egg...the spanish have a thing about eggs and what they go with (very strange to me). I had a nice comfortable bed (not a bunk) about 2 feet underneath a window; nicole had a bottom bunk. another woman was also in our room, from sweden; she must be 6 ft. tall in her late sixties (?), very nice and beautiful with beautiful grey hair. we won´t be seeing her again as she is taking another route and is going slower; she did this walk with her daughter 2 yrs. ago.

leaving Wednesday morning 7-11-07... sitting in a bar waiting for ¨Running of the Bulls¨to be televised @ 8 am in Pamplona. had toast and coal cao (2-for mikayla) for breakfast. i just finished telling nicole if i were here by myself i´d wait until 8 am to watch the Bulls run; that was okay with her...we were ready to leave about 7:30. When in spain do as the spainards do. we now have seven minutes....police are in front of a crowd of men singing a song with arms and fists swaying to the words of the song. fireworks, cameras...bulls let loose 10 or 12. bulls are oblivious, people get trampled by the people; three people knocked down by horns, one man trapped under the bulls´legs when the bull turned and purposely trapping him with all four legs - the man is probably hurt - the bull looked like he might´ve been stepping on him (purposely) as he turned. other people who were running with the bulls turned back to distract the bull so the man could free himself. this worked as the bull started running forward again while the man crawled off to the side. later that day we heard he might´ve been hurt seriously, don´t really know for sure. what crazy people. going on to the next day...stay tuned AZ

I Don´t Know What Day We Are On!

Wow, i think it´s been about five days since i´ve been able to write and very hard to remember each day where we´ve been or what happened but i´ll give it a try. i don´t have time to reread what i wrote last because pilgrims are waiting to use the one available computer at the albergue. when leaving rabanal del comaino we headed to moleneseca (July 8th); soon on the road as we were climbing up to a road a photographer was waiting for us (Beatrice-photographer for olympus) and wanted to take our pictures. they gave her a new camera to try out on the camino; pictures might be available sometime on olympus photographers diary. when coming to into a villiage that was at the end of a very difficult day of descending rocks jutting up from every angle. at the very last step (of course) i told nicole to watch where she was going because she just mentioned her knees were aching when....i stepped down and my foot took off from underneath me, hitting my face into a rock and then the funny part...my pack rolled me over and i couldn´t get up. nicole reached out her hand to me and i said just a sec...okay...i got up and couldn´t stop laughing; in fact we both laughed very hard all the way into town. sometimes you just have to be there. we arrived in ponferrada also on the 8th and discovered a festival which we stayed for but nothing ever really happened while we were there; we did manage to spot a tex-mex restaurant where i had a margarita...LIFE IS GOOD. i don´t have much time, i´ll share some moments inside an albergue as evening approaches:a young guy just put on some sort of menthal creme which really smells and then he starts coughing. an older couple below his bunk and next to him offier him a throat losenge. plastic bags rustling, zippers opening and closing on packs, whispering, sleeping bags rustling, a dorr to the room opens and closes often, things going in and out of a pack, cell phone lights come on, 26 beds squeezed into a tiny second floor room. the old man yells something at everyone and gets up and slams the door shut. i get down from my upper bunk to give the old couple ear pugs-he must not want to use them because they are still talking loud and trying to control the group with the sounds that are going on in the room. two high windows are open one at each end of the room letting in a nice breeze and maybe taking some pilgrim smells along with the breeze. someone is already snoring. the old man is very agitated when someone opens the door even if quietly because it isn´t closed all the way. the woman next to me was with us in our albergue last night (she and her friend were quite noisy leaving this morning) , she is texting a message, tap..tap...tap. the trees (poplar?) are blowing in the wind, it might be chilly in the morning. nicole was already in bed when a young guy came in and said her bed was his-she had to move-luckily someone had just vacated another bed. more people coming into the room, same noises, the old man upset. it is 10:32 pm....GOOD NIGHT ahhhh, the night life of a pilgrim. yesterday we had a very difficult climb into o´cebreiro, very difficult and were exhausted when we got there, but the view breathtaking almost a 360 degree view. there is a cross that stands alone on a hill above o´cebriebo where pilgrims pound coins into crevices of the wood. i put a coin in and said a prayer for many people in my life. need to get going so i´ll be quick. it´s difficult to type when everyone wants to use the computer. maybe i better quit. i´ll write more soon, only 5 more days until Santiago! then another 3 days walk to Finisterre. to be continued...i read so many e-mails today and cried, thank you for sharing your lives with me, you have no idea what it means. SWEET DREAMS....Know that we are okay, aches and pains are gone. speaking of which, awhile ago i mentioned many aches and pains in a blog...this was only to let everyone know what goes on with us...the good and the not so good, they were just a couple of days...don´t think this is what we feel on a daily basis, right now we are just dog dead tired...we´ve been walking a very long time. LIFE IS GOOD. Love to all, AriZona

Our Pilgrims are Fine

AZ and Nicole are doing fine. Computers have not been plentiful over the last several days. I got a message from AZ last night. They were leaving O' Cebero, about 95 miles from Santiago and it's down hill the rest of the way. Then they head another 60 miles to Fisterra, the edge of the world when Columbus was a kid. I'll let her tell the stories (and she has more wonderful stories), just keeping you informed. God! I Love that Woman!

Marc

21st Day / Leon - Mazarife

ONLY 10 more days of walking and we will be in Santiago! Wooooo Hooooo! when leaving leon early this morning approx. 8 am a man in his 40´s on a bike was followed by his son. i have not seen a child do the camino this young. later, the boy and his father stopped so the boy could take a rest from climbing the hills. the father told me they had started 8 days ago in Dux (sp?), France - traveling to santiago and then back! this boy is 10 years old! i can not imagine this kind of journey for someone so young. the father spoke good english, his son did not. next year in school he will take one hour a day to study english. Buen Camino.
heather and david from reno, nevada suggested we come to villar de mazarife, good choice, great walk felt like we could be in africa. the landscape gave us this impression. large trees surrounded by wheat colored weeds, leaves were a rich dark green with dark brown bark. i´ve never seen this kind of tree. far, far into the horizon i could faintly see a mountain range. the sky was a vivid blue, a blue so rich it seemed to hold one down, an occassional chestnut brown plowed field, today´s walk was enjoyable. a very long stretch, it felt different like walking on a plateau, higher than surrounding lands although i could not see that far to know for sure. the dirt road was easy to walk on, very few rocks, easier on the feet. i am laying int the top bunk above nicole and am very tired. i have ear plugs in so i can hear and feel the places in my body pulsing. i feel pressure in temples, my toes are pulsing in the areas that are very tender, at times a slight burn in my hips as i sleep on my side. i chose not to get a new pair of orthodics, my arch in my left foot burns with pain as i walk and rest, my heels ache from worn padding in my boots. my neck aches from pillows too high, my neck and shoulders ache from an ill fitted pack. i´m only adding these last comments regarding body so you can actually understand what it´s like. i am weary but happy. soon we will have vegetable paella with peppe at the albergue.
we just finished dinner that peppe and his family made for us and it was ohhhh sooo fine! we had paella, crusted bread, ensalada mixta with oil and vinegar, and fruit-sliced apples, oranges and honeydew melon and wine or water. thank you heather and david for suggesting this intimate and most delightful albergue. we are now going to bed, good night or as in your case good morning! tomorrow we will walk to astorga. LIFE IS GOOD...AriZona

4th of July

We had WATERMELON!!!!!! Woooooo Hoooooo! HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE, WE´RE THINKING OF EVERYONE! We are leaving early in the morning before the town wakes up. we just went shopping for our journey tomorrow as there will be a stretch where there won´t be anything available for food. we are going a different way a tip from heather and dave from reno, nevada....we will be walking to mazarife and see Pepe at the albergue. LIFE IS GOOD....LIFE IS GOOD! AriZona

Still in Leon

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY everyone! this morning nicole and i walked across town and had a hamburger, fries and coke in honor of all the good food everyone will be having today at home. nicole and i bought some t-shirts, hers is red & mine light blue and darker blue striped. our stars and fireworks we are wearing in the form of much needed lotion which which sparkles, we didn´t notice this until we were in the sun, of course we laughed and thought it appropriate. didn´t find any watermelon, but we are in the spirit! Be Safe and again HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! We will resume walking tomorrow morning when all of you are sound asleep. I Love You All....LIFE IS GOOD....AriZona

p.s. thank you heather and dave, we decided to stay one more day in leon and are leaving tomorrow (july 5th) morning and will take the way you suggested to mazarife. i´m sure we´ll see you soon. if you want to post another blog just click on comment & annonymous. LIFE IS GOOD, AriZona

21st Day / Leon - Still in Leon

i can´t believe or remember from 2002 what having a day off from walking can do for the body and spirit. i feel great today and ready to start on the Camino de Santiago tomorrow, bright and early. i´m getting excited as i always do as a new adventure unfolds. today as i was showing leon to nicole everything came back to me; i remembered my favorite places, it´s just so thrilling for me to take a few steps and remember where my feet want to take me (new & old places)....it´s the adventure! i don´t feel i´m in a foreign country; no matter where i´ve been it all feels so familiar and i´ve been to many places here in spain that i haven´t been to before...next stage...learn the language, it´s more important to me than ever. i owe it to all the wonderful guys who we are fortunate enough to have work for us (marc & I refer to them as our amigos)and love them. in the cyber cafe we are at they are playing the greatet music from my life (since i was a little girl and, my mom would play the stereo so loud the next block could rock with her- thank you mom, ILY) i´m sitting here just dying to dance, smiling and rocking to the music! oh yeah, my heart is full. i´m talking really old songs, like-sweet talkin´guy; leader of the pack: under the boardwalk; i found my thrill on blueberry hill; hey venus; in the still of the night; and many many more, i am wanting to dance!!!!!!! no celebrations at this time in leon, although i think we may have missed one; as nicole and i entered leon yesterday morning we saw remnants of confetti strewn in many places; i think spain knows how to celebrate. oh, yesterday morning while eating breakfast nicole spotted a poster that told us there was a bull fight that very night. so we asked where the bull fight was and the two spanish men told us many km´s away, too far. they knew we were pilgrim´s and i didn´t think about it until we were well on our way but we could´ve taken a bus to where we came from to see the bull fight and then take the bus back to start walking again where we stopped. that was a great idea and if the situation arises again we´ll be on a bus to see the bull fight. it´s our journey and we can make it whatever we want, and we are loving it; pain, joy everything. LIFE IS GOOD. tomorrow morning we will be on our way once again. tomorrow will take us to Villadangos Del Paramo, 21.8 km. we now have a map of the elevations; tomorrow we will be " 800 meters. Stay tuned for the next days´adventure of nicole and arizona. Hola from Spain - AriZona

Great Story

Greetings from Marc.

I am loving having Arizona paint pictures of Spain in my mind. Thank-you Sweetheart.
Here is a journal entry AZ sent to me. Enjoyable to the last word. ILY

nicole has been typing for about an hour and i´m so physically tired i was starting to get impatient. luckily a man came in earlier and asked how long she would be on then told him i would be using it next and be on for an hour. i was laying on some chairs with a blanket to make it comfortable while waiting but i realized i wanted to sleep.

i have 7 toes covered with moleskin, bought some here in spain but it is worthless and seems cheap. i got lucky when a young guy and gal from reno, nevada came and got beds next to us. we got to visiting and then talked about the things we use for our injuries; i told them about my moleskin and about spain´s moleskin and they told me they had tons. at first i declined and they insisted, so i said i´d buy some from them. oh no, we have a gallon size of moleskin, we´ll just give you some; okay we´ll talk later.

i´m so tired i´m not even washing my clothes tonight, just a shower and that´s it. let me tell you about last night´s stay at the albergue: since we were abviously the only pilgrim´s that stayed in this albergue for a very long time as all the people in this village seemed to come out of places just to check us out. when we arrived there was a note on the door to go to the XANADO bar to pick up the key: that should´ve been our first clue.

we went to the bar which was very dirty with a little language difficulty we got a key and two cokes. when leaving the bar there were several young men sitting outside in a patio area of the bar, as we walked away someone clapped (second clue) and we went away raising our eyebrows with wide eyes.

the albergue was across the street at a very nice local park, we felt we were on display. when we opened the metal door, again we raised our eyebrows with wide eyes and laughed. it looked as though no one had slept there in a hundred years. as i said we felt we were on display, we didn´t know what to do. i told nicole i´m glad she was along i think it would´ve been too spokey for me to stay alone, we laughed and agreed for both of us.

if we left it would be another 6 km´s and didn´t know it was too late. we decided to stay. honey, it was weird. no place to eat, luckily we had a food, olives, chips and a coke...we were good to go. we ate in the park while the local high school boys´`played racquet ball with their coach. soon, the local teenage girls´ came and sat behind us, no one talking to us, just looking, old people, young people, the guys over at the bar. it was very weird!

we had windows that were open and envisioned the entire villiage peeking in all the windows watching us during the night...like in a stephen king novel. we left a light on, it was just too, too weird. i´m not washing my clothes tonight, but we do have to eat.

tomorrow we will be in leon, meeting andrea at 7 pm. i hope we get there really early, it seems our time is so precious. we have´t seen him in 5-6 days and may not much more so we set a time and place (at the cathedral).

my heels, ache, not enough padding, and my neck is killing me along with my shoulder muscles. i have someone waiting in line for the computer and need to go. i love you and miss you so much. RILYA - i´ll call - AriZona

comments

just click on annoymous and publish a post, see if that works for those of you who are having difficulties. AriZona in Leon, Spain

20th Day / Reliegos - Leon / 25 km

hello everyone - i want to take a moment to tell everyone thank you for writing and letting me know what is going on in your lives, it is very important to me and i thank you and love each of you very much. oh what a day we had, thinking it would be an easy day turned out to be a little too slow for us as we limped into leon with blisters, black toe nails, aching knees, neck and shoulder pain from my pack (i don´t like it at all and i put a lot of effort into my gear) but, we made it about 2ish this afternoon. we are in better spirits now that we have a wonderful hostel room which we will stay in for 2 nights and possibly a third. we can get up when we want to, go to the bathroom without waking anyone up or not going because i´d wake someone from their precious moments of sleep; not have to use a sleeping bag, not have to be in at 10 pm so the door to the albergue can be locked...it´s just so wonderful to think...we just don´t have to anything; not for another two days! seven of my toes ache and throb, it´ll be good not to have to put on my boots and let my feet air out and not have to put that pack on for two days!!!!!!! wooooooo hoooooo!!!!! i´ll deal with it when we hit the road again. i know me and i probably won´t be staying a third night because i will want to walk. nicole and i stopped in at an internet cafe while we were walking with hundreds of locals out shopping, eating or just visiting. i love spain because of all the festivities and interactions with people; they are so happy and love to people watch themselves. don´t we all. it seems one of the hot colors here across spain is my special orange and i´m bound and determined to find some cool tops. we see pilgrims all over and many are staying for a couple of days. it´s time to rest, it´s been a long walk and our bodies are starting to react. today, i told nicole, ¨why did i tell you i wanted to walk the camino?¨ of, course just kidding but that´s how i felt today. we´re going to get something to eat soon and then go back to our room for some good ole rest. it´s been two tough days of walking and nicole and i hardly laughed but we did some good laughing at ourselves today and got very silly. sometimes you just need to do that. upon entering leon, we saw a couple of friends (Walter & Stephan) whom we haven´t seen since hontanas. stephan had terrible blisters and says he is doing okay, i saw his blisters and don´t know how he could walk, but he did. we were suppose to meet our friend andrea at the cathedral at 7 pm but he must have moved on. we met a couple dave & heather from reno, nevada yesterday and had several fun visits with them, they might leave leon tomorrow so we might not see them again. they reminded us that july 4th is in two days and we should get a watermelon or something to celebrate, that sounds like fun. i´ve only seen watermelon in one supermarcado and that was a while back. our days & memories are becoming a blurr for others as well as nicole and i. i can´t believe we´´ve been walking for 20 days today. our spirits are up tonight knowing we´ll be getting some rest. please tell me stories of what any of you will be doing for july 4th, i´d love to hear. it´s been interesting over here as far as bush is concerned, he is certainly not loved. i saw a news flash this morning for a moment on tv while eating a croissant and cola cao with protesters marching with a sign....impeach bush! it put a smile on my face but, he´s still in office. how did that happen again? luckily we are treated kind by nearly everyone and only a few older people have given us a crunched up face with a smart comment. i think my wonderful husband is going to put a picture of the two of us and our beautiful orange jeep on the blog....the two things i´m missing. i´d love to give him a great big kiss and a great big hug so consider it done sweetheart. and great big hugs and kisses to all my sweet, sweet grandchildren (Tyler, KÁnna, Kaden, Atticus & Killian)....grandma willi loves you all very, very much. Of course love to all my wonderful children and their spouses. i love you all so much. i love all my wonderful friends, i guess i just love everyone. kati, i hope you´re doing well and getting back to your wonderful self. mom, dusty, and barbara & troy, i love you too. marc and bob (marc´s dad) have been on their own for awhile now and doing a good job of it i hear. i´m thinking of everyone i know and sending lots of love your way. i´m getting hungry and sleepy, i wish you all a wonderful happy day and sweet dreams tonight. LIFE IS GOOD, HAVE FUN - AriZona marc tell me several of you are having problems posting a comment keep trying please don´t give up.

18th Day / Calzadilla de la Cueza - Calzada del Coto - 26km

not much to report today, we´ve had a casual day walking in the sun with bright blue sky, whispy white clouds, wheat fields rustling in the wind; various plowed fields of rich chestnut brown soil with little field mice scurrying across our stone & dirt path. nicole and i interestingly enough developed a blister on our left little toes and each were squished at an angle. for me, i believe it was the combination of our roads yesterday; asphalt for long periods then with rocks buried partially and jutting upwards making it very difficult to walk and also painful. we have stopped in sahagun to the farmacia where we could doctor our toes; buying a small gel toe cap to cover our baby toes. we still need to walk 5 km more as soon as we are finished here with our blogs. i do hope everyone (families, friends) are doing well and able to keep up with us as we cross the backroads of france & spain. everyday is filled with magic...today´s magic so far...hearing upbeat french music (which makes me want to dance)in a small restaurant at an albergue in san nicolas del real-camino; having the wind each day as we walk in the sun and going through the villages on our route and seeing the locals go about their business of the moment and wishing us buen camino. Life Is Good. i would like to leave you with a thought...please do not think i place any judgement on your beliefs, this is just something to ponder...Why in moment of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure....Bill Scheil....a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario....he describes himself as a ¨modern day nobody.¨ i like some of the quotes on the starbucks cups...some, really make you think. LIFE IS GOOD - AriZona

15th, 16th. & 17th Days / St. Nicholas - Calzadillia de la Cueza

15th Day....Wow! the Camino is as Magical as ordinary life if one observes it as being...the morning of june 28th we had a little bit of a climb and soon the camino road was straight, flat and long; walking 31.4 km. we arrived st. nicholas at 5:15 pm, having about 2 1/2 hours of breaks along the way. it was suggested by my friend diane, to stay at st. nicholas a church which was one run by italian monks. upon arriving the church was not yet opened and so nicole and i set our packs on the ground and took off our hiking boots; although i love my hiking boots it was a relief to feel some air on my tender feet. soon, a woman and man in their late 60´s or early seventies arrived telling us we needed to leave our boots outside, then inviting us inside. at this point the woman who only spoke italian began assigning beds (8 beds), nicole and i were lucky to have a bed. as it turned out many others arrived not to be turned away and later in the evening after dinner were given mattresses to lay on the floor. we were instructed by alba to go take showers and wash our clothes and by that time it would be 3 pm where we could go inside once again. dinner was being prepared for us. it felt disrespectful to alba for anyone to lay on the beds so, we took sleeping bags or pads to lay on the green grass outside of the church. this was very comforting until a little old man came upon the women. when he came to me he leaned down so quickly i knew he was going to plant a kiss on my lips which i quickly turned my face so he could only kiss my cheek. this little old man took it upon himself to plant maybe 20 kisses on my cheek making smacking sounds and producing a giggle from me; okay i´ve had enough. what is it that in spain little old men think they can have their way with solo women? i told him no, and go away. another woman when he tried this with her she pushed him away telling him no and soon he disappeared. stay clear away from little old men on the camino. okay, back to my story of st. nicolas. soon it was 3 pm and we could go inside. nicole and i were asked to set the table with bowls, silverware and candles (there was no electricity in the church) which is what allured me. soon we were told to go near the alter all 20 of us sitting in leather chairs in a semi circle where we began a cermony in italian welcoming us with one foot being washed by alba´s husband (?) and then kissed by him after kissing your foot he would look you in the eye while alba read. it touched my soul. afterwards, we all shared in our own language where we were from but i think it got changed to why each was doing the camino. when the ceremony was finished dinner was served; pasta, white beans with boiled potatoes and tomatoe, bread and wine or water, desert was ice cream all by candlelight. dinner dishes whisked away and people gathered outside on the steps to sing along while someone from spain played the guitar. i´m so glad i did not miss this opportunity to stay at this special place. it was not long before i decided to go to bed and others followed and soon, there was only silence. i slept very well that night. in the morning as everyone was gathering their sleeping bags and getting ready to leave i took a beautiful picture of our boots lined up on a stone shelf a foot off the ground. alba served us cafe con leche and toast for breakfast. after breakfast she gathered us in a semi-circle outside on the church step where she began an italian blessing to each pilgrim then kissing (a friendly kiss, one not touching our faces), on each cheek, looked into our eyes and wished us buen camino and sent us on our way. what a magical place.

16th Day.....standing on the bridge just 100 feet away from the church i´m looking at a stand of trees that are perfectly aligned in any direction while seeing a darkened doorway at the end of a row of trees. i love doorways of any kind. most of the day felt like we could be in the palouse country near coeur d´alene, idaho. the wheat was swaying with the wind. after leaving st. nicolas and walking 13.8 km we made a slight detour so i could show nicole another magical place; boadilla del camino. this is home away from home. although it was too close to spend an enchanting night here it pleased my heart that we could stop and have a cola cao and some sweet bread. i tried my hand again at the computer and soon realized i was as slow on this computer this time as in 2002. i did not write any letters this time. i did check my blog for comments and noticed 6, thank you everyone-i am recieving you comments and loving them. edwardo (sp?) was there with his sweet smiling face and welcoming us. it took awhile but then he remembered me. he sat with nicole and i until we said good bye then he walked us outside and bid us buen camino, until next year. now we walk to our nights destination: villalcazar de sirga. since we arrived late we only had time to make a phone call each and visit the small village before having dinner and going to bed.
17th Day......i slept about 40 mins last night because my mattress was so bad. we only had 22 km to walk today so i did not think this a problem. the path today was very straight, mostly asphalt then dirt roads with lots of rocks and no shade. it turned out to be a long, long hot walk. but, as always magic appears...out of nowhere a jeep wrangler pulled slowly towards us, ah i think we´ll find out how far we are from our destination calzada del coto. the jeep is filled with 4 british guys and soon the maps came out to compare. it wasn´t long and soon a camera appeared and they said they were doing a documentary and could they please film us while walking. sure, we say sounds fun! it was!!!!! Samuel (camera man), Gan, chris and dario were so much fun. gan, would move the jeep far ahead and park; samuel would be guided backwards while filming by dario; while chris walked between nicole and i asking us questions as if we weren´t being interviewed. we had a great time as usual. afterwards, i said i´d really would like a short ride in the jeep and told them how i loved and missed my beautiful orange jeep. i think gan may go back and buy a jeep rubicon unlimited in orange. they drove us to the albergue, just a short distance where we had beers and nicole a coke. what a great time we had and they will e-mail us info when the documentary is finished on the camino. LIFE IS GOOD - now i will go shower. i love everyone and love hearing from all of you.







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17th Day?

we are fine, just a quick note to say we haven´t had any computers until today. we are still walking and have 17 km to go. hopefully there will be a computer available in calzadilla de la cueza. LIFE IS GOOD - AriZona

14th Day / Burgos - Hotanas

i am very happy and feel like i am five years old. i have a bottom bunk in a wonderful alburgue. my bed is angled in a corner but the wall is also angled in a corner making it a cozy spot. i put up a maroon blanket colored blanket to make a fort. i have my head lamp on so i can journal. just finished eating an ensalada mixta. this day has been so magical. searched out computers found a nice internet cafe. instead of staying out of town at the albergue and missing the festivities in burgos we decided to stay at the hotel there was great music everywhere. for us we ate rather late 10 pm. deciding on a little restaurant where we found an italian carbonara pasta dish absolutely inviting. as soon as we finished we walking back to our hotel when i saw and heard great drumming. okay, this is so much fun and i have to follow them. eight men in black long gowns, with something strapped to their backs, a big drum strapped around their waists, faces painted the color of blood, black hoods with horns, symbolizing bulls. i cannot stop my body from dancing to the rythm of the drums and my excitement is over the top to be witnessing such a wonderful event. we laughed, running ahead of them as they moved through the town. my endorphins were running high. the things strapped to their backs were fireworks which they set off at the end. they also had two lights at the top of their heads. the crowd was growing with anticipation and excitement. during this moment they also set off fireworks from a can in the center of their circle. what a great way to end the night for us. we went running back to the hotel laughing the entire way. my night in bed was not so enchanting. the bed was short, hard and slanted. i did not sleep, my toes hurt from the tucked in sheet that was too tight (i finally pulled the sheet out a few inches but it was too late, my toes were already painful). i knew we had a long walk ahead of us today, 31 km and i did not have the energy to walk ten steps. when checking out of the hotel i nicely told the sweet woman about the beds that were very uncomfortable. she said, she was sorry about our night and could not do anything about our room but she could give us breakfast. we had earlier declined breakfast, but for the moment we did not have the energy to take one step toward santiago. something about having two coal cao´s each, a croissant and other breads lightened us up. making a comment: just drop us off in the middle of nowhere got nicole and i laughing hard again as we do when we get very tired and cannot put one foot straight in front of the other. this one comment changed our day to a magical one, forts, nicole and i being rori and loreli of the ¨gilmore girls¨ a wonderful program on the tv for the past seven seasons and ended in march 2007. one thing i´ve learned today is you have to chose your own adventure. your next thought if acted upon can bring you enormous joy. nichole and i reached our albergue today in record time and are excited about slipping into our sleeping bags and sleeping until we wake up. i´ve been journaling for an hour, nicole has already slept one hour longer than me. i am going to take a picture of my very cozy fort. life is good.... oh, to add to my joy today my sweet, wonderful new friend (diane) was unexpectedly sitting at our albergue eating a tomatoe and cheese sandwich. when i spotted her she had aready seen me and we both had the biggest smiles. buen camino, my friend. we talked for awhile when she had to leave to walk another ten km to her destination for the night- catrojeriz. i know as she does we shall meet again on this camino. and now, a few pictures of my cozy retreat. life just got better, yes, it is a magical day. we have seen two more of our wonderful friends walter and stephan and of course andrea. the only dear friend missing is willie who maybe in leon. we miss willie, who is known by his friend walter as ¨casanovä¨. willie is endearing. as of today, we have walked 222.51 miles or 350 km. life is good.

13th day / Atapuerca - Burgos

we slept in this morning knowing that our walk was short since we walked farther yesterday. after breakfast of a cola cao and croissant we left the village of atapuerca at 10:15 am. we walked with our friend andrea to burgos. he has taken to nicole as a teacher, and i like watching them interact. he told us that when we are in another country we should try to speak their language, yes, this is true. and i have not been responsible in this area, next year will be different when i return. our walk started with wind, dark clouds threatening to rain as soon as we started walking. nicole added that yes, it will rain very soon! it took awhile but indeed it wasn´t long before it started to rain. andrea and i stopped, nicole already had her rain jacket on but we needed to put ours on. it seemed another day where my jacket went on, then off, then on, then off until finally i could not stand the heat of the jacket anymore and just took it off. somewhere along the way i found a field of poppies (my favorite flower in spain) and wanted a picture with me in the center of the flowers. so there i was again, very happy, being close to the flowers that bring me so much pleasure; the other flower i love is for it´s essence: the tiger lily that is pink - i can´t think of it´s proper name. we came upon a woman who was from madrid and started walking in roncesvales, she sang us a wonderful little song from her childhood about bringing the sunshine when it is raining. after singing that song we sang singing in the rain by gene kelley arm in arm and skipping. the day was spent walking and nothing much to report. we need to get a room for the night still and make a phone call to our loved ones so they know we still exist. mcuh love to everyone - life is good, AriZona

12th Day / Belorado - Atapuerca

As always the way is difficult but joyful at the sametime. we walked 30.4 km yesterday and when we arrived in atapuerca we discovered there was only one computer and a line to use it, we passed. we were so very exhausted arriving in Atapuerca about 3 pm that i really didn´t care to do anything. our friend Andrea was worried for us (he is Swiss)and said we should go farther than where most everyone was stopping for the night (san juan de ortega). we heard along the road that morning that the only meal you would get would be at the church with the priest (garlic soup)and that didn´t intice most people, following with some complaints. thanks to our friend we did walk past this town. let me back up a bit. when starting out at 6:05 am from Belorado our morning was easy, walking in fog drifting in out of the hills. it was a blissful and enjoyable meandering walk. then, 12 km into our walk we stopped at a bar for something to drink. then immediately leaving Villafranca Montes de Oca we started a very hard climb, it went on and on and on and didn´t stop for at least another 9-12 km! we were in shock, thinking this has got to end soon; no it did not. as we walked on we were in the forest with ferns, bugs only in one spot that sounded like the cicada bugs in arizona. this area reminded me of the times marc & i and friends had gone into the forests of idaho to gather boughs for our wreath making party every year the first weekend in december. continuing with our story: on my map there was a solo picture of a church, when i caught sight of that church i could not believe it because that meant we had another 6.4 km. nicole was so excited, very excited but at the very moment i said it´s the church my own heart sank, poor nicole said in a moment she went from being very happy to depressed all in an instant and she said i was the cause of this. at this same moment she remembered someone saying that in san juan de ortega there was a church with 3 small buildings and yes, there was a church and 3 small buildings! we discussed this and became so delirious you would not have believed it was the same people you know us to be. we must have goofed off, laughing so hard we would trip ourselves and then all of a sudden imagine having to go pee and to find a bush as fast as you can. yes, more laughing indeed. when getting to san juan we discovered a church that was vacant except for a few statues and a coffin and a dark stairway leading down into a very dark we didn´t know what. indiana jones and tomb raiders here we come! i got out my little light but it wasn´t bright enough then nicole remembered we had head lamps, yeah perfect! i ran up the steps to get my lamp and go back downstairs. it was so cool, there was what we thought to be the tomb of san juan de ortega, a large coffin on the floor and a large cross above it on the wall and nothing else. we had to turn off the flash on our cameras because the reflection was too bright. so i took a picture of nicole on the stairs on our way back up....have any of you seen the Blair Witch Project? that´s what the pictures turned out like it was very cool. yes, i know this was a religious place of rest for san juan but i like to think he was looking upon our kind spirits and knowing that we were honoring him but also on an adventure of our own. Life Is Good. after leaving the church we got something to drink at the bar i did not think would be available and left town and all the pilgrims behind us. wooooo hooooo here we go again! we arrived weary and wanting to get off our feet, they hurt so much i could not tell you we could barely walk. what a day, but i´d do it again, maybe not tomorrow but, soon. until the 13th day.....LIFE IS GOOD - AriZona

11th Day / Santo Domingos de calza - Belorado

Hello to everyone! we started walking this morning @ 6:24 am. we walked 22 km today; with two breaks adding up to half an hour. we arrived at belorado at nearly 1pm, neither one of us looked at our watches so we don´t know the exact time. we were close to the first to arrive having hot water when we showered; i can´t believe our luck we´ve had hot showers everyday except one day and that is unusual. wooooo, hooooo, the small things in life are most appreciated and bring a joyous smile to my face. let´s see, so you want to experience our life here on the camino: i just went to the bathroom and little things we take for granted are not so on the camino, it makes you think of how you use the resources that are available to you: the lights are on very short timers, in this bathroom when the light goes out there is only darkness, no hint of a light anywhere, it´s only on for seconds, not having time to do anything. the showers at the albergue were also on a timer, i would just put shampoo in my hair and the water would turn off, simple things that we take for granted. our day is simple enough: we get up, quietly gather our packs, trekking poles and sleeping bag in our arms )it makes too much noise when stuffing it into a sack), take our shoes off the shelf, put our things down on the floor somewhere, use the toilet, brush our teeth, pick up our things as we walk somewhere where we won´t disturb anyone who might be sleeping, put our boots on, stuff our sleeping bags into a stuff sack, put our packs on, walk out the door quietly if it´s not locked and go to the local fountain in the village to fill our camelbacks (add our elixer tablets for electrolites), put our packs on and follow a yellow arrow out of the village. Walah, we are on our way! we normally walk through a few villages before reaching our destination; at the first bar that is open we buy cola cao (hot chocolate) and a croissant, mmmmmmmm)& sometimes buying something small for lunch & put it in our sack for later when we get hungry. today we had a treat for lunch, in 2002 i discovered a product in the local supermacado: isabelle, a can with veggies. this time they no longer carry that particular product but have improved on it: rice, veggies, and tuna with some oil-it was so delicious. we are thinking even if the can´s weight is more than we want to carry it is worth it so we can really enjoy our lunch. the walk today was simple: walking through rolling hills of wheat fields and two other crops that are unknown to me. yesterday we passed through fields of snow peas where two combines were cutting them. it´s interesting, every piece of machinery i´ve seen on this journey is brand new. i haven´t seen a piece of old machinery anywhere, i just don´t understand why. the old camino as i know it is in many places being replaced with new buildings and that is very sad to me. we passed through a new town yesterday and we arrived at a golf course where mercedes benz was putting on a tournament, it just seemed so out of place. yes, progress in motion. a new camino is being born along with some old. i have started to think in terms of not what i am missing but, what will become. last night we had an unexpected reunion with a friend we haven´t seen since pamplona, Andrea. because of an injury he stayed behind and walked 40 km yesterday so he could find nicole and myself. tonight, he has invited us to have dinner with him, we are excited to see him again. he mentioned he may come to LA in january and come to visit us in arizona. since arriving today in belorado we have done our house chores, found a place to eat some french fries (not just any french fries, they are very good) and a coka cola and then went in search of the internet. Walah, here we are and now we are going to leave, maybe go rest a bit, we haven´t talked. I LOVE EVERYONE - LIFE IS GOOD - Sweet Dreams, AriZona

10th Day / Najerra - Santo Domingos

hello everyone-computer is extremely slow and the man is waiting to close. we had a wonderful day beginning at 4:21 am! we were excited because we got to use our headlamps. a man from belgium before us and needed to turn around because it was too dark. here we come to his rescue he walked with us because we had the Light! we were finished walking by 10:30 am! it was wonderful, same scenery as yesterday only not as many grape vineyards. here is a book some of you might like, i discovered it today by another pilgrim: A Pilgrim´s Guide to the Camino de Santiago - a practical & mystical manual for the modern day pilgrim by John Brierley.
travel - spirituality 1-84409-069-8 $29.00 i really liked this book and think you will too. got to run....LIFE IS GOOD! ILY - AriZona

9th Day/ Navarrete - Najera

we got a late start today beginning @ 11:30 am with dark skies threatening to rain but ended with cloudy skies and breeze so wonderful making it a joy to walk. with only 14 km to walk it was a short day which allowed us to leave later. the landscape was incredible with trees patching the undulating hillsides sharing the land with wheat fields and grape orchards. the birds were singing along with the crickets. we had a great soft moist dirt path part of which was a constrution road with a lot of traffic noise. it was a challenge trying to pee with pilgrims so near and construction workers so close. we´d pick a spot, drop our packs, laugh, pee, grab our packs, put them on and laugh some more as we tried to stay ahead of the pack and keep our place. we laugh a lot. we came upon cairn city...people stack rocks and there were hundreds of them. at 2:20 pm nicole noticed a sign which read Potatas Fritas Aperitivos (french fries and appetizers) we were wanting those french fries! oh no, could the path take us there, no. no potatas fritas for us. coming into najerra nicole discovered a chinese restaurant on the other side of the street; we ran to a crosswalk with out trekking poles tap-tapping away and of course laughing. yes, they were serving dinner now and we didn´t have to wait until the usual 7-8pm when we were ready to go to bed. a chinese restaurant where the chinese family lived in spain and spoke spanish, with irish music playing. again, we laughed but had a wonderful unexpected meal. our clothes are washed and hung outside to dry, we´ve made our phone calls and now i need to turn over the computer to someone else. i think we´ll take a walk around this lovely little village. until tomorrow - LIFE IS GOOD - please anyone send me some mail or thoughts for me to think about. thank you carla i got your e-mail and will write my letters as if you all were on the camino with me. ILY Marc. Have a wonderful day and sweet dreams tonight. tomorrow we will walk from najerra to santo domingo de la calzada 20.7 km. much love - AriZona

9th Day - Good Morning

nicole and i are getting ready to leave for our day´s walk. here is something to ponder on your own journey´s no matter how big or how small; from the book ¨Without Reservations...the travels of an independent woman - Alice Steinbach

¨the Journey´s Echo¨ Freya Stark -

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasant sensations in the world. you are surrounded by adventure. you have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it. ADVENTURE...

this is how i walk each day. i´m as eager as a child and have no expectations, therefore, i am never disappointed. LIFE IS GOOD, Love to all - AriZona

8th Day / Logrono - Navarrete

we had a playful day today in logrono, meeting lots and lots of people and of course laughing a lot. on our way out of town today i needed to find an older man named ïgnacio¨who was part of my journey here in 2002. another pilgrim and myself had injuries to our knees and legs and this little old man popped playfully around a corner mimicking us hobbling along. he invited us to come with him, we did and it was quite an adventure. he took us to his workshop and possibly home. when georgianna and i stepped inside we saw many religious relics, he also showed us an article Paulo Cohelo had written about him in spanish. i wanted to find him today but with all the changes made, new homes, the camino path changed i thought it would be difficult. but my sherlock homes nose led me directly to him and he was there even though i still could not understand him. i was so happy to see him! soon, we will be in the village Santo Domingo which has a story about chickens. but, i cannot tell you tonight i have to go or i will be locked out of the refugio for the night and it is raining. We also stopped at a children´s park and swung on the swings. we had a good day. hopefully it will stop raining during the night so we do not have to walk in mud tomorrow. i love everyone and hope LIFE IS GOOOD for you. Good night. AriZona

7th Day / Los Arcos - Viana

hello everyone: i just spent an hour typing a wonderful letter to you only to have the timer go off and the letter disappear as i typed in one more word. of course this letter will be different and hope you will enjoy my journey. nicole and i left late this morning so we could go to the post office (correos) to ship forward some of our weight out of our packs and lighten our load. it was 9:30 when we started walking out of los arcos. it was a difficult day climbing most of the day in steep hills. we arrived in Viana about 2 pm. the weather has been fantastic, cloudy, sunny off/on, windy and of course we had rain two days ago. with our packs a little lighter we walked easier. when we arrived at the albergue we were lucky once again to have showers with warm water readily available to us; that is not the norm. we also had available to us a washer and dryer once again. after doing our chores we went to check out the village for something to eat. we went to several bars and quickly found out that our timing was off and settled on having a good dinner for 10 euros. oh my gosh, i died and went to heaven: ensalada mixta (a salad w/lots of vegetables, no tuna this time), 2 slices of chicken with red and green peppers cooked to perfection, french fries, i had sangria and for dessert: ice cream. what a dinner! nicole and i also grabbed a bocadio (bread & meat) for tomorrow´s lunch. i accidentally packed our maps for today and tomorrow and didn´t know what villages we would walk thru so we could grab something for lunch. it was too soon after leaving the albergue this morning passing thru the one village we passed thru today to reach our destination, Viana. i am now ready for bed but, i must tell you a story nicole thinks i should share: we arrived at estella on our 6th day. i love this albergue. the next morning as we were getting ready to leave i signed the diary of the albergue. as i was trying to write i needed to step on my tippy toes and soon the host of the albergue grabbed my waist and lifted me up to finish writing in the book, i giggled. soon we put on our boots, taking our backpack and trekking poles to leave the albergue. we walked about 20 steps when i hear something and turned around to find the host saying good bye and wanting a hug. as europeans often do we kissed but didn´t kiss on each cheek; nicole and i waved good bye. as we arrived in los arcos who was there to greet us, this host. nicole thinks this host ¨liked¨me. if he had appeared today i would have not paid much attention to him so he got the idea i am not interested. i forgot to mention there was raggae music playing that morning and i had said the day before that i liked raggae music, sycrinisity. my time is up. ILY, AriZona LIFE IS GOOD, Sweet Dreams until the next time i find a computer. i still cannot write in my email although i was able to access it today.

Web Sites and Comments

Hi, it's Marc. Arizona is having problems with her email, so the easiest way to drop her a note is through the "comments" section at the end of each posting. Click on "comments" following the "Posted by AriZona" script. If you look at the end of "6th Day cont'd" you will see "1 comments" I did as an example.

Some web sites I use to follow their progress across spain are:

http://www.xacobeo.es/2006/index.asp?idMenu=13&idIdioma=3&int1=1 This site shows the route with information on distances between towns and a whole lot more.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm I use this site to convert kilometers into miles.

http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago/WeatherCaminoFrances.msnw This site provides the local weather.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/temperature.htm This site converts from Celsius to Farenheit.

Walk On

Marc

6th Day cont´d

i´m sorry my time ran out. i believe the hosts are ready to close the albergue so i need to finish my letter quickly. the paella was wonderful. we met a man who is traveling by road bike and is from england. today he road from pomplona to los arcos and crashed twice since leaving roncesvales. we shared stories of the camino. nicole is in bed and i need also to get to bed as we are going to rise at 5:40 am to walk to logrono. it will be a long walk tomorrow; sinc i´ve walked the camino before i remember parts of this days walk. we may walk up steep hills but i do remember there will be a long flat area. our pace is good, we only stopped a couple of short times today, nothing to really tell you except the country is absolutely beautiful and i was very happy because there were still fields of poppies everywhere today. i am not able to open my e-mail but when i do i´m sure i will have lots of e-mail and i thank you. i do not know how to download pictures on these computers. if anyone is responding to me blogs i am not seeing these posts so i cannot answer any questions you might be having. i will figure this out soon because i would love to hear from everyone. i must go to bed now, nicole and i have 2 other female roomates tonight in a small room that has 2 sets of bunkbeds and only enough space to put backpacks on the floor. three of them are trying to sleep and i have my things on the top bunk and i will try not to wake them but it will be difficult to not make any noise, and i am a very quiet person when i am with others. please wish the sleep gods with me tonight, i´ve not slept well the last three nights even though i am very tired. it is not because i am in a strange place, i get very hot then i get cold or my body aches. soon the aching will be less, wooooo hooooooo! i love everyone, there and here - LIFE IS GOOD, have a wonderful day and when night comes - SWEET DREAMS

6th Day Estella - Los Arcos

We arrived in Los Arcos @ 12:29 pm. Our chores are done, showers, hand washed clothing, hung clothes on clothes line to dry. we had a treat today, an Acme Wringer, ltd. 1935 (?). usually i hand wring each item with a special backpackers towel which takes time to do but wrings out the moisture. with the Acme special & the wind we´ve had, most of the of the day the clothing will dry quickly. the atmosphere here at the albergue is relaxing. ken (yuri) an asian man in late twenties is playing his guitar on a small grassy knoll just outside the albergue. next to him young people 30ish are gathering discussing their day & getting to know one another. a cyclist is on the patio fixing perhaps a spoke on his wheel. three men were pulling on spokes. there are 2 maple trees full of rich green leaves; the center has been topped, the branches are blowing in the wind. there is a coke machine sitting on the small concrete porch, a few wooden tables. people are walking about relaxing from the days walk. we arrived at an early time today, leaving Estella @ 7 am and arriving in los arcos @ 12:30 pm. we had a casual day, it was hot, we are drinking lots of water and make sure we have enough to get us through each day. tonight, nicole and i had paella for dinner then we were invited to have dinner again here at the refugio with two older wonderful men in their 60´s (walter & willie), since we already had dinner we ate just a little.

Puenta La Reina - Estella (Sunday, Happy Father´s Day)

i tried to get up at 4 am this morning but couldn´t manage it since there were some pilgrim´s who found it necessary to turn on the big lights when they came in. it was difficult to sleep another night and i am very tired tonight. nicole & i started walking this morning @ 7:30 am after having a cola cow (hot chocolate) & crossaint, mmmmm, delicious. as a pilgrim it is customary to set your backpacks outside along with your trekking poles. when we finished eating we put our packs on & it started raining. we had only walked a few steps & needed once again to take off our packs to put on our rain jackets. it seemed we did this about 20´times today; our jackets were like a sauna, extremely hot, too hot to walk in. on/off, on/off, on/off i think you get the picture, it was very frustrating for us. it rained on/off all day creating mud along the path we walked along. it was juicy & thick which slowed our walking, at times becoming slippery as we climbed up & up. coming down was just as tricky. Snails - seeing many snails along the dirt paths made me think that our trekking across spain may not be as difficult as one would think. a snail may take all day to cross the 5´span of dirt. thought: we entered a church yesterday when i saw again the cross with jesus hanging. there he was, a man, just like you and me. after trekking in the mud all day today with what i think is a heavy pack made me realize it was nothing compared to his journey: carrying the cross while people beat him, throwing anything they could at him, yes it was his burden just as my pack is my burden. but i have nothing to complain about. there are many things i need not to complain about. i have no burdens to carry like jesus.
my time is running out and i am completely exhausted, i am going to get our clothes out of the drier (i don´t believe we will have this luxury again, so i will enjoy it tonight) and go to bed. it is 7:30 pm. we will walk 20.4 km tomorrow and hopefully it will not rain all day. we have been fortunate to have cool weather to walk, but it will not last. ILY (i love you) all - buenos tardes AriZona

4th Day - Pamplona to Puenta La Reina

Hello everyone: nicole & i had a wonderful day walking 22 km in about 7 hours. sadly nicole has a blister on each heal and did remarkably well. we needed to climb a large mountain this morning just out of pamplona and can proudly say it took us only 1 hour!!!!!!! we brought with us for our journey from our favorite outdoor store REI, a product called elixer which helps us replenish our electrolites. we had so much energy it helped us climb up, then we made a game to see how fast we could descend - 25 mins - wooooo hooooo! we had trekking poles which helped us nearly run down the mountain stepping on rocks large & small. we laughed & laughed traversing the downside. the last 3 km were very hard for us today, but we managed to have fun even if we were delirious (really)we couldn´t even walk a straight line and couldn´t stop laughing and then we would laugh even harder. i haven´t figured out how to post pictures but i will so have patience please. i have 4 mins left and do not want to lose this letter. after arriving at the albergue (refugio or jeet) we showered and washed & dried all our clothing, ate dinner all by 6 pm. we are now ready to go to bed so we can start walking at 4 am tomorrow. I Love All of You. Sweet dreams, Life is Good - AriZona

To Bayonne

AriZona and Nichole, after much delay have made it to Bayonne and are visiting AriZona's dear friend Francois.