La Gran Aventura Day 132: Boadilla del Camino to Frómista

Sunday, April 21, 2024

This morning we slept in until 7am. It felt good. Then we took our time with breakfast and getting out the door because we only hiked 5k (3 miles) to the next town. It’s the Sabbath and time for a rest day.

This town is called Frómista, and it’s a lot like all of the other little towns we’ve been staying in lately: sleepy.

It was pretty cold this morning on our walk, but it was also very short, so we’re all good.

The rest of the day has just been spent lying around this albergue and taking care of some church stuff.

We had a private room in the albergue, so we had a little sacrament meeting together. I’m so grateful we can do that. It was sweet. Nidia and Joycelyn shared some of what they have been learning on the Camino so far.

Tomorrow we hope to get an early start on the day.

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La Gran Aventura Day 131: Castrojériz to Boadilla del Camino

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Today was perhaps the smoothest day of walking that we’ve ever had.

I woke up, and my right knee and right achilles tendon were both pretty tight and a bit sore. They were pretty sore for most of the first half of the day yesterday as well, so this morning I put some of the anti-inflammatory ointment that Betty’s been using for her feet on it. It worked like a charm, and we were able to have a super good day on the trail.

Castrojériz is a really beautiful town, but the walk out of town and up onto the meseta is tough. Ian had the misfortune of inheriting River’s backpack right at the beginning of the climb. It was tough for him, but he did a great job.

I should mention that Ian’s asthma hasn’t been an issue at all since we’ve been on the Camino. He does have occasional attacks, but with a couple of puffs on his inhaler, he’s great. He struggled much more traveling through Europe and staying in houses with animals than he has out in the dust and pollen of the Camino. It’s a massive blessing for us. Just one more way God has opened the way for us.

And while I’m on the subject of the kids, Anahi has found her own little miracle on the Camino. Years ago, I encouraged the kids to study a language on Duolingo as part of their homeschool. Most chose Spanish, but Anahí -- for no apparent reason -- started studying Dutch. We all gave her a bit of a hard time because honestly, when was she ever going to use Dutch? Well, it turns out in the past couple of months she’s actually visited Holland, and also there are a ton of Dutch people on the Camino. Anahí spent a bunch of time walking with some of them today. They are so kind and really complimentary of the Dutch that she knows. It’s not a ton, but she’s really into studying the language now, and each day she improves. She’s even started reading the Book of Mormon in Dutch. It’s awesome to see her walking way ahead of us and just chatting it up with these sweet Dutch ladies.

Kimball came to me today and said that he has been thinking a lot about the upcoming election, in which he will be able to vote. He asked if I’d walk him through politics, so we spent a couple of hours walking and talking through the different parties, candidates, and issues. Our friend Joycelyn walked with us, and she was able to share her viewpoint.

Towards the end of the day it was Ian, Kimball, River, and I -- a bit behind everyone else because of frequent stops with River -- but the day just flew by. It felt like we were doing a kilometer every 5 minutes.

Now we’re at this really nice Albergue in Boadilla del Camino. The hospitalero is a guy named Eduardo, and he seems to be doing really well here.

There is literally nothing else in this town except the hotel/albergue/restaurant, a church, and a few houses. So we couldn’t get our usual dinner, breakfast, and lunch at a supermarket. We just had to pony up and eat the pilgrim’s dinner. It was delicious. We had lentil soup and creamy squash soup for our entrada. Then it was salad and ternera or chicken for the plato fuerte, and we all got ice cream bars for dessert.

The weirdest moment of the night came when he brought out a pitcher of what looked like grape juice. He told me it was zumo (juice), and then left. I smelled it, and it smelled fishy to me, so I asked again “Is this really grape juice?” And he smiled and said yes. I thought “how cool of him to bring grape juice for the kids, and then I tasted a bit of it.

It was most definitely NOT grape juice!

When he came back, I said “Is this grape juice or wine?” To which he responded laughing, “What do you think wine is?”

To which I responded: “But we don’t drink!”

To which he responded by looking sheepish and retiring the wine from the table.

Tonight Nidia came to our room (we have our own room to ourselves), and we played a fun game with her. It was nice to just spend some time laughing and enjoying having “company” over.

Tomorrow we are only going to walk 5km to Frómista so that we can relax and enjoy the Sabbath day, and rest our bodies and minds before we tackle the next week.

This week we covered 138 km, which is 86 miles. We pushed our average per day on the Camino back up to 18k, which is about 11 miles per day. The best thing is that everyone’s bodies are holding up, and we are in good spirits.

As I am lying down in bed, reading my scriptures at the end of the day, I read the following verse from Words of Mormon in The Book of Mormon:

And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

I can’t think of a better description of this trip. It’s been absolutely amazing, and I’m sure the Lord will continue to show us what His purposes for us are in all of this.

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La Gran Aventura Day 130: Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

Friday, April 19, 2024

This morning the kids did a great job getting ready. So many people, myself included, have been really impressed with the how the kids behave in the albergues. They are generally quiet and respectful. People just can’t believe that the kids keep walking and walking and they hardly complain. This has been a really full week. We’ve covered another roughly 78km or 50 miles this week so far. And we’ve got one more long-ish Day tomorrow to finish things out.

Today we walked with Nidia and Joycelyn again. They are the best walking buddies. I often find myself just wanting to listen in to what they are talking about with the kids. They have had some awesome conversations about a variety of topics -- including gospel topics -- over the past couple of days.

I was really surprised by the beauty of the way today. Hontanas is a beautiful little pueblo nestled in a little valley. River had been dying to play in a park all morning, and I told her we would look for one. The first one we saw looked like something from a horror film, so we skipped it and asked a guy at a bar if there was a park around. He pointed us to a beautiful little park hidden next to the church. It was a perfect place to take a break and visit and eat some lunch and let the kids play. That little park in Hontanas won’t show up in any guide book, but it was just perfect for River today. A real tender mercy.

The next huge surprise was the ruins of the monastery of St Anton just outside of Castrojeriz. The Camino literally leads directly though the ruins -- which have been made into an albergue for pilgrims. We sat for a while there and simply marveled at what we were seeing. It’s one of the most strikingly beautiful spots I’ve seen on this trip.

And finally, there is Castrojeriz itself. The signs say it’s one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, and I believe it. It’s got a couple of nice churches, and a ruined castle that looks over everything.

Nidia and Ian really wanted to hike up to the castle, but my Achilles tendon is giving me some trouble, and we had other stuff to do (dinner, showers, etc) so we didn’t go.

We had a really good day walking. River had an awesome attitude. The only bummer was that the battery on my good camera died, so I didn’t get the pictures of St Anton. But I had my iPhone, and I’m hoping I got some good shots with that.

Today Kimball and I had a great discussion about how walking the Camino is like conversion and discipleship. Sometimes Kimball wants his conversion to be complete and definitive. But that’s not how it usually is. What we need to do is keep walking, and eventually, we will get where we need to be. But it requires a lot of patience, and some trust in God, and the determination to just take His hand and keep walking.

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La Gran Aventura Day 129: Burgos to Hornillos del Camino

Thursday, April 18, 2024

This morning we had kind of a slow morning, but even then it was light years ahead of where we were a couple of weeks ago. The kids are getting better at just getting their stuff and moving things along in the mornings.

At around 7:30 or so, Nidia and Joycelyn showed up. We took some pictures with Francisco, our awesome hospitalero, and we were off.

The walk out of Burgos is much prettier than the walk in. And we made good time. It was just a really pleasant walk -- made all the better because Nidia and Joycelyn have such an easy time connecting with Betty and the kids. It’s a blessing to have them here.

It seems like no matter how far we walk, the first 3/4 are really easy, and the last 1/4 is really tough. Sometimes it’s just a tough 2-3 km.

I’ve mentioned that the kids have been taking turns carrying River’s pack. They mostly do a great job with it, but if it’s got extra water in it, or if it’s extra hot, or if it’s steep uphill, it’s really tough on them. Ian has had some particularly tough stretches.

And speaking of Ian, the other day he talked about how he would like new book to read. We had been having a big Brandon Sanderson talk, so I recommended Mistborn, and he told me he’d like to read it. So I downloaded it for him on Kindle so he can read it on his phone.

He’s been tearing through it, and now when he has to hike with the pack he tells me everything that he’s read in the past day. He remembers every detail from the book, and he loves recounting it all. It’s been such a fun way to connect, and it really helps to pass the kilometers.

This albergue in Hornillos is really nice. It just feels peaceful. Tonight I was sitting in a window seat, and Anahi came and curled up next to me and we just chatted for a bit. She’s so sweet. Probably the biggest benefit of doing the Camino is the time with the kids. We just have a lot of opportunity to walk and chat.

The hospitalera here is named Inma. She’s been really kind to the kids, and tonight, after everyone was asleep, she made an herbal tea for me and Betty, and we just sat and visited. It was kind of a perfect night.

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La Gran Aventura Day 128: Atapuerca to Burgos

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Today’s hike was ... interesting. After really struggling with her health over the past few weeks, but she’s feeling better now. I could not keep up with her, so I stayed back and walked with the kids, and she got to Burgos about 90 min ahead of us.

For our part, the walk was pretty good. We had breakfast at this little bar with a very grumpy barkeep. But the food was good. We also met some really nice Portuguese guys named Manuel, Jose, and Joao. I’ve loved using my French and Portuguese and even Catalan on the Camino. People always appreciate it when Americans can speak their language. Manuel was super nice and must have taken 20 pictures of us. We get lots of people taking pictures of us. Some stick around to talk, or ask for permission. Others just snap away.  Either way, it’s funny.

The walk through the industrial park into Burgos is really long and boring. I’d been warned to take the river route, but I missed the turn.

Burgos feels like a big deal. It’s the first big-(ish) city we’ve seen since Logroño, and on the Camino cities are few and far between. We’re also well over a third of the way done. It kind of feels like halfway, although we won’t hit that point officially for another week or so.

Burgos is also a city I’ve long wanted to visit. Historically, it’s really important. The Cid is from around here. He is buried with his wife in the Cathedral. I’m just really happy to be here.

I’m also happy to be here because our dear friend Nidia Corzo is here starting the Camino. We met with her and her husband Carlos at Marybeth’s house in February. Nidia and her friend Joycelyn are starting their Camino here. When we spoke in February I thought it would be impossible for us to meet up with them in Burgos, I thought there was no way we would be that far along. But here we are. It truly feels like a miracle. Betty actually ran into them when she was waiting in line at the albergue for us.

So yeah, Burgos feels like a new chapter.

Next up for us is the meseta. It’s the middle third of the Camino -- famous for being flat and a bit boring. Many people just take a bus and skip it. But not us.

This evening we went out with Nidia and Joycelyn, and we visited the Cathedral. It’s pretty amazing, but I was happiest to see the tomb of the Cid. He’s one of the great figures in Iberian history. I’m not sure I would ever have wanted to have dinner with him, but he’s an important part of literary history (and historical history ;) )

After the Cathedral I tried to get to the Museo de Burgos, but I got there too late, and it was closed.

Then we all went out for churros and chocolate. It’s one of the great Spanish treats. The churros are not sweet, and the hot chocolate is dark and thick. The best stuff is like hot pudding. This stuff was a bit thinner, but the kids all still really liked it.

In the later evening I went out with Betty. We got some patatas bravas and had a really nice visit. Betty asked me about what I’ve learned on the Camino so far, and I told her that one thing that pilgrimage has taught me is to value the blessing that I have to be able to fill my life with sacred time and space without having to walk 500 miles to do it. When you pay a high price for something, you value it more. The danger in the convenience of having temples that dot the Earth is that we come to forget what a sacred privilege it is to have them to close. We get some of that living 2 hours from our closest temple, but when you walk 500 miles to get to a sacred place, you really appreciate it when you get there. I hope that I can get the lesson to stick with me. It was a good talk.

After our snack, I took some pictures of the Cathedral in the blue hour. It was a nice night.

We are all really tired. It’s amazing the difference between walking 15 km and 20km. 15 feels like nothing. 20 feels like a lot. Tomorrow we are going to do the same.

Oh, and I have to mention our hospitalero, Francisco. Some hospitaleros are pretty forgettable. Some are memorable for the wrong reasons. Then you meet someone like Francisco who is unforgettable for all the right reasons. This man is 70, but he looks like he’s 50. He’s done the Camino 8 or 9 times, and he does it with the kind of reverence and love and respect that inspires. Tonight we asked him why he keeps going back. He had a hard time answering. Finally, he told us that when we get to Santiago, he thinks we will cry. He says he always does. And then with tears in his own eyes, he told us that even though he doesn’t know why when he starts, he always finds a reason to be there and to ask Santiago for help. He said that his prayers are simple and practical. He just looks up at Santiago and says “Échame una mano.” (Give me a hand).

He’s been so kind to us, and he really seems to love the kids.

Oh, and he put us in a giant room all by ourselves. That’s awesome.

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La Gran Aventura Day 127: Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Today we woke up early, and we got the best start we have ever had on the day. Betty is definitely feeling better. The weather has cooled a bit, and the hike over the mountains from Villafranca to Atapuerca was pretty chilly at times. It’s a massive relief after the hot days of hiking we had last week.

Our stage today was about 19 km (almost 12 miles), and it was pretty breezy. Betty really led the way, and I even had a hard time keeping up at times.

Today I’ve been thinking a lot about communication. We’ve spent so much time together as a family over the past few months, and it’s forced us to work on our communication. It’s not perfect, and we still have lots of moments of tension. But I’m grateful for all of the practice we are getting.

Tonight we are sleeping in a town called Atapuerca. I’m so happy to be here. It’s an archeological hotspot. The oldest human remains in Europe are found here. The oldest date to around 1.3 million years ago. I can’t really wrap my brain around that number, but it’s just super old. The mountains form a kind of funnel here that makes it so any game moving from the northeast to the center of the Iberian peninsula have to travel through this valley, so it’s been a place humans have come to hunt for forever. It’s the starting point for my Iberian history and culture class every fall, and now I’ve been here. I’m really happy about that!

We met an Australian guy named Peter at our albergue today. He’s super nice, and he had lots of questions about the church. He’s actually been to two temple open-houses in Australia, and he’s visited the church’s Polynesian Cultural Center at BYU-Hawaii. I love meeting people who know and respect the church.

We initially requested 6 beds in this albergue, and the hospitalero put us in a room with 7 beds. When the lady he was going to put in the room with us saw that there were kids, she refused the bed. So Betty paid the extra $15, and now we’ve got the whole room (and bathroom) to ourselves! It’s such a blessing to have a bit of privacy. Especially after last night, when a Brazilian lady got mad at Betty because she (Betty) was organizing her pack in the room, and the Brazilian lady tripped over it and fell.

We are all going to be so grateful to get home and have our own space again. No more disposable sheets on crummy beds. No more constantly telling everyone to keep their voices down so we don’t bother people. Just a few more weeks (hopefully)!

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La Gran Aventura Day 126: Rest Day in Villafranca Montes de Oca

Monday, April 15, 2024

This morning Betty woke up feeling much, much better. This day of rest is just what we needed. We woke up late (around 7am), and we’ve just spent the day writing and reading and getting updated on Facebook. We also did some laundry (by hand), and washed out our mess kits, and had some lunch (bocadillos), and now we’re ready to rock and roll for tomorrow.

I’m so grateful for priesthood blessings and modern medicine. They are a great combination!

The day has been really chill throughout. I was able to get all the way caught up on my writing in Day One, and I’m also caught up on Facebook. The kids and I also had a chance to watch a bunch of Agents of SHIELD together.

Betty is feeling much better, so we’re going to walk tomorrow. Our goal is to get to Atapuerca. That’s 18k, which will be the most we’ve walked in quite a while.

This afternoon we went to the local market (very, very small) to get some food for dinner, and it quickly devolved into a little firestorm. The next time we buy it needs to NOT be everyone, and we need to have a better plan.

It was contentious for a bit, but it was also a good opportunity to practice our communication skills. And things went really well. Betty took the lead and really did a great job of calming the waters. I’m so grateful for her. She’s the best!

Everyone is really trying to have all their stuff in order tonight so that we can get an early start on the morning. With a fuller day of walking tomorrow we need to get an early start so we don’t feel rushed walking. Betty’s feeling better from her illness and infection, but we’ve still got her feet to take care of.

Just to update the totals, we’ve walked a total of 256 km on the Camino -- that’s over 160 miles! We’ve got 510 km left (about 318 miles).

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La Gran Aventura Day 125: Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca

Sunday, April 14, 2024

This morning we woke up and would have been ready in record time, but Betty had a really tough night and was feeling pretty terrible. Even still, she got up, and we hiked the 12k to Villafranca. During the walk she didn’t talk much. She’s got a sore throat and body aches. She is really sick. I’m not sure how she made it. She was really dragging by the time we got in, and as soon as we got in the albergue, she crawled into bed.

I went to see if the store had anything we could use to make a tea for her. On the way to the store, I saw a medical clinic. When I got back to the albergue, we called the number, and they said they could see her at the clinic in Belorado. So she and River and I hopped in a taxi and headed to the clinic. It turns out she has not recovered from the bladder infection, and now with this cold she’s developed an ear infection as well. They got us on a new regimen of antibiotics, and they told us we needed to rest at least a day.

I’m honestly amazed she made it this far. She’s been battling infection since at least Roncesvalles. That’s  250+k (over 160 miles) hiked with infection in her system. No wonder she’s not been feeling well.

The Camino is such a personal thing. All pilgrimage is. I’ve had so many people tell me over the past couple of weeks that it’s totally OK for her to take a taxi or a bus for a day or two or more. We know that. She knows that. That was our agreement from the outset. We knew that doing this with the kids would be difficult, and we were both fully prepared to use those means of transport as an option. As recently as a few days before we started hiking -- when we were in Barcelona -- Betty’s main goal had been to finish as quickly as possible, and she was looking forward to maybe skipping out on a couple of days so that the older kids and I could move more quickly. But the Camino has a way of working on your mind and soul, and somewhere around Pamplona Betty made the decision that she wanted to walk the entire way to Santiago. I respect that, and I support her in it. The kids respect it as well. Except for a difficult moment a few days ago, they have been on board with taking things at the pace she needs to follow.

In our church’s general conference last fall Sister Tamara Runia gave a talk called Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens in which she said the following:

Before we interact with a loved one, can we ask ourselves the question “Is what I’m about to do or say helpful or hurtful?” Our words are one of our superpowers, and family members are like human blackboards, standing in front of us saying, “Write what you think of me!” These messages, whether intentional or unintentional, should be hopeful and encouraging.

Our job is not to teach someone who’s going through a rough patch that they are bad or disappointing. On rare occasions we may feel prompted to correct, but most often let’s tell our loved ones in spoken and unspoken ways the messages they long to hear: “Our family feels whole and complete because you are in it.” “You will be loved for the rest of your life—no matter what.”

[...]

Remember, families are a God-given laboratory where we’re figuring things out, so missteps and miscalculations are not just possible but probable. And wouldn’t it be interesting if, at the end of our lives, we could see that those relationships, even those challenging moments, were the very things that helped us to become more like our Savior? Each difficult interaction is an opportunity to learn how to love at a deeper level—a godlike level.

[..]

[T]he adversary does not want us or our loved ones to return home together. And because we live on a planet that is bound by time and a finite number of years, he tries to perpetuate a very real sense of panic in us. It’s hard to see, when we’re zoomed in, that our direction matters more than our speed.

Remember, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Thankfully, the God we worship is not bound by time. He sees who our loved ones really are and who we really are. So He’s patient with us, hoping we’ll be patient with each other.

So we are going to be patient and we are going to go together. We will stay in Villafranca one more full day tomorrow. It’s a sleepy town with very little to do, so I think it will be a good rest.

Betty has taken the medicine that they gave her, and she took some tea River and I made for her (cinnamon, onion, garlic, and cayenne pepper), and she’s telling me that she’s feeling better.

Because today was Sunday we had a little testimony meeting about what the Lord is teaching us so far on this journey. I was so impressed with the kids. They are paying attention and learning so much.

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