La Gran Aventura Day 145: Camponayara to Villafranca del Bierzo

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Today was a shorter day of hiking, and we are really tired. So we slept in an extra half hour. I think everyone had a tough time sleeping last night because we had a world class snorer in our albergue.

The walk from Camponaraya to to Villafranca del Bierzo was pretty easy -- although my shoulders feel more sore every day. Also, some of the kids -- especially Alicia -- feel totally dejected after finding out that Betty and I need a couple more lighter days to recover from the Cruz de Ferro day. Tomorrow we are doing less than 20k again. The kids are great, and they can see the value in all of this and they are grateful. They just have also been away from home and friends for a very long time, and they are feeling ready to get back to life. It’s all normal, but if you could say a little prayer for us all, that would be great.

The last big obstacle between us and Santiago is called O Cebreiro. It’s the last tall mountain, and I’m feeling confident we will make it, but also a bit apprehensive about getting over it.

This albergue is pretty unique. The real owner is a man in his mid-80s who used to be a priest or monk but then gave up that life because he wanted to help people on the Camino.

He made a yummy dinner for us, but the highlight of this albergue was Jaris. She started walking the Camino a while ago with her enormous dog Maktub (half mastiff and half German shepherd). When she got to this albergue she just decided to stop to help out, and she’s been here for a month.

In the afternoon she took River, Ian, and me out for a walk to feed some donkeys. We had an awesome time. She was so good with River especially. It was another magical moment that Ian loved. I tell you, Ian is as mercurial as they come. He’s got big emotions. When he is up, he’s way up, and when he is down he’s totally down. On many occasions on this trip I’ve thought that I wish that we all had more memory of the good when we are in the middle of the bad. My Grandpa Spencer W. Kimball once said that the most important word in the scriptures is “Remember,” and the older I get the more convinced I am he was right. We just need to remember the good that God has given us, and it will help us to hold onto hope when things are bad.

Dinner tonight was good. We had a communal pilgrim dinner prepared by our host. The prayer that he gave was great. We all stood and help hands and held them up in the air and we finished the prayer with Ultreia! Suseia! Santiago!

The kids are all calmed down now, but Betty seems a bit melancholy. We are getting so close, but things are changing. There are many more pilgrims. There are fewer empty beds in the hostels. That means we need to plan more to make sure we always have a place to stay. This shower is definitely not good. Maybe hits 3 of our criteria -- and hot water was not one of them. It was just kind of lukewarm, and it looked like something from a horror movie. Oh how I miss my shower at home.

Oh, and tonight I fixed Kimball’s shoes with some duct tape. There is just nowhere to buy new ones for him.

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La Gran Aventura Day 144: Molinaseca to Camponayara

Friday, May 3, 2024

Before I get started on today, I have to say a few words about last night.

As I said, it was the hardest day of hiking we’ve had, and when we got to the albergue we were beat. So I was there processing passports and getting us all registered when suddenly I see out of the corner of my eye Ian flying from the couch onto this ottoman thing in the middle of the room. After an awkward and clearly hard fall he tried to play it cool, but he was in serious pain in his shoulder. He told me he thinks it popped out and back in, and I believe him on that. It’s the same shoulder he fell on when he fell out of bed. When we asked what happened he kept saying he couldn’t remember. Then today, almost 24 hrs later he finally fessed up. He thought the ottoman was padded but it was actually just hard wood covered with material. He was doing a Superman from the couch to that thing and landed full on on his shoulder.

Betty and I also needed some time to decompress last night, so we left the kids with pizzas and we went to get hamburgers. It was really needed.

This morning we knew we had just a short walk to Camponaraya, so we slept in a bit. Then we had a nice pleasant walk to Ponferrada, where we stopped at a pharmacy and got some medicine for River’s constipation. Then we stopped in front of the castle for a while, and then Kimball and I went to get some new shoes for him. His poor shoes just didn’t do well with all the rocks yesterday.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the right shoes for him, so we just moved on. After some supermarket lunch in a park we left Ponferrada behind. It was a nice little city and lots of people stopped to take pictures of us and ask us about our family.

In the evening Betty and I walked to the store with some nice Americans who say they have been aware of us since before Astorga. I think we are quite a sight.

Dinner was awesome. It was just pre-made salads and chips and guacamole and hummus, but we had such a fun time laughing about the crazy experiences we have had on this trip.

One topic of conversation was showers. We talked about all of the factors that go into making a great shower.

  1. Temperature

  1. Temperature stability

  1. Water Pressure

  1. Spray radius

  1. A private changing area

  1. Cleanliness

  1. A detachable head with good stability and positioning

  1. A rack to put toiletries

  1. Lights that will stay on for the whole shower

  1. Constant stream of water (no turning off every ten seconds).

This is the ten star system.

Our shower tonight was a 7/10. Pretty good.

Tomorrow we’ve got another short day planned, and it’s a good thing because I’m exhausted.

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La Gran Aventura Day 143: Rabanal to Molinaseca

Thursday, May 2, 2024

Today lived up to its billing. It was -- simply put -- the toughest day on the Camino. At 28.35 km and over 11 hrs and 51 min it was the longest day in both distance and in time. We also had snow, sleet, and rain. So it was the toughest in weather, and the terrain was brutal with 9 km of ascent followed by over 18 km of steep descent over rocky trails.

We decided to wake up at 5am (an hour earlier than normal) so that we could get out at a good time. It worked. We left the albergue about an hour ahead of what we normally do. Right around 6:20am. Because of the early start we were able to watch the sunrise. It was breathtaking and put us all in a great mood. When the snow started falling, it seemed to just add to the magic of it all.

Today we made it to the famous Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross). For over 2,000 years (longer than The Camino has been The Camino) it has been a sacred place on the mountain where travelers have left rocks to mark the path and as a symbol of gratitude or penance or hope. In this way the Camino is like an extended and very intense fast -- and the rock at the Cruz de Ferro is like your purpose in the fast.

As is the case everywhere on this journey, the Cruz de Ferro was not quite what I expected. Everyone in our family had chosen a rock in Michigan, before we left, as a symbol of something they’d like to leave at the Cruz de Ferro. I’ve kept my rock in my pack ever since. So have most of the kids. Betty did as well. But somehow this morning she couldn’t find her rock. It must have been lost in the backpack shuffle.

When we got to the Cruz, the kids took up most of our attention. But I did have a moment in the sharing of the experience and the photos to say a prayer and toss my rock onto the pile. It was a simple and sweet experience.

Oh, and here is another tender mercy:

My rock on the Cruz de Ferro, my purpose, was to find more peace and harmony in our family. We have an amazing family, but at times our passions get the best of us, and we argue. I’ve really been trying over the past months to be a better parent and to help foster more peace in our home.

Well, ten minutes hadn’t passed since Cruz de Ferro when River told me she wanted to play a game. This happens a lot. Usually her game is “Name five Disney Princesses,” or “Name Five Colors,” or “Name Five Letters.” So I asked her what she wanted to play.

Right at that moment we passed a Camino sign with the yellow arrow pointing the way, and it had been vandalized (as is super common). But this graffiti said “Army of Peace.”

So right as River asks me what game I want to play one of the kids reads the sign and says “Army of Peace,” and River thought that was the name of the game, and she said: “Let’s play that.”

So we started making up a game. At first it was something like “First person to start an argument loses.”

That led to the entire descent being filled with moments where someone would start to say something -- a criticism or complaint -- and then the others would remind them: “Army of Peace!”

It actually worked really well :)

We also added to the game by taking turns saying nice things about each other.

It’s a good game. I’m sure we will still have to work on the contention, but during the toughest stretch of hiking on the Camino, it was a little nod from God to let me know that He had heard my prayers.

After the Cruz de Ferro, the trail makes a steep descent. Over the next nearly ten miles I believe we lost around 3,000 ft of elevation. The terrain was rocky. The weather turned rainy, and everything got a bit slippery. It was the toughest hiking we’ve done so far. With River on my shoulders I was just praying not to fall.

Betty’s feet started hurting again, and our pace really slowed. By the end, every step was tough. My feet were sore. My Achilles tendons were sore. My quads were shaking with each step.

But here is the amazing thing. The kids were great. Ian had about a 20 minute stretch where he was super grumpy and at one point after he turned his ankle for the second time he tossed his poles and sat and had a little moment. But after  few minutes he got back up and kept going.

In the end, the kids did an amazing job of hiking. They were in good spirits. They were smiling and talking with each other. They would all hike ahead of Betty and River and me, and then sit on the trail and wait. And every time I saw them I just felt so proud.

I know this is long, but I wanted to mention one more thing. It’s a thought that came to me when I read a recent Facebook comment from Carolyn Blosil in which she said how impressed she was that the kids hadn’t just given up and said “I’m done!”

The truth is, at some point on this trip each one of us has said the words “I’m done!” And it’s been pointed out to me by everyone that they did not sign up for this. It wasn’t their dream vacation. They kind of got roped into it.

But then the other day, on our walk into Astorga, we read Mosiah 3:19, one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. It says:

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

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La Gran Aventura Day 142: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

I think we all slept pretty well last night. We were exhausted. This morning, however, we decided to take an extra 30 minutes of sleep, and we took our time getting out. But thankfully, we already had a reservation for today, so we didn’t have to hurry on the way.

We are now off of the meseta, and we are into the mountains. Today was a steady climb -- not steep, but definitely steady -- throughout the day.

It was also pretty cold. We were in the 40’s most of the day. It rained a little off and on, but we were prepared for it, and it didn’t do much to slow us down. If anything, it sped us up because we just wanted to get to the albergue.

On the way, Kimball and I had another really good talk, and I had a moment of clarity. For a long time now, I’ve been listening to the Optimal Work podcast with Dr. Kevin Majeres. He’s a psychiatrist who works at Harvard, and his specialty is helping people to get the most out of their work. It’s not about efficiency or productivity. It’s about using your work to help you become a good person.

Anyway, Majeres is always talking about how if we can view our challenges as opportunities to grow, our bodies will process our adrenaline in order to help us face the challenge. We get stronger. We have more endurance. Our minds are sharper. We have more dexterity in our fingers. So much of what he does is help people to reframe their challenges so that they can see them not as threats but rather as opportunities to grow.

The idea has always resonated with me, and today everything kind of clicked. I was talking to Kimball, and we were talking about the challenge of the Camino -- and particularly the challenging road across the mountains that awaits us over the next week or so. Then suddenly, I was thinking about how in church we are taught that before we came to Earth, we chose to come to Earth knowing that it would be difficult but that through the challenges of mortality we would grow to become like our Father in Heaven.

We came here accepting challenges -- rejecting the easy road -- and if we want to be truly happy here, we have to do the same. It’s the only way to grow. This is something I love about the Camino and about pilgrimage. It’s such an amazing opportunity to accept and embrace the challenge. It’s a reminder of why were are here.

This albergue is great. The girl that runs it is named Beatriz, and she’s super nice. She and Betty hit it off from the start. Betty and I decided to leave the kids with pasta, and she and I went out for a “date night” and got some food at the restaurant downstairs.

When we got back River was playing with Aitana -- Beatriz’s daughter.

I’m exhausted, so I showered quick and climbed into bed, but Betty is still out there just chatting it up with Beatriz and her husband. She’s already invited them to our house in Michigan, and they are making plans to visit Frankenmuth.

Tomorrow we’ve got a tough day. It’s nine steep kilometers up to the Cruz de Ferro, and then 15 steep kilometers down to Molinaseca. I’m going to try to get as much rest as I can so I’ll be ready for it.

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La Gran Aventura Day 141: San Martín del Camino to Astorga

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

This morning was pretty good. Everyone did a decent job packing up, and right around 7am we were out the door. I’m so proud of the kids. They have been up at 6am basically every day since March 31. Everyone is tired, but they are doing such a good job. I couldn’t be prouder of them.

The weather for much of the over 27 km (17+ miles) was really good, but towards the end it really cooled off and the rain that we have successfully avoided for a month finally caught up to us. When we got into Astorga it was really coming down. Everyone ended up pretty wet, but we got to our albergue and dried off and had warm showers and now everyone is tucked in and sleeping.

Astorga is a really beautiful little town with a cathedral and a little palace designed by the great Antoni Gaudí. I went out this evening and got a few pictures. The light was tough because the palace was backlit by the sunset. But hopefully some of the pics I took will turn out.

River was fun today. Imagine having a smart and sometimes sassy four-year-old sitting right in your ear for 5-9 hours every day. That’s been my life for the past month.

For a while (weeks) all she wanted to talk about was Christmas. Finally today I put my foot down  and told her I wasn’t going to talk about Christmas anymore. So then she started imagining things. She was an ice princess and she was creating an ice path for us to slide along. Then she told me she had a watch like mine that would tell her how far we had walked. Then she was playing games on her “watch” and she was watching movies. At one point she told me she was going to put in “headphones” so she could watch a movie on her watch. Then I had quiet for a few minutes.

She also did some good walking (jogging) for about 35-40 minutes. It was a good rest for my back and shoulders.

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Tomorrow we leave the meseta behind and we begin making our way into the mountains. We’ve got some tough days ahead. We are tired. We have come so far. And we are ready to take on the next stage.

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La Gran Aventura Day 140: León to San Martín del Camino

Monday, April 29, 2024

This morning I really wanted to get out early so that I could take pictures of the illuminated cathedral in the dark. But everyone was so slow getting out that by the time we made it to the cathedral, they had turned off the lights. But we got some good pictures of the sunrise.

I was in a pretty melancholy mood about that, but we did get a pretty good start on the day.

One of the reasons we were able to get out early was that we skipped breakfast. We decided we would just grab something on the way out of León.

By the time we started getting hungry we happened to be hiking past a little stand where a guy had fruit and granola bars and some other stuff. I thought: “Wow, the Camino provides once again.” But the experience wasn’t all that great.

This stand was like some others on the Camino where people offer stuff to pilgrims, and they don’t really charge for the stuff per-se -- they just ask for a donation. I’m sure there are people who take advantage of these people and don’t give anything, or maybe they give just a little. Anyway, the kids started telling me what they wanted (a granola bar, an orange, a little muffin, etc.). Then the guy barked at me to keep my kids under control. He said: “This is run by donations and I don’t have a big organization behind me paying for all this stuff, so you have to leave a donation.” It was about the coldest anyone has treated us on the Camino, and it really got my hackles up. We are busting our chops out here trying to take this whole family on the Camino. It’s tough, but we are paying our own way and being fair to everyone we interact with. Just the hint that I wouldn’t pay for something like this (or that my kids are brats) just made me mad.

Contrast that with the Pakistani guy who owned the restaurant where we ate roasted chicken yesterday. When we ordered he said with a huge smile and broken Spanish: “No gusta, no pagar” (If you don’t like it, you don’t pay). And then he delivered the best roasted chicken I have ever eaten and at a fraction of what we would have paid anywhere else.

OK, I’m done with this rant.

After that we just walked and walked and walked. My shoulders were pretty sore for the first half of the day or so, and Betty’s feet got sore, but we made it 26.24 km (16.3 miles). It’s the second farthest day on the Camino and the farthest we’ve walked since day 4 (Pamplona to Puente la Reina). We are really hoping to make it about that far each day for the next couple of weeks so we can knock this thing out. We are all really missing home. It’s not going to be easy. We’ve got some pretty serious mountains between us and Santiago. But we’re feeling pretty good.

Tonight we are in a little town called San Martín del Camino. Tomorrow we should be in Astorga -- the end of the Meseta, and (un)officially two thirds through the Camino.

Tonight we had a really great dinner of cheesy pasta -- specially made by our hospitalera. She made the hugest pot for us, so we’ve got a bunch of extra that we can take for lunch tomorrow.

Now it’s 8:30pm, and I really am hoping to get some good rest tonight. I haven’t slept well in days. Last night I kept worrying that Anahi would fall out of bed. She was on the bunk right above me, and it was about the squeakiest bed I’ve ever seen. So I’m really hoping for a good sleep tonight. If that can happen, we can get up earlier and hopefully beat the rainstorm that is forecast for tomorrow afternoon.

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La Gran Aventura Day 139: Puente Villarente to León

Sunday, April 28, 2024

This morning we really put in a strong effort to get out early. It turned out to be at 7:20, which for us is really good. It was a really quick 12k walk into church.

The LDS church in Leon is actually right on the Camino and very close to our albergue. We just walked straight to church and got dressed when we got there.

The branch in Leon is great. Everyone was so nice, and they had a great mix of Spanish and Latino members. I went to primary with River. It’s really becoming clear that she hasn’t been spending much time with other kids her age. She’s got a lot of catching up to do when we get home.

We haven’t been in an official sacrament meeting since Rome. That was on March 24. It was just so great to be back with the saints.

The rest of the day was spent just resting.  12k feels like practically nothing now. We are strong, but soon we will be back in the mountains, and that will be tough. We’ve got about two weeks of hiking from León, but most of it will be in the mountains. It’s going to be a big challenge, but we are all itching for home. So we are going to give it all we’ve got.

Oh, and I went this evening and took some golden hour shots of the cathedral. I think they will turn out OK, but I’m also looking forward to the early morning and hoping I can get some pictures then as well.

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La Gran Aventura Day 138: Reliegos to Puente Villarente

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Last night was interesting.

The municipal albergue in Reliegos has a bunch of bunk beds spread across two rooms. The beds line the outside of the room, and down the middle there is another double row of bunk beds right next to each other. So they are really like one giant row of double beds.

Betty and I were so excited to “share” a bed. But River somehow made her way between us so that was short lived.

Then, at about 2am, we all woke up to a giant thud.

Ian, who had been sleeping with Kimball on the double bunk above us, had rolled off the bed and plunked down onto the floor right next to me.

It woke up everyone in the room (another 8 or 10 people). The guy next to us was very concerned, and because he was Spanish he expressed his concern with a generous supply of curse words.

For his part, Ian handled it all pretty well. He had smacked his head pretty hard and fallen onto his hip.

I just pulled him into bed with me and River and Betty, and after making sure nothing was broken or bleeding, we tried to get back to sleep.

But after something like that, it’s pretty hard to just fall asleep. I kept wondering if Kimball or Alicia would fall off the bed.

So it wasn’t my greatest night of sleep. But I haven’t had a great night of sleep since February, so that’s nothing particularly new.

After the excitement of the night, I decided to let everyone sleep in a bit. We had already planned for a short hike today (12k only about 8 miles). Ian’s hip was pretty sore, so we sent his pack ahead. That’s been the biggest blessing for us.

The hike itself went well. Ian’s hip didn’t bother him at all while hiking. It’s just the pressure of the belt.

We made it to our albergue just as the rain started. That makes it since the first two days of the Camino since we haven’t had to hike in the rain. Cold and windy, yes. But no rain. It’s such a blessing -- maybe a Camino miracle. Certainly a tender mercy.

Our albergue for tonight is really nice. A bit pricier, but we have a room all to ourselves, and we are all on bottom bunks. And it’s very warm, so warm that Betty asked me to open a window. I’m hoping she has an especially good sleep.

Since tomorrow is Sunday, I decided to go to Leon this afternoon to get some new shoes. Ian’s have completely fallen apart as well, so he came with me.

The bus to Leon wasn’t working today because it’s Saturday, so the hospitalero just gave us a ride into town (about 15 minutes).

We went to the Corte Inglés, which is a huge department store that many people disparage, but I actually love. Ian loved it too. He told me visiting the Corte Inglés was his favorite thing we’ve done on the trip. He especially loved the toy and book sections.

We both got some new shoes, and then we went and got KFC for everyone because our albergue has no kitchen. That meal turned out to be a hit when we got back.

I’ve been exhausted all day, so I took a nap and spent a bunch of time just catching up on track videos. I think I needed a little break. River was also exhausted, and she’s been trying everyone’s patience.  I hope she can get some good rest tonight as well.

We are closing in on two thirds of this trip done, and everyone is starting to feel like the end is close. But soon we will be off of the flat meseta and we will have to cross a pretty formidable mountain range. I know Betty’s foot isn’t 100%, and my right Achilles tendon and knee are getting sore as well. Hopefully the new shoes will help.

Just a couple more weeks, and we should be headed home.

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