The Camino Portuguese, My Way

  I got to Sky Harbor early...6:30am for my 10:50am flight. Check-in went fairly smooth and I was ready before 7am. Now I've got almost 4 hours to kill.  Getting plenty of steps in around Terminal 4 before going through security. I can see it's not going to be a lot of fun trying to kill 6 hours in DFW. Lots of time to kill in DFW. Like 6 hours. Got in at 3:30pm and the gates for my two flights were very close. So I'm getting a lot MORE steps before an 8 1/2 hour flight. Had dinner at Bar Louie's in the terminal. Blackened salmon, shrimp, potatoes in lemon sauce with asparagus and iced tea. Good, but the service was slow. Didn't matter since I had time. Took two trips on SkyLink. Takes 20 minutes round trip. I'm glad I brought my fleece since they keep the terminal chilly. Flight to Madrid was good. Even the food on Iberia was good! Spicy chicken with rice, potato salad. Got in at 1:45pm local time. Passport control was fairly easy.  I panicked when my bag di...

 Yep, it's almost here! 3 days and counting.  And yes, I'm mostly packed. Just don't forget something REALLY important, like my passport. Next time I post I'll be in Portugal! Someone in the group had suggested a communal prayer book, with a different person adding to it and carrying it each day. I think it's a great idea! It builds team spirit, encourages contribution and makes you feel wanted. Here's what I came up with: Proverbs 15:1—“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Think of how this applies to today’s world. How much better would things be if we spoke  kindly and respectfully to each other? That goes for both sides, Trump on one side,  mandates on the other. What we hear on the news and online is punch and counterpunch,  words of disagreement and hatred. Both sides trying to outdo the other with negative  language. And look where we are. The joy for me in the “hiking bubble” is we treat people like people, regardless ...

I posted the following in the group's WhatsApp thread this morning.  It drew a hugely positive response.  Like 10 💖s.  I debated whether or not I should speak up and post something like this.  Guess it doesn't hurt to open up and be human once in a while! There's a lot of nerves and fear in our world these days.  Some warranted, but a lot of it is in our minds.  "Predictive anxiety" as my therapist calls it.  We play a movie in our heads.  And we've been conditioned to play what's often a negative movie over the last few years. Why not play a positive movie?  We only live once.  Why not enjoy the trip?  Look at the positive side, making new friends, discovering new experiences, seeing new places, tasting new foods.  There will be challenges...blisters, achy feet/knees, people you may not get along with, maybe your pack gets misplaced.  But somehow, some way, the Camino will provide. _________________________ I see the fee...

 Here's the trailer from Dan Mullins' documentary ("Somewhere Along the Way").  Dan is the force behind the group, and I'm guessing I'll be walking with some of the people shown in this trailer. The Portuguese Camino...nightly concerts...new friends...Hawaiian night...Wim Hof.  Man, this is going to be something else! Somewhere Along The Way – Camino de Santiago Documentary Film Trailer

  OK, show of hands.  How many of you oldsters (roughly in my age group or so) can say they weigh the same or less as in high school?    (My hand goes up!)      Yep, I weighed myself yesterday and I'm a svelte 135.  That's probably close to what I was in those bygone years.  At one point (my 40s or 50s) I was in the 165 range.  That was pre-walking.  Walking got me around 155 to start, and I dropped another 10 or so.  Not that I'm trying.  I'd like to stay in the 140-145 range.  I think the recent weight loss came from trying to work on my A1c, which was borderline at 5.6.  It's a case of fix one thing, break another.  I lost about 5-7 lbs. and haven't gained it back.  I'm not Karen Carpenter-esque, thankfully.  And no way will I gain while I'm on the trail.  Even eating hearty pilgrim dinners, I won't gain weight walking 12-18 miles each day.  Go back a few posts to see my photo in ...

 I've been monitoring the fire situation in Portugal/Spain for almost three weeks.  Very hot, very dry and LOTS of fires.  Northern/Central Portugal, northern/northwestern Spain (including Galicia) are greatly affected.  Early in August the Portuguese government issued a proclamation closing off access to forest paths, which likely included parts of the Camino Portuguese.  In the last few days I've read of locations along the Camino Frances that I walked in 2019 that have been closed.  As of today you can't walk from Astorga to Ponferrada.  That's several days worth, including the Cruz de Ferro.  Casa Susi, an albergue in Trabadelo where I stayed, has posted pictures of the fire and smoke. I get information from different sites.  I try to follow any locals who are currently on the trail, like on the local APOC chapter's Facebook page.  Another good source of info is the Camino Forum.  There's a couple sites (Gronze for one) that sho...