Camino de Santiago; Part 1, St. Jean to Pamplona

The foothills of the Pyrenees.

The flight to Madrid was uneventful, but just long. American Airlines was alright, we got dinner and breakfast on the trans-Atlantic leg.

We arrived in Madrid at 10 a.m. It is a large airport with many facilities, including a Metro link and a railroad line. Since our hotel was close to the RR, the information lady suggested we take the more direct RR ride, and it was a winner at only 5 €.

Our hotel was an AC Carlton, and was very nice. Indeed, we decided to book our last 2 night in Spain there so we could see more of that city. Next day we hopped on the train to Pamplona. We got to view a lot of central Spain which looks a lot like central California, but with older buildings!

From Pamplona, we caught a bus to France and to St. Jean Pied de Port. This is a pretty town in southwestern France whose main claim to fame is being a principal jumping off point for the Camino. Lots of pilgrims, (peregrinos) in the place, and lots of facilities for them. The Pilgrim's Office was crowded with folks picking up their Pilgrim's passport and the people working there also helped us find a place to stay for the night.

In order to qualify for the inexpensive hostels, (albergues) along the way, you need a Pilgrim's Passport (credencial), which is stamped at each place you stay. This becomes a ritual; you stagger into an albergue and produce your national passport and your credencial, and then you're given a bed and your credencial is stamped.

We stayed at Refuge Le chemin vers l"Etoile, an old albergue in the heart of the old town, It's owner was a nice guy who gave us a lot of advice about walking the Camino, some of it made sense, some, not so much, but he was good-natured. He also prepared a nice communal supper for us which we shared with several other peregrinos, most of whom were not english speaking, but we still had a pretty good time.

We started out the next morning before sunrise. We were a little apprehensive about starting in the dark, but we eventually saw a lot of other walkers so we just followed behind and had no problems finding the way. It was one of the toughest stages we were to encounter on the Camino, due to the climbing and wind! By the end of the day we had covered almost 24 kilometers after 8 1/2  hours, a long day indeed!

Arriving in Roncesvalles, we came to the main albergue. It was a big one, and one of the best organized we were to encounter. Also on of the nicest, it was fairly new and provided us with 2-bed cubicles which were nice and we had a nice meal at the restaurant. 

Photos here:

The Albergue at Orrison, between St. Jean and Roncesvalles.

The locals

Roncesvalles, our destination, is there in the center.

After Roncesvalles, we walked for two days to return to Pamplona! The first night we stayed at a municipal albergue which was really different from the Roncesvalles. Definitely a step down! The next day we made our way to Pamplona, actually stopping just outside of the city in Villava.  On the way, we stopped for a second breakfast at a really neat trekking cafe set along the trail on the side of a river. 

Our albergue in Villava was a private one, we got a semi-private, four bed room which was a tad more expensive than our last, but which turned out to be a good deal since no one else ended up in the room, so we got a private room!

Preparing for the Camino, pt.2

Gathering the gear!    

Just days away from our departure now, I gathered up most of my gear and placed it on the bed.  The recommended weight of your pack for this trek is 10% of your body weight, which will be impossible! But I'm still shooting for a sub-20 pound target.

While I'm confident that our fitness level will be adequate for this adventure, our main concern has been our feet! Shelly bought yet another set on insoles yesterday, let's hope these help her sore feet! I'm bringing an ankle brace to wear at night for my plantar fasciitis....man, we must be getting old!

The latest forecasts look okay. Occasional evening showers, highs around Pamplona in the 80s. It will be cooler than here thank goodness.

Preparing for the Camino de Santiago

Hunter's Creek, outside Reno.

 

Looking back at Reno in the distance.

Applegate trail to the North Fork of the American River.

Above Alpine Meadows

Our Trip to Florida!

Sunset at EPCOT Center.

Went to Orlando at the end of October to see Gordon. We figured with Gordon's training cycle coming to an end, he might not be in Florida much longer, so we decided to visit. We planned a 10 day trip which included 2 travel days. Gordon graciously offered us the use of his car for the couple of days he had to work while we were there.

As I said, for the first few days Gordon had to work while we explored. We'd come back at the end of the day to pick him up from work. Here's Gordon as an engineer in training:

So for the first couple of days we took day trips to the Atlantic coast; First, off to St. Augustine, I wanted to see the oldest European settlement in North America, and I wasn't disappointed! The old stone fort there is a very interesting place to visit.

The view from the fort at St. Augustine.

Next day was to see Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. We drove by the Kennedy Space Center and looked around from the outside, but frankly, didn't see anything that would be worth the $100 entry fee, so we contented ourselves with a few pictures at the entrance! Yes we are cheapskates.

Next stop was Cocoa beach where I put my toes into the Atlantic, I believe that's the first time for me!

Soon though, Gordon got some time off and we went to Disney's EPCOT Center.

The three of us at EPCOT.

Well, EPCOT's okay, not great, although there was a food festival going on that was fun.

The weekend came and Gordon had to go to Savannah, GA to attend a friend's wedding so we tagged along and shared a room with Gordon in the historic part of town. I must say, Savannah is a very nice place. While Gordon was doing his thing with the wedding party, Shelly and I walked all over the historic district.

Savannah is also a port city, with many nice shops and eateries along the riverfront.

Coming back to Orlando, Gordon took us to a rock-climbing gym for some lessons in climbing. We were both able to scale some of the walls, but I wasn't feeling super competent. It would take me a few lessons to get the hang of that. Shelly did quite well. Gordon has become pretty good at it!

Gordon's belaying Shelly as she scales the wall!

The next day, our last day there, we rented canoes at a state park and toured up and down the Wekiwa river. Here we were able to spot lots of wildlife, many birds and turtles and a couple of alligators!

Highlight of our river trip!

Florida is pretty interesting. I should mention that the wildlife we saw on the river is not confined to those wild places. There are ponds everywhere, and at Gordon's apt complex I saw turtles and 2 small alligators, along with Ibis and Herons all over the place.

All in all, we had a great time, (although I'm thinking Gordon is pretty happy to have his apartment back). It sure was good to see him. The link below is to the web album containing more pictures of the trip, I'll try to caption most of them as soon as possible!

Click for more pictures!

Shelly and Deb's excellent adventure...

Nearing the end of the hiking!

Shelly is now back and almost entirely recovered from her trek to the Himalayan foothills! She traveled to Nepal with Deb Hall for a 13 day adventure which included six days on the trail heading towards Everest Base camp!

At Singapore Airport.

They endured a 19 hour flight to Singapore, followed by an 8 hour layover there. Then on to Kathmandu via SilkAir.

Shelly and Deb arrived in Nepal two days earlier than the rest of the group in order to get a few extra days in Kathmandu. hey spent that time acclimating and strolling around taking in some of the sights.

The hotel in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu is crowded and, well, not exactly a 1rst world city. Many sights unusual to our western eyes...

The view from the hotel.

Buddhist shrine, a stupa.

Street scene! This is a crowded town.

Street scene: dogs and monkeys are revered and fed on the street!

Soon the group had assembled and Shelly and Deb joined in the scheduled siteseeing, etc. visiting the monasteries and squares and shops around town. It was now time to begin the trek:

The plane for Lukla Airport.

The group took the flight to Lukla Airport. Shelly discovered later that the airport at Lukla has quite a reputation. In fact, the History Channel has named it the most dangerous airport in the world! There is an interesting video on YouTube about it! Link to a video of Lukla airport

Our next post will focus on the hike!

Jayden's First Birthday!

Mashing the Birthday Cake!

It's hard to believe a whole has gone by since little Jayden was born! On the actual day of his birthday, we just had a present and, well, everyday is kind of like a birthday for a 1 year old.

 Jayden seems to like doing this lately!

 Jayden's first birthday present!

He didn't really get the whole present thing, so his big sister Lily helped.

That following weekend, Ryan and Nicole invited everybody to Gibson Park for a real party. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and Shelly made a sacrificial birthday cake. When we raised our boys, we somehow got into the habit of letting them tear up the birthday cake with their bare hands! The boys have never forgotten that and so we offered one for Jayden.

 The cake!

Well, it took a while for the cake to be served, and Jayden was a little worn out from all of the excitement; he had to take a short siesta.

zzzzz

But he woke up in time to enjoy the cake and resumed his position of life of the party!!

Happy Birthday Jayden!!

Recent Pictures of Jayden!

Hey look! Jayden's waving!

It's been a while, so thought I'd post some new pictures of Jayden. Hey stayed with us for a weekend at the end of April...

Sharing the paper with Grandma. He's already looking at car ads.

Having a laugh with Gramps.

Not sure if he's enjoying himself here.

He suddenly became self aware!

Trying out the Blogger link in Picassa...why not a new picture of Jayden?!

Soda Springs Ride 10/09/2010

On Soda Springs Road.

Kevin and I had a great ride, going up I-80 to Soda Springs, then taking Soda Springs Road down to Robinson Flat. It's a pretty rough road, and there was lots of water from recent storms. This proved to be a life saver through, as on fellow we came across had said that a stretch of road had been churned into 2 feet of dust by logging trucks. Fortunately, the rains had tamped all that down and that stretch proved to be fairly easy. What wasn't so easy were some of the steep rocky sections we encountered-I managed to drop the Strom once-but no serious harm done. 

CLICK FOR RIDE PICTURES.

I had actually ridden this road several years ago on a bicycle! It was really hard then. I can tell you, a motorcycle is much easier.  Really, the BMW and the Strom both handled this rode pretty well. We did take it easy, some guys on the light Dual sports were just flying!

Jayden comes by, 10/03/2010

Ryan came by today with Jayden. Here's a couple of shots of Jayden. About three weeks old,so he's not jumping around a lot yet!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

Jayden Cline, 09/13/2010

Jayden, contemplating his daddy.!

Jayden James Cline was born at 5:43 pm, Monday September 13, 2010. He shares his birthday with his Uncle Gordon! His mother, Nicole, is doing fine, tired, but fine, after almost a day of labor. Father Ryan is smitten with the sight of this tiny person.  Grandma Shelly and Grampa George are overjoyed, and are also babysitting Chini, the Daschund.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES OF JAYDEN!

Nevada ride June 2010

Took a couple of days for a fast trip through Nevada; From Loomis, I rode through the Lake Tahoe area to U.S.50, then proceeded through Western Nevada to the tiny town of Austin and camped for the night.

Next day turned into a marathon event, going north from Austin to Battle Mountain, then over to Winnemucca for breakfast!

After that, on to Jungo road for some real adventure, passing along the Black Rock Desert to Gerlach. From Gerlach, I went north eventually to Alturas!. Then down 395 to Reno, and I-80 back home. Phew, 15 hours of riding that day!

Trip's end.

 Last time at the Marienplatz

 CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES!

Monday morning , both Shelly and I woke up with mild colds. so we decided to take it easy. We had breakfast at the hotel, then retreated back to the room.

Late in the morning, we ventured out down the tram route to investigate the little shops we had spotted along the way. We then hopped on a tram to the Marienplatz, grabbed a little lunch then headed up to the English Gardens, to check out some parts we had not seen before. The weather was again wet and cool. Occasional showers, plus our colds, pretty much eliminated any chances of going on any extensive tours now.

After browsing through the Gardens, we made our way to a tram station and rode back to our normal jumping off point, the Effnerplatz, then back to the hotel for a nap. We were both a little sapped from our colds.

That evening, we met Gordon at the Hofbrauhaus for a last "German" dinner. I was glad to still have a bit of an appetite, so I enjoyed the meal, and the beer. Gordon says beer and chocolate are good for colds. I felt pretty good after the meal. 

Back at the hotel we began to pack and organize for the trip home as we watched the World Cup.  Very big in this part of the world.  Actually, probably everywhere but the US. 

Tuesday we packed in earnest, getting all the stuff ready to go. We would be carrying an extra bag home with some of Gordon"s stuff.   Also, the other large check in bag had his things, too. He'll be coming home two weeks after us!! Man, those bags were getting heavy!

We took it easy that day, didn't really do too much. That evening, Gordon came by and we had dinner at the local Italian place. Gordon explained how to get to the airport, and came up to the room for a little while before saying goodbye. 

Next day was the travel day! Raining again, we first walked to the U-Bahn to get our pass for the Airport.  We then checked out and went to the tram to make the connections. At the airport, we got through 2 security checkpoints and grabbed a sandwich and one last beer. 

The Lufthansa flight to Chicago was pleasant enough. This is a good Airline. Complementary wine and pretty good food too. Chicago's O'Hare is huge! We taxied for 20 minutes before getting to the gate. Then through Immigration, Customs, and Security. We then had to re-check our bags for the United flight back to SMF. By the time we got to our gate, boarding had begun! The 2 hour lay-over proved to be barely long enough!


The United flight from Chicago to SMF was very different from the Lufthansa. We were squeezed into a cattle car like seating arrangement. I lucked out because they needed someone to sit at the emergency exit, so I got extra legroom! For a 4 hour flight, there was no food offered at all, at least we got something to drink! Upon arriving at SMF, I was glad we have a relatively small airport. 

Our check-in luggage did not make the connection, so it was delivered the next day. We hopped on Super Shuttle for the long ride home. Back to the house about midnight. It had been a long day!

The weather in Munich our last day was just like our first day there!

Overall, this had been a good little trip. We didn't have any grand plans as we had in Australia, so we weren't too disappointed by the weather, or by catching colds. The weather broke in time for us to enjoy the Zugspitze, the Eagle's Nest and Salzburg and Bad Tolz, so I couldn't complain. It was great to see Gordon doing so well over there, I think he's going to return to Germany at some point in the future.

Europe is an interesting place to visit. It's so similar yet so different. And of course, everything is about 10 times older there than over here! I think it's best to take it in small chunks, so maybe this is the beginning of many trips to Europe!!

Happy Birthday Munich!

Sunday morning we met Gordon at the Marienplatz and found the place hopping! It turns out that this weekend was the celebration of Munich's 852 birthday!! Lot's of stalls were erected. All sorts of vendors and such. 

Gordon recommended this kind of pizza bread like thing which was baked in free standing ovens at the stands. We also enjoyed some potato chip like snacks which are cooked while you wait. They are thick and kind of crispy and chewy at the same time. We eventually had to wash these snacks down with some brew and strudel. I was trying to get as much pastry as I could before I had to go. 

Shelly found a guy who made jewelry out of coins. For us, he took a California Quarter, then drilled, cut and filed out the design, then polished it all. It came out real nice.

  Gordon beside a tiny BMW!

There was an exhibit of old cars, including one of those tiny old BMW's that open from the front. I got Gordon to pose next to it, I don't think he could actually fit in it!


Time to catch a bus to the west side of town and hit Nymphenburg. This was a huge place, with formal gardens and  pools and fountains. Next to it are the botanical gardens, which were the real reason we went there.

 Schloss Nymphenburg.

The gardens are themselves really large, and not too well marked, we got lost a couple of times but eventually made our way through them.

Alpen section of the gardens.

Dinner tonight was provided by Gordon. He has been learning Chinese cooking from one of his friends who actually is Chinese. We took the U-bahn back to Gordon's dorm.  He was preparing Chinese spaghetti for us which was pretty good. While he was cooking, Shelly and I went to the one place you can buy groceries on a Sunday night - a gas station! We picked up a variety of beer and some cookies.

After dinner, Shelly and I threaded our way through the maze of the U-bahn system back to the hotel.