Category: Villa Mantua

Ahhh… the rains come. Today is a messy day and while I will have to deal with any rain on the Camino, not today. My “waterproof” boots turned out not to be so, as I discovered. With only eight days to go, there is no getting new ones. So, out came the can of Scotch Guard.  I laid down several nice coats both inside and out plus I did my baseball cap, my back pack and for good measure my old North Face Gore-Tex jacket with hood. I bought rain gear but this jacket has always been comfortable and I just like it, so it is going with me. At this point I’ve been doing 6 miles with the back pack for over a week, now and it’s easy-peasy, other than the knee,  so I think that I should give the knee a bit of a break. Know thy body! Continue reading “Walking in the rain”

So six miles it is. Unfortunately I wound up missing my morning walk on the days of the doctor appointments but I am determined not to miss any more-no, I just can’t miss any more. Period. With knee support on I did my first six mile outing in just shy of two hours. Not bad. My knee talked to me-well complained-a bit, but I told it to shut up and deal with it. This coming week I will start adding the backpack with weight and by Friday, October 7th, I plan to be at six miles with 20 lbs of backpack. That will give me a week and a half to settle in. It’s a plan, Stan, and it will have to be good enough for the Camino!

 

Prelude:

August 1, 2011:

When Jon and his ex-Jesuit classmate, Jim Gravois decided to walk the Camino Frances, it was the farthest thing from my mind that I would even consider joining them. In New Orleans for the Jesuit jubilee celebration, I listened as they intently exchanged ideas and made plans over a brunch of chicken and waffles at Luke’s. I thought that the plans would fade as so many do once a wonderful meal is passed, but this one, as they say, “had legs”. I kept hearing the buzz about it month after month and by the time that Jon took up trekking with a backpack in earnest about the Villa Mantua neighborhood, it was in cement. He and Jim committed to meet up at Roncesvalles, the farthest eastern pilgrimage stop of The Way Continue reading “The last 115: A Pilgrimage from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela”

Photo’s from the trip are now on my website at https://www.flickr.com/photos/stoppedtime/albums

2 of the 4 residents of Villa Mantua are getting ready for a well deserved vacation in Venice. Stay tuned for photo’s and more from Robert and Me.