From Elizabeth:
While Gary is walking along the shores of Portugal and Spain, our neighbors back home here in Phoenix are away on vacation and our Silver Lab, Rangeley, and I have been tasked with keeping the ducks and geese from taking up residence on their pool decking! Rangeley gladly took the job! It’s the closest I can get to any body of water until Gary, our son Cooper, daughter-in-law Chelsea and I arrive in Fisterra, in northwestern Spain, on the Atlantic Ocean, after completing the roughly 500 mile Camino Frances in June! But I am getting ahead of myself…
I am heading to Madrid in roughly 10 days, after we’ve been planning for a year to return to the Camino for a 5th time!
Lots of firsts for me on this trip… first time flying to Spain alone; first time with my new backpack; our son and daughter-in-law will be joining us for the first time; we’re leaving Rangeley with our friend Mark for almost 7 weeks (bless your heart Mark!); and we’ve planned much of our lodging ahead of time, for the first time. All are new, exciting and will add to the adventure!
This coming week will be filled with pre-departure errands…wash my truck, clean out the fridge, confirm with our youngest son Tucker re: caring for our house, last few classes at the gym, hiking with my pack, and my traditional pedicure of yellow Camino arrows on my big toes! Yes, I will share pictures in a future post!
More re: my travels, meeting the kids and Gary in Madrid and the start of our family Camino soon!
Until then, continue to enjoy Gary’s solo adventure posts! Buen Camino! – Elizabeth
Day 9 – Vigo to Vilaboa – April 20, 2024
Today’s miles – 17.2 Total Miles – 134.6
It took a while to get outside Vigo this morning. Vigo has almost 300,000 people making it much bigger than any city on the Frances route. The terrain is no longer flat. We (referring to my New Zealand walking mate) climbed to about 500 feet a few times during the day today. Vigo is a popular starting point as it is just over 100 km from Santiago… the minimum required to walk to get a certificate of completion – Compostela. About 8 miles in we also joined the other two Portuguese routes – the Central and Coastal. (I have been on the Coastal Litoral). The whole feel is now different. There are more pilgrims and more services that are Camino based. We had our first café that was all walkers. We had met a California mom and daughter a couple times earlier today and they stopped and joined us at the café. The mom is originally from Mexico. I couple minutes later a couple from Mexico sits next to us. There was a Dutch woman, a Czech man, a Slovenian young man and many others I did not talk with. There is a much better mix of young and old and a much better balance of men and women.
Once out of Vigo we had some beautiful forest walking on a dirt path. One hill had a 15% grade. There was a sign for a longer more gradual climb if you wanted to avoid the steep one. Several of the water sources I like as well, spring water flowing out a pipe.
On the path there are now others to chat with regularly. There was a Canadian couple who met my NZ friend in Porto. They had walked the Central route. The Canadian couple are on their first big adventure – 2 weeks on the Camino. They are amazed at how many people are serious travelers. My NZ friend is out for over 3 months and I am gone more than 2 months. There are many people out here that have done lots of cool things.
For lunch we stopped at a café that was over 50% locals, but they certainly supported the Pilgrims. I had a salad, spaghetti, 2 beers and ice cream. Total bill – $11.50, tax and tip included. The food on this route up to now has been more upscale and expensive. I am a simple eater and enjoy the inexpensive Pilgrim meals.
As I am typing this entry I looked out the window and see these big puffy white things in the sky inland. I think they are clouds. I haven’t seen one since arriving in Portugal 9 days ago. Speaking of weather, the temperatures have been in the mid to upper 70s the entire trip in the afternoon and upper 50s at night. I have kept the windows open in my lodging every night. It is supposed to cool down, with rain in 5 days, but I should be done this route in 3 or 4. I have not worn a jacket of any kind on this trip so far. I was thinking it would be cold and rainy in April on the coast.
Day 10 – Vilaboa to Pontevedra – April 21, 2024
Today’s miles – 8.2 Total Miles – 142.8
I slept really well last night. First, I was tired and needed a good nights sleep and second I had a corner room so could open two windows and had cross ventilation all night. The low was 54 this morning, so nice and chilly in my room.
Since I have decided to take my time into Santiago, I know longer have the option of walking the Ingles. It would have been a lot and I want to make sure my feet and body are ready for the main reason I am here in Spain, to walk the Frances with my family. I have a few days now with no plans. I may get a ride to Fisterra and walk back, or go on a totally different adventure by train. I will keep you posted, but for now I have 3 more days of walking to look forward to before reaching the cathedral in Santiago.
It is fun being on a more typical Camino. All 3 routes are together and there are a lot of people who started in Vigo or Tui. I have always enjoyed Galicia (this region of Spain). This is my first time on this route, but I am less than 42 miles from Santiago, so familiar terrain. Rolling hills, wooded paths and streams were the theme of the day. We walked by several churches in the short walking day. There was a 2 mile alternate route along a small river that I took. The majority of the pilgrims stayed on the primary path and walked along a road.
Being a beautiful Sunday there were tons of locals out and about the city of Pontevedra (population 83,000) my stopping point for the night. Elizabeth and I took a train to Pontevedra last summer, so I have been here before. This is where I had my first nata – a Portuguese custard tart. So when I saw the coffee shop we stopped at last year, my NZ friend and I stopped to get a nata fresh out of the oven. Being a Sunday, we dropped in on two different church services. Both were very well attended by the locals. Then off to lunch before the restaurants close at 4PM.
It has been a quiet afternoon, chatting with Elizabeth, writing this journal and catching up on work. I am planning to meet my friend later for an ice cream. I have already scoped out shops that are open. Eating an ice cream cone, always a great way to finish a day. Thanks for following along.
What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.
Robert Brault
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 