LIVE from the Camino Chrissy on the Camino Sanabrés

[nycwalking]

Thank you, NYC.
Lucky you, seeing the thermal baths right by the albergue. We never saw them at all.
Your walk out of Ourense sounds awful. Did you take the left Y out of town instead of the right?
Are you saying a hospitalero snored?

Yes to both turning left and snoring hospie.



Buen camino.

 

[JillGat]

I'm trying to remember which albergue I was in where the hospitalero was sleeping on the couch in the afternoon.

 

[J Willhaus]

Sometimes it is a long day...

 

[JillGat]

Sometimes it is a long day...

He was a character, a local Spanish guy. He joined us in the bar later.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 14...sent a day late.
The sun was shining today and the weather was warmer. It was a glorious blue sky, perfect day and I'd almost forgotten what they are like with no cloud cover.

Our day was embarrassingly short at about 10k, but it was basically an uphill climb overall, going from Cea to Oseira. Many people arrived much later than us as they had walked from much farther back. There were many colorful flowers, happy birds singing and trilling, and picturesque babbling streams with rocks to carefully watch our every step many times...think mountain washout gullies.
We crossed a lovely little bridge on the way.




The humongous Oseira monastery is really amazing and we opted for a tour for only €3.50/each and learned some interesting facts. It was really cold in the old stone building with super thick walls.
We returned at 7:15pm for Vespers. We were taken to a small chapel, and there were eight monks dressed in white hooded robes and they sounded like angels.


The dinner tonight near the monastery was excellent and a splurge; thankfully the quality was worth it.
The Oseira albergue here looks very new and has 40 beds, and about 25+ beds were filled.
Btw, all the upper bunks have safety railings.

 

[J Willhaus]

Nothing embarrassing about 10 km up a hill. Sounds like it was a rewarding day and evening.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

@Camino Chrissy , I'm jealous. Those photos make it all look absolutely gorgeous. It may have been a short day but it was certainly a beautiful one.

I'd love how you're commenting on the railings - @KariannNor , take note!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I'd love how you're commenting on the railings -

Here are the albergue beds. Lots of "amenities"; cocoon pods, and individual charging and lights.

 

[JillGat]

Here are the albergue beds. Lots of "amenities"; cocoon pods, and individual charging and lights.
View attachment 169803

All of the Xunta albergues in Galicia I stayed in had these modern features. They're great, aren't they?

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Looks like a typical Galacian Xunta - is it? (Good kitchen with no fridge and cookware etc)

 

[Camino Chrissy]

All of the Xunta albergues in Galicia I stayed in had these modern features. They're great, aren't they?

Yes, they are!

"One thing I have really enjoyed is walking on ancient Roman roads. I posted on the forum about an ancient Celtic petroglyph I saw. No one else mentioned seeing it so wanted to give you the map coordinates:
42.619891,-8.120861"

@ JillGat, today we passed the gps coordinates you provided for the Celtic petroglyph, and think I saw it...is it this? Pretty awesome!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 15-
Today was 23k from Oseira to Botos, on another day of perfect weather. I actually started getting almost too warm by noon, mostly from all of the strenuous climbing, so I would wet my bandana to use. Around my neck Much of it was on semi-dried mountainy stream beds, picking our way uphill, which slowed us way down the first half of the day. I thought to myself "is this day ever going to end?" We literally walked from 8:15am until 6:00pm with a half hour lunch break...yeah, I know I walk slow. I take my time so I can look around at new things; what's the hurry?



A bit of kitchy whimsy.


It was fun to watch about twenty cows pass in front of us heading out to pasture with the "boss" with his stick nudging them forward
.

I am ready for bed after showering earlier and ending our day with a nice meal nearby.
I'll see what tomorrow brings our way.

 

[Dani7]

So so beautiful. You are taking amazing photos. Thank you.

 

[JillGat]

Yes, they are!

"One thing I have really enjoyed is walking on ancient Roman roads. I posted on the forum about an ancient Celtic petroglyph I saw. No one else mentioned seeing it so wanted to give you the map coordinates:
42.619891,-8.120861"

@ JillGat, today we passed the gps coordinates you provided for the Celtic petroglyph, and think I saw it...is it this? Pretty awesome!
View attachment 169804

Yep! Glad you saw it!

 

[chinacat]

Day 14...sent a day late.
The sun was shining today and the weather was warmer. It was a glorious blue sky, perfect day and I'd almost forgotten what they are like with no cloud cover.

Our day was embarrassingly short at about 10k, but it was basically an uphill climb overall, going from Cea to Oseira. Many people arrived much later than us as they had walked from much farther back. There were many colorful flowers, happy birds singing and trilling, and picturesque babbling streams with rocks to carefully watch our every step many times...think mountain washout gullies.
We crossed a lovely little bridge on the way.
View attachment 169739
View attachment 169785View attachment 169787
View attachment 169800View attachment 169801

That looks magical, Chrissy, especially that second photograph
So glad you had some good weather

PS
I’ve read through all your posts now … very entertaining and your photos are beautiful!
I love the colours of your Way, love all the steps you find to photograph and share your love of blue doors too

Buen Camino!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 16-
Thankfully today was only 19k and had less dramatic up and downs, going from Botos to Silleda. We went through a few forests, a few villages, and saw the new high speed AVE train that has been a huge project for Span.





As much as I dislike the rock strewn streams, today had a long one with a bubbling very shallow brook and was so pretty. All the large stones were flat on top, and didn't budge, so I felt secure to step along on my way.


Calla Lilies in Spain always remind me of my deceased sister's wedding. She carried three beautiful ones wrapped with a ribbon laying in her arms for her bouquet, so they are rather sentimental for me and I often see them walking.


I have talked about the eucalyptus trees and forests before, and we are starting to see some. They are messy, but do have a very nice odor known for essential.oils, among other uses.


Not much else to say about today. See you all next time.

 

[JillGat]

Thankfully today was only 19k and had less dramatic up and downs, going from Botos to Silleda. We went through a few forests, a few villages, and saw the new high speed AVE train that has been a huge project for Span.
View attachment 169880
View attachment 169881
View attachment 169882
View attachment 169883

As much as I dislike the rock strewn streams, today had a long one with a bubbling very shallow brook and was so pretty. All the large stones were flat on top, and didn't budge, so I felt secure to step along on my way.
View attachment 169884View attachment 169885

Calla Lilies in Spain always remind me of my deceased sister's wedding. She carried three beautiful ones wrapped with a ribbon laying in her arms for her bouquet, so they are rather sentimental for me and I often see them walking.
View attachment 169889

I have talked about the eucalyptus trees and forests before, and we are starting to see some. They are messy, but do have a very nice odor known for essential.oils, among other uses.
View attachment 169886

Not much else to say about today. See you all next time.

The path with the large flat rocks is a Roman road! I kept exclaiming about this until a French guy said dismissively, "You and the Roman Roads!" I said, "Yeah, it is amazing to walk on something from so long ago!" He said, "Well, you Americans weren't COLONIZED by them." Like he was still pissed off about that.

 

[DenWhite]

Thankfully today was only 19k and had less dramatic up and downs, going from Botos to Silleda. We went through a few forests, a few villages, and saw the new high speed AVE train that has been a huge project for Span.
View attachment 169880
View attachment 169881
View attachment 169882
View attachment 169883

As much as I dislike the rock strewn streams, today had a long one with a bubbling very shallow brook and was so pretty. All the large stones were flat on top, and didn't budge, so I felt secure to step along on my way.
View attachment 169884View attachment 169885

Calla Lilies in Spain always remind me of my deceased sister's wedding. She carried three beautiful ones wrapped with a ribbon laying in her arms for her bouquet, so they are rather sentimental for me and I often see them walking.
View attachment 169889

I have talked about the eucalyptus trees and forests before, and we are starting to see some. They are messy, but do have a very nice odor known for essential.oils, among other uses.
View attachment 169886

Not much else to say about today. See you all next time.

The eucalyptus dispersed through these parts brings a little taste of Australia to Portugal and Spain. Those messy one's Chrissy are a 'stringy bark', aptly named for the mess they leave.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

The eucalyptus dispersed through these parts brings a little taste of Australia to Portugal and Spain. Those messy one's Chrissy are a 'stringy bark', aptly named for the mess they leave.

Whilst they smell beautiful they are of course also extremely inflammable. (Let alone extremely bad for the local environment - to which they were transplanted). I'm always aware of both the beauty and the danger when amongst them.

Walking through the plantations last year in July I was very glad that it wasn't too hot.

In April I was walking the Inglés and the plantation on the Hospitales (Primitivo) was on fire, in July I walked through that self-same area - I was very glad I hadn't been present at the time.

 

[Bradypus]

Whilst they smell beautiful they are of course also extremely inflammable. (Let alone extremely bad for the local environment - to which they were transplanted).

Walking the Ingles I came across Devil's Finger fungus in some eucalyptus plantation. Originally a southern hemisphere species but probably introduced along with the eucalyptus. A bizarre sight. The photo with the broom handle is mine - the other from Wikipedia.

 

[davejsy]

Walking the Ingles I came across Devil's Finger fungus in some eucalyptus plantation. Originally a southern hemisphere species but probably introduced along with the eucalyptus. A bizarre sight. The photo with the broom handle is mine - the other from Wikipedia.

View attachment 169933
View attachment 169934

Ditto on way in to Santiago:

Very weird looking things.

 

[JillGat]

Whilst they smell beautiful they are of course also extremely inflammable. (Let alone extremely bad for the local environment - to which they were transplanted). I'm always aware of both the beauty and the danger when amongst them.

Walking through the plantations last year in July I was very glad that it wasn't too hot.

In April I was walking the Inglés and the plantation on the Hospitales (Primitivo) was on fire, in July I walked through that self-same area - I was very glad I hadn't been present at the time.

Yep, they are an ill-advised import to Spain. I grew up as a child with them in California, where they were also an ill-advised import. I still love the smell and the memories it brings back to me.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 17-
This was another great weather day although a bit too warm in the afternoon; near 30°C/86°F when walking. There were quite a few shady forests on this 22k stage from Silleda to Eiravedra, which helped. The elevation change for the day was from 500 meters descent down to 50; with the steepest section of over a kilometer on a continuous 10% grade and I was thankful to be walking on a quiet lane.
It was near the end of the day when my left knee started aching and became a little weaker. I was glad to arrive at our pension and hope it recovers for our final 20k walk into Santiago tomorrow.

Random photos from today...

 

[jungleboy]

It was near the end of the day when my left knee started aching and became a little weaker. I was glad to arrive at our pension and hope it recovers for our final 20k walk into Santiago tomorrow.

Only one day left? That flew by! I'm sure the adrenaline will kick in tomorrow to get you to the finish line. Failing that, meds

Enjoy your last day, it's a nice entry into Santiago with hardly any suburbs.

 

[dougfitz]

Walking the Ingles I came across Devil's Finger fungus in some eucalyptus plantation. Originally a southern hemisphere species but probably introduced along with the eucalyptus. A bizarre sight. The photo with the broom handle is mine - the other from Wikipedia.

I think that there is probably a different origin story for its entry into Europe, which would appear to be woolen fabric imported from Tasmania, not the eucalypts that were send from Western Australia to Spain.

While they might provide an aromatic reminder of home for Australians, that is all that I find appealing about them. Arrayed in strict rows and with little understory, little if any birdlife and no signs of small mammals and other animal life, they look so alien to me when I see them in plantations. I coined the term 'a sadness of eucalypts' when describing these to my friends as I walked the CP a couple of years ago. As others have noted, the spread of eucalypts across the world, as with many other plantation mono-cultures, is not good for our environment.

Edit - shortly after I returned from walking the CP, my wife and I were driving up to the NSW Central Coast. Along the way my wife wondered why I had pulled to the side of the road well short of our destination. She didn't quite understand, but did accept that I just needed to take a few moments to take in the eucalypt forest we were driving through in all its natural spendour.

 

[chinacat]

As others have noted, the spread of eucalypts across the world, as with many other plantation mono-cultures, is not good for our environment.

It’s not that brilliant for fire risk either!

 

[Tassie Kaz]

Day 17-
This was another great weather day although a bit too warm in the afternoon; near 30°C/86°F when walking. There were quite a few shady forests on this 22k stage from Silleda to Eiravedra, which helped. The elevation change for the day was from 500 meters descent down to 50; with the steepest section of over a kilometer on a continuous 10% grade and I was thankful to be walking on a quiet lane.
It was near the end of the day when my left knee started aching and became a little weaker. I was glad to arrive at our pension and hope it recovers for our final 20k walk into Santiago tomorrow.

Random photos from today...
View attachment 169964View attachment 169965
View attachment 169960
View attachment 169961View attachment 169962

Ditto @jungleboy's wishes for your final day Chrissy. Time has been against me to have added any comments but I have followed you diligently throughout your journey, enjoying as always your positive nature & eye for the world around you.

Hope the knee holds up for the final push & doesn't infringe on the culmination of your endeavours!

Happy trails

 

[VNwalking]

That went too fast...wow.
May the walk today be pure joy!
My favorite entry into Santiago...it's gorgeous

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 18-
After my left knee turned a bit "wonky" yesterday after what seemed a never ending downhill on a smooth lane with no traffic into Ponte Ulla at a 10% grade, then up the other side as far as EiravedraI, I was disappointed to possibly consider taking a bus or taxi into Santiago today. We had stayed at Pension Residential Victoria and the bus stop was across the street which was very tempting...but no.

The walk was considered relatively easy on Gronze and helped me make my decision to attempt it. My son wrapped my knee area with an Ace bandage he had brought and I managed to walk the final 20k into Santiago. It was a nice change of pace to walk into the city with this new direction; the only negative being all of the uphill on the way to the cathedral the last several kilometers. I was thankful there were no streambeds with precarious rocks to navigate today and I managed quite well.

Here are a few pictures from today. I enjoyed the many newer, colorful homes on the outskirts of Santiago and their attractive landscapes.




Since I've been posting a few photos of dogs; here is a favorite from today, and some pretty, colorful chickens.



As we entered the city streets from the country I got excited and for no special reason another song came to me from my youth. I turned on my phone and the volume way up and I sang along with this fun song! Sorry, I hope I don't offend as it's not spiritual.

We are staying at a great apartment, only about a block or two north of the cathedral, "Rua Numa Travesta". We do enjoy apartments when staying two or more nights in one location because we have more time to enjoy the space and do a little cooking; tomorrow eggs for breakfast.
Other less expensive places we have stayed at in the past and loved in Santiago were already fully booked, even as far back as last December.

I was early for my meet-up with forum member and virtual friend, @JennyH94 at the Pilgrim office where she volunteers, so I stepped in and within five minutes had my Compostela and distance certificate. I was not even sure I wanted to get one, but it is a nice momento and glad I did.

Jenny and I shared a nice meal at a favorite, inexpensive restaurant near the Pilgrim office and chatted for an hour or two. It is always nice to meet some of the forum regulars and she is a doll.

I have tomorrow to mull around the city and visit a few favorite areas and things to do. I have done the cathedral rooftop tour twice and am always interested in tower tours. The tower was finally opened last year, but I had no opportunity to do it, but not wanting to aggravate my knee I will pass again this time.

On Monday we leave for Segovia by train for a short vacay day, then on to Madrid to fly home.
Thank you to all who have followed along, and I hope my ramblings and pictures have helped others who may be contemplating walking the Sanabres.

 

[dougfitz]

Congratulations. And thank you very much for sharing the story of your pilgrimage with your son. It has been fascinating to read.

 

[Suzanne S.]

Yes, Chrissy! Ditto Doug!!!

 

[Dani7]

We share a love of music from our more youthful days. Great job and thank you for sharing your journey with us here. Grateful and thankful safe journey home.

 

[Lindsay53]

Congratulations! Great reports, thanks for sharing your journey.

 

[chinacat]

So you’re the reason that song has been in my head for the last 24 hours!!
My beloved had to remind me of the band who’d released it as it had temporarily escaped me.
It came out of the blue …

That little dog really enjoyed the tummy scratching!

Take care of your knee, you’ll need it later (shame they don’t spontaneously regenerate).
Well done on walking into Santiago!!
Enjoy the rest of your days in Spain and have a safe and comfortable journey home

 

[Simperegrina]

Thank you for the great reportage and photos @Camino Chrissy

 

[jungleboy]

Never in doubt! Congratulations on making it and completing another camino!

 

[Pilgrim 122]

Congratulations for making it to Santiago! I'm so glad your knee held out. Thanks for all your updates it's always a pleasure to read them.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Yay! You made it. Thanks for bringing us along with you.

I've waited until you would have some time to answer a question. I've loved your pictures but I've been stumped about why they seemed much longer than most anybody else's. That is to say the ratio of horizontal to vertical approaches 2:1 but don't appear to be consistent. Do you crop before submitting or do you set your camera/phone to take pictures in these formats?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Yay! You made it. Thanks for bringing us along with you.

I've waited until you would have some time to answer a question. I've loved your pictures but I've been stumped about why they seemed much longer than most anybody else's. That is to say the ratio of horizontal to vertical approaches 2:1 but don't appear to be consistent. Do you crop before submitting or do you set your camera/phone to take pictures in these formats?

Rick, I always first take a screenshot of the pictures I decide to use and I most always take horizontal photos; a habit developed over ten years ago when we often watched them on our television as they took the same width.
Anyway, I then crop the screenshot,but try to fit the edges all the same to remove the "black space" around them, so they are not all perfect. i am a techy duffus, and by "dumbing down" first with the screenshots, that seems to at least work, but not perfectly. I share too many to use full size pics on the forum.

 

[Luka]

Thanks for your nice report and dito photos, @Camino Chrissy! I'll follow in your footsteps real soon!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thanks for your nice report and dito photos, @Camino Chrissy! I'll follow in your footsteps real soon!

@Luka, I wish for you to have good weather and a fantastic Camino! I hope a few of my experiences may help you with your some of your walking decisions, but I think you will be just fine anyway.

 

[Bonitatime]

Love your photos

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Rick, I always first take a screenshot of the pictures I decide to use and I most always take horizontal photos; a habit developed over ten years ago when we often watched them on our television as they took the same width.
Anyway, I then crop the screenshot,but try to fit the edges all the same to remove the "black space" around them, so they are not all perfect. i am a techy duffus, and by "dumbing down" first with the screenshots, that seems to at least work, but not perfectly. I share too many to use full size pics on the forum.

Chris, I'm so glad I asked about your pictures. I know how to speed up your processing with an app. I've used it myself to send copies of photos to the forum where the longest side will be 800 pixels (I noticed that your photo of the chickens was a 720x320 PNG file with a file size of 515 kb).

Here's what to do: Download the SNAPSEED app. In settings say you want image size to be 800 pixels (other, larger, sizes are available) then say what format and quality the copy should have. I chose JPG as it uses way less space than a PNG. See the first screenshot below.

I have my phone’s camera set to take shots in a 16:9 format to fit my TV. Normally I take pictures in a medium resolution but in high resolution I get pictures of 9.1 mp, 4032x2268 which is bigger than a 4k TV can show without resizing. So, getting to the point now, I took a high resolution picture that had a file size of 4,200 kb. I opened it in Snapseed, clicked the Export action, picked Export in the pop-up menu (see the second screenshot). Snapseed then created a copy of my photo but in its own directory. The copy had a file size of 246 kb (versus 4,200 kb) and it had 0.4 mp (versus 9.1 mp) because the copy was 800x450 instead of 4032x2268. If you want you can use the app to do various edits before you export. I use crop and rotate non-horizontal lakes by several degrees a lot.

Give it a shot.

 

[chinacat]

@Rick of Rick and Peg

I love the way you try to explain all things tech for us mere mortals!!
This is helpful information, but unless I really engage my brain, it is as clear as mud
Actually doing it would help, I think.

Chrissy - could you play with this on the flight home?

PS
Is the second shot the result of using the App?
It looks better and more like the shape of Chrissy’s photographs. It’s clearer somehow.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I love the way you try to explain all things tech for us mere mortals!!
This is helpful information, but unless I really engage my brain, it is as clear as mud

Thank you. I actually spent some time trying to make it simple but that's really the work of tech writers. I know I have trouble with buts, howevers, in case of, etc. I do fight this.

Actually doing it would help, I think.

Yes, ignore my examples of file size and photo size savings and you see that it's do an intial app setting to tell the app how to shrink all the photos. Then to process each photo you open it, select the action to export photos, chose export again and then use the shrunken copy of the photo that the app generates.

PS
Is the second shot the result of using the App?
It looks better and more like the shape of Chrissy’s photographs. It’s clearer somehow.

Actually the first screenshot was edited. When I did the screenshot it offered for me to crop which I did. My phone only saves screenshots as PNG and that produces better quality pictures but at the expense of file space. Not really needed for a shot of text so I used the tool in the way described to turn the PNG into a JPEG and shrink both the number of pixels and file size. For the second screenshot I cropped before saving but I left it as a PNG as I didn't think the space savings would be significant. It is just a coincidence that what I wished to show somewhat matched Chris' horizontal to vertical ratio.

There I go again. Sorry.

 

[Judith from NorCal]

Thank you so much for taking us with you on your Camino!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thank you so much for taking us with you on your Camino!

You are very welcome!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Yes, ignoring my examples, it's do an intial setting for all then for each open, export, export and then use the copy.

Rick, I don't understand, so wonder what language you are using.
I will show this to hubby when back home. I'm sure he will understand. Thank you!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

P.S. We fly home tomorrow, and I decided to share some of the photos I took of every artistic hand hewn Mojone I saw. I think my first sighting was in Pueblo de Sanabria.
I am inserting @Elle Bieling's research on these fascinating chunks of stone. It is because of her Sanabres Camino thread I had read prior to going that prompted me to look for them. I have counted 61 different ones of my photos. I hope you enjoy seeing a "few"!

 

[CarolamS]

Thanks Chrissy l've really enjoyed your posts and they will help my planning for later this year. I'll also look out for the mojones too.

 

[davebugg]

P.S. We fly home tomorrow, and I decided to share some of the photos I took of every artistic hand hewn Mojone I saw. I think my first sighting was in Pueblo de Sanabria.
I am inserting @Elle Bieling's research on these fascinating chunks of stone. It is because of her Sanabres Camino thread I had read prior to going that prompted me to look for them. I have counted 61 different ones of my photos. I hope you enjoy seeing a "few"!
View attachment 170223
View attachment 170224View attachment 170225View attachment 170226View attachment 170227View attachment 170228

Those pictures are so cool!!!! I love 'em.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@jungleboy, Nick, I thought of you and the beautiful, colorful goat art you enjoyed finding in Sicily on your recent Camino. I know the stones are not at all like the goats, but I had the same enthusiasm as you when I saw one.

 

[Tassie Kaz]

@Camino Chrissy, congratulations on another safe (although perhaps with a limp...) arrival in to Santiago & the Cathedral; it must feel like a Homecoming to you now...like seeing an old friend.
I'm a bit slow here with my wishes for you, especially as you're probably either winging your way home or there already!
Another wonderful journey, shared with us all...thank you.
So...when you catch your breath, what next Oh Intrepid One?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

So...when you catch your breath, what next Oh Intrepid One?

I'll have to have a long think on it, Kaz. Nothing's up my sleeve yet!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hi all,
I am home now and it feels good except for the several days of jet lag I usually have.
Anyway, I had a couple of requests for a recap of my stages, so here they are in a nutshell from my spreadsheet. Some are different than the basic Gronze stages, but they worked better for me because "less is always more".

 

[chinacat]

Chrissy .. some of those stages look just right!
(the shorter ones )

Still don’t know when I’ll be able to walk again but thanks to your thread, the Sanabrés is definitely high on my list. It might have knocked the Inglés off the top.

Thank you!!

Buen Camino!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Chrissy .. some of those stages look just right!
(the shorter ones )

Still don’t know when I’ll be able to walk again but thanks to your thread, the Sanabrés is definitely high on my list. It might have knocked the Inglés off the top.

Thank you!!

Buen Camino!

You are very welcome! My goal is to possibly inspire others by following along, and it apparently inspired you!
Btw, I see taking a taxi was an option going to Cea out of Ourense, but we walked it and I'm glad we did.
Yes, I too, prefer stages of 20k or less whenever possible.

 

[nycwalking]

Chrissy,

Your photos were so beautiful I have started playing with photos on my phone to improve their look when posted.

Buen camino.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Chrissy,

Your photos were so beautiful I have started playing with photos on my phone to improve their look when posted.

Buen camino.

Have fun doing that!

 

[Babyboomergirl]

Thank

Hi all,
I am home now and it feels good except for the several days of jet lag I usually have.
Anyway, I had a couple of requests for a recap of my stages, so here they are in a nutshell from my spreadsheet. Some are different than the basic Gronze stages, but they worked better for me because "less is always more".
View attachment 170399

Thank you Chrissy, this is most helpful as I am also hoping to walk shorter stages.
Rereading your posts has made me very excited for finishing the VdlP camino we started last year.