10/26/15 Ribadiso to Rua

A Wet Trail today with periodic rain and big downpour at day's end

Contemplating from Alburgue window... Do I really want to start my days walk now?.... in the rain?

So I'm off anyway! 

Saying goodbye to Mariah who is taking today off to help heal her tendinitis. I am assuring her I know where I am going. She has been the great charting and map person for the Grannies on Camino!

This photo shows the fun start to my day! Rain or shine you take your cows to pasture! Umbrella in hand with cows on tow ropes its off to the pasture they go

Leaving the comforts at Ribadiso and heading out in an unpredictable weather day.... lends a mixture of anticipatory excitement and dread to the day 

Looking back at Ribadiso as I exit town

Daniel from Barcelona on the left and Moses from Pamplona on the right were fun to meet and talk with on the path today. They discussed how they wanted "their Moms" to walk the Camino...after all they said ...Mariah and I had come all the way from the USA to walk it , they thought their Spanish Mamas should hit the trail in the ease of their own country.  I gave them some tips from Mariah and my experience how to "ease" their Moms into the Camino experience. Moses and Daniel have walked the Camino a few times each. Notice their footwear are Crocs.

Pilgrims in front of me on the path as the sun comes out for awhile

Beautiful as the sun filters through the trees after the rain had stopped

Enjoying the new varieties of tree combinations today

Loved the clouds and glistening grass between showers

This week I noticed the farmers are plowing under last year's crops & preparing for upcoming spring planting 

View from our hotel window in Rua.... So happy to finally arrive here and be out of the rain and off the muddy trails!

Being predominantly a rain day I was limited in my photo taking due to visibility and protection of my phone from an abundance of water. Tomorrow we arrive in Santiago .... Wow..... It is hard to believe we have been walking for a month! The last few days we have been discussing the magnitude of what we have experienced and the ground we have covered walking on this journey! ...so much has transpired we will have to compare notes and photos well into the future. Our blog will help us remember the who, where and when of our experiences. 

Off to prepare for our big day tommorow!

Mary and Mariah

Grannies on Camino

10/25/15 Mato-Casanova to Ribadiso

 A beautiful fall day in the forests and country pastures

Maria was our host at the Alburgue we stayed in last night that was situated a distance off the Camino Trail. She came out for a morning walk with me this morning to show me the special back route to The Camino Trail to get me on course for the day. She spoke little English and me minimal Spanish so we got into " acting it out or using sound effects " mixed with the words each of us knew. We developed a great rapport in less than 24 hours!

Beautiful backroad she brought me to that ultimately connected me with the Camino route

Started the day out with a beautiful meadow view!

It's always interesting to see the "mixed use" of land. Some for planting various crops, some for the animals, some for personal gardens adjacent to the bigger operation and some it seems for just the scenic beauty with trees and interesting rock features , wild flowers left randomly in place.

Our beautiful stone landscaped path leading all of us out of the 1st little town 

Natural waterfall and bridge bringing us into the City of Melide 

A busy Sunday in Melide with an open market & lots of people milling about...including whole families out in the City to eat, shop and socialize

Look at the colors and variety of plants in this beautifully "landscaped wall" that bordered one of our walking trails

A sturdy looking draft horse . Interesting that in the background in this field was a man hand tooling large granite slabs.... Multi tasking...between animal care and stone working ( large variety of farm animals besides this beautiful horse)

Another example of our beautiful pathways in a days walk

Too funny! Some folks camped out on the side of the road with their donkies to entertain the pilgrims as we walked by on this beautiful sunny Sunday morning

A photo for Cat Lovers... Finding a warm place in the sun on ancient stone ruins

These little houses on stilts are everywhere and decorated in many and varied ways... Today we finally discovered what they are for!.... They store the food for the animals. This one is filled with shucked corn on the cob. Secondary use is part of a clothesline system.

Pilgrims on the trail.... Beautiful! This is before the many tough uphill trails began

This hill may not look like much... It was 4 tiered asphalt and each tier got steeper as we ascended , it seemed we would never catch our breath and be on flat land again! Alas ... finally at the top, the gal that was huffing and puffing up the hill next to me offered to take my photo and I took hers to commemorate our big successful uphill climb! 

I think I can , I think I can affirmations ... carried me through along with my rhythmic yoga deep breath work!

Blue skies shining at me , nothing but blue skies do I see .... I sang these lyrics a bit today 

Beautiful " Gate of the Day " award goes to this private residence

Darker clouds are rolling in just in time to cool this hiker off a bit

Entering this picturesque village of Ribadiso our home for the evening. 

Crossed a bridge into town over a clear river.... note the pilgrims soaking their feet after a long day of walking

Other side of Bridge... view with a natural waterfall and beautiful river setting amongst the cow fields and trees .

I missed Mariah as my walking partner today as she used this day to rest her knee that has tendinitis. 

Ironically today was the day that everyone I crossed paths with did not have English as a first language and very view as a 2nd or 3rd language.  I got creative and so did they with "looks like" , "sounds like"  and mixtures of words from languages. Humorous to say the least! 

I enjoyed everyone's "language efforts" today. I can see how many people went to the effort to communicate to be helpful and to have meaningful human connection. 

Another interesting day on The Camino! 

Two More Days to Santiago and you can feel the spirit rising on the path!

Wishing everyone a great week!

Mary and Mariah

Grannies on Camino

 

10/24/15 Ventas de Naron to Mato-Casanova

Rainy Day on The Trail

We were 10 minutes down the trail this morning when we put on our rain gear despite the news report that said no showers till afternoon. It was a gentle rain that fell off and on all day, so the rain gear came off and on all day. 

We passed through many varieties of forests, eucalyptus was a new addition to the group  

Great open views on the horizon seen from our trail,  loved our surroundings... nature's best!

The beginning of our trail today was an asphalt trail that became quite an upward  

climb

We loved this little village we walked through in the early morning.... It exemplified a simple way of life!

Met a woman in the village that had just fed and milked her beautiful & well cared for cows

 

Out of the barn she came with fresh milk in a bucket which she said was for her morning tea

These are her guard geese .... No one goes by without them squawking about invading their territory!

Soft dirt path, easy on the walking legs

We love these short rock walls with a variety of plant life growing on, in and through the spaces in the stone. They have literally been there for ages!

Into the forest we go! 

A good sized "edible" variety of mushroom that I spotted on the path .... A translucent fallen leaf sitting on top of the mushroom for photographic interest

We keep guessing what the various thatched roof little buildings are used for...it seems they are storage huts of some sort but so whimsical & fun!

Leaving the City of Palas de Rei where we enjoyed lunch today

Loved this forest and the incredible light of day as it began to shine through just following the rain

Check out the leaves.... It made for "soft" walking

The experience of a walk in the forest after a rain offers one a fresh perspective, feeling & aroma that is hard to describe 

The last mileage marker of our walk today.  Wow...61.5 km to our destination of Santiago!

Moss hanging on these trees makes you feel you have entered The Enchanted Forest!

We arrive at our Alburgue : Lodging for the night called Albergue A Bolboreta in the village of Mato- Cassanova. It is run by a nice family and only Mariah and I  are here for the night.

Views at day's end of the fields and surrounding forest

A restored property with history that I hope to discover at dinner tonight.

It has been amazing walking this past month through the various regions of Northern Spain... one thing they all have in common is incredible and rich history!

We have mixed feelings as our amazing journey draws near its completion! Traveling on foot we have experienced a closer & more personal interaction with the countryside, landscapes, bridges, cathedrals, cities, villages, castles , homes , fields, harvests , livestock, pets and the individual people & families that bring all these elements of daily living to life! 

It made Mariah and I ponder our own good lives with our family & friends and all that we all do individually and together to create the cherished lives we live. 

Good night all!

Mary and Mariah

Grannies on Camino