Day 4 Scaling the Height of Forgiveness

In Pamplona I stayed at a German run albergue named Casa Paderborn with my friends Manfred,  Jack Xu, Cristina, and was reunited with my Spanish roommates from Roncesvalles, Anton and Manuel.  I ate dinner with Manfred and Jack and a random Japanese pilgrim who had been tagging along as we looked for a restaurant. The Japanese gentleman spoke no English but we communicated with ooos and ahhs about the food. Every meal seems to have french fries as a side dish whether you want it or not. Sort of like grits .... or Grace (tip of the hat to Rusty McCown).But let me tell you, the food here in Spain is unbelievably good. And the Ham! It's sort of like an intensely flavored prosciutto. So I have eaten a boat load of bocadillos de jamon y queso (ham and cheese sandwiches).
We were awakenedby the efficient Germans at 6:00 and fed  a breakfast  of good strong coffee with toast and jelly and told to be gone by 8.
Not wanting to incur Teutonic wrath I followed orders and was walking through Pamplona by 8 . I said goodbye to Manfred and Jack since they walked at a much faster pace than I and also to Cristina who had to go to the post office.
As I walked through  Pamplona my thoughts turned to my best friend Clif. I thought of how our lives had had such similar trajectories and of the many wonderful times we spent together.I was feeling sad and guilty for being in Spain on the Camino while he is so sick at home.  As I was having these thoughts I saw this and my jaw dropped.

For you non-cursillistas out there "Ultreia" is a word of encouragement pilgrims say to each other and it means "Onward". I first heard about the Camino when Avis and I were on staff for Cursillo 137 when Kenneth Boone gave the "Ultreia" talk. So I got a word of encouragement when I needed it and continued on to the "Alto de Perdon" or the Height or Mountain of Forgiveness. Thank you, Lord, for the encouragement and the forgiveness.

Here we go:

The above is looking back towards Pamplona. The one below is the path uphill.

It was rough but I finally made it to the top.

And here I am with Ariel on the left and Serena on the right. Two of the three Bigatti sisters from Italy. I tried to interest them in my bachelor son but Ariel is too young and Serena is engaged. Sorry Bill.

Here is the view going down the other side of the mountain.

I made it as far as far as Obanos and stayed the night in a Casa Rural which is like a Bed & Breakfast without the breakfast. Here are some shots along the way.

This roughly translates as: Virgin Mary- May I search for Jesus; May I find Jesus; May I truly love Jesus.

Yes, that's a horse in someone's front yard. I love this place.

Casa Raichu

Day 3

This is really very hard. There is a lot of walking uphill and the mochila (backpack) gets very heavy and it gets hot and my legs cramp and my blisters are hurting like ice picks stuck in my feet and I wonder what the hell I am doing and all of a sudden I see this:

And I stop and pick blackberries, taste their incredible sweetness (much sweeter than ours)
 I pause to pick a bunch, eating them as soon as they are picked. I drink some cold water and catch my breath. I look around and this is what I see:

and this

I give thanks to our gracious God and go on to

PAMPLONA!

This is what I look like when some S.O.B. wakes me up at 5 AM stuffing his noisy gear into his mochila so he can be first at the next albergue.

Tomorrow I scale the heights of the mountain of forgiveness!

Day 2

I left Roncesvalles in the dark about 6:30 am in the rain. I heard someone say in a thick German accent "Follow him. He has a light."  Soon it was light enough to see and we introduced ourselves. Manfred is a75 year old retired engineer from Germany, Lao Tzu is a entrepreneur from China,and Christina is a dermatologist from Brazil. We walked all day together and stayed at the same albergue the next two nights.

Here are some photos from the Camino

Wildflowers

Misty morning

First day continued

Roncesvalles

Santiago and my albergue

A long way to go!

On the Camino at last!

Sorry folks for not blogging sooner but internet connections are spotty and I have been so exhausted by the end of the day that all I could do was shower, eat and go to sleep. I am now finishing my fourth day on the Camino and in some ways it is exactly as I expected and in some ways it is not. It is difficult and hard and physically painful but there is a spirit of friendship and camaraderie much like the third day of cursillo. It is late in the day and so here are some photos:

This is a view of the lobby of the hotel I stayed in the first night after I arrived.
 I started at Roncesvalles very near the border with France. On the morning of Friday the 6th, at about 10  AM , I started for the border. It took about 3 and a half hours to get there and then my Camino began.

Dedication

My camino is dedicated to the glory of God and in honor of my best friend, Clif Dixon,

my favorite cousin, Oliver Haynes,

 

 

and in memory of my sweet cousin, Jim Hamlett.