Countdown Begins - 5/7/13

Ten more days and we are on the move. 

Boston to NY and on to Paris.  Then a couple of train rides southwest and we will end up in St. Jean Pied du Port, ready to begin the heavy stuff.

Here in Leominster, Camino training continues.  

An easy hike for me in the morning is the 8 miler that begins on the back porch.  Basically a big loop through Sholan Farms Orchards, reservoir trails, and farmer's fields concluding with a mile stretch back up Route 12 to the back porch.  Couple of good hills and some roadway as well.

Greening of Fields in Sterling

And then one of my favorites is taking to the trails and roadways of Wachusett.  Excellent uphill training.  Yesterday was the second time I have been up here - 12 miles for about 5 1/2 hours.  We will, on occasion, go 2x that, but this involved several steep continuous climbs.  Right now, I feel very good.  Ready to go.

Wachusett Bridle Path

One of the keys to success when walking so many miles for so many hours is to take frequent rest stops whether you feel like it or not.  Your body, and especially your feet, will thank you.  Depending on the situation, a change of socks might even be required.  In addition, of course, this effort requires considerable caloric intake - always time for a snack and some water.

Cooling the Piggies on the Observation Deck

Return down the ski slopes of Wachusett

As the days wind down, I keep going over my pack and what's in it.  What can I remove to make it lighter, even a few ounces can make a difference.  But, as it is now, I am just under 20 lbs so I think as long as I don't increase the weight any more, I am good to go.

I have finally decided to check my backpack, and carry some light stuff like a book, magazine, snacks, etc. for the plane and train rides before we start in St Jean.  Once we get there, I can jettison excess weight.  In fact, what I will also do is to wear some old socks and underwear.  I will "can" those in Bayonne, just before St. Jean, changing to Camino-wear clothing.  In this way, I can  start out with a clean set!!  As Ma used to say, "make sure you wear clean underwear!"  Bless her soul.

Here's the back-story on the question of checking baggage or carrying on the back pack.  In our gear, we will have walking poles.  However, the FAA security people have been wavering on the question as to whether they might be considered as dangerous cargo to have in the passenger compartment.  This decision has changed a couple of times over the past 6 months.  So, to preclude having the poles taken away from us, we will just check them on-board.  In this way, we can also comfortably take a jackknife as well.  As long as it's in the cargo hold, no problem.

I really didn't have a good pack into which I could place my backpack and poles until last weekend.  I even considered using the backpack as carry-on luggage and "checking" the poles in a 4' cardboard tube!  But, at the church Thrift Store, I found a large athletic bag which will accommodate the backpack and poles all for $5.00.  Perfect!  Here we go.