19 -20 September 2016 Monday and Tuesday. Burgos I ended my last blog with my arrival in Burgos...two days early because I had to take care of my sprained ankle and rest if I was going to be able to walk the final 100 km from Lugo to Santiago, and thereby earn the Compostelo. In my original planning I had intended to make the segment of my Camino between Burgos and Lugo less walking and more sightseeing as I was going to be passing through many historical cities. I did´t want to arrive at any of them so in pain or exhausted that I would´t want to leave my albergue. So this blog covers this phase of my Camino. My first order of business on Monday was to make an appointment with a physical therapist...located conveniently ... read more

7 September 2016 Wednesday. Weather: Blazing hot in the high 90´s Distance from Pamplona to Cizur Menor: 7.1 km or 4.4 miles I caught the 7:30 AM train from Barcelona Sants, arriving in Pamplona at 11:17 AM. Here I would begin my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. When planning my pilgrimage, I debated whether to spend the night in Pamplona or start my walk right away. In the end I decided to walk the 7 kilometers to Cizur Menor where I had reservations at the highly rated Albergue (hostel) de Maribel Roncal...they care for perigrinos (pilgrims) blistered feet...not that I would need help having just started the walking part of my Camino. And besides I was anxious to get started! I figured the walk to Cizur Menor would take two hours, which would leave me ... read more

As a goal oriented person, I have been fascinated for a long time by the idea of walking the eight hundred kilometer long, one thousand year old Camino Frances (French) pilgrim Way from St Jean Pied de Port in the Pyrenees of southern France to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwest Spain. By mid 2015 the idea transitioned from being a fascination to becoming an obsession. As with many pilgrims contemplating this walk, certainly the movie "The Way" provided me with inspiration and enough details to make me believe that not only was the walk feasible, but it was something I had to do. As an extrovert I looked forward to bonding with complete strangers just like Martin Sheen's character Tom experienced, although with considerable resistance on his part. Sheen's character was grieving over the ... read more

Today my Mom left for Heaven. It's a one way trip. I will miss her a lot, as she was a constant presence in my life; always there when I needed her. At least she will be with Dad who took this same trip on August 2, 1988. And she will meet Jesus and many friends and family...what a homecoming! She took many trips for God in the 94 years she travel this earth; telling so many people about Him. That's what took her to China in 1947 to be a missionary, in the story I share in . You can read about my Mom and Dad, and how they met on the ship to China and got married in Xiahe (Labrang) in the ethnographically Tibetan part of China. They evacuated China when the Red Army ... read more

The Plan We've visited the island of Oahu many times, but never any other Hawaiian island. So last year when I got a call from Hilton Vacations offering six nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Kailua-Kona coast of the Big Island for a very low price we decided to take the deal. The resort is situated on the northwestern side of the island. We planned four day trips to see every part of the island, with the days for each trip depending upon the weather: - a short day to Kailua-Kona and surrounding area. - a short day to the Kawaihae Coast (northwestern side), as far as Hawi and the Polulu Valley Overlook, and then inland to Waimea and ranch country; - a medium length day along the Kona Coast (southwestern side) to the ... read more