Day 12 – Santiago de Compostela – October 9

Today was a good and amazing day.

Today was a hard day.

Today was an emotional day.

I had planned at staying at Hotel Castro in Formaris outside of Santiago, but I messed up the bookings, felt good, and so booked Hospedaje Juan Rey in O Mexionfiro. It was a fine room, small, but the bed was comfy. By the way, the hotelier was very helpful. And, the restaurant/cafe is closed, they don’t serve breakfast, and the key to the pool didn’t work.

What I didn’t know is that TaxiCaminoIngles doesn’t transfer luggage into Santiago. I am a little unclear on where they stop doing transport, but my hotelier had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for a luggage transport envelope. (That is not good news).

I called the phone number TaxiCaminoIngles had given me, unaware that it was to a different luggage transport, CaminoFacil. They require you to make arrangements the day before (and they cost a little more).

I left the luggage and said I would be back, and they were okay with that. It was not the best start to a day, however. 

I walked on, feeling tremulous about finishing the journey. Of course, I met loud construction, got lost about 6 times, etc., but I found myself arriving at the cathedral. The wrong door of the cathedral. I was sent around to the next door. (So I didn’t actually arrive the last few 100 meters on the Camino Ingles until the next day.) 

When I arrived to this second door, a kind English speaking person told me they had a service starting in 20-30 minutes, someone else said they thought that it would include the swinging of the the Botafumeiro. I was there, so I decided to go to the service. 

Then, out of nowhere, someone called my name! One of my Facebook Camiga’s friends was there! What luck! It was so neat to …well, to know someone and have a friend know me!

We chatted and then I went in and sat for the service. 

It swept me away that I started crying. I had no idea I had anything to cry over. Total Surprise! 

I wasn’t sitting there crying because I was ‘at the end’ of this journey. (I wasn’t.) But rather that I had unwittingly taken on so much. It has been no walk in the park! 

And for me, it wasn’t the walking that made the trip big or hard, although that certainly was more challenging than I expected. Instead, it is the walking AND ALL THE OTHER STUFF. Everything else from flying internationally, navigating new cities and transportation, new languages, new relationships coming together and letting go, some loneliness, all the effort and worry about booking accommodations, the luggage transfers, self-promotion to raise awareness of Coronary Microvascular Disorders (CMD) (behaviour that is very foreign to me), etc. All of it. Looking back, I could now see that it all was so much! 

I am glad I didn’t have the foresight to see all the challenges, because I might not have come – and I am glad I did. 

In March, I thought I was going to die. In April, I had been house bound, unable to walk 20 feet, and living with constant chest pain. I got a provocation angiogram with a challenge heart cath, got on medication, and started training to walk the Camino. I worked up to 5-6 miles a couple of times a week. 

Four weeks before I came to the Camino Ingles, I had had another flare and stopped being able to walk much at all. Two weeks before I came, I couldn’t walk 2 miles a day. But I had booked the tickets, so I knew I was coming. 

I never thought I would be able to walk 8 miles in day, now that I had this heart condition. 

I never thought I would feel better. 

I never thought all the rest of the trip would entail so much work. And now, I was here, crying, as if arriving at the chapel had been a lifelong dream. Being able to walk freely, that has been a dream, one I took for granted my whole life. One I had lost belief in.

After mass, I went to the square, got my picture taken, and took other people’s picture. 

I felt a bit dazed to be here.

I think my arrival was both a bit of a shock, and also, not the high point, spiritually, personally, of the journey. The high point was the point where I came to believe I could survive my Coronary Microvascular Disorders (CMD).

I also had not had any breakfast, no coffee or cocoa or tea…and no water. And it had been a bit of a morning. But, before those other, really important things, I had another job to do – go get my Compostela.

I found my way to the Pilgrims Office. I had gotten a QR code. When I got there a man just handed me a number and suddenly, I was only 2 people away from the desk. It didn’t take long at all. I got a travel tube at the gift shop. Then I was done. Everything else is as a tourist.

I met with my Camiga friend at a cafe, quiet a hike away from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, after arriving there at the end of my Camino. We had a nice breakfast and talk, sharing bits more of our stories. It is so nice to meet and hear from other people why they are here, what it means, and how they came to the idea. Then we parted ways. (Hi – Shelley!!!)

I went to the Pilgrim House and got help finding out how to get back to my luggage (3 miles away and uphill). They were very helpful. They even took some of my CMD pamphlets. (I have now given away at 75 of them. Yay!!!)

They even loaded an app so I could find a bus…and oh, look! The bus is leaving in just a few minutes!! I zoomed out and caught the bus, confirming with the driver that it was the right bus. This is the cool bit. I got OFF the bus on one road, like an H, imagine. Walked down the horizontal street, got my bags, and GOT ON the same bus, with the same driver, as he came back down the other vertical section of the H. This was really nice, because he knew me and was watching out for me. When we came to the stop I had gotten on at, he asked if I wanted to get off. I told him no, and where I was going. I had a little guardian angel looking out after me.

Unfortunately, I got off about ¼ mile before I needed to. It was some of the hottest work I had done. I was so very, very thirsty and it was really warming up. 

I drug my heavy suitcase uphill all the way, mostly in the sun, to the nun’s hostel. Then I couldn’t find the front door. I went to the 2 most obvious ones; the ones google maps led me to – but those weren’t the entrance. I was now crazy with thirst. I spied a water spigot on the side of the building and filled and drank from my water bag! 

It likely helped my brain – water…it does that. I tried again, actually seeing the sign that said “Entrance thata way!” 

Guess what? That was where the entrance was!

I showered and got myself out to get some food. The nearest place was the college cafeteria. Of course, I didn’t know how it worked, so I got corrected a bit…enough that the man doing it became friendly. I really wanted to order food, get a beer and an ice-cream. But when I got food and tried to get a beer, they told me (in fast, wordy, Spanish) I could only have water. Tried to get a desert AND fruit, but I could only have one. So many mistakes!!! (I am laughing here). When I tried to go outside to sit, they told me I couldn’t. They guided me over to where I could pay. I ate inside…I did get my ice-cream and beer…later.

Payment accomplished, food, beer, ice cream eaten, I got up to leave and my new friend called out Adios and have a good day, as I left. I guess it wasn’t a total wash!

I am pretty much done for the day.

But – I did it! I did it! 

And now – I am done.

Thank you God!

I can’t wait to go home and see my daughter and husband. I just have to get through a few more days of navigating in a foreign land…Did I mention it would be a good idea to learn more Spanish?

I hope you will mention Coronary Microvascular Disorders to your aunts, church members, social clubs, golf friends, etc. when they complain that they or someone they know keeps having chest pain, but it isn’t a heart attack (because they were good and went to the ER, right!?). 

Those darn small vessels of the heart get problems, too. They are so small, though, it makes getting a diagnosis hard. Remember Fred Sanford (in the sitcom Sanford and Sons – if you’re old enough). How he would garb his chest when he got upset? …well, that actually is a thing. A real thing. A set of disorders called Coronary Microvascular Disorders. Go to INOCA international for information. I have a (layperson) video. Let’s help take this out of the dark and get people the help they need.

I will have more posts…just more erratically. 

Thanks for journeying with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I know it has been an amazing journey for me. 

Bless you all – Be well. Live fully.

Day 11 – O Mexiofrio – October 8

I slept well at the Albergue Camino Real. Which isn’t to say I didn’t still get up at 6 am. I think most of the pilgrims were out the door before I was.

This morning I left alone, yet still was part of a group of peregrinos. Most of them passed me, it’s true. But a set of 5 or 6 people stayed at my hiking speed, though we passed each other numerous times. 

I walked past a small barn that smelled of sweet feed, corn, and cow poop. Going past, I noticed they had Holsteins. Margaret was telling me how most cows here in Europe are A2 milk producing brown cows. They don’t produce quiet as much milk, but the milk is more digestible.

In US of America, we like things big… So, we have Holsteins. They produce a huge volume of milk, but it has different milk proteins: A1 milk. That is why I sometimes can get away with American milk, but most often, not. Also explains why I can generally tolerate European milk products.

This is not the only cow poop smell assaulting me on this trip. I am sorry to say, it is the season of sh*!… fertilizer. The season of freshly turned fields, that have been topped with ….natural fertilizer.

It is also clearly a season that smells like summer turning into fall. I hadn’t realized that had a smell. It does. It is round, mellow and sweet; more relaxed than summer, when everything is super busy growing and producing. 

One of the ladies in the group hiking at my pace was stopped on a rock on a very steep hill. The background was delightful, so I asked if she would like me to take her picture, which I did. From then, periodically another woman, Brenda, walked beside me and we chatted. This was fairly shortly before we reached Hotel Castro. 

Hotel Castro was supposed to be my stop for the day – at about 5 mile (7 -8 km). But I had screwed the booking up, and had it booked for tomorrow. Because I was able to cancel, I did. 

I booked myself in to Hospedaje Juan Rey, which was another 3 miles up the road (6-7 km). I didn’t know if I could go that far, but figured I could call a taxi if I couldn’t. It was going to be hot again – 84F.

So, I was chatting with Brenda as we came up to the cafe at the Hotel Castro and she said she would sit with me! Her group was made all of expats from Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, etc., who now lived in Chicago. 

I told her a bit about CMD and she said they all had worked at big pharma, so she found it really interesting and wanted to know more. 

On one of the last big hills, I was talking with the other woman. We discussed my condition. She was a research biologist too, so we could actually talk about studies and lack of studies. She could understand when I said I had looked at the research…that I meant I had looked at the original articles, not done a search on Google. Still, they are meta-analyses…so…Eeeeh!

It is actually hard to bring up my condition and a shock when I can discuss it rationally with someone. Not many people feel comfortable discussing the possibility of death. I like it when they are able to do so – but it is shocking that they can. 

Further up that last big hill, I started getting sharp chest pain and had to put on a second nitro patch. I believe that is Coronary Artery Spasm and the trigger was the hill and the topic. My heart felt better, but that much nitroglycerin gives me a stuffy nose and a headache.

I walked with them until I got to my hotel, and by then it was hot. Though I wish I could’ve walked on with them, even thought about doing so, I was glad to be done. I had done my longest day 13.8 km or 8+ miles. I was glad not to be going on, and happy to have had the experience of meeting and making friends along the Camino. 

Now – I am complete. (I thought.)

I chatted with my friend back home, Leah. She recalled a name I was trying to remember. We DO have an example of CMD in an old television sitcom – Fred Sanford and Sons. Whenever Fred’s son, Lamont, would say something liberal, Fred would grab his chest and say he was coming to join Elizabeth, his wife. That – right there – that is CMD. And it is common enough to have a stereotype.

(I think there was a Grandma type character that did the same thing, but can’t recall who it was. Hit me up with the answer if you know.)

One more day to the big finale. I am so close…and yet, stopping and resting is what I need to do. It will leave me fresh and ready tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing the cathedral! 

While I am looking forward to finishing, I feel like that is not the important part of this journey. The important part is what I have done along the way. 

Hopefully I’ve done good in the world for others. 

Definitely I have done good for myself!

Photo Credit: Tama Cathers

Links:

Day 10 – Finding My Personal Reason for My Pilgrimage – MidDay: October 7

In March of this year, I was suddenly ill with a worsening chest pain over my heart. I was so debilitated I needed a handicap placard and was trying to figure out how to get a wheelchair to take me from my car to the cardiologist’s office, when things finally eased up a bit. 

I had knew something had been going on for a while; I’d had signs of heart failure for over a year, but all normal tests. Then, ever since my covid booster, I had heart pain when I went up inclines. Now, I was in pain all the time, and unable to do any thing.

From the time I started complaining about the heart failure signs (shortness of breath, weight gain not in alignment with calories and pitting edema), it took a long time to get a diagnosis of Coronary Microvascular Disorders: 30 months, to be exact. I did all the tests, until finally, someone mentioned coronary microvascular issues, and I got scheduled for the diagnostic for that. Turns out, that is what was going on.

Coronary microvascular issues, are often overlooked and under-diagnosed causes of heart pain. (I almost didn’t do the test because every other test had come back normal!) Often women have them, and their pain is written off. I was lucky to have a great heart specialist, Dr. Ziada, at the Cleveland Clinic.

I was put on medication and improved dramatically. I knew I had possibly had limited time to do anything really active so I decided to walk El Camino Ingles, a pilgrimage trail in Spain, and to raise awareness of these not so uncommon Disorders. 

Today, Day 9 of my walk, I realized my personal purpose for this pilgrimage.

After first light, daybreak and sunrise, it suddenly came to me – what the point of my pilgrimage is. 

I had just done several km/miles of long hills. I thought of the Karma post (last Blog). I thought of how I was actually able to do these hills, these km/miles, these days. I realized I was feeling good; better and better. It seems like either no exercise or a lot of exercise (like this) suits my heart. That recognition that I was feeling better and better, made me break down, a bit, in gratitude. I didn’t think I would be able to do this walk a month ago. 

That was when I realized that this journey has given me the belief that it may be possible for me to live more than a few months. (I was thinking 2 – 24 max, depending on how poorly my heart was functioning.) 

Previously, my hopes were that I could do something to make a difference while I am vigorous. Do good in my life, my daughter’s life, my husband’s life. God knows, I am trying to help other people with heart pain by raising awareness of Coronary Microvascular Disorders (CMD). I really want to help others.

For Seven months, I’ve known the likely outcomes of my disorders: (75% Hfpef patients dead in 5 years… I am already about 3 years in.) Seven months of learning to accept what ever comes…like death. It’s all actually been great stuff and I think I have done a good job. I don’t like the possibility, but I am no longer upset about the possiblity. 

In those seven months, I’ve spent a good deal of time preparing to leave; updating my will, counseling my family and friends, counseling for myself. I am very practical and my job has me steep in the reality of death in a very practical way. I’d rather know the worst/most common case, and be surprised and grateful for any and everything else. 

And that is all good… But I want my family to not lose me.. I want that even more than I want me to not lose me. 

I don’t much like being a PollyAnna nor a Eeyore, but I do like belief and possibility. Suddenly, it seemed possible that I would get to see my daughter off to college next August. 

I haven’t lived with that positive possibility since March this year. 

I stood on the road and cried. (Seems like I do that a bit on this trip.) That is what this pilgrimage has given me. I believe I could be part of the 25% that live more than 5 years. That is huge. The belief is huge.

After a bit, I got myself together and walked on. 

I want to go to a cathedral and sing, as that soothes me, but finding an open one that is also empty, well that is a challenge. The nearest one is almost 2 miles away, so I will just have to keep singing in tunnels, as I come across them in my hike.

Here are links to the video from the day, just after I start to realize I can live the rest of my life.

Here is a link to my YouTube channel Video #3 – explaining Coronary Microvascular Disorders and A GoFundMe page – 100% of funds will go to raise awareness of these conditions.

https://gofund.me/530d0757

Photo Credit: Light at the Tunnel – Tama Cathers

Day 10 – To Sigueiro – Morning and Evening – October 7

I decided to leave later in the morning, because what is the point of missing a good breakfast, which is included in the cost of the room at Rural Casa Anton Veiras, only to get done walking at 10 am? 

It’s not the getting done early that I mind, it is the missing the breakfast. 

I still woke around 5 am and was ready to go early. Anton brought me breakfast promptly at 7:30. It was good – sweet cake like pannetone, cafe (which I shouldn’t have drunk), and fresh strawberries and pineapple, which go together wonderfully. 

I had forgotten to take off my nitro patch last night, and it needs an 8 hour break each day to continue to work. So, I couldn’t wear it until 1 pm. I also chose to only take 1 ½ beta-blockers as I am trying see if I can go down the dose scale, instead of speeding through them. I don’t know what happens when I reach the max dose. I don’t want to know. Live with a lot of pain, I suspect.

The taxi got me back to Baxioa by 8:10. It was still delightful to walk in the dark and it was again misty and cold. 

Of course, there was an alternative path. And I took it. Margaret would have loved THIS alternative path, as there was no ambiguity about where it was. The main path followed the noisy, big highway. This one paralleled it, but about a 1/4 mile away. It was a paved road, but through a production forest. I walked for 2 hours and didn’t even see a car. I didn’t see a person walking until I got to town. In fact, I didn’t even see toilet paper – a sure sign of walkers. 

I love that we got ‘pee clothes.’ When I first heard of them, I was put off. But using one, and knowing I am leaving no trace behind…and no white paper… I really appreciate them! You can tell when many people have gone before you, due to the spots of white paper along the sides of the road. I was feeling happy about leaving no liter behind. These cloths are easy to launder everyday and dry quickly. They are just so smart!

I read that some perigrinos want a solo individual journey… a solitary journey, and are dismayed by the crowds. I pondered how it is that I have had that isolation. I’m not sure why, but I have it. So, walking and pondering…

~ Insert Realization of my Personal Reason for My Pilgrimage ~

I stayed at Albergue Casa Real, Sigueiro. I liked it very much. It was my first real social overnight. The busy time of day at the albergue is from abut 4-5 pm. That is when all the peregrinos come in. There were a lot; A big crowd. I have to admire how far almost everyone walks each day! I got to talk with two British young ladies and that was nice. 

The albergues have some advantages, other than just potential friends. They have a kettle so I can boils some water for my CPAP. Finding de-ionized water here has been impossible. They have a kitchen area, a dining area, a couch/lounge area. I washed my clothes and they are hanging to dry in some little back room. 

The albergue in Sigueiro, where I am staying, closes in a bit, so I asked the proprietor if I could leave my CMD brochures, explaining that they were just information about a condition that is hard to diagnose. That I have it. 

Once I said “It’s just information. No sales. Just information to help people,” and said it enough times that he got it, he was glad to let me leave them. I am so grateful to be able to give these out. Maybe someone will read it and later, their mum or aunt or friend will have these signs, but get diagnosed sooner than later. I like that thought.

So – big day. Not the miles or the hills, but the internal work.

A big sigh of relief.

Belief.

Possibilty.

Video Link to me on this day:

Additional Links:

Here are links to Video #3 on my YouTube channel – explaining Coronary Microvascular Disorders and A GoFundMe page – 100% of funds will go to raise awareness of these conditions.

https://gofund.me/530d0757

Day 9 – Good Karma – October 6

From MindJournal

I found this as a meme in my FB feed today. I pondered it for a while. The thing that stuck with me was the first sentence, the question: What is my purpose in life?

I think I have found it: raising my daughter, making a loving family (without yelling in the household), and now, raising awareness of Coronary Microvascular Disorders. Living to see my daughter into college.

But maybe there is more. Why am I pondering the question. What more could there be?! I mean, this is more purpose than I feel like I have had ever in my life before!

Day 9 – Baxoia – October 6 – A Bizarre End to the Day

My feet were sore when I got back to my lovely hotel. I guess the early, early morning had taken its toll. I went to my room (oh, blessed room!), covered up the windows with the shutters, covered my body in a thick blanket and slept for 2 – 3 hours! I didn’t think I needed that, but I did. 

Here is the second weird event. When I was ready to rise, I realized that I would be short 1 stamp for today. The only place to get a stamp, The Taberna (“Last stop before Sigueiro”), had been closed when I passed by at 7:30 am. There had been nothing else between here and Baxoia.  So, I had only one stamp from Casa Rural Anton Veiras for the day.

I guess that is a little flaw in the whole 2 stamps a day thing; it assumes that one is walking 15-20 km a day. I am hiking <10, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get my whole 100 km in! I needed and deserved stamp!

There is an albergue next door to Casa Veiras, so I decided to go over. As I came out of the Casa, I could see the albergue hostess was sitting on an outside bench, smoking. I got there and I asked if I could get a stamp. She gave me one, but then followed me out, watching suspiciously as I headed down the drive. She had no English and I had no Spanish. Trying out a conversation explaining my walk, in my mind, been enough to send me walking up the trail.

I guess I was scared she would come yell at me and call me an imposter or something, so, stupidly, I decided to walk around the corner on the Camino. She came down the path to check that I had left onto the Camino, but found me sitting around the corner. She pointed to the way to go – then she stood there making sure I walked on. After that, she went back to the albergue, but sat outside and watched me through the trees. (I could see her looking right at me.)

Did I need evidence, to get my stamp? I mean, what was she going to do? Report me? Why did I even need to explain my walking itinerary to this lady? 

But now I was stuck a quarter mile up the trail. I forgot to mention, I had taken my diuretic. I thought it would be a quick 2 minute trip to get a stamp and back. But now the ‘water pill’ was kicking in and I really needed to pee. I would need to pee every 5 minutes for the next several hours. 

Dang! Why had I not just marched myself back into the Casa, knowing that I knew I was authentic and right. She could have confronted me there and the hotelier would have come to my aid. They knew I had been walking!

I guess I didn’t want the scene. Maybe I still feel like an imposter. I figured that I am willing to project that onto what others are thinking of me. (Actually, all life is all projection – I know that. But today WAS admittedly pretty weird, too!) I had, after all, skipped 4-6 km of the 117 km from Ferrol. And there was that guy who asked me if I was ‘touring or walking’ the Camino when I took a bus to the start point, before I ever started walking…and all the people who commented that I wasn’t a real peregrine because I wasn’t planning on carrying everything in my pack.

Okay, so this feeling may not be due entirely to internal factors. People out there are harsh critics! It may be that rather than pure projection, I am still stinging from the unwarranted criticisms of strangers. I think this is pretty common. Maybe we all want to appear to be certain and unaffected by the opinions and comments of others, but most of us are not. And we should be grateful for most people having that much heart. I don’t want to live in a world where no one cares about anyone else or negative comments. I do want to live in a world where people are more kind, and conservative about what they say. by using the rules of is it true, is it kind, is it helpful.

Out in the woods was when I realized the afternoon smells different from the morning. That was nice. I finally decided to just walk back to my accommodations. I had people to support me there – no reason to fear anyones opinion.

I made it back to the Casa, before the dire needs of my diuretic had effect …and hid in my room for a couple hours.  I had food and a shower, and felt better. 

~

Just like ‘God seeing everything you do’; it’s not just god, it is that you see everything you do. And you always remember. 

I know that I will walk my 100 km. 

I deserve to get a Compostela if I do. 

To do that, I need a stamp. 

I have every right to ask for a stamp, no matter where I am sleeping or if I have to take a taxi from the Camino to a hotel and back. 

I have every right to shorten or length my poles to suit myself and every right to not have strangers come adjust my pack, unasked, in the middle of my hike. 

I’ve worked hard to be independent. I want to be allowed to be the boss of me.

So – I am telling you right now: I am the BOSS of ME!

Day 9 – Baxoia – October 6 – Controversial Again

I was thinking about how Santiago de Compostela is like an estuary. All the Caminos are like rivers, flowing down to one point (the sea for the analogy). When they get to the estuary, before the ocean, where the land flattens and the water takes many paths; that is like the pods of peregrinos coming into the mouth of the end of their journeys. 

I also thought about my hotel booking situation. Why not stay here at Casa Rural Anton Veiras? The place I had booked was just a few km up the road. I was going to have to take a taxi back and forth anyway. It’s a very nice place and works out well because of the breakfast and bag lunch!

Nadia (see yesterdays’ post) had packed a breakfast for me, as it is a B&B, and I would be leaving before breakfast. 

I had almost opened it up last night to see what it was, but then decided to let it be a surprise. I was thinking it might be a giant chocolate croissant. I certainly was surprised this morning to find a huge ham and cheese sandwich. (No mayonnaise or other smeary stuff.) I made some cocoa from the packets I have and the scaldingly hot tap water, ate an egg (thank you Margaret) and set out. 

It was dark, even darker than yesterday. The forests were dense, and it was again misty. With a head lamp, I could only see a set distance ahead, at best. If I set my head lamp pointing too far up, the mist was blinding, if I set it too far down, it was too dim. I had to keep focus to continue to see ahead… Like life, I thought. 

On the other hand, in the right situation (out of the forest), I didn’t really need to see much to walk ahead, into the darkness. Again, like life. 

We can only see a bit ahead in our lives, and to do so we have to focus, but often, we just go blindly.

(Some of us break our ankles, though most of us don’t.)

Did you know the afternoon smells different than the morning? I walked through the same woods this afternoon; whole different experience of smells and sights and sounds.

Again today, the Camino was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. It hasn’t been, so this is still novel. The paths were deeply carved through the woods; 8-10 feet below the forest floor. I guess centuries of use have worn the path down. It was a full hour before I hear the first car, and 1.5 hours before the first peregrinos passed me.

I had put on my jacket before leaving the room, based on yesterday. But today, I took it off within 5 minutes. I was hiking in my usual; spandex shorts, exercise top, and for cooler temps, a tank top. The peregrinos who passed me were dressed at the opposite extreme. The front person had full pants, a full jacket over a shirt, a thick winter hat/beanie and waterproof gloves. 

I guess we are from two different climates!

By 9 am, I had to put on my jacket. I also realized I was going to be there much earlier than I expected. Much earlier. In fact, I was there at Baxoia – a cross roads, at 10. 

I reached Baxioa as planned. I had set this as my stopping point. I gritted my teeth and didn’t go on. I had realized that my assessment yesterday; that I shouldn’t do more than 8 miles because it later caused chest pain, was incorrect. It was actually my GERD because I had forgotten my pepcid. Still, I kept to my plan and didn’t press on. 

As planned, I texted Nadia and had her call me a cab. Five- six miles is a reasonable day for a slow stroller…a short day…maybe reasonable. Okay, it was short. But, if I walk more, I will have a problem with hotels! Rebooking now would be very difficult, as the availability is getting smaller and smaller each hour. Besides, if I get there in 2 days instead of 4, what am I going to do with myself for that long in Santiago de Compostela. I already have 3 days there and no one to hang with!

At the cross roads in Baxioa was a bus stop and inside the bus stop was a little free coffee, cookie and literature on Jesus stand, for donations. Yum. I love cookies. 

The taxi came. My taxi driver and I chatted a bit: 

Me – Misty! 

Him – Yes. El Camino? 

Me – Yes 

Him – From where? 

Me – Ferrol. 

Him – Are you going to Sigueiro today? 

Me – No – I walk a little bit only…8 km. I have heart failure. 

Him – Oh, well, good job walking. Buen Camino! 

I am very proud of being able to carry all that out without Google translate!

~

Being Controversial…Again. Why? Because another man stopped me to tell me what to do. (It’s so hard not to be Controversial!)

There were also some truly bizarre events today. Here is the first one.

In the middle of my walk, I played leap frog with some slow peregrinos. As I came up to them to pass, one of the men stopped me. Then, unexpectedly, he reached around me with both arms around my body and started to tug all the straps on my pack, tightening some and loosening others. He actually was grabbing my stuff and forcing me to wear it the way he thought I should. I stood there aghas,t in shock, for a moment. Then, I told him stop, and that I didn’t want him to do that – and he ARGUED with me.

This is not the first time on this walk I have had this happened on this trip. Earlier in the trip I’d had a (man) stranger stopped me in my walking to tell me…to insist that I needed to wear my chest strap. When I said no – he argued with me. I wrote a post about it, but deleted it from the main post, only sharing it with a women’s group. But still, my dislike of that event was controversial.

But now, I had men grabbing me, putting their arms around me and forcefully adjusting my pack. Never in my 30 years of hiking in the US have I had this sort of stuff happen. 

I have a lot more to say on the subject… but I don’t have a thick enough skin to tolerate the kickback. So, I am shutting up and putting up.

…..dang! That is how we lose, isn’t it! Shutting up and putting up is easy, but it is not the way to go.

I guess I will continue to speak out, despite my discomfort!

Day 8 – Casa Rural Anton Veiras – O Outeiro – Oct 5

So, this morning we got up around 5:30 am. Margaret was awake. Once we were both actually up, she told me she had been up all night because she an emergency and was going to have to head home immediately. She had had several things going not well at home, throughout the trip, this was enough. 

This was actually the date that she had originally planned on going home. Then she found she was enjoying herself and unbooked herself so she could stay…now she had to rebook all those things; trains, planes, etc.

It was part of our agreement from the outset that she could leave anytime if it wasn’t her thing. It was also part of our agreement (originally) that she would fly back tomorrow. So, strangely enough, she is.

I am sorry to see her go, yes. She and I joked that we had one whole functional brain between us! It is so helpful to travel with someone else. Not strictly necessary, I would have come by myself, but it is much nicer with a companion.

She helped me overcome the frightening part of the journey; getting off the plane and to the accommodations while jet lagged. She reminded me of a lesson I had already learned: there are times to throw money at a problem; like getting a taxi from the airport. Thank god we did that! 

When I set out on this trip, I thought it might be my last overseas trip and definitely thought (think) it might be one of my last opportunities to exercise ‘freely’ – if you call hauling all these medications and equipment freely! {I guess I do!}

We fell into some great habits, like getting done early before the heat of the day, eating our big meal between 2 pm and 4 pm and buying food for breakfast and ‘lunch’ at the grocery store. She was right; Gadis (a supermarket) is better. We both encouraged the other to take alternative paths – and every time they were way better than the current route; green, cool, foresty…. Aaaah!

With her around for the start, I felt a lot safer testing out my ability to walk a fair distance. Now I know I can do it. 

While I miss her, it is also okay. I am here doing what I need to do. She is headed home to do what she needs to do. Isn’t that what friendship does, lets you let go?!

We had a taxi booked for 7:10, so this was plenty of time. We are waking up at consistently around 5 am. We had cocoa and cafe, and the taxi came. I got dropped off at 7:30 AM in the pitch black and she went on to Santiago de Compostela (SDC), to catch a train. Hiking alone, in the dark…

IT

WAS

GLORIOUS!

No offense to Margaret!

The forests glow at night! I mean it’s almost fluorescent in the light of the headlamp. It is cool, there is no traffic, and all the space and time in the world. I love it. 

(It’s funny, because I hated hiking in the dark on the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) as it meant setting up camp and a bear bag in the dark. I despise that. But This! This I loved.)

I walked down dirt roads until day break, then walked another hour until dawn. It was a foggy cool day. I actually put on my jacket and wished I had put on gloves. I rested and ate when I needed. Of course, the day made that easy. And it was an easy walking day; very mellow. Of course, Margaret would miss the best walking day of them all! I believe, she would have loved a lot about the walk today.

By the time the sun came up, I could see other peregrinos in front of me, namely a girl in an bright orange shirt and her companion. Others started to pass me. But I kept up, overall, with the orange shirt girl, leap-frogging her. 

I had talked with the orange shirt girl. She and her friend are from Portugal. Since we kept leapfrogging it was nice to ‘know’ someone on the trail. When I came to my turn off to my hotel, they were only half way to their destination. Wow! They could walk so much farther than I could! 

That is another thing about today; it was everything I thought the Camino should be. There were cafes, dirt and gravel roads through forests, friends meeting friends. I stopped at the first cafe and had cocoa. I stopped at the second cafe and had more cocoa and a ‘tortilla.” I really regret no longer being able to drink café, but my body is not tolerating it…it’s very sad, yes indeed!

One thing I noted, was that the walkers are now on the end of their journey phase, not looking forward to the end, thinking of it with nostalgia. I, on the other had, am days away.  Somewhere between 3-5 days, depending on whether my brain can do math at the time I am trying to figure it out. I am definitely more than half way today. But these normal hikers have today and they reach the end tomorrow. An entirely different point of view.

After about 3 hours of walking, I watched the orange shirt girl and friend greet large groups of friends at cafes, etc.… And suddenly it made me lonely. Up until now, I had been alone today, but now I was lonely. 

I guess, this whole trip, I secretly hoped to make fast friends – immediately. That is stupid I know. You read about (and I’ve experiences on the A.T.) forming a pod and making friends and the community that develops. The way Margaret and I have been traveling has had us to miss most of that. I guess, too, I miss Margaret and the companionship I have grown used to. So here is my moment of sadness.

So much of this trip isn’t what I have expected. It makes me wonder what this trip is about for me, personally, not my mission to raise awareness, not even my desire to have an active adventure before I can no longer do so (which is possible only a few weeks from now.)

I actually felt pretty good, physically. Really good: 2 betablockers and 1 nitro patch today, completely covered the pain. Most days I start or end with some heart pain – not today! I made it to my accommodations in record time, and had an hour to wait. I felt so good, I even considered resting and hiking on, then getting a taxi back to my accommodations. Instead, I forced myself not to push it.

I sat beside a large tree outside of Casa Rural Anton Veiras until almost 1 pm, when they open, then went in. One of the workers, a woman named Nadia, speaks enough English to be helpful. I cannot highly enough recommend this place. It is reasonable priced, having a discount for peregrinos. They have a wonderful restaurant for lunch and dinner. Unlike the review on Gronze, I found the prices in line with most of the places Margaret and I went to. We’d had little luck at finding cheap food or Daily Menus. They helped me with my luggage and seamlessly changed my booking from a double to a single room. It is nice (!): not homey, not too fancy, but very nice. Nadia would get me a bag lunch (as there aren’t services much in this section) and arrange a taxi to pick me up tomorrow where I was to stop. She even offered I could stay another night. Since in this area, I have to taxi to and from my starting point anyway, and it is soooo nice here, I said yes!

Once I got in for the afternoon, I lay on the bed for 30 minutes under a heavy blanket trying to get warm. All that activity in the cool temperatures and constant mist, then an almost hour long wait without exercise, had chilled me down. I couldn’t rest because I suddenly had chest pain…or acid reflux. I wasn’t sure, but I could only rest sitting up. After I got warm again, I took a shower, a hot, long shower. Then I went down for lunch. I had salad (in memory of Margaret) and squid (because we are still near the coast…sort of.)

Then I started untangling the mess I had made the night before with the bookings. I had overestimated our speed (or just been confused) and booked wrong days, etc. The place that I booked in Sigueiro was booked for days after a place I booked in SDC. I heard everyone talking about how hard it was to get a room, and when I looked, it did look booked up.

The Sigueiro place was nonrefundable, but they would let me change the days! Yay! The place in SCD I was able to cancel. Then I spent a few more hours making a rational hiking plan (for <8 miles, which I had done today and felt great, then later felt poorly) then booking hotels for the rest of the trip. All except Madrid. I got tired and quit. 

I looked at my medication box and realized I had somehow taken all my daytime medications, except my H2 Acid blocker. Apparently why I couldn’t laydown was my stomach, not my heart. I had already redone the plan for shorter days, so I decided to stay with that. It would be a 10-12-day journey…just as I planned.

Now it is time to pee a bunch, then go to bed. If they open the restaurant up again, I may have cheesecake. 

I did just walk 8 miles (13+ km). 

I deserve cheesecake!

PS – Coronary Microvascular Disorders are problems with the smallest arteries that feed the heart. They can’t be seen on normal chest pain work ups. Read up about it on my YouTube Channel (I recommend video#3), my blogs or the INOCA International website.

PPS – We can do hard things (- Glennon Doyle) Many of us are doing hard things, every day. Perhaps, most of us are doing hard things. 

Some of us can walk the Camino. Some of us can not. Some of us can only do it with a lot of accommodation and support.

So – You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit (-Heather)

and

Live fully before you die (- Tama Cathers)

See ya! I’m going to go hunt cheesecake!

Day 7 – Betanzos to Ordes -October 4

It was a hard day.

Margaret wasn’t feeling well again last night and was unsure that she wanted to walk. She wanted to sleep in, but of course, we both were awake around 5 am. That is how it goes sometimes. Regardless, Margaret was feeling better and decided to walk with me.

I wanted to skip the first 1-2 km up a steep hill, by taking a taxi and Margaret wanted the cab to come to our door. The problem with that is it is not simple to call a cab, especially if you have only a little of the local language. Ultimately, it didn’t work and we had to drag our bags uphill. BUT – this time we went the route AppleMaps told us too – and there wasn’t nearly as much hill! If we had known, we could have saved a lot of uphill and downhill steps yesterday! Silly us!

Soon, we were off to walk. I often like how the Brierley book has opinions. It certainly had opinions about the new route today. In this case Brierley clearly thought the new route was ugly and dangerous. It says, of the newly way-marked route that it “illogically continue along the busy DP0105 with poor margins and dangerous bends. The better option is to take the original route (0.1 km longer) “through quiet country lanes and forest paths. Note: some of the original way-marks have been removed …so take this option if you have a good sense of direction.”

I do, but it was harder to find the start of the alternative route than I expected. I was overthinking it, in my not wanting to miss it, I made a couple attempt to find the route before we got to the turn off. It wasn’t there. We clashed a bit about routes, but, we found it eventually.

It was even marked with arrows, though many of the arrows were unpainted, painted a different color, or lying in the ditch. (See cover photo for nondescript arrows.) Still, it was a lovely, through the woods with a dirt path, narrow and steeply walled roads in the eucalyptus forest… very nice. 

Then we came out onto the ‘country lanes.’ The guide book is pretty unclear – at least to me: “at the T-junction with long straight stretch of road and turn right past the country house onto a delightful path through woodlands.” 

Well…which T junction? There were several. Which country house? There were many….many! What do you mean by woodland path? Do you mean a dirt path through the forest?

I went down a wrong road because I could see a dirt path through the woods. It was not the dirt path. 

We walked back and found the little wooden arrow (no longer yellow) that had been there all along, and suddenly were again on the right ‘alternative’ way. BTW – It was a nice (paved) lane near a forest, but it wasn’t a “forest path!” And it was certainly not dirt. (see picture for what the ‘woodland path’ turned out to be – a paved road with a few trees on the sides.)

When we were finally supposed to turn towards the “busy DP0105 with poor margins and dangerous bends,” only 0.25 miles away, Margaret insisted in following the faded arrows down an alternative path, and away from the road, on an overgrown gravel path that looked like a drive way. Now I was dubious. I wanted to get to the road and not have any doubts anymore.

We went down between fields, into a forest and it was nice. It wasn’t even in the guide book! It was nice! Very nice. It is a shame they moved this path – it is SO nice! Lo and behold, we met another peregrino on the path (or a similar path). AND Margaret got to use her German. She sounded pretty great to me, as I don’t speak any German.

Soon, we were walking into Presedo and had a break. After a real rest, our first in 4 hours, and some real food, not some protein bar eaten while walking. We sat in some cooling in the shade and watching 15-20 peregrinos come by in groups, I felt better. 

The day started getting hot. It was due to be a scorcher – 89 F, I think. Something hot. When we finally did end our day, we were in the middle of the section with the least services. The day had definitely taken its toll. We had pre-arranged with our hotel, that was quite a ways away, to call us a taxi when we got done. And that is what we did. (Pension Casa Manolo – Room just adequate, but very hot and loud (room over vent fan). Taxi not included!! Owner said he had never called a taxi for anyone before, but he did it for us. Restaurant on premises.)

We got to the hotel and I think we ate dinner. I redid my video on my medical gear (coming soon to Youtube). Margaret booked train tickets and I booked non refundable room tickets for several days in advanced. Then it was time for bed.

Blessed that we had today. Blessed that it is over.

Remember – think about Coronary Microvascular Disorders if you are having chest pain and have done all the appropriate diagnostics. You can still have normal everyday heart disease, plague even heart attacks and still have one of these disorders.

Day 6 – Mino to Betanzos – October 3

Today, Margaret and I got up at god-awful early. I was finally sleeping, for the first time this whole trip, sleeping so well that my alarm actually was needed to wake me up. But the bus left at 7:04. And boy, they weren’t kidding. We got to the bus stop and waited. The correct bus pulled up at 7:03 and by the time we got over to it (15 feet), it was pulling away! We did get on, but man!

We got to Minos in swift order. It was 7:15 when we started hiking; still dark, very dark. We had a lot of trouble getting and staying on the Camino. We were on it several times and accidentally left it. Twice locals on car or bike corrected our course, just as we were about to go off again:

Thank you strangers!!

We hiked past the pig, Ponte do Porco. It was illuminated in blue light, kind of a strange site. After about an hour, we crossed the stone bridge and started up the long hill, and I realized I was very hungry. Waiting was silly because we seemingly climbed for another hour, so we pulled over to a drive way for a quick breakfast (boiled eggs and energy bars.)

Several peregrinos passed us as we hiked. We are very slow going uphill. Margaret is faster than I, uphill. I am faster than she, downhill. 

About 9:00 we came to a cafe. Cafe is stretching it. It is a bakery that has a hot drink machine. I had a hot chocolate, a croissant-like thing with chocolate (I was hungry!!) and then got ,,,something else! I had eyed the large pie, but didn’t know it was an empanada. It was! I didn’t know they came that way!

We set off again, more up the hills. The day was 100% on asphalt. We also aren’t taking many breaks. I think it is to get the day done before the heat. But, I think, if it weren’t to be hot later in the days, I would benefit from longer sitting down breaks. Also, there aren’t as many placed to take a break, not as many as I thought there would be, especially outside of the cities. Not as many cafes as I expected, or even benches or pull offs. I heard there are springs or places to get water – also have not seem many of these.

I don’t know – I don’t remember the day, now that I am tired. And I am tired! I can’t get my watch to give me daily miles, but we have done ~15,000 steps. We went up. We went down. Mostly we went up. 

We got to Inglesia St. Martin – a church and agreed that we would call a cab. Despite 2 nitro patches and 2 beta-blocker tablets, I was getting really tired. I know these are baby miles, but it’s all I can do. We did call a taxi, but they didn’t speak English. I tried my Spanish; the results were not good. Not …effective.

Note to Self: Learn more Spanish before coming to the Camino!!!

So, we walked down. It was fine. We got into town and I sang at the church near the graveyard. That was nice. No one was there (no one was sitting there, mean,) so I could sing to my heart’s content. I’m pretty sure, since it was open, someone was there. Hopefully they didn’t mind my singing.

Then it was more downhills on more hard surfaces. We had to go into town to find our luggage and we wanted to get stamps at the tourist office. 

They were so helpful at the tourist office. I cannot highly enough recommend a stop there!

Luggage acquired, we then had to lug it up steep hills and back down. We got to our apartment. Casa Tipica Betanzos Casco Historico – (did not like: expensive, stairs… lots of stairs). It is beautiful, but …more stairs. It is about 8 feet in width and 3 tall stories high. The kitchen is on the ground floor, with a table to eat at. Up the first flight is the bathroom and a twin bed – mine. Then up another set of stairs up to a double bed and another twin. I would love to sleep up there, but I have to go to the bathroom too often.

I forgot to take my diuretic at 3, because we were out to dinner. Then I forgot to take it later, as we were still out at 5 or 6. When we came home it was too late. It takes 5 hours for it to start and then stop working. I can’t go anywhere, because I have to go to the bathroom every 5-15 minutes during that 5 hours. 

I am in trouble now, because I didn’t take it. I will be all bloated and it will be more difficult breathing. It will take 5 days to get over that mistake! But the up side is – I will probably not have to get up at night very often tonight! That makes for a better nights sleep!

The joy of being on the Camino has worn off a little. Every day is sort of the same, only in a different city, (but more or less very steep and hilly.) I think getting it done in 5 days would be great. At 10 days, it starts to seem like a chore. The people who are doing the French Camino, which takes a month – they are reaching this state of ‘just keep getting it done!’ I so respect that! So I gonna fake it till I make it. I am pretty sure the joy will be back tomorrow. 

I am tired. Margaret is tired. I don’t think she will walk with me tomorrow. I have to remind myself to do less. I am so very, very lucky to be able to do any of this walk. I don’t have to do it all, even if I think I can…but I will likely walk everything I can. So far, I can. That is pretty cool!

Be kind to others, you don’t know the burdens they are carrying. 

And LiveFullyB4youDie.

Love y’all! Goodnite!