This is a Test

With any luck, this is the first post to this blog using the WordPress app on my phone.  If this works properly, that’s one more thing I can check off my to-do list! (Originally posted to Pilgrims on the Way.)

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On Pilgrimage

Happy fifth day of Christmas! Today the Church celebrates the martyrdom of the splendid Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons. Each year, I write something about the saint here. Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket: 2014: A Happy Death (Thoughts on the saint’s martyrdom and the grace of a happy death) 2012: […]

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Ninety Days

The number of days to our next Camino continues to drop precipitously. Less than three months to go! At this point, equipment and footgear is all acquired. For shoes and socks, I have stuck with Keen. Their “garage” store is in downtown Portland, and it’s well worth a drop-by if you’re in the area. The shoes are rugged and comfortable […]

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The Way of the Pilgrim

Between our pilgrimages, we must live in the world. We try to hang onto the Way of the Pilgrim in our ordinary lives, but like all things, the lessons fade over the years unless they are reinforced from time to time. And what are those lessons? They are as individual as the pilgrim, but there are certain commonalities, certain sayings […]

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Camino Preparations Update

Since the rain and the early sunsets have curtailed much of our hiking schedule, little progress has been made in the training arena. We hope to address that this coming weekend. Since we’ve already celebrated our Thanksgiving, we plan on getting out and about on this coming four days off. In other news, my new passport has arrived! Huzzah! Logistical […]

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Update: When the Rain Comes

Francine injured her foot a ways back, and we have not been training as we ought. Yesterday, however, we had a nice hike with full Camino packs through Point Defiance Park. There was some trouble with water. At some point in transit to the trailhead, Francine’s backpack water bladder leaked about a liter of water into her pack. After a […]

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180 Days

My annual camp/cabin trip was this past weekend. Basically it’s the same group of guys every year, with the occasional comings and goings. Back in the day, we camped. One particular weekend, about seven or eight years ago now, it rained so hard that it put out our campfire. Since then, it’s been U.S. Forestry service cabins. This is the […]

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The Road Goes Ever On and On

Of all the photos I took on our 2013 Camino – and I took thousands of them – this is the one that for me best sums up the spirit of the pilgrimage. Francine in the Mists of Galicia It was taken as we walked through the Galician forests on our way to the Royal Monastery of Samos. It reminds […]

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We’re Going to Spain.

Airline tickets purchased, for about fifty dollars more than what I paid three years ago. British Airways to Spain; Iberia and American Airlines home. I even get frequent flyer miles. (Originally posted to Pilgrims on the Way.)

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The Pieces are Starting to Fall Together

Our credencials arrived from Santiago a couple of weeks ago. I’m starting to compile updated albergue and Mass information. I’m checking airline tickets every Tuesday. I’m still trying to find all of the bits and bobs to complete my gear. In some cases, I know that what I’m looking for is “around here somewhere”, but I’ll be darned if I […]

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Getting to the Camino

The Road to Roncesvalles The time has come where I’m checking flight prices every Tuesday. Today, for the first time, I found a round-trip ticket to Madrid for our dates for less than a thousand dollars. My goal is $800 or less. That should happen sometime near the middle or end of July. Once we have flight times in place, […]

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2016 Route Update

After much back and forth, we decided to cut out as many of the extras as we can and just focus on the Camino. The current version of the plan (such as it is) looks like this: Fly out of Seattle on Easter Sunday and into Madrid. From there, we go to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port by one of two ways, either flying […]

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One Year to Go

One year from today, Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016, Francine and I intend to board an airplane and set out on our second Camino. Because next year is a leap-year, that’s 366 days from today. Yesterday, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of my Baptism. A year from today, Easter will fall on exactly the same day that it did back […]

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Ten Years Catholic

Ten years ago today, on the night of the 26th of March 2005, I was baptized into the Church at the great Vigil of Easter. I used to think that it was a rare thing that one could point to a specific day, a specific moment, and say with certainty, “that’s it; that’s when everything changed”. As it turns out, […]

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