A journey of a thousand (or 500) miles begins with a single step.

Well our first step has officially been taken. We have just received confirmation that we will be staying at Espirit du Chemin in St Jean Pied du Port, on June 9th. It's really happening people!

http://www.espritduchemin.org/

If you're interested in see where we're staying, check it out. I'm getting really excited for this trip!

If you're reading this, and would like to get a postcard from the camino, let me (or Sarah) know by e-mail along with your mailing address, (just so we know we have everything we need). I'm going to send SO many postcards! I love postcards!

Well have a great day!
Buen Camino!
Carrie

Billets d'avion vers Paris

Well it is February 14th, Valentine's Day, and Sarah and I have purchased our tickets to the most romantic city in the world (or so I'm told.

We won't be in Paris for very long, just long enough to go through customs, get to the train station and get on the train (whenever it leaves).

We fly out of Minneapolis on June 8th at 3:45pm, flying straight to Paris. I'm SO excited. We'll actually start our camino on June 10th, and if all goes as planned, we'll get to Compostela by July 15th Meredith's 1st birthday.

The next big milestone is our big shopping trip to REI in the cities. That will be an expensive day, but a happy one.

It's hard to believe that in just 113 days we'll be sitting on a plane flying toward Paris.

Adios and Buen Camino

Carrie

In training

Well as we all know, most humans are not ready to get up tomorrow and start a 500 mile walk, myself being the prime example of that. Obviously training is a major part of prepping for El Camino, and possibly the second most important thing you do, the first is of course breaking in your boots.

For MY preparations ( I can't speak to Sarah's prep, though I know she is much further along than I am) I joined the local YMCA. I have been biking to build the strength in my legs. Because I always need a goal, I decided to bike the distance of La Vuelta de Espana (the tour de France, but in Spain)

Last year's Vuelta was 2074 miles. So far as of this writing, I have biked a total of 92.6 miles. I've gradually been switching from the "fat burning" pre-set on the bike to the "strength" pre-set. My goal is to be done with "La Vuelta" before I start El Camino, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen, unless I quit my job so I have more free time at night. :)

Wish me luck
God bless and Buen Camino

It's all about the prep baby!

So it is approximately 4 months until our departure. So far I don't have boots, a backpack, any suitable clothing, a plane ticket, a guide book (though amazon says it's in the mail), or legs that are fit enough to get me even 1/3 of our planned daily distance.

So like the title says, it's all about the prep baby. I have PLANS to buy suitable clothing, boots and a pack. I have PLANS to buy a plane ticket in the VERY near future. I have a guide book ordered. And I have a membership at the YMCA.

These 4 months are going to FLY by. Stay tuned for more details.

Carrie