Just a short four mile walk this weekend to Beer Thirty where friends and family gathered for a Bon Voyage / Buen Camino send-off. Feeling all this love and support gives us the kick of motivation to conquer our fears. Let’s do this!! 😎🥾💪

It seems like I won’t be walking tomorrow with the atmospheric river coming in. But I was able to squeeze in a solid seven miles today. And saw a pair of bald eagles building their nest along the harbor.

We are three weeks out, and we are eager to get started. We re-watched the movie “The Way” last night which provided a boost of motivation to keep going and training! The walks are getting more pleasant - even if the weather isn’t! A moderate 8 1/2 mile walk under solid grey skies out to Capitola today. The threat of rain never materialized, though. And running into our daughters along the way definitely lightened the mood!

Today Rory and I walked the Wharf to Wharf route round trip. (Santa Cruz wharf to the Capitola wharf, that is.). A total of 12.3 miles, one of our longest days so far! We started at 8:45 AM and ended at 2:30 PM, which included lots of stops for rest, food, gear/clothing adjustments, etc. We encountered both cold/driving rain, and sunshine. Rory tested the rubber dishwashing gloves hack as a way to keep our hands warm and dry when it rains. (It worked!) I didn’t bring my gloves, so I did a MacGyer move by donning my spare pair of wool socks on my frozen hands to keep them warm (which also worked)! And we saw the last remnants of a snowman from last week’s freak snowstorm in Santa Cruz! We truly felt like today was a representative day of what it will be like when we are on the Camino.

What a great day! Started walking at 8:30am to get ahead of the rain that was forecast later in the morning. After a few drizzles, we had clear weather for 11 miles. We walked along Seacliff State Beach to Rio Del Mar and beyond. Then hiked up the hill to Aptos Village for a little break at Cat and Cloud before doing the loop through Nicene Marks. It was beautiful and peaceful there - not many others out and about yet. The trees were shrouded in mist and many had very exposed roots… we were eyeing them carefully all along the walk in case they began to teeter. 😬 These long walks are getting easier. (Maybe it was sugar and caffeine iinfusion from the pecan roll and cappuccino.) Five weeks to go!

The training continues! We are less than six weeks from our departure date, and I still feel like I have a ways to go to be ready! But my sister and I had a great long weekend of doing longer hikes each day. And with each hike, we are learning more about what works best - from the shoe and sock combo (based on the type of terrain), to the proper blister treatment (moleskin) and prevention (hikers wool and changing socks mid-way though the day), to the amount of water and snacks needed, to how frequently to rest and refuel. The training isn’t just about getting our leg muscles and lungs in shape. It is testing the gear and making those adjustments to improve our comfort level with each hike. I’m slowly feeling like I might be ready for this… still lots of anxiety, but getting as prepared as I can be!!

Lunch stop in Capitola! Sunny and warm 😊

A very chilly walk this morning along West Cliff. My fingers were frozen, but it’s always glorious to watch the sun come up over the Monterey Bay.

It was a mixed weekend for training. Yesterday I couldn't walk at all because of illness. But I got out there today and did two 5+ mile walks, and all parts felt good! I am having such fun discovering new trails in Santa Cruz. Today it was the Old Vineyard trail in DeLaveaga Park. Had to navigate a few downed trees across the trail, which was a little nerve-wracking.. I kept a close eye on all the other trees to make sure they weren't wavering in the wind.