Camino Norte 2024

Day Post + 9: Crash and Burn Date 24 Aug ( Saturday ) Total This Camino: 239 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 353 miles Total All Caminos: 2353 miles Lodging: Total Lodging: $ 1575 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Buses / Trains / Taxis: Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 275 Food: $  Total Food: $ 878 Something has changed Going through an unbelieveable "crash and burn", and I don't know why. I have all my usual post camino routines complete, e.g.  getting the car up to snuff checking with my doctors re medical appts catching up with my social organizations in terms of committments, responsibilities, etc prepping for the upcoming school season (student, not teacher) And yet so much makes so little sense to me right now.  I find myself wondering "What is the point?" This is strange because on prior caminos, I have returned re-invigorated and ready for action. I find that I don't care about my G

Day 32: From Bilbao to Rochester Date 15 Aug ( Thursday ) Weather Bilbao: high-60s and moderate Rochester: Total This Camino: 239 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 353 miles Total All Caminos: 2353 miles Lodging: Total Lodging: $ 1575 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 35 - to airport Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 275 Food: $ 15 Total Food: $ 878 On The Road 4:00 a.m. Up out of bed 4:45 a.m. On the way to the airport 5:10 a.m. Arrive at the airport 6:45 a.m. Depart Bilbao 9:45 a.m. Arrive Frankfort Germany. Practicing German.  3:15 arrived Dulles Washington, DC  4:45 p.m. Boarding the flight to Rochester.  5:10 p.m. Take off. 6:20 p.m. After 32 days we are back in Rochester. Time to zoom a normal life 7:00 p.m. Home again Random Thought of the Day Meaningful Moment / Notable Memories

Day 31: Bilbao Date 14 Aug ( Wednesday ) Weather Gorgeous day with temperatures in the '70s and moderate cloud cover. Had a short rain pour while we were downtown but no big deal. Total This Camino: 239 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 353 miles Total All Caminos: 2353 miles Lodging: Residencia Universitaria @ 51 € Total Lodging: $ 1575 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Food: $ 35 Total Food: $ 863 Meaningful Moment / Notable Memories In the afternoon we visited the large public market and then went by the cathedral for memories and did some souvenir shopping. In the evening we walked over to the barrio of Deusto, passing by the Maritime Port museum and crossing a pedestrian friendly, very interestingly structured bridge over the Nervión River. Ending the night with a dinner and then early to bed.  La Ribera Public Market Walking around

Day 30: From Ribadeo to Bilbao Date 13 Aug ( Tuesday ) Weather Total This Camino: 239 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 353 miles Total All Caminos: 2353 miles Lodging: Residencia Universitaria @ 51 € Total Lodging: $ 1520 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $  Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 240 Food: $  Total Food: $ 828 On The Road 9:30 a.m. finally woke up after 10 hours of solid sleep. Could I have been that tired? Exhausted?  12:15 p.m. On the bus to Bilbao. It is fun seeing all these towns that we hiked through. Another plus, the bus is crossing the valley spanning bridges that we actually walked under. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of feet above, the bridge spans looked impressive. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of feet below, the valleys are beautiful.  7:40 p.m. Arrived Bilboa after a very boring 7-hour 30 bus ride. And as soon as we step out of the bus station, it is

Day 29: From La Caridad to Ribadeo Date 12 Aug ( Monday ) Weather Weather was nice today. Humidity was lower than normal. Cloud cover most of the day.  Today's Distance: 14 miles /  23 km Route and Stats Route Video Total This Camino: 239 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 353 miles Total All Caminos: 2353 miles Lodging: Hostal Linares @ 35 € Total Lodging: $ 1490 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $  Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 240 Food: $ 33 Total Food: $ 828 On The Road First half was a lot of dirt roads with farm fields on both sides. Beautiful.  Last third of the day was road walking and urban areas.  But we have completed the last day of our 2024 Camino. Random Thought of the Day This Camino had been another special time with Deb.  This is our third time to Spain for an extended hiking vacation / experience / adventure on the Camino de Santiago. Tomorrow Deb and I take the bus

Day 28: From Otur to La Caridad Date 11 Aug ( Sunday ) Weather Today the weather was very hot approaching 86° f with humidity. Probably over 80%. Made it really good that we chose to ship our backpacks today to our next destination. Also lots and lots of sun so it was a tough hike today. But glad to be finally resting. Today's Distance: 15 miles /  24 km Route and Stats Route Video Total This Camino: 225 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 339 miles Total All Caminos: 2339 miles Lodging: Albergue de La Xana @ 20 € Total Lodging: $ 1440 Planes: $ 1500 (round trip) Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 2100 / $ 246 Buses / Trains / Taxis: $  Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: $ 240 Food: $ 40 Total Food: $ 780 On The Road Had good long stretches where we were in forest or at least lots of vegetation.  In the corn fields often.  Unfortunately there was still some significant amount of road or pavement walking. Random Thought of the Day One more day of hiking t