2024 Camino May 22nd, 23rd, & 24th (Travel Days)

I'm going to put my 2024 Camino Story on my Blog for you all to enjoy :  

I put the story of my first day in Spain on the blog as soon as I returned home and then life interfered !

But...today I'm going to add my handwritten Blog to my my Computer Blog. 

May 22nd, 2024 

Jim drove me to LAX at 2 pm.  Iberia was due to arrive and I would board the plane for a long flight to Madrid overnight.

It was difficult to find the departure gate and so I spent several hours in the waiting area meeting new people.  I continued to get up and check the boards for updated information on the departure gate.  On one of these checks I was not looking where I was walking when I returned to my seat and suddenly I was flying through the air over a table that was about 12 inches high.   I  had hit both legs midway between the ankle and knee.   Everyone came running to offer help.  But I said "NO" I'm okay...as the  lumps on my legs began to rise!     But...fortunately ; within a few days.... the legs were ok as the lumps went away.

I finally found  the gate number from a clerk in one of the shops in our area of the airport. So I moved to that area and began  a long wait for the the plane to arrive from Spain.  Yes; we were scheduled to fly to Spain on the same plane that my son-in-law was returning on.    Eventually it arrived and we boarded the plane... about 300 of us... including many families with children.  (I never saw my son-in-law as they took them off at a different gate.  )

Once everyone was seated they took the plane out on a runway and there we sat for about four hours before they finally announced that the plane had a problem and we were going back to the gate .  The good news is that they kept the air conditioning on the whole time BUT no water or food was ever offered.   The plane did not move....they off loaded us and we boarded buses for the trip back to the terminal.    After several hours of standing in line we were finally given a local hotel to go to for the night; we still had no clue when we would be on an airplane....It was after midnight before we got to the  very nice hotel.   Some food was provided and off to bed.

MAY 23rd (United States)

Last night was a nightmare.... But I was assigned to the Hilton Hotel and it was very nice.    I did meet a lovely family from Riverside and they added me to their group as we went together to the Hilton Hotel.  

Early this morning I returned to the International Terminal where I discovered that the Iberia Terminal would not be open for assistance and tickets until the afternoon.  Several of us were talking about the situation when a stranger joined the group and told us that we should check American Airlines as they sometimes worked with Iberia  when they had issues with flights.   

I immediately rushed next door to American Airlines Terminal,   I found an employee that was not busy and asked her to put my name in the computer to see if I possibly had a ticket that I was not aware of.

She hesitated and we bantered back and forth and "yes" I may have used the "old Lady" card with a few tears in the eyes.   But...she finally did and  YES ....  American had a ticket from LAX to DALLAS TEXAS in their computer with my name on it  !!!!!!    And....there was a second ticket attached that was would take me to MADRID FROM DALLAS OVERNIGHT.

May 24th (Madrid) ...from memory 

Arrived  in Madrid thaat afternoon to board a bus to Pampoloma.  Then at midnight that a bus arrived in Pamplona ... carrying two backpacks I set off across the city of Pampolpma at  midnight  to find the train station where I knew there would be taxis in the morning to get to St Jean France and the begininning of the Camino.  Jen, my oldest daughter was there waiting for me.  She has been in Portugal for a month with her husband who arrived home the day I left.  She came to meet me in Spain to walk the camino and has been here a few days.

The young adults were everywhere and wanting to help me.  It was a unique experience.  About 2 am one of the girls called a cab for me.  It was a woman driver who said yes when I asked if she would drive me to St Jean?  A 4 hour trip for her.  She was an excellent driver and we arrived at 4am in France.  

2024 Camino May 25th

May 25th (from memory)  

It was raining lightly when I arrived  by taxi at 4 am in the sleeping village of St. Jean, France from Pomploma, Spain. I stayed dry by hovering under small porch overhangs on the fronts of buildings.   At 5 am I texted Jenn and she came out to let me inside.  The owner also came out to greet me and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfest with all the guests.     As soon as the Pilgrim's office accross the street opened, we took  a break and went over to register.  Soon we were officially registered  to start our 500 mile camino to Santiago on the other side of Spain.  

         Back to the albergue to pick up our backpacks.  We had agreed we would use baggage transportation every day so off we went with our small backpacks up the very steep mountain for 5 miles to our first albergue, Orrisson.   Jenn became the leader of the group that seemed to form behind us. As she  proceeded to find an unusual road or path for our group to enjoy. It seemed to stretch on and on further than the 5 miles we'd planned.   She also had us walking backwards to stretch the fronts of our legs every so often.   Jenn kept me going  by  offering me small pieces of  Meringue Pastry, which she had purchased in Sant Jean yesterday.   She continued to do this throughout our trip on the long hills; sometimes ice-cream, popsicles, and various sweets to get me up the very steep hills.    It was a beautitul day and everyone greeted us when we arrived.  That night at dinner we each shared our story  about who we  were and why were we were walking the camino.  They made a huge issue about it being my third camino and nearing the age of 86.    

A few of the men said that I had beat them walking up the hill today.  We made many  new friends from around the world  that night. Tomorrow we begin the day  long walk across  the Piernese mountains into Spain.     

Soon we were tucked into our bunk beds.... yes .... we are in albergues most nights and when two people arrived together; one of them has to take the top bunk.  Jenn will generally do the honors for us as they must feel it is not safe to put me up there!   When I traveled  in Europe with my twin sister at the age of 70...   I was the designaed  top bunk girl!   

HEADING FOR SPAIN TOMORROW FOR THE START OF MY THIRD CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

 Hello friends and family and my faithful followers,

     Yes, that long ago plan to return to Spain in 2020 that COVID cancelled will  finally begin.  I leave LAX tomorrow afternoon and meet my daughter Jennifer in Madrid where we will spend one night before heading for St. Jean and the beginning of our 52 day walk across Spain to Santiago !   It's 500 km!

     Jennifer and her husband Kelly have been in Portugal and Spain since April 28th.  Kelly is flying home on the same day I'm flying to Spain.  He has his own Glass Business and duty calls him home.  

    Keep us in your prayers for the next 52 days and we will keep each of you in our prayers.  I will attempt to write a post each day and also will be posting some photos on Facebook .   As they say on the Camino... 

Buen Camino  

*Spanish for a good day"

Santiago de Compostela Botafumeiro

 Hello Friends.... yes I'm planning to walk the Camino again...3rd time....but will be 85 years old!!   Going with a small group from my church, several couples and a few singles in May of 2024.   Already in training and walking 5+ miles nearly every day.  Going through my Camino information from my walks in 2015 and 2018 and have continued to read the daily  posts by old and new Camino Friends that IVAR maintains.     IVAR'S BLOG CAN BE REACHED AT:    Camino de Santiago Forum on the internet

It's where past pilgrims share, and future pilgrims learn since 2004.  It's a daily email .  Go on the web and subscribe to the website and you will begin receiving daily emails that you can click on from Ivar.  You can make a donation  to bypass the advertisements; or not....   He also has a "store" that provides equipment and books for the many different Caminos.  My favorite is the Camino Francis. 

  Buen Camino

Martha Jansen

Southern California

CLOSE THIS PORTION OF MY BLOG AND RETURN TO THE NEWER SECTION  WHERE THE 2024 CAMINO WILL BEGIN STARTING ON DAY ONE....MAY 22N 2024

THIS IS A WRITTEN COPY OF MY DAILY NOTES WRITTEN BY HAND EACH NIGHT ON MY THIRD CAMINO  (WITH MY DAUGHTER JENNIFER)  FROM DAY ONE MAY 22, 2024 TO DAY 50 JULY 12TH, 2024.)    I'M SLOWLY TYPING IT INTO THE COMPUTER ...IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS SO PLEASE KEEP RETURNING UNTIL I FINISH.   MARTHA

The section below is the story of our trip to ALASKA  in 2019 at the end of covid

 A shoutout to all my readers.... It's been a couple of years since I've posted; but I do know that I frequently pop up when you are searching travel sites and I've given several speeches on my travels over the past several years.   But we've not traveled since the tour in Alaska in 2019.  We were scheduled to do a two month trip last June & July to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary; but due to Covid-19, everything was cancelled.   We, my husband and I, my twin sister and our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter had rented a car starting in Madrid, Spain, traveling to Portugal for a visit to Fatima.   Then, my daughter and granddaughter were joining with me to walk the Portuguese Camino during the day and then meeting the car each evening.   The three in the car were going to be tourist during the day while we walked to Santiago de Compostela.   After visiting Santiago we were scheduled to go west to the coast for Muxia and Finistere before returning to Santiago for two nights in the Parador Hotel next to the Cathedral.   A long time bucket list item!   Difficult to reserve.  

From there our son-in-law took the bus back to Madrid to fly home and the rest of us continued in the car to drive the Camino Frances all the way to the French Village of St. Jean Pied de Port to show the family what my daughter and I walked in 2018.   And, we pilgrims planned to walk segments of the trail.

Our plan was then to return to Pamplona for a night and then my granddaughter would take a bus back to Madrid to fly home (for work) as we continued for another two weeks of touring in Spain. 

All reservations were made and it was painful to cancel them when the governments shut down the tourist industry because of Covid-19 last spring.   We were fortunate that the cancelation fees were waived for 95% of our reservations for airplanes, the car and the many hotels.   We all plan to eventually make the trip but not this year.

Thank you so much for the many kind notes that you leave me after reading some of my travel diary.  Be safe and if you have not done so....GET VACCINATED!    We need to travel again!

Buen Camino

 

ARRIVED HOME SAFELY

Jim developed a chest cold and on July 31st,  we decided to change our.flight home to August 2nd.  We were able to get a red eye  flight arriving at 6 am Saturday  morning. 

Good that we make the decision as by the time of the flight we both had colds .  So glad we made the decision .  It has  been good to be home. 

Wonderful trip with fantasic memories.  Thanks for sharing our adventure.

Day 17. Day Off

Mr Jim woke up with a cold this morning.  Too many handrails he thinks.  But have put us both on a thrufu regime  and Jim stayed in bed all day wearing a facemask.   I played lots of solitaire cards. 

Based on the fact that due to better than perfect weather, we have completed all of our planned adventures.   We called the airlines and moved our scheduled departure up a few days and will now arrive home early Saturday morning.  We have a non-stop 5 hour flight that arrives at 6 am.  I think they call it the red eye!

But will be good to be home.  Hoping Jim is better tomorrow and if so we'll do a Red Trolley tour of the city in the afternoon  before leaving.  I'll do a wrap up entry when we get home.

We are staying in a private room in a Hostel and have met many wonderful travelers... most carrying large backpacks.  People from Portugal, Spain, Austrilia, England. Ireland and more.  So much fun to find out their stories.  They have two dorm rooms and many private rooms, three stories.   Huge kitchen, great and reasonably  priced laundry area and lovely owners who work on site.  Each floor has two individual bathrooms that everyone shares.

Day 16... Museums

After our exciting day yesterday, today was a quiet day spent in Anchorage.

Slept in and enjoyed a slow morning.   We walked to a local Carl's Jr. for a light breakfast.  Then about noon we used the GPS on our phone and drove to the coast to find the Earthquake Museum.   It is outside in the area when a 9.1 earthquake happened on Good Friday, March 27, 1964.    
Many homes were destroyed and the city of Anchorage, along with several others were severely damaged. 

In the area we walked this morning, a sharp cliff still exists where a portion of the shoreline literally dropped into the sea.  Spaced along the trail were displays telling the story of the worst earthquakes in North American history.  Very informative and makes us think about more preparation in our own home.

We then drove back into downtown and found the new Anchorage Museum.  Spent two hours walking through the various exhibits.  The portion of painting was only a very small part; they were very good and we really enjoyed the many paintings of various views of Mt Denali.  A large portion of the museum was dedicated to the historical Alaska Indian tribes. 

Back  to our Hostal where we enjoyed our almost daily game of cards and meeting new guests that just arrived from France. 

And so another comes to close.  This time next week we'll be home.

Day 15 Brook Falls - Bears

Well our biggest adventure happened today and was everything we dreamed it would be.  We'd made the reservations months ago.

Up early, we were began our day at 6:30 am when we arrived at the airport for our trip in a float plane for 2.5 hours south to Katmai National Park to view bears catching migrating salmon as they are leaping up Brook Falls.

This was our first time ever taking off and landing on the water. And because we stopped for gas coming home, it was three ups and downs.  Very exciting.   We flew in a six seater Cessna plane with attached floats; the pilot,a single man and a grandfather with his eleven year old grandaughter were our companions.

We arrived about 11 am after flying over mountain ranges and large lakes for 2.5 hours.  We each wore headphones so that we could hear the pilots taking over the radio and also helped lookout for other small planes.  We flew very near to several active volcanoes.

After a short lesson on bears from the ranger about sharing the forest with bears, we stored all of our food in lockers and began our 2 mile walk to Brook Falls along wooded trails that are shared with bears.  There were several wood elevated bridges over the river that were  gated and only used by humans.  

It was a wonderful experience and we saw at least twenty bears at various times.  There were never any barriers separating us.   Bears had the right of way on the paths.  We were told Never To Run, but to slowly back away until you can  move off of the path and let them pass.  

The largest group of bears was at the falls where they had several viewing platforms where we could take photos.  We have way too many and even three videos of bears actually catching a salmon to eat.

We spent nearly fours at the park  including time to eat the delicious hearty lunch the tour company prepared for us.

Then back on the plane for our flight to Anchorage on a totally different route where we saw many glaciers on the mountains that we flew between.  And a fun stop for gas where we all got our feet wet getting off of the plane on the beach.  Everyone had to get off before they filled the gas tanks.  And then with the added weight of the gas, we had trouble getting off the beach.  Lots of fun moments.

Arrived home about 6 pm.  GPS wasn't working when we got in  the car and we had to get a paper map out to find our way home.  A truly memorable day.

Day 14 TALKEETNA

Slept late and had a quick breakfast at McDonalds before starting our day's adventure about 9 am.  We drove 114 miles north to the very old town of Talkeetna.

Two hours plus and our first stop
was for a water closet for me at the beautiful local library.  Then we stopped by the local tour company to find out if there was a possibilty ofgetting a tour  by air of Mt Denali later today... at that time there was nothing but clouds.   They were booked solid today but they had an opening on Thursday.   Decided to see how today went before committing to a return trip.
Drove on into the small tourist town and finally located what they said was the best views of Mt. Denali, the tallest mountain on the USA .  Jim had done his research to find the viewing spots.

Parked and walked a short distance to the shoreline.  Here we had an added bonus that there are three separate rivers that all merge  here. The view we found was only a tiny peek of the peak.

BUT, we joined the chorus with those around us snapping many photos as we exclaimed:  we've finally seen Mt. Denali!  We don't have to spend $$$ to see it after all .

We finally walked a bit further along the rivers and found a much better view.  Suddenly we
saw the clouds begin to move.  Slowly, but surely, God gave us a gift and cleared the entire mountain top.  Truly a magnificent view and we've many photos to share.

Hated to leave but finally returned to our car and a short visit to the town and the Historical Museum.

The best part of the museum was the 45 minute talk by the ranger who took us day by day through the 21 day hike that you can do with the park service rangers to summit the 29,700 ft. Peak.   I was exhusted by the time we finished our imaginary  adventure.  FYI ... I showed the ranger one of my photos and he said we truly had an unusually great view today.  He said only about 30% of the visitors ever see the mountain during their visit due to the convergence of the Serbian and the Pacific weather systems that create almost continual storm systems
and the saying that Denali creates it's own weather.

We are driving back to Anchorage now ... feeling very good about today's adventure.

Day 13. Arrival in Anchorage

We were up early and enjoyed breakfast in the dining room before departing the cruise ship in Seward.  There we boarded a bus for nearly three hours.  The driver kept up a running dialogue describing the history and stories about the route we traveled to Anchorage.   The reason that cruise ships do not take us to Anchorage  is that they don't want to deal with the tide fluctuations that vary up to 27 feet during the day.  We passed glaciers, villages that housed gold miners, and a long stretch along the river that the explorer Cook thought could be a northeast passage for a shortcut from China to  England.  But it didn't.
Arrived at the Anchorage  International Airport at 11 am and picked up our Chevy Impala auto. 
While we were near the airport we checked out our reservation for Tuesday to fly into Brooks Falls to see the bears catch salmon who are swimming up the rapids to spawn.  Hopefully both bears and fish will be performing when we arrive!
Then headed to our home for the next 10 nights in the Arctic Adventure Hostel in a private room.  Very reasonable and fun to "camp". 
Off to explore the city after putting our things in our room.  Anchorage has a population  of 300,000 and has a very modern downtown that we enjoyed this afternoon.  The lady at the tourist office was very excited about our plans and we walked out with volumes of materials to read. 
We enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner at Applebees and headed home to relax and settle in.  Discovered we have access to laundry facilities at only $3.00 for wash/dry; so we have clean clothes again.  And reasonably good wifi.. 
Last night we had our first storm, it began in the afternoon and lasted most of the night.  So glad that  neither  of us suffer from seasickness!
Weather prediction is good for the rest of the week.

 

Day 11 Glacier Bay National Park

This National Park is larger than many of our states and also the country of Portugal. When we purchased Alaska for two cents an acre from Russia, it was consider a fool's folly by many.  But when gold and other minerals were discovered; Americans moved here by the thousands.   When the minerals were gone they discovered oil fields.  This land continues to bring benefits to our country.
John Muir was very instrumental in keeping Glacier Bay in its natural state.  In 1925 it was declared a National Monument and 1980 it was made into a National Park.    The massive glaciers are rapidly disappearing.  In 1750 it was at its maximum.   In 45 years they had melted back five miles. Ten years ago there only 12 glaciers that touch the ocean,  today there are only 4 still calving into the ocean and it is predicted that most of these will disappear in another 4 or so years due to global warming.

Today I was up before 6 am and on the walking deck by 6 am.  At 6:30 I filmed the arrival of the National Park Rangers who will be with us all day. Only two cruise ships per day are allowed in the Park.  They pull up to our ship which has slowed down but not stopped, and climb up a rope ladder to board our vessel on the first deck.

Then I went up to the Crow Nest Lounge to watch for wildlife with other passengers, some who had began arriving there at 5 am to garner the best seats.  The hardy ones bundled up in coats, hats and gloves plus sunglasses and their cameras and binoculars to brave the elements for the mornings adventure.  Being outside also gave you the cracking of the ice when we reached the glaciers.

By 7 am I was back in the room and then Jim and I headed for the dining room and another fabulous breakfast before again joining those passengers in the crowd nest for the magic deep in the park.  I got another great photo when I was trying to catch the calving action and they announced a rare event. There was a bald eagle on a small iceberg directly in front of the ship.  I moved my lens towards the bird and captured its flight as it headed towards the sky.  Took way too many photos but had a once in a lifetime experience.

We took time for a light lunch before heading to the theater for a ranger talk and then one by a Tlingit woman, a member of the tribes that have called Glacier Bay their home for hundreds of years.

Tonight is a dress up Gala Dinner and then classical  music concert for Jim and I'm going to the singing and dancing group in the theater. Hard to believe tomorrow is the last day.  We'll be at sea all day and arrive in Seward on Sunday morning.  Then we will take a bus to Anchorage for the third portion  of our trip.  I'll  post this on Sunday.

Day 12 At Sea On Way to Seward

Today was the last day of our cruise.  Early tomorrow we pull into Seward and get on a bus for a three hour drive to Anchorage.  There we have rented a car for ten days of fun. And hotel reservations.

Today was  great... we expected breakfast at 7:15 as usual but it was 8 am to the surprise of many of us.  We didn't check the schedule.

We played a full game of cards while we waited for the special lunch with the captain.  Passengers who have been on more than one cruise on the Holland American cruise line are invited.  Those with more than one hundred days received recognition.  We have a ways to go for that.  But we enjoyed lunch with two couples, strangers .. but not for long.  One from Canada and the other  couple from Kansas. 
After lunch we spent an hour in the Lincoln Center Stage in a Q and A with the musicians and then they performed Schumann Masterworks.

Spent a couple of hours organizing the packing.  At 5 pm we are going to Mass and then dinner at 6 pm.  Tonight we are going to enjoy a performance by both of the comedians from earlier in the week.

We'll finish packing and hopefully get a good night's sleep.

Day 10. SKAGWAY

Last night we attended the main show together. No classical music scheduled and we were in port until 9:39 pm.  The title was about Alaska.  Low and behold..
The classical musicians plus the regular musicians combined their talents to  accompany a beautiful film about the wildlife in the four different seasons.  Another great program enjoyed by everyone. 

This morning I woke at 6 am and enjoyed warmer weather in the harbor at the base of tall mountains in Skagway  for my six loops around the deck.   Soon we were off to breakfast in the dining room before walking off of the ship to discover the town.

At the end of the dock we found the city shuttle bus that took us throughout the town.  Only $5. each for all day.  At first we thought about visiting the cemetery and a 100 ft waterfall, but discovered it would be over a mile walk each way; too much for Jim.  So we stayed on the bus  until it arrived back in the area of the shops.  There  we walked in and out of the various stores.  Found my perfect soveriner of the trip; a  tiny bear for the curio cabinet.

Back to the bus for the ride back to the ship.   Up to Lido deck for four hands of hand and foot card game while enjoying the pool area. So nice, we don't keep score so everybody is a winner.  People stop and ask where did we get the cards?   Yes, we always bring our own.  Plus an extra two decks incase we find someone who would like to play with us.

Jim is enjoying a presentation  about the wildlife in Alaska,  while I'm sitting in the dark, away from people, typing away. 
Tomorrow we will all be on the ship as we enter Glacier National Park.  Hopefully we'll  see some glaciers calving.  And maybe some more whales.

Jim had fun yesterday,  he got a great photo of the lifesize whale statue breaching  and sent to our kids who thought it was real. Such a trickster!

So not sure if we will get wifi again before we reach Anchorage.   But we'll  have 10 days there.  Thanks so much for tuning in for our story.