From Azofra halfway to Santo Domingo

It´s hard to know exactly where we are but I do know that we have walked over 200 clicks,which from this end does not seem that much compared to the finished mileage. But I can only take it one step at a time. Today I walked through lots of Vineyards and tasted lots of grapes along the way. Sometimes it might be 10 clicks before you meet a town and those walks can be hard. Its amazing to see the mountains and landscapes change as you walk,it seems we are always surrounded by the mountains. There are some glorious sights seeing the cloud formations and mist falling on them. It does the heart good. A fantastic feeling when you begin a climb and look up to see where you are going and then looking back to see where you came from,it gives me a great sense of achievement. Listening to my ACIM tapes keeps me occupied as I walk and distracts me from the pain which kicks in around the 10 K mark. I have come to have a long break at this stage when I can.
I am travelling with a few people,Celanie from Canada, Denise from Australia living in Shang Hai and Teresa from Westmeath. They are a nice bunch and know to leave me alone when I put in my earphones. We give each other space along the route which is the way we all want it. I can have the crack with Teresa who would walk for Ireland is as fit as a fiddle and is 67 and looks 47!
Today I felt a bit home sick I am missing my kids,grandchild and family,my friends and of course missy,but I know it will pass. A funny thing happened yesterday as we went through the city of Logrono. The way signs dissappeared and because I was going slowly at that stage the girls lost track of me. They were panicking a little bit but I just got out the compass on my phone and headed west towards Santaigo the finish point and eventually found the waysigns and the girls again. But it was strange entering the city,it seemed that the noise of the city was really loud and the buildings claustrophobic,I couldnt wait to get back out to the country and the big open skies. It was a strange feeling but nice as well.
Well its off to Santo Domingo tomorro. Will write then.
Yours as always
Julie

Sept 7 from Los Arcos

Hi Everyone, Now where do I start, OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OH MY GOD,  Why didnt someone stop me!!!!! I hurt all over!!!
All of the guidebooks tell us that the terain is reasonably flat, but my feet and ankles know that they are lying through their teeth!!!
I have not written in three days but I cannot tell you which mountain I have climbed or which one caused more problems than the others because they have all melted into each other. Apart from the pain,this is a really good experience and I heartily recommend it to all my enemies!!!
The walking has started to become automatic and can be quite enjoyable at times. I usually start around 6am to avoid the sun if there is climbing involved which there usually is. I wear a minors light to guide the way and there is something about being alone and in the darkness which allows time for the mind to think,which is a nice way to start the day. The only thing is the bugs are attracted to the light and this can be a pain.I got bitten on the ear and now have  a thick ear which resembles a small flotation device at the side of my head!
The scenery is just glorious at times and today we experienced our first thunder storm which walking in the mountains. It was thrilling and scary to be out in it.!
We were walking through a vineyard, it was huge, Texas Style big. Nearing the end of the days journey,it was getting difficult to put one foot in front of the other.When out of one of the fields rode four horses with riders of course,obviously workers of the vineyard, for some reason we all started clapping and whooping at this distraction as they passed. They thought this was great fun and went off galloping through the field. Go Figure? Todays mountain was a 2 in my grading system and I was gratefull for that. My feet hurt because of the walking and yesterdays mountain was a double 1 and my ankle still hurts from that. The guide book said it was 22 clicks but was actually 29. Food and water is now the most important things in my life. I will be decluttering big time when I get home.
BFN
Talk Soon
Julie Andrews (AKA.Jo Baker)
Anna and Nuala,I got your messages,Thanks, Jo

Last nights Blog again(Sorry)

Well today Tuesday,I hobbled into Pampalona....in one piece. I found a way of sending on my pack to the next stopover,which meant I only had to carry the bare essentials, Water etc... Since most of the walking buddies had gone ahead I spent a lot of this stage walking alone. It was up yet another couple of mountains,and this time there was very little shade from the 33 degrees sun! It was tough going,again with the downhill difficulty, tomorrow the mountain is quite high with a vertical descent on the other side. I think I might carry up a tobaggon so I can skid down that slope. In fact I am going to stay here in Pampalona for another night to prepare. The place I am staying in is cool,it is one of those japanese pod type hostels,I will try to post a photo. And just in case you are wondering I am not the only one suffering,this place is like a geriatric home we are all having difficulty handling the four stairs leading to the pods!!! Catherine and Marie take note; train on Bray head or more accurately Croagh Patrick,forget about walking jaunts, thats the easy part.
I have developed a rather fetching gait to help me as I go along. I call it the Papillon gait. Its the description of Papillons journey through the forest with his Indian friend who showed him how to run over long distance,at least thats what I was thinking about as I was going over the second mountain. Well thats all for now. Yours Truly
Julie Andrews!!!!!!!

Grading the pain!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone, There seems to be a problem with posting directly on the page here for some reason I have to reply to a post. So far I have not been able to post my photos either yet but will keep trying.
This morning I was so glad I decided to stay here another night to give the legs a rest ánd prepare for the next stage of the journey..I think I will grade the stages so I dont have to keep describing the pain...lets see- number 3 is moderate aches and pains you would get after a 10 walk/run (mini marathon) if you werent training or a walk up Bray head.....2 is equivalent to having a rest after finishing the first 10k,then starting again immediately with resulting stiffness cramps and soreness but still with reasonable mobility and able to climb stairs....and 1 is all of the above in addition to pain in ankles and instep from the use of muscles you only used occasionally before this resulting in great difficulty getting up and down stairs for about 10 hours after stopping!!!!
I am still awaiting the point where all of the focus on the physical side stops and the focus turns inwards. Tomorrow I go to Puente la Reina.The mountain I go over is called Alto del Perdon-Mountain of Forgivness, I might be stopping there awhile to kick start this process,seems as good a place as any!
I already left a stone on top of the first and the highest for Dad,I think he would have liked that. The spot looked out over the Pyrenes as we left them and forward to Santiago. Ok Mags I hear you, I have started without knowing!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok Talk later
Julie A              

Hi Everyone,
Well at last I arived somewhere I can post to the blog. I am under pressure though as there is someone waiting to use the computer.
This last three days has seen me climb and descend about 6 mountains. The first was the hardest and I nearly gave up not long after starting. But I pushed on and reached my destination for that day. I dont have time to post pictures,but I will. It is an amazing experience walking and climbing,when thats all you can think about..well actually putting one foot in front of the other is all I can think of sometimes. We climb in all sorts of weather and while it might be warm,even early in the morning when starting you can find yourself in the freezing mist when you reach the top of the mountain. I nearly got lost in the mist,just once mind you,but knew I had gone wrong and turned back.
Coming down the mountain is the worst,especially with the gammy leg. I was so bad today that when I got to the last mountain which had a sheer drop nearly, on the descent into the town we were going to, I just physically could not do it.....so I got a taxi for the remaining 4 KLMS...but that was after been up and down three other mountains today alone.
I will try to write more often..tomorrow I walk to Pamplona 20 Kilometres from where we are..
Talk soon
Jo

Well! 3 Sleeps to go!
Today I went to the Church of St. James in James's street in Dublin and I got my Pilgrim Passport,then went to Guinness's Hopstore and received my very first Camino stamp, woohoo!!!! The journey begins. Well actually,not really, it was a bit of an anti climax in fact, as I just went home afterwards. I would have had a pint,but I don't like Guinness. I just didn't want the hassle  of traipsing into Guinness's first thing Friday morning before going to the airport.
The important thing is, I have the passport and can start in earnest on Friday. Roll On........
Tonight I will start to pack and maybe post the contents of my backpack here tomorrow.
BFN
Jo 

Joining the Journey

Hello Everyone,

There's 4 sleeps to go before I head for my starting point of St.Jean and I feel the butterflies stirring! Guess what, Marie and Catherine have decided to meet me on the road to Santiago for the last week of the journey, which is really cool! At that stage I will probably need the two of them to carry me home anyway LOL.
I'm posting this map so that you can follow me on my journey to get some idea of the ground covered as we go along.

There are different routes you can take and the one I'm doing is called the Frances route or Camino Frances.
Talk soon