Most Frequently Asked Question

The most frequently asked question actually comes coupled with a pursuing dialogue of interest …”Where are you going.” Then, “How far will you walk?” And,usually, “How long will it take you?” Sometimes at the end of these questions is one more biggie…”Have you lost your mind?”

The French(Frances) pilgrimage is actually 540 miles long. Due to time constraints Ernest and I will actually begin walking in a tiny village named Fromista ( almost adjacent to Burgos) and make our way along the yellow arrow marked route through Leon and on to Santago de Compostela. This will take us about 240 miles. We plan to end our pilgrimage the last week of March. We have,hopefully, allowed for a couple of rest days.It is NOT our intention to push ourselves relentlessly. This is one of the routes that the Knights of Templar guarded. They and numerous others have left churches and bridges, battlefields of sacrifices.  We plan to take note of these and “see” this country. 

We do not “camp out!” We will stay in various modest hotels, casa rurals(B&B’s), albergues(hostels), along the way. We have booked our first two nights,one in Fromista and the second in Villalcazar de Serga.  After that night we will book where we go depending on our legs, I guess. 

To be a pilgrim you must secure a Credencial del Peregrino. We join a group called Americans on Camino and was able to get our Pilgrim’s passport through them. This passport allows certain pilgrim privileges along the way such as staying at the albergues and casa rurals and when the appropriate distance is walked and you arrive in Santiago you receive authentication of your passage. 

Finally, the question, “Are we out of our minds?”  I don’t know. We have done adventurous things before but,so far, this is probably our Mount Everest physically. But we have faced numerous obstacles in our lives these 48 years of marriage from infertility to childhood leukemia to name two and God has led us every glorious step of the way. We have laughed and we have cried. We have prayed with faith and we have prayed needing faith. We aren’t alone. I just hope He enjoys the trip as He is just what we always need. 

Buen Camino!

Buen Camino