Update-The Journey of a Thousand Miles

For those who haven't been following my blog...I'm training to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain...probably in 2016. The Camino de Santiago is a 400 mile pilgrimage from the French Pyranees to Santiago, Spain; following the footsteps of Saint James. I need to lose weight and get myself fit. To achieve this, I'm walking everywhere I can, as often as I can. Last weekend we went camping and of course, we hiked. Here are some photos from the trip.

We were above the rainbow on the North Cascade Highway above Diablo Dam. This is Diablo Lake, and yes, it really is that color! Look closely above the power lines to see a faint bit of the rainbow.

Forest primeval. We hiked outside of the town of Newhalem through this old forest. The trees remind me of the Ents in "Lord of the Rings." I wonder what they'd say if they could speak.



Hubby and Koda-having a little discussion on the suspension bridge in Newhalem.

 Kelly:  "Koda, you need to heel. You can't just try to pull me over this bridge." 

 Koda: "Sorry Dad,  I was just sooo excited. Did you see the squirrel on the other side?"


Since the end of summer and the beginning of the school year I have not been very punctual about my promised Sunday progress reports. This is partly because I pulled a hip muscle and had to lay off for a time, and partly because of my work schedule. Well, I'm happy to say that I am back on track! Here's how it looked last week.

Weight gain/loss: I've lost 4 pounds from my original weigh-in! Hooray! 31pounds to go!

Distance: Haven't measured my walking distance this week, but I've walked a ton. I'll start using the pedometer again this week. The great thing is, now I always consider walking before driving. If it's a trip to the library or downtown, I try to walk. And I'm absolutely addicted to our walks in the woods with Koda. I don't know who misses it more when we don't go; Koda or me!

Strategies: I am planning a breakfast-to-lunch walk in Bellingham. Probably next weekend. I'll start in Fairhaven and have a light breakfast. Then I'll walk to the north end of Bellingham for 4 hours, and have lunch somewhere at the end of the route. This is typical of people who walk the Camino de Santiago. They stay in hostels, rising at about 6 a.m. They have breakfast, then walk to the next small village and eat lunch. After this they walk again for several more hours to another village and have dinner at local inns. So I'm going to work on walking 4 hours chunks.

I'm also planning to start having Kelly drop me off in different locations when we are running errands. He can drive on to the destination, do the errand, then backtrack and pick me up on the way.

I've been doing some reading about the Camino de Santiago, and am becoming very excited about it...even though it'll be a few years before I walk it. The idea of spending nearly a month with only the thoughts of walking, eating, sleeping, and prayer is so intriguing!

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Klipchuck Campground and Early Winters Creek



If you read my last post, you'll remember that we went camping last weekend in Eastern Washington. Technically it's the center of Washington, but to 'coasters' like us, anything east of the Cascade Mountain Range is 'eastern'. This is where we spent our second night. The campground is called 'Klipchuck' and is situated about 20 miles outside of Winthrop, Washington.(Klipchuck means 'deep water.') Early Winters Creek runs through a ravine below the campground. We fell asleep to the sound of the waters dashing against the rocks.



There were warning signs posted about rattlesnakes in the Campground. Since there are virtually no poisonous snakes in Western Washington, we were a little wary after reading the signs. However, a knowledgeable forest ranger assured us that it is much too late in the year for rattlers to be out and about. She said that they hibernate in dens below the earth and rocks. There can be hundreds of them in a den. She went on to say  that even if we did encounter a stray snake, it would be too lethargic to strike. Hmmm. Well, since we came to hike, we donned our boots and headed down to the creek, still a bit uneasy. This is also cougar and bear territory. We've decided to purchase some kind of a weapon to take when hiking in wilderness areas...but we haven't gotten one yet. Now I'm not fond of guns at all, but cougars are pretty mean, so I've relented on my 'no weapons policy' so that we can tramp about the woods safely. It is nice to have Koda dog along. We know she'd smell another animal long before we saw it. I half expected to see a cougar crossing the creek on those fallen timbers. But I didn't. The only wildlife we saw were squirrels, deer, eagles, and bluejays.

I wish you could smell these pine trees.

  Pine trees make me feel all cozy...like Christmas and log cabins and patchwork quilts.

When we got home I dug this half-finished needlework project out of the sewing bag. I'm gonna finish it... to remind me of our stay at Klipchuck and Early Winters Creek.

A Question of Balance

We took our new campervan over the Cascade mountain range this weekend...in search of the sun. (Autumn has come to the Northwest and so has the rain.) Many folks aren't aware that the Eastern half of our state is quite dry and arid...not at all like  'Sleepless in Seattle', which is how most foreigners imagine Washington State. In fact, Winthrop, Washington, our destination, advertises 300 sunny days per year. (They omit the part about the sun shining on the snow!) Winthrop is a charming 'Western-style' town. The outlying areas remind me of 'The Ponderosa' from Bonanza.

We pulled into Goodell Creek Campground in Newhalem late the first night. Newhalem is still on the west side of the Cascades at only about 500 feet above sea level. Diablo Dam is situated on the Skagit River in Newhalem. On Saturday morning we explored the campground and the river. This is what we found on the river's gravel bar...

How appropriate! Here we were, looking for some balance in our lives, trying to carve out some rest and relaxation and what do we find; but a river bar littered with inukshuks!

Inukshuks as the Inuit call them or Cairns, as the Celts call them have been around for centuries. They are markers, whose significance is defined by their builders. They may be boundaries or geographical markers. They may be messages for those who follow. Or they may be holy places. Abraham built an altar of stones to God at Bethel, which means 'house of God'. His grandson Jacob visited the place years later and had an encounter there with angels who were descending on a heavenly ladder. So when you see an inukshuk, it would do you well to be reverent. Who knows what kind of prayers have been prayed in this place?

 

Inukshuks are not easy to build. Neither is a life of balance. You must find a solid base, one broad enough to support future stones. Diverse shapes, textures, and colors are important to create interest. The real challenge is to make them stand. Do you have a solid base in your life? Have you any color or texture to it? Is it standing strong, or are you trying to add things that will cause it to topple?

My inukshuk is the second picture from the top. The one with the leaf delicately balanced on top. I will leave you to try and interepret it's meaning if you wish.

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Too Pooped to Post

     Hi.
      School started last Wednesday. After staying up all summer until 1 a.m. and lounging in bed until 10 a.m., I'm back on a schedule. Up at 6:30 a.m. and back in bed by 10.
      Every year my work schedule changes. This year I'm a morning greeter, followed by doing literature and spelling with special needs 3rd and 4th graders, then lit with 5th and 6th graders. After that I'm off to kindergarten. Our poor kindergarten teachers each have 29 students this year. It's like herding cats! I have a 45 minute lunch/break, then its math time for the first and second graders...followed by 3rd and 4th graders, then 5th and 6th graders.
     Our school buses have not been arriving on time because the person who schedules them quit abruptly, and nobody seems to know what's going on. They completely eliminated service to one of the main roads on the Lummi Reservation where several of our students live. So the students have to catch a bus at our school, then go to another school and transfer to another bus which will take them to the end of their road...where they will walk home. This isn't easy for the little guys! So I've been staying after my scheduled shift and making sure that the older kids know exactly what/where they're supposed to be, and asking them to keep an eye on the younger children. Two days ago a bus driver was so annoyed with his rowdy passengers that he parked in the school lot and refused to take them home until they settled down. They sat there for a whole hour! I think (hope) he was dismissed after that. I know that driving a bus is trying job, but c'mon! 
     Our school computers aren't working right and we can't open our mail or use the internet, and as of today many classrooms still have no computers at all for their students. Notwithstanding, I found the usual form in my mailbox demanding that I pledge not to surf the web while working. No problem! I have neither the equipment nor the time to surf the web.
     I'm pooped! My feet ache from being on them all day and by 10 p.m. I'm asleep in the recliner. Hence, fewer posts and comments. I expect to be acclimated to my new schedule in a week or so.
     I love my job. I really mean that. Wouldn't want to do anything else!