Living the retirement dream

We have committed to finishing the Camino de Santiago this fall, but not by the same route that we followed last year. Sandy really wants to walk the traditional Camino Frances route. We have elected not to do the first leg which is a steep ascent over the Pyrenees mountains on day one. Instead we are starting in Pamplona on September 26 and will end in Santiago de Compostela on October 30. In preparation for that long walk we will be doing weekly long training walks. Our first walk was only ten miles in the Casa de Campo park in Madrid last week. Jim discovered that there is a Camino de Madrid which starts a few blocks from our home in Plaza de Santiago. It consists of a long slog north through Madrid and its outskirts until you end up in some beautiful rolling farmlands. The first town is 16 miles away. We thought that this leg would be a perfect test for us and Tuesday’s weather was predicted to have a high of 72℉ with cloud cover.

Starting out at 9:15 in Plaza de Santiago in front of the Church of St. James and St. John the Baptist. We took off fast, walking busy city streets heading north through new neighborhoods for us, but occasionally we would recognize a circle that we had been through.