Two Weeks

Two weeks from today I will be boarding a plane for Paris.

Two weeks from today I will be done with my Spring Semester.

Two weeks from today I will leave this sweet kitty for an amazing adventure.

Two weeks from today...

And I could not be more excited!

Raven Run and a Going Away Party

Saturday Abe, his Uncle, and I got together to go for a hike at Raven Run, a local nature sanctuary with over 10 miles of trails. We ended up walking 6.5 miles this time around, however the change in elevation was much greater with this walk.

Some parts of the trail were quite wet and muddy and our boots certainly got broken in...and covered in mud. 

We hiked along a stream for most of our walk.

 There were also a lot of wildflowers in bloom. Kentucky is quite lovely right now!

The main destination on this hike was an overlook that looked over the Kentucky River. 

Later that night, a few of my friends threw Abe and I a going away party. They made sangria and this awesome cake!  It was a lot of fun to see everyone all together before we left. I hope in the next 19 days I'll be able to see most of them again!

I'll miss these ladies SO much while I'm away. 

We are getting so close to leaving so I've been compiling a final list of items to buy. This is the current list, plus maybe a new sleeping bag. I currently have one that I borrowed from my dad, however its larger than I'd like it to be. 

I've put my mom in charge of finding me a Kentucky rock to carry. I'll need it when we get to La Cruz de Ferro (a giant pile of rocks under an iron cross). The tradition surrounding this pile of rocks is that pilgrims throw a stone onto the pile, that is brought from their place of origin, with his or her back to the cross to symbolize their journey.  I'll carry my stone 550 km and then leave it behind on the pile with thousands of others. Pilgrims carry these stones along with their weaknesses, insecurities, losses, and fears. The stone becomes a physical representation of all of these emotions, and by leaving it behind at La Cruz de Ferro, we not only shed the rock but also the feelings that the rock symbolizes.

This coming weekend we plan on going back to Raven Run and getting another practice hike in!

19 DAYS!

Backpacking Practice

This past weekend Abe's Uncle and Brother came down so we could practice walking with our packs on. They first came to my house and we filled up our packs with everything we will be taking with us on our trip. Abe had the heaviest pack, weighing in at 23 pounds. Mine was the lightest at 19 pounds. (That weight included 2 liters of water)

After getting everything packed, we headed to the Legacy Trail and began our 8 mile walk (almost 13km).

We took a break at 4 miles. It was such a beautiful day and the weather was perfect!

 After we recovered from our walk, we headed to dinner and enjoyed some sangria. I'll be happy to have Spanish sangria again (I went to Spain in 2009 and am excited to go back)!

That night my knees were really hurting. I was a cross country runner from 8th grade to my senior year in college and I still run occasionally, and I have never had any trouble with my knees before. I'm not sure if it was the added weight, the quick pace, or maybe a change in my posture that triggered all the pain, but I'll definitely need Advil when we start our Camino. The next day, the knee pain was gone, which was good, but it still makes me nervous about what may happen on the Camino.

25 days until we leave. Excitedly counting down the days.

One Month

We are down to the ONE MONTH mark. Let the countdown begin! 

Yesterday, someone got a little too excited and got his bag packed. 

Tomorrow, we are planning on walking around 10 miles with our packs on to see how we all feel.

We are all getting very very excited.

Shopping Extravaganza!

This past weekend I traveled to REI to buy some of the things that I needed for my Camino.  The guys I'm walking with haven't done any sort of backpacking so they required a lot of new items, I, however, was able to borrow some things from my outdoorsy parents! 

First up, backpacks. The boys tried on a lot of packs but finally decided on this one and this one. I had previously bought an Osprey pack at Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters, a local outdoor store here in Kentucky.

Our full to the brim shopping carts! 

Thought about buying this for the Camino, you never know when a collapsible shot glass will come in handy! 

My fellow Pellegrinos (Spanish for Pilgrims)! 

Finally home with all of our bags!

The next day, we sat down to sort out and document all of our purchases. We are keeping a running list of everything we have and everything we still need to get.

By this point we were all exhausted, even Olive. 

Today was another lovely day in the Bluegrass and I met up with my momma to test out my new pack. I loaded it up with 13 pounds and we walked 4 miles. I was pretty worn out by the end of it, and it sure did provide a reality check for the actual Camino.

This is my momma, she is currently accepting donations so she can tag along on our Camino (haha, kidding).  She wanted to carry my pack to see how it felt and I was happy to give it to her for a little over a mile.

It's hard to believe that in just 40 days I'll be getting on a plane and traveling to Paris and then on to St. Jean to begin my Camino journey! In the next few weeks, however, I have several papers and exams, so I have to keep my mind on school and graduation before I can get too excited about Spain!