Pilgrimage 2018 is heading out

Hello everyone.

I think it was Bilbo who is supposed to have said "It's a dangerous thing to go out your door" and then reflected on how the road goes on and on.

The Camino is like that, too. It calls, and when you have answered sometimes you discover that it has built a homing beacon into your heart.

We hope to make it to Santiago's tomb this year, and to pay respects also to Our Lady of Covadonga and at Oviedo. "God willing and the creek don't rise" as they say.

Here is my personal pack load, except for the Teva sandals, hiking poles, and electronics like this device.

Wear one, pack two, as the fellow who posted his 5 kg pack video to the Camino Forum said: 2 shirts, 2 panties, 2 sock pairs (Injinji low cut lightweight) in the pack. 1 bra in the pack. 1 fleece pullover, 1 windbreaker, 1 pair of shorts--wearing the zip off pants, 1 Icebreaker merino tank dress (splurge), 1 rain poncho. The merino Infinity Buff. The two packed shirts are 1 Icebreaker tank and 1 BCG tee, the shirt I am wearing is a long sleeved ripstop.
Dopp box has toothbrush, tiny powder, razor, ear swabs, toothpaste, hairbrush, a head band and a hair liga, and a small bottle of hair/body/clothes wash. Also a poly fast dry towel. Also the little mesh box with hiking pole tips.
The Fabulous Bag to put the pack in for the flight, a dry clothes bag for the shower, a mesh bag for dirty clothes or shopping, the bag for the sleeping bag liner.
Sleeping bag and liner.
If I remember them all correctly!
Ultreia!

A Sunday bird

Hello, everyone.

I'm still head-down on making the backpack duffels. (2 down, 1 to go, and it's 3/4 done. Yay!)

This little fellow was at Bentsen the last time we were there.

Tropic kingbird? Well, some kind of kingbird. He eats insects. Isn't he handsome?

This n that

Hello, everyone.

Sewing has been keeping me pretty busy. The second backpack duffel is almost done and the third is halfway there.

Here is a spring flower for enjoyment.

This flowering tree was in the Montes de Oca. We walked past it in 2014, on the day after we slept in Villambistia.

Now that the giddy excitement has mellowed a bit

Hello, everyone.

This is a little more info about the pack duffel. (Yesterday it was so exciting to just have it DONE that all I could think of was putting the first pictures of the complete project up--forgetting entirely to put a photo of the duffel in its normal "working" configuration.)

Hanging from the banister in the hall. Pocket zipper is just
barely visible on end

With a bit of supplies tucked into the top opening. (Plastic clothespins and some soap)

First pack duffel completed

Hello, everyone.

The first of the three pack duffels is complete.

Behold it in the stowed format:

7 3/4 ounces/221 gm!

Pack Duffel (Beta version) report

Hello, everyone.

As the title says, this is the beta version of the pack duffel. (The prior version was just proof-of-concept.) The pack in the picture was filled with assorted bedding to approximate the shape and size of a loaded pack, and the hip belt was clipped around the pack instead of flying free.

The length of the bag was taken in somewhat and the height of the end panels was diminished a little. The stow pocket was not altered.

(I didn't put the top zips back on for the test fitting in this version. I was already satisfied with that part of the bag.)

Onward and upward and all that stuff.

Stash Busting Again

Hello, everyone.

One of the nice things about having a stash of supplies on hand is that one can explore possibilities.

But first, another apron is done. It didn't use up any sparkly stuff this time, but it did use up a couple of decent-sized pieces that were begging for a purpose.

Another spring-themed apron

 And, after discussing the possible fates of backpacks in checked baggage, the thought of making a travel cover for our packs came up. Something light weight, not a heavy canvas duffel bag! And as we talked, the idea of how to store it during the trip came up, too.  A test of the project concept was necessary. Not only was it needed to see if the idea would even work, it was a great way to use up some shiny stash fabric, and to try out the idea.

Pack stuff

When we first discovered El Camino de Santiago, we learned right away that we needed packs. The walking pilgrim carries all his clothes. All his accessories, like shampoo or medicines, and his bedding. So we knew we’d need packs to carry sleeping bags, clothes, and such little sundries as a compass and a map and a cat-hole trowel. (In case of emergency miles away from any bar or gas station.)

We stopped at the REI in Georgetown and told our story to the nice young man in the backpack department. He looked at us, measured, and suggested a pack. For me, the Deuter Ladies’ model, ”45L+10” it says, and with only a slight adjustment of the movable harness in the back it was fine. Mine turned out to be green. For my sweetie, another Deuter, a 40+10 men’s model, which turned out to be red. I think the “+10” refers to filling up the little top bag full of stuff.

I have learned that, while I still think my pack is wonderful, I don’t want to fill the little top bag full of things, because between that and the carry loop, it gets in the way of my hat brim. I keep having to fold the hat brim up at the back. I guess I could just wear a gimme cap—my green John Deere cap with the pink doodads and rhinestones would work—but I did buy that hat on purpose. It’s an Outdoor Research one, with a reasonably stiff brim that doesn’t flop down in front. They say it will float, too. And it has a string—what the Western rider sites call a “stampede string"—and that keeps the hat from blowing away in a stiff breeze. I can’t decide if I should just get used to having the hat brim folded up in back or give up on wearing it.It does keep the top of my ears covered.

The other thing I need to figure out about this pack—which I learned on May Day this year—is that it rests—well, the strap rests—on top of my bra strap on one side and hurts at the collarbone. And I need to figure out what to do about that. (My sweetie says I should just go unsupported. But, really, do I want the market to sag that much? So to speak.) Maybe I just need to loosen the bra strap a little, or move it to one side.

I will see the next time we walk with our packs.

Which because of their padded, stiff straps and molded, padded, stiff hip straps will need a container (duffel) to go on the plane. Otherwise the straps will get snagged on something in the hold and be torn up. Or off altogether!
I was thinking about options. The Army style duffels are heavy.  Make that HEAVY. They’re made of cotton canvas. I don’t want to drag that all over Spain on my back. And I’m not excited about tossing them onto the abandoned-stuff table at Biarritz airport or the first albergue. I thought about making bags to put our packs into. But I’ve never sewn this type of project before, and there is very little time left. So I think we’ll end up buying the REI pack duffels, which are light weight, won’t have to be tossed, and come with a little stuff sack into the bargain.