110.5 miles

I've been walking regularly, and my neighborhood walks are now close to 2 miles a day, and averaging more than 6000 Fitbit steps a day.  So I am now 110.5 miles into the Camino.

I haven't been sketching every day..  Some days the photos offered on Walking4Fun are not very inspiring, and sometimes I'm just too tired at the end of the day to want to sketch, and sometimes I don't even log in my steps until the next day, or days.

But the object of the virtual Camino is to get me walking and it's been very successful at that.

86.8 miles

In real life, a walk around the neighborhood loop yesterday, and to the library and back today.  On the Camino, walking through wine country toward Los Arcos yesterday, and seeing the village of Sansol in the distance today.  I see another church steeple, always the tallest structure and the first sign that a town or village is coming up.        Total Camino miles so far 86.8

Still a lot of ground to cover.

78.9 Miles

My walking has been erratic - getting ready to fly to GA for a wedding, days in airport, rehearsal and wedding parties, rainy days, etc.  I've logged in steps whenever I could.  I loved this picture of a "wine fountain".  I don't know how many hikers travel with wine glasses, but I'll bet there have been some canteens and water bottles put to good use - who can pass up free wine!

Edit - I wrote 4,172 miles instead of 4,172 steps for 10/20/19.  LOL  Will have to fix that.  

70.4 miles

A couple of sketch/walks in my neighborhood after a few rainy days.

60.5 miles

Still not doing much walking in real life.  I've been barely covering a half mile a day lately.  And rainy weather hasn't helped.  I loved "seeing" the village of Cirauqui  in the far off distance.

56.8 miles

The village of La Reina with Iglesia de Santiago in the distance.   In real life, around 2000+ steps on Fitbit as I moved around the house.  Total Camino miles 56.8

54.1 miles

One more for today.  Another church.  Still only getting steps around the house.  Total virtual miles 54.1  (large letters are bleed through from previous page.  I must have used a Sharpie instead of a Micron.  I will find something decorative to paste over it.)

53.3 miles

I haven't been walking or sketching for over a week, due to bronchitis.  But I have been wearing my Fitbit for a few days, and have accumulated enough steps in the house to "see" and sketch the Pilgrims Monument.  I'm not ready to resume walking outdoors yet.

49.5 miles

I haven't posted for a few days, so a few more miles than usual were covered.  This is a two page spread of some of the architecture in the city of Pamplona.  (Architecture is not my strong suit).  I didn't do much walking last week, for a number of reasons, but I made up for it today.

The page spread was too big for the scanner, and my photo is blurry, but I wanted to post something today.  Will try to get a better photo tomorrow.

38 miles

Some good walking over the weekend, but not a lot of sketching.  Ended today at 38 miles.  Almost at city of Pamplona.

30.1 miles

26.9 miles

My real walks today consisted of a 1.2 mile loop around my neighborhood, and a lot of walking at the mall.  I bought a sweatshirt.

The total so far is 26.9 miles, about 2 days hike for the real hikers, and 13 for me.  LOL.  But walking 13 days in a row is real progress for me.

The panoramic sketch is from Google, a scene from near the village of Viscarett.   The photo offerings from Walking 4 Fun the last two days were not so interesting.  I've seen photos of this area on actual hikers' blogs that were much more impressive.  I may have to ask permission from one or two of them to use their photos for reference.

The trail marker is one of many similar ones on the trail.

21.9 miles

I feel like I should have made more progress today.  I guess I need to increase my walks a bit.  There are a lot of churches on this trail, and the reference photos are usually at awkward angles, confusing this already perspective challenged sketcher.   First walk one of my neighborhood loops early this morning, second walk to get a wrap for lunch.

20.2 miles

I managed to do two walks today, one in the morning, and one after dinner.  I am really enjoying both the actual walking and the virtual walking, as well as the virtual sketching.  I've "seen" lots of mountains and hills, hikers and sheep, a few hostels, shops, homes and churches.  Today I sketched the sunset from the day before at Roncesvalles (I've been spelling it wrong and need to go back and fix it in my journal), and also a new church.  I'm assuming that I will "see" lots of churches on this journey.  I even have a "buddy" that is also walking the trail and sketching.  She is a little bit behind me, but maybe she will end up catching up, or
 even  passing me.

17.4 miles

I completed the first stage - to the town of Roncesvalles, 17.4 miles on my virtual Camino.

Today's "walking" included a walk with Linda Brown at the Wildlife Center, and my tap class, plus whatever extra steps Fitbit added.  It ended up being 2.4 miles for the day.  My sketch was of the Roncesvalles Church.  I wasn't crazy about the composition, and should have gotten a better photo from Google.  There were a lot of them.  I need to get better at hatching and cross hatching if I'm going to get good at this.

14.8 miles

I missed a day of walking yesterday (already)? I had to be out to teach my watercolor class early, and my knee was hurting a bit, and then the rain started and I just decided to take a rest day.  But I was back out there today bright and early, and made it to 14.8 total miles so far.  Almost done with the first stage of the Camino.  I should (virtually) make the town of Roncesvalles tomorrow.

9.9 miles

I am now 9.9 miles along the trail, headed for Roncesvalles - last stop on the first section of the journey.

In real life, I did a slightly longer walk today, plus a lot of walking while grocery shopping.

The advantages of this being a virtual trip:
1. 9.9 miles would be a very poor showing for a real Camino, would barely have made it to the first refuge/hostel. Only walking a mile or two in real life means that I can sleep in my own bed.
2.  Instead of a 30 pound backpack, I'm walking with a small fanny pack that probably weighs less than 2 pounds.
3.  I didn't see any wooded areas (or porta-potties) in the photos, so I would have had a slight (not so slight) problem in that regard.
4. No blisters!!!

7.6 miles

An endless stretch of road in the fog. Hard to get that feeling of just how far you can see.

In real life, 1.5 miles today, including a walk before church, plus Fitbit steps.

5.5 miles

In real life, I walked about 3/4 of a mile today, plus Fitbit steps for the day, making a total of 2.1.  That puts me at about 5.5 miles on the virtual trail.  These sketches were done from the Walking4Fun website.  I read the chapter in "The Artist's Journey" where they walked from Saint Jean Pied de Port to the Orrison Refuge, a total of 6 miles for their first day.  The author mentioned that the trail was so steep that they needed to stop every 20 feet to catch their breath, and that they were glad to stop and sketch.  I would not have made it, and would have needed emergency assistance.  LOL

3.2 Miles

The "second day".  Approximately 3.2 miles into my journey.

In real life, a 0.6 mile neighborhood walk, plus whatever steps my Fitbit accumulates today.

First Day's Sketches

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the starting point for El Camino

(Sketches done from photos provided on Walking 4 Fun)

 About 0.6 on the trail at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

I'm Walking the Camino - Sort of

So I'm a 74 year old out of shape couch potato, and yesterday I was trying to see if I could find something online that would inspire me to start and stick to a walking routine.  I stumbled onto something called "Walking 4 Fun" , a virtual walking site, where you could choose your trail and it would provide maps, pictures, and a walking log.  Curious, I investigated further, and found that the Camino was listed.  It's around 560 something miles.  Hahaha!  At the rate I walk, it could take a couple of years.  But ever since watching the movie "The Way" with Martin Sheen, I wished that I could do this - in another lifetime, with another more fit body.  LOL  So, here I go.  So far today I walked .7 miles.  Yes, that's "point 7".  I also knew that if I were really walking the Camino, I would want to sketch along the way.  Me, the procrastinator, who keeps joining sketching challenges and bailing before the end of the month.  So I ordered a book from Amazon called "Sketching the Camino" for inspiration, and later today will find an empty sketchbook and I will be on my way.

I'm not doing this as a "fake journal" ala Roz S.  I  will describe my actual mileage on walking trails at home, but with sketches of the Camino from the photos provided by the program.

Today is a painting day with a friend, so I may not get another walk in, but I'm wearing my Fitbit and will accumulate a small amount of steps as I go thru my day.  Who knows, I may be inspired to do another walk this evening.