Months and months of planning and dreaming have led us to this moment. Leaving now seems surreal. We’re actually heading out!
We each burned off nervous energy over the last few days in our ways.
For me, when the work-work was finished each day I wanted to get my house and garden in order. The tomato plants pack the makeshift raise beds in the backyard. Dusty-scented tomato plants reach for the sun – now seven feet tall, the vines are heavy with fruit. I picked as many as I could and slow-roasted a batch with nutty olive oil, garlic, and herbs to lock in the taste of summer.
The bulk of the harvest will arrive during August, when I’m gone.
While out for errands Friday evening, I noticed dozens of garage sale signs – but this was not a garage sale week. Too much work to do.
Cleaning, laundry, ironing…yes, ironing . The repetitiveness or ironing is therapeutic – besides, if one has only a few hours and all the other indoor chores are done – why choose to come home to a heaping ironing pile?
Last-minute re-packing continued throughout the morning. When there was nothing left to do I did as I’ve done for months…went for a walk. Just in time to catch a glimpse of grown men jousting in the park.
Four more golf balls for the collection.
Susie made use of the time by having leisurely coffee on the deck with Dino, her husband, and reading through the Rick Steves’ Porto chapter in his Portugal book to research options and insights.
She made a sweep through the red raspberry patch and the garden to check the green beans and tomatoes.
Last minute packing continued but, as a life-long admin, Susie is highly organized – so the overthinking was merely perfunctory.
She called Olivia, her daughter, to check in. Olivia has hiked the Camino herself a few years ago and is a wealth of knowledge and support.
Dino will be fine on his own for the month and is on cat-duty. The couple has two lovely cats, adopted from the wild. The cats are now riding the proverbial gravy train and are lovely company, on their own terms…as is normal for cats.
When the time arrived, Dino drove us to the airport Saturday afternoon. We breezed through check-in and TSA pre check security. Filled our water bottles. Then settled in for a chat and some quality people-watching.
After a pleasant wait, our flight was called and we boarded. My dear sister, Karen, had graciously gifted us an upgrade to seats with more legroom which, I found out, makes a huge difference in comfort level. Susie is an aisle person and I’m a window – so it worked out perfectly.
Travel day one… done.
More later…
https://www.charitywater.org/marilyn-peterson/marilyn-s-camino-for-water-2025
New haircuts and shoes, you must be ready! Hope your start is magnificent!