Author: Mary Day

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18 Days: September 25 Departure

My pack is sorted: 35L Osprey Kyte. 7.5 lbs / 3.4 kg. New rubber tips on my poles. New insoles and laces on the trusty boots. Medical supplies pack for air travel prepared. Air tags for anything that will be out of my sight.

I’ll wear the Osprey with minimal items: Tiny first aid packages, rain gear, sun hat, puffy vest, cheap gloves, socks, 4 days of medical supplies. The remaining items will be transported each day in my 22 Liter rolling duffel.

Advancing technology streamlined some tedious tasks:
Chat GBT: Prepared stages for the Inglés and the Francés. A few minor tweaks, and that was finished.
Online reservation for bag transfers: Pilbeo transport – $181.00 / €155.00 prox €7 /stage.
eSIM: Holafly – Unlimited data for 28 days. $70.90
Allianz Travel Insurance: Allianz: Primarily emergency medical. $104.00 for 30 days
Lodging reservations: Booking.com isn’t new; I used this for most of my bookings in 2019 and 2021. However, more of the smaller lodgings had websites with the ability to book via the website. Several of the bookings were direct via website. I booked 26 nights; all but 3 nights in different towns. $1,727.00 / €1,550.00

13 Days of Training Remaining

I don’t walk the last few days before departure. Give the body a rest. Tie up loose ends for travel. Clean house. Do Laundry. And make sure I don’t twist an ankle or do some bodily damage right before I leave.

Walking with my pack most days. The pack feels comfortable while I’m walking, but my shoulder/neck muscles are feeling the new weight. Hopefully, that muscle soreness will be worked out by the time I start walking on September 27.

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Training: July 27 – August 2

July 27: Tomahawk Creek. 6 miles
July 28: Turkey Creek. 5.2 miles
Aug 01: Turkey Creek. 6.0 miles
Aug 02: Turkey Creek. 6.0 miles / 9.66 Km

If you’re forced to buy a single use water bottle, save it for reuse. I’ve been using this for about a month, and I think it will still be good for the camino. That brand makes a very sturdy bottle!
August 1, 2025 Turkey Creek at about the 5.5 mile marker

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Week of July 20 – 26 Training

This is the training plan created by ChatGBT. I defined my age, how far I was currently walking, and that my goal was to walk three 10-mile days back-to-back in hills with my pack before leaving on Sep 25.

Sunday, July 20, Tomahawk Creek. 5.6 miles.
Monday, July 21, 0 Km day
Tuesday, July 22, Turkey Creek, 6.0 miles
Wednesday, July 23, 0 Km day
Thursday, July 24, Tomahawk Creek 6.0 miles

Sweating to the Oldies – or – Oldies Sweating
Tomahawk Creek trail – Leawood, KS

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Tomahawk Creek after the BIG rain

Two nights ago there were areas around Kansas City that received close to 10″ of rain. Today, at the Tomahawk Creek trail, I saw where the creek had risen an unbelievable amount. The trail was closed yesterday, I could see why!

On another note, I enjoyed the first two miles walking with a 55 year-old retired Army Colonel. SHE is very interested in walking the Camino with her 80 year old mother. It’s always fun to get the chance to talk Camino.

Notice the debris along the fence that was left from the creek’s rising waters yesterday. And notice how far down the creek has receded in just 24 hours.

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Camino Prep Update

Well, I finished week six at 25.37 trail miles. So far, 111.91 trail miles.

And now on to Week Seven: the 5.5 mile week.
Today, 6/30, 5.64 miles on Tomahawk Creek. Pretty much on schedule, but haven’t been walking as many days in a week as I had anticipated. But it’s getting easier. Today was overcast and temps were only in the 80s – that helped immensely!

Tomahawk Creek starting at the Leawood Pool park.


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Camino Prep: Week 03 of 19 – 3.0 miles/day

Week of May 25 14.7 miles

It was a short week since Sunday and Monday were rained out. I don’t pay attention to steps in a day – I only count trail distance. Walking around Costco or up and down steps to the basement laundry is not what’s going to get me up the side of the mountain to
O Cebreiro!

There’s the 1.5 mile marker turnaround point.

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Camino Prep: Week 02 of 19 – 2.5 miles/day

Week of May 18
Six walking days – 15.32 miles

Decided to eat humble pie and use my sticks. I could tell a few differences: didn’t need to watch the ground so closely- improved posture, cadence was more uniform, could tell pressure was less on my hip joints. And my brain perked up. Oh! I remember this. We’re walking!