Thursday 23 December 2010

Year Endings and Future Plans

So here we are at the end of another year,A cold England with snow and ice not seen before Christmas for years. the weight creeps back on slowly but the tanned legs still remain a reminder of warmer days in Spain. this Norfolk village  creeps along slowly as I try to get my affairs in order,utility bills house cleaning. Came back to a full pantry and fridge thanks to daughter number 2 who had used the house for a short holiday with her boyfriend  and managed to roll my car into a farmers field less than one mile from the house,thankfully both were fine,just bruised and shaken, the full larder came with apologies. So now I catch the bus to the larger towns in the area,the overheard bus conversations tend to follow the same pattern, who's missing, ill or has died recently I tend to feel very old by the time I get home.
 So I make plans for the new year in a attempt to slow down "times winged chariot" in April I drive down through France and Spain with my Brother (in his car) hopefully with me driving :-}he loves Roman remains so we return to Salamanca and the surrounding area for Easter.
 then in an attempt to get out of my comfort zone,if you can call walking 5 months this year on the Camino comfortable!! I'm stirred to go for a bigger challenge so in another rush of blood to the head I have booked flights to Calgary Alberta in Canada (out May back??? July) a low deposit and 10 weeks to come up with the rest hopefully-and I don't say this lightly I,m going to have to pull my finger out in order to meet the deadline plus money for the stay-The realisation of what I've taken on woke me up early this morning with a nice feeling of nervousness which rose to stark fear when I googled Banff  National park near to the Rockies,the planned area of the backpacking treks and looked at the advice on how to deal with the Mountain lions Grizzly bears and Cougars, now the last cougar I met was on the Camino just outside Pamplona,thankfully I was too old for her, but I think  these may be differant  cougars ones with a taste for prime English beef. The bears will not be long out of hibernation the Female on heat for just a sort time and the growing female not on heat for 5 years, no wonder they are flipping Grizzly!!!
 there are also the weele disease carrying tics the later stages of which consist I kid you not of " arthritic pain or swelling, disorientation,short term memory loss,the inability to concentrate- and mental fog" my God I've got the lot !! how am I'm going to tell if I've got it ??? But I have battled the bed bugs of the Camino and will go prepared. plus  the Mountain passes will still be full of snow, This trip will be as far out of my comfort zone as I can get, I obviously have to get a bit real for this trip.
 So the year ends, I have met so many good people this year I was truly blessed plus I'm a more chilled relaxed and happy person going out than I was coming in.
 So for anyone reading this I wish them the same for the New Year, have a good one

9 comments:

  1. Intrepid indeed, Ian!
    Here in Canada we wear "bear bells" to "scare off" the bears while trekking in the woods. It is said that the bears think they're the dinner bell :-)
    Hope to hear more about your plans for this trek - a very different kind of adventure from the camino!

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  2. If you're planning a trip to Banff, this might be useful - http://banff-alberta.net

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  3. Enjoyed finding your blog. I walked the Via de la Plata in Jan/Feb this year. Was nice to see from your photos so many sights I remember with affection. But the weather was bad at times - sometimes streams too swollen to cross!

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  4. Hi Ian! Thanks for stopping by - glad you did as I've now found your very interesting blog! My camino is so far away still but I seem to think about it every single day, so glad to discover there are other people out there who are also under the 'camino spell'! Your next adventure sounds wonderful, I'll be following with great interest!

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  5. Response from little brother-

    I think its a good time to set some rules for the Spanish trip-
    1- Its my car therefore I drive it. Take it or leave it!
    2- I am in sole charge of the music. None negotiable
    3- We need to chose a code phrase to use when we get irritated with each other. I would to suggest we use "P..s off and walk if you dont like my drivng (or whatever)
    4- Archeology and history and wine are my priorities on this trip. If you dont like this "take a hike Forest"

    Thats all I have got to say about this.

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  6. Hi Emilene
    looking forward to reading your blog
    Have a great time

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  7. Cougar comment is genius!

    Looking forward to blogs and pics of this latest adventure :D

    Daughter Number 2 xXxXx

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