Author: lupower

History of the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

The Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. It is difficult to define exactly where the Camino starts, as pilgrims used to start their journey from their own home.

Mike and I have chosen to do the Northern Way (Camino del Norte), which begins in the Basque Country in San Sebastián, a beautiful seaside city that is world renowned for its culinary excellence. (We have a walking and tapas tour scheduled on our first day there.) The Northern Way traverses along the gorgeous Northern coast from San Sebastián to Gijón and Ribadeo, although we will veer off before Gijon to follow the Camino Primitivo, making stops in Oviedo, Lugo, and Arzua before making our way to Santiago de Compostela.

History of the Pilgrimage

The story of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is intertwined with the history of Christianity. After Jesus’ resurrection, St. James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. According to tradition, he also traveled to Spain to spread the Good News, then returned to Jerusalem where he was martyred. Following his death, his followers are said to have taken his body to the coast, where a ship was miraculously waiting for them. The body of St. James was interred in a tomb in northwestern Spain, after which its location fell into oblivion for centuries.

Around the year 815, a Spanish hermit named Pelayo had a vision in which he saw a bright light shining over a spot in a forest. The matter was investigated and a Roman-era tomb containing St. James’ body was found. The bishop of a nearby town had a church built on the site of the tomb. Around this shrine the city of Santiago de Compostela grew.

The Way of St. James was difficult, but for many pilgrims it offered a much easier trip than the journey to Jerusalem or Rome. Monuments, churches, monasteries, towns, and cities grew up along the network of roads leading to Santiago, and the city itself benefited greatly from the spiritual, economic and cultural growth stimulated by the millions of pilgrims. The Way of St. James became the first great thoroughfare of Christian Europe, a meeting place for people from a wide variety of backgrounds and nations.

As the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela grew in popularity, so did the legends and lore associated with it. The scallop shell became the symbol of the pilgrimage, in part because the shells were common along the Atlantic beaches just west of Santiago. Travelers would wear a scallop shell to proclaim their status as pilgrims, and the motif was incorporated into many of the buildings, wells, churches, and monuments along the route.

Thank you for joining us on our journey! We will arrive in Madrid a week from today, and we will begin our Camino on September 6.

Camino del Norte ~ A New Adventure

Camino del Norte: A New Adventure

Camino del Norte Map

15 months ago, when Mike retired from Directv, we began a new chapter of our life together. We started taking road trips, visiting National Parks, hiking, spending more time on Camano Island, and taking extended “vacations” to places that we’ve always wanted to visit. We checked off the last 2 US states on our lists, including a blended family cruise to Alaska with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew, Mike’s daughter, her then-fiance (now her husband), Mike’s son, and our grandson.

During our adventures Mike came up with the brilliant (she says sarcastically) idea to walk the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile journey across Spain. I told him he was a lunatic. And then I started doing some research on my own, reading some blogs, talking to some friends who had done the last 100 miles of the Camino, looking at options, and making some decisions about my stipulations (really as a way to hopefully discourage Mike):

  • We will do the Northern Route (Camino del Norte)
  • We will visit my Spanish Basque relatives during our journey
  • We will skip the major cities and concentrate on communing with nature
  • We will make reservations ahead at Pensiones, Inns, and/or Hotels along the Camino
  • We will utilize a service that takes our luggage ahead to each next night’s stop
  • We will go to Italy on our belated joint 60th birthday trip, delayed due to Mike’s daughter’s wedding

Mike was determined to do this walk, so he agreed to everything! My goal is to meet the challenge of walking and to enjoy the experience. Our thousands of miles of training, the blisters, the sprained ankle, injured knee and subsequent physical therapy, the planning, the trials with footwear, socks, equipment, and clothing, are finally going to pay off.

We leave for Seattle and Camano Island 2 weeks from today, and for Spain a few days after that. I’ve mapped out our route, including our jump-ahead days and multi-night stays in anticipation of needing longer breaks in between long stretches on the Camino. We’ll “only” walk 400 miles vs the 500 on the more popular and more well-traveled Camino Francés.

I so appreciate what my Aunt’s sister (and my life-long friend) Grace had to say when I mentioned that we were doing the “luxury” route:

“You’re going to have a great experience… and knowing where you’re going to sleep each night and sending your luggage won’t distract from the experience. Your Camino is personal!  So please don’t be intimated if someone tries to tell you otherwise. Unfortunately there are those out there that believe if you’re not carrying everything and staying in a dorm you’re not a real peregrino…. not sure they had Merrell, Osprey and Smartwool back in the day. J”

Side note: Grace did the entire Camino Francés and then continued to Fisterra, walking a total of 575 miles! With everything in her backpack ~ on her back. And staying at dorm-style hostals. She loved it so much that 3 months later she’s doing another Camino, the Camino Portugués starting in Lisbon and walking north to Santiago de Compostela. She will turn 70 on her upcoming journey. I can’t tell you how much admiration I have for this amazing woman! We will be on our journeys at the same time, but unfortunately our paths won’t cross. We wish her Buen Camino. We will see each other on Instagram, Facebook, and Blogs.

Grace’s next adventure:

Camino Portuguese Map

I will post more information about the Way of Saint James before we leave for Spain. In the meantime, if you wish to “follow” us on our journey, you can sign up to receive each blog update on email. Each entry will also post automatically on Facebook. Please feel free to comment!! I’m hoping to post updates every few days, and possibly to post pics on Instagram (@souperpower) more often.

Chicken Soup Won’t Fix This…..

Cooking is therapeutic for me. My Mom and my Grandma were both wonderful cooks, and they taught me well. During highly stressful or emotional times in my life I cooked. I baked. I created. There’s something comforting about planning a meal, gathering all of the ingredients, chopping, sautéing, adding layers of flavor, savoring the delicious scents of work in progress, and finally sitting down to enjoy the results. Then there’s the positive feedback. What a concept: from idea to finished product, and then positive reinforcement within a few hours.

Cooking was a release during my 2+ years on a never-ending project in NJ (hardest job that I’ve ever loved), during [several] recoveries from heartbreaks, and solace from loneliness during my first year in the Pacific Northwest.

Some of my friends have said that people “don’t appreciate how much work” goes into making each soup for our almost-annual Soup Parties. That may be true. A few of them have been witness to the whole chicken-stock-making process. But making and consuming good chicken soup is the ultimate comfort. “Jewish Penicillin”, the magic elixir, can fix a myriad of issues.

Years ago, I was in Key West with my best friend Allan when one of his closest friends was admitted to the hospital with HIV-related pneumonia. While Allan rushed George to the hospital, I got to work. Chicken, onions, carrots, celery, thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt…. When Allan got home he informed me that chicken soup was not going to fix this. I burst into tears and told him the soup wasn’t for George. It was for me.

There’s a reason that the Chicken Soup for the Soul books are top sellers. Comfort “food” for the Soul…. But chicken soup cannot fix the battering that over 65 million people have just experienced. 65,844,610 to be exact. I’m trying not to use pejorative terms for the voters who somehow found a bloviating pathological liar to be better for our democracy than a woman who by every test ~ EVERY test ~ is the most qualified person to be President in our 240-year history.

And what did I do after November 8th? I got to work. Just like I did in the 1990’s, I made soup. SO much soup. (This is only a fraction of it….)

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But the joy that I’ve always gotten from cooking was missing. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief, growling (literally growling) at the stupidity, screaming at the top of my [very powerful] lungs, singing (karaoke-ing actually) “I Am Woman“, also at the top of my lungs.

As Christmas approached, I switched to baking. I made a dozen Christmas rings, several dozen butterhorns, several (8) batches of gluten-free and gluten-full dough.

butterhorns-pic

Now that the holidays are over and we’ve been on the road for the past 2 weeks, I haven’t done a lot of cooking. I suspect that there will be a lot of comfort-cooking going on for the next few years. Stay tuned, my friends. Recipes on the horizon. In the meantime, I’m ordering spices from Penzey’s and following their mantra: Love People. Cook Them Tasty Food.

Chicken Soup may not fix the catastrophes that lie ahead, but at least we’ll have the strength to fight for our ideals. And sharing meals with people who choose love and kindness over hatred will soothe our battered souls.

 

There’s No Place Like Home

“Before”
“After”: Catwalk up to bedroom
Road to Camano
Big Green Egg
Sunrise from the balcony
Bald Eagle
“After” renovation
Full moon
Our own bed
Wine cellar
Guest bath
Sunset over Saratoga Passage

Camano Island: We bought our little “bungalow” in 2004. It was our week-end getaway, an hour and a half and a world away from our home in Woodinville. The house was okay; the view was spectacular. 5 years ago we started a major renovation and moved back in on our 10th wedding anniversary in 2012. This is still our Shangri-La, our escape from reality.

We saw unbelievably stunning scenery during our trip. And yet we are delighted, almost giddy, to be here in our happy place, Camano Island. Here we have the beauty of Puget Sound, the majesty of the Olympic Mountains, and the brilliance of the sunsets. As we approach the summer solstice, it stays light until well after 10:00 PM, and the sun wakes us up before 5:00 AM.

After 17 days on the road, packing and unpacking, living out of a cooler and our car in between hotels, cabins, B&Bs and condos, we truly appreciate the comforts of our home: a full-sized refrigerator, a washing machine and dryer, our own bed, full-sized Arbonne products (love my lotions & potions!), a huge shower, enough outlets for all of our electronic devices, a gas stove and a Big Green Egg Barbecue, Directv, a walk-in wine cellar (even though we’re not drinking wine right now), a Technivorm Moccamaster coffee maker.

Mike and I would make this trip again, with a few changes. We’d spend more time in

  • Sedona
  • Santa Fe (with a side trip to Albuquerque)
  • Arches National Park
  • Sun Valley
  • Coeur d’Alene

We’d spring for the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, Mexican Hat, and Monument Valley, and we’d make reservations for activities like white water rafting and guided tours well in advance.

Making this trip before schools let out, during most resorts’ “shoulder season” was unintentionally fortunate. There were fewer crowds, and the accommodation prices were lower. Traffic was non-existent save the occasional roadwork. The only [very slight] downside: the gondolas in the 2 ski resorts were not yet operating.

If I had it to do all over again, I would do a little more research ahead of time and print out all of the directions, creating a folder for each destination (tour book, road and trail maps, reservations for hotels and activities). I’d also pack a little differently, in “bundles” for each stop. Not just clothing, but things like vitamins, shake mixes, travel-sized toiletries, etc.

What worked well:

  • packing our hanging clothes in garment bags that we placed on top of our suitcases in the car
  • starting in Sedona (4327’ elevation) and slowly working our way up to Deer Valley (over 9000’ elevation)
  • having a cooler with snacks, milk for coffee, protein bars, etc. in the trunk
  • sharing the driving between us
  • writing a daily blog post so we clearly remember each place
  • limiting drive time to no more than 7 hours
  • getting AAA tour books ahead of time
  • having state maps in the car
  • traveling during the “shoulder” season (less crowds)

All in all, Mike and I agree that this was a wonderful trip! We also agree that packing 4 weeks’ worth of travel into 17 days was a little crazy. If we hadn’t already booked our upcoming “blended family” cruise to Alaska (less than 2 weeks from now) we probably would have taken more time, done more hikes, taken some jetboat / white water rafting tours and guided tribal land tours, had a few massages and daily naps!

 

Last Day: The Pass, the Market, Seattle

Vineyards in Yakima Valley
High Desert
High Desert
Summit @ Snoqualmie
Western WA
A little rain
Space Needle
Januik Winery
For Orlando
Cherries, Berries, and Grapes, OH MY!
Flowers at the Market
Ballard Wood Works @ Pike Place
Pure Food – Copper River Salmon
Almost Home
Information Booth
HOME! 4000 Miles

 

The contrast between eastern WA’s high desert and western WA’s lush greenery was stark! When we fly from LAX to Sea-Tac it’s not unusual to find me smiling and tearing up just a little when I see the green landscape of the Emerald City below. Yesterday’s 3-hour drive over Snoqualmie Pass was magical, and I felt the same thrill seeing the Cascade Mountains as I did the first time my cousin Steve took me over the Pass to Kachess Lake.

The topography wasn’t the only contrast of the trip: we saw a logging truck filled with logs, and then windmills; bright sunshine, followed by rain; countryside with no houses, and finally, the CITY. On I-90 we saw Trump signs. In Seattle we saw PRIDE banners and flags flying at half-staff.

We stopped by Januik winery in Woodinville, and because we were starving, ate at Tom Douglas’ Etta’s restaurant, and then made our way to Pike Place Market to pick up and/or order provisions for our next few days and weeks while we’re here in our little slice of Heaven.

We made it to Camano Island by 3:00 (right on schedule according to my spreadsheet), and within 3 hours we unpacked all of our suitcases, backpacks, boxes, and food (Copper River Salmon from Pure Food in Pike Place Market, local strawberries, salad fixings, “Holy Shit” peaches ~ that’s what the sign said ~ from Sosio’s, and a few treats from DeLaurenti). We moved our deck furniture back to the center of the deck. As of this morning the last load of laundry is in the magical machine that gets our clothing clean.

I’ll gather my thoughts and write an overview of what we’d do again, and what we’d do differently next time. A few of you have asked me for my spreadsheet(s). The pros and cons should go along with that if you’d ever like to take a similar road trip from California through the US Southwest and on up to the Pacific Northwest.

There will also be pics from Camano Island as the book-end to this adventure!

 

Domanico Cellars & The Cozy Rose Inn

The trip through Yakima Valley from Coeur d’Alene to Prosser, WA was short, and the landscape was relatively boring compared to the spectacular sights that greeted us on our other drives. As we approached Prosser we started to see vineyards, and a few minutes later we arrived at our friend Jason’s vineyard, Domanico Cellars. We’ve visited his tasting room in Ballard (Seattle) several times, and we featured his wine exclusively at one of our Soup Parties.

Seeing the vineyard and getting a tour by the winemaker himself was a wonderful experience! The vineyard’s grapes include more varietals than I can remember, from Chardonnay to Riesling, Lemberger to Syrah, and everything in between. Jason regaled us with stories of how he and his wife Jill transformed their beautiful venue, producing 2000 cases of wine per year. He has a great sense of humor, making light of what had to be some not-so-fun times. Mike and I worked with Jason during our years at AT&T Wireless, and we had fun exchanging stories of our collective IT experiences during the last 10+ years.

We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Wine O’Clock, with Jason and his adorable daughter Anna (she handed her wine glass to the waitress, saying, “I won’t be needing this”). Mike and I haven’t been drinking wine for the past 4 months, part of our fitness program. However, we did indulge just a little as we sampled a few flights of red wine from Bunnell Family Cellar: “Games of Rhones” and “Surfeit of Syrah”. If you happen to be passing through Prosser, we highly recommend stopping at Wine O’Clock (but make reservations ~ this place was packed).

We drove just a short 15 minutes to our last stop on this adventure, the Cozy Rose Inn, in Grandview. I’m so glad that we decided to stay here! We booked a suite called the “Secret Garden”. You walk through a few archways and down a garden path to get to the most darling suite: a 4-poster bed, and a steam sauna! And they deliver breakfast to your room in the morning. Whenever we start wine tasting again we’ll explore the Prosser wine region, and we’ll definitely stay here!

Our trip home to Camano Island includes a few stops: Janiuk Winery in Woodinville, Pike Place Market, and lunch in Seattle. Then to our own Shangri-La.

 

 

The Palouse, and Red Barn Farms

The rain and 39° temperatures in Lake Wallowa didn’t stop Mike from doing a quick 4 miles yesterday morning! It was by far the coldest day in our 14 days on the road, but thankfully it cleared up for our drive to Coeur d’Alene via Colton, WA.

We’ve seen some spectacular beauty on our trip, landscapes that would take your breath away. The Palouse area in eastern Washington, just over the Idaho state line, has a different impact on me altogether. The rolling hills, so green that it looks fake, grain gently blowing in the gentle breeze, appears as if waves are moving across the hillside. This sight slows my breathing, gives me a wonderful sense of calm. I’ve been looking forward to another visit with our friends Kay & Ty Meyer at their home on the Palouse since I first set eyes on this shimmering landscape. Read about the transformation of this very special place that has been in the Meyer family since 1901: Red Barn Farms.

After our way-too-short visit with Kay, we continued up to the Idaho “panhandle” to the beautiful city of Coeur d’Alene. According to Wikipedia: The city is named after the Coeur d’Alene People, a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who lived along the rivers and lakes of the region, in a territory of 3.5 million acres extending into Washington and Montana. They were first encountered by French fur traders in the late 18th and early 19th century, who referred to them as Cœur d’Alène, meaning “heart of an awl,” reflecting their experience of the tribal traders as tough businessmen, “sharp-hearted” or “shrewd”.

We’re staying at the historical Blackwell Hotel rather than the Coeur d’Alene resort on the lake. Built in 1904, it is charming, and we’re delighted with our choice! We did have dinner at Beverly’s at the resort: delicious! AND they had gluten-free rolls.

Once again we agree that we’d come back for at least 4-5 days rather than just the one night that we’ll be here as we wind down our 17-day adventure. After a hike by the lake we’ll visit Domanico Cellars in Prosser, WA, stay for a night at a B&B nearby, and head to western Washington tomorrow morning.

 

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Hurricane Creek & Hells Canyon Overlook

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Our time in the Hells Canyon region was mostly spent hiking. Or better said, MIKE spent a lot of time hiking! I tagged along for our hike at the top of Mount Howard yesterday, and I discovered what Mike and I agreed was a beautiful hike over Hurricane Creek today. The sounds of the rushing water, rustling leaves and birdsong, and the scent of the evergreens all combined for a pretty fabulous couple of hours. We passed a few other people, but for the most part we had the trail to ourselves.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Embers Brew House in Joseph, we took an hour’s drive to the Hells Canyon Overlook in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Having gotten lost in Monument Valley 9 days ago, I was a little less confident about our destination as I might have been. We made it to the overlook, and we agreed that the drive was definitely worth it.

The only regret, if we had one, was that the light wasn’t great for the pictures. Once again, our attempts at capturing the beauty of the forest don’t do the reality justice.

If we come back, we’d probably look into staying on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon. And we’d build the rest of our trip around a 1- or 2-day white water rafting trip on days when the trips run.

Looking forward to our relatively short trip to Colton, WA to visit our friends Kay & Ty Meyer at Red Barn Farms, and then another short drive up to Coeur d’Alene, ID for the night.

 

 

 

Sun Valley to the NE Corner of Oregon

 

We drove from Sun Valley (Idaho) to Joseph (Oregon) yesterday; it was one of our longer car rides: 400 miles / more than 7 hours. Getting to this northeast corner of Oregon took us over beautiful rolling hills, past snow-capped mountains and swift-running rivers and some cattle that tried to escape, and finally around the Wallowa Mountains and Wallowa Lake.

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Other than Shoshone Falls and Coeur d’Alene, neither Mike nor I had ever been to any of our stops on this trip. I did research on activities in each destination; I did NOT make reservations for anything other than hotels, mostly because we didn’t know how we’d feel at each place, or the weather that would greet us.

Turns out that jet boat tours and white water rafting on the Snake River aren’t scheduled for Mondays or Tuesdays in Hells Canyon. We discovered, quite by accident, that the Wallowa Lake Tramway was a short walk from our cabin at Eagle Cap Chalets. Taking a short hike at the summit was a nice way to view the surrounding beauty while getting some badly-needed exercise.

Mike thought that he overslept this morning – God forbid – because he thought it was 6:30. Moving back and forth across time zones as we crisscross Idaho and Oregon (and in a few days Washington) adds to our confusion. Nothing like not knowing what day it is! Ahhh… vacation!

 

Sun Valley: Guest Blog by Mike Benson

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This is the first time for me (Mike) to write the blog for our “post-retirement” trip. (Not sure why Lisa decided to call it the post-retirement trip nor did she consult me on the name: must not have been a Friday when I am in CHARGE!!) But I digress.  Since this is my first time as author of this day’s blog and I am not the best at spelling, punctuation, or the correct form of words, I know that Lisa will be the Chief Editor and will make sure the Blog is up to her standards.  So here goes!

Sun Valley is a great place and very beautiful with quite a bit to do and see.  This morning we took a hike on Pioneer Mountain on a trail called Corral Creek.  We did not have a trail map and just followed the signs. (Thank God we did not have a map because the distance varies, which means you can walk as long as you want.  This would not have been Lisa’s choice if she knew at the time that the trail has no end.)  The hike was easy to moderate and was a lovely trail.  On our hike we ran into other hikers as well as quite a few mountain bikers; the only wild life we saw was a family with two little children running way ahead of their parents.  We hiked more then 8 miles and climbed more than 780 feet.  We would have gone farther but Mother Nature was calling Lisa so we had to turn around and head back to the car.

After the hike we went to Sun Valley Lodge, which is beautiful with lots to do (biking, hiking, shopping, golf, tennis and horseback riding) and several restaurants to enjoy a meal.  We had lunch and walked the grounds which were great.  On our walk on the Lodge’s grounds we ran into an outdoor Ice Skating rink where folks were skating.  Kind of strange to have an outdoor Ice Skating rink open in the middle of summer.  We did a little shopping in town before heading back to the hotel for a little nap (did you know that Lisa LOVES to take a nap every day??).

Today was a great day, and I would recommend Sun Valley as a must see.  As Lisa stated yesterday we will plan to come back to Sun Valley to ski.  Maybe I can talk her into staying at the Sun Valley Lodge.

Author: Mike Benson
Photography: Mike Benson
Editor: Lisa Power