Homer's Travels

"Only A Blister" By Sara Zaleski

2013-05-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

After I posted Sara's last poem, GeekHiker suggested in a comment that she write one that mentions the walker's nemesis: the blister. She went to work and this week she provided a poem that includes mention of a blister. This was very appropriate since on Friday, after a 13.83 mile (22.26 km) hike, I returned home with a new blister on the ball of my right foot, a result of not wearing the cushions I mentioned a few posts ago.

So, without further ado, I present to you "Only a Blister":

Only a Blister

by Sara Zaleski

My heart thrives on the crisp morning breeze,

The starless sky that stretches

Between the setting moon and awakening sun.

With each step I am further entranced

As my feet crackle over the ground

Hidden under miles of botanical life.

Yet, my stride lengthens as my mind tries to forget

The pain that has left me stricken,

Sent a shockwave through my veins.

Every moment of shifting weight,

This unmerciful dagger shoots further in

Just as a pin seems to thrust from within me.

It is as if the world herself is plotting my destruction.

I can no longer contain my vengeance

I am prepared to take down this raging nemesis,

This enemy that seems to seek my demise.

But when I gather my breath to fight,

To bring upon the earth peril unlike any other,

I look down and realize

That it is only a blister.

Mite It Be A Tick? No.

2013-05-16T16:38:00.002-05:00

I took a picture of this red fellow the other day at Hitchcock Nature Center. I thought it might be a tick but I'd never seen a red one before. Turns out it is not a tick. It is a mite. Wouldn't it be nice if ticks were this easy to see?

Not a tick but a mite.

While I was investigating this guy, I learned what these were:

Possibly gall mites.

I think these are gall mites. The things you learn while on the trail and flicking off ticks.

Now if I could just get rid of this paranoid feeling every time I feel an itch or a tickle.

A New Set Of Poles

2013-05-15T18:22:00.001-05:00

I finally make a decision about poles. I decided to buy them before I go and I decided to keep them inexpensive. With that decided, last week I ordered Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles.

The poles arrived yesterday (only four days after I ordered them). They are very inexpensive at $39.99 including shipping. Being carbon fiber, they are very light at only 420g (14.8oz) for the pair. They come with a complete assortment of rubber tips (rubber and boot) and baskets (mud and snow). They have cork (or faux cork) lined extended handles with comfortable neoprene straps. They have built in shock absorbers that can be turned off.

I took them out to Hitchcock Nature Reserve on Tuesday to try them out. I chose this location because the elevation changes and steep grades that would give the poles, and myself, a good workout. To make it more challenging I wore a full pack. To make it even more interesting I did this hike in 80°- 90° F (26.7° - 32.2° C) temps. The poles performed well. The one thing I had to get used to is how light the poles are. At first this made them feel "cheap" but after putting a lot of weight on them on some steep hills I have to say they performed remarkably well. The cork felt good on my hands and helped wick away sweat. The straps were a lot more comfortable than the narrow straps on my old poles.

There were a few not so great things about the poles which is to be expected for inexpensive poles. The section locking method is the twist lock type (same as my old poles). I think I would prefer the flip-lock type even though I've never used them before. Some of the reviews of my new poles have warned about slippage. I did not experience any slippage but I really tightened the twist locks just in case.

The anti-shock feature, which I have turned off for now, can make the poles a bit noisy. The anti-shock mechanism is a spring in one the the pole sections. Even with the feature turned off the spring still sproings each time the pole hits the ground. This isn't much of a problem really but I wish it were a little quieter.

The rubber tips are push on instead of the threaded type that my older poles had. I'm a bit concerned that the tips may fall off. G_V, who carried poles on the Camino last time, says she never had any problem with her press-on rubber tips. That is good news ... though I saw more than one sad, lonely rubber tip alongside the Camino last time.

The one thing about carbon fiber poles is how they fail. Aluminum poles, like my old ones, bend. When this happens you can straighten them back out and make the poles usable (though my old poles will not collapse after they got bent). Carbon fiber poles do not bend. They flex ... until they break. If a section breaks, they can not be repaired except by ordering a new pole section, therefore no field repairs. Hopefully this will not happen to me any time soon.

All of these issues are minor and I'm happy with my new poles. And I was happy with my rather short, 4.53 mile (7.3 km) hike. Sadly my new poles could do nothing about ticks. I found seven on me before I got back to the car and another two in the car on the way home. I wore shorts this time, something I rarely do when I hike. Next time it will be long pants, no matter how hot ... and lots of DEET.

In Search Of Happy Feet

2013-05-11T14:23:00.002-05:00

The Camino was hard on my body, especially the feet. Everyone seems to have different issues. Tendinitis. Toes blisters. Heal blisters. Blisters on the ball of your foot. My issues have been tendinitis in my ankles, toe blisters, and pain/blisters on the balls of my feet. I have been trying a few things since I got back to correct some of these issues before I go back for my second Camino.

The first thing I've tried to tackle is the tendinitis issue. When I walked my 2011 Camino I wore a high-top walking shoe. In Mansillas de las Mulas I was schooled my L_A on how to tie my shoes. It turned out that when I was walking on a flat trail I was not supposed to use the top two hooks/holes of my shoes. When I followed L_A's advise, my ankle issues went away.

For my 2013 Camino I will be wearing a low-top version of the walking shoe I wore last time. I hope that the low-top will be the same as not tying the top two hooks/holes and will reduce the chances of tendinitis. I've also noticed the manufacturer, New Balance, has moved the top shoelace holes out a little bit so when you tie the shoe it feels less tight across the top of the shoe. I think this will also reduce the tendinitis issues by reducing the pressure across the top/front of the ankle. The one downside of this, I believe, is that the laces will loosen so I will have to stop to retie my shoes more often - a minor inconvenience if it prevents tendinitis. Having said this, I've been wearing the shoes for over 300 miles now and shoelace loosening has not been a problem.

The second issue I'm working are toe blisters and a soft corn I have on my right foot (On the second toe facing the pinky). The corn first developed during the last week or two on the 2011 Camino. It became quite painful. After I got home the corn didn't bother me because I didn't wear shoes all summer while driving Route 66. Once I started wearing shoes and started walking again it came back with a vengeance. I treated the corn with over the counter corn remover that killed the skin and fixed the problem ... temporarily. After a month or two the corn would return.

At the first Camino Conversation, the host suggested toe bandages as a way to fight toe blisters. The toe bandages are foam tubes that you cut to length and slip over your toe. At this point I'd tried other types of corn cushions with little or only temporary success. I decided to give the tube bandages a chance. So far after a couple of months they have worked very well. The corn shows no evidence of returning. I have also used them to protect and prevent blisters on other toes with mixed results. I think my issue is that I'm cutting the tubes too short. Over time they scrunch down a bit and leave the ends of the toe exposed to blisters and, in some cases, the edge of the bandage has rubbed on the adjacent toe causing irritation. I think if I cut them longer, this will be less of a problem. Either way, I have gotten some good results from the toe bandages and I will be packing them as part of my first aid kit.

The last issue was pain in the ball of my foot. While the pain feels similar to a hot spot (the precursor to a blister) I think it may be caused by the pounding the balls of my feet receive when I walk. At the end of the day when I take off my shoes the balls of my feet are so tender it is hard to walk. After seeing a commercial for Dr. Scholl's foot products I looked to see if they had anything that I could add to cushion the front half of my feet. I found Dr. Scholl's Pain Relief Orthotics for Ball of Foot.

Before I tried them I went to my Physical Therapist (PT) and asked him if the cushions would affect the correction of my custom orthotics. After looking at them he said he didn't think so. He looked a bit skeptical about the effectiveness of them and, frankly, I didn't expect much from them either. I put them in and I went for a hike. At first they felt like I had a rock in my shoes and they felt a bit uncomfortable but after a few miles the sensation went away. I got home, took off my shoes, and to my surprise I had no pain in the ball of my feet whatsoever. The hot spot feeling I used to get was totally gone. I was a little flabbergasted. It's been three or four weeks since I've been wearing them (wearing them only when I hike) and the results have been the same - no more pain. That is, no more foot pain but I have developed knee pain. I'm not sure if the two things are connected. I know that it doesn't take much of a change in gait to change the entire dynamics of the leg but I am thinking it's just a coincidence. Thinking back, I can't really remember if the knee pain started before or after I started using the cushions.

These Dr Scholl's cushions are not the perfect solution. They can be hard to place correctly in the shoe and have to be repositioned every time I put on my shoes since they will slip over time. I am looking into other options. My PT guy suggested it may be possible to modify my orthotics to add additional cushioning near the ball of my feet. This sounds like a better solution and I hope it pans out. I will keep you all posted.

So I have three potential solutions to the three big issues I had on the Camino. The testing I have been doing doesn't come close to matching the real conditions of walking everyday on the Camino but, even if they only fix or diminish some of the problems I had, it will be an improvement. At the risk of being overconfident I think my next Camino will be better, foot-wise, and happy feet means a happy hiker.

We Suck ...Biocce!

2013-05-05T13:57:00.002-05:00

On Saturday the Wife and I went to Sioux City to participate in a charity bocce tournament. Last year the Brother-in-Law (BiL) and the Niece came in second. This year we joined them to see if we could give them a run for their money.

The weather was ~~perfect~~ ... crappy. It was in the 40s, drizzly, and windy. Fortunately for everyone the beer tent was enclosed and there were gas heaters spread around.

The Wife and I were in the first round which made us the first team to enter the loser's bracket. We lost 15-2. Pretty sad but we were the quickest losers there.

Our second match was much better. We lost 15-9 and we were the third team to be kicked out of the loser's bracket.

Unfortunately, our awesome bad luck rubbed off on the BiL and Niece. They won their first match but lost the next two.

Despite our rather poor showing, it was fun. There were lots of reasons for not winning: It was cold, it was drizzly, it was windy, and, my favorite excuse, we were too young to play bocce. Yep, give us a few more years and we'll be old enough to kick some bocce butt.

In between matches we spent time in the beer tent trying to stay warm, drinking, eating the excellent pulled pork sandwiches, and standing close to the propane heaters. I was in the process of drying my gloves when someone asked if something was burning. We didn't see anything right away but a few minutes later I noticed a 3 1/2 inch hole melted in one of my rain jacket sleeves. I hadn't noticed it because of the other two layers under my rain jacket. I liked that rain jacket. I bought is especially for my next Camino. I guess I'll have to buy a new one. *sigh*

The Wife teased me a lot. She got a good laugh about it ... until this morning. She was putting on her rain jacket to go out for breakfast when she found two scorch marks on her jacket. I won't be the only one to get a new jacket ... and she won't be making fun of me any more.

"There Is A Freedom In Walking" By Sara Zaleski

2013-05-03T17:03:00.002-05:00

The wife knows me. She has seen how the Camino has changed me and how important walking has become to my life. She brought home the Steven Wright quote that's in the sidebar of Homer's Travels - it's sort of my motto.

This week she brought home a poem written by one of her students. It captures a lot of how I feel when I hike. So on this day when I walked 14.09 miles (22.7 km), with the permission of the student, I'm posting the poem:

There is a freedom in walking

by Sara Zaleski

There is a freedom in walking

A freedom not shown to those who wait

A freedom that allows life to be lived

That gives meaning to this world.

It is a freedom to learn life lessons

To experience breathing as never before

And accept love and seeing as new,

It is a freedom to find peace where it lies

and to take in the mystery of existence.

There is a freedom in walking.

Yep ... Another Walking Post ... Sort Of.

2013-05-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

It seems like a lot of my posts lately have been about walking. When I think about topics I can post about, all I seem to come up with is walking, walking related, or tangentially, Camino related. That seems to be what's been on my mind lately. Which is why I'm a bit surprised that I didn't go for a walk yesterday like I'd originally planned.

I usually walk on Tuesdays and Fridays. This week there was a Camino Conversation (a sequel to the first) scheduled at Backwoods for Tuesday. I knew I wanted to attend and I knew that walking always tires me out so I rescheduled my walking for Wednesday.

The second Camino Conversation was a bit more structured than the first. I told myself to keep quiet this time and let the host, DK, to stick to his script. Last time I kind of turned into a chatty cathy and took over a lot of the conversation. DK spent the first half talking about the history of the Camino. I knew most of the history but I did learn a few new things and a few alternative stories - the Camino, like most historical events, is full of alternate explanations of customs and history. The second half of the night was a talk of the spiritual experiences on the Camino. One of the Pilgrims at the meeting, soon to be a repeat pilgrim, told a wonderful story of singing and Camino coincidence. (I would tell the story but it's not my story to share.) Suffice it to say, I discovered the things I saw, heard, and experienced on the Camino were, with a few personalized tweaks, also seen, heard, and experienced by others.

On the way home from the Camino Conversation I thought about my walking plans for the next day. I had no plans. I decided before I got home that I really didn't want to walk the next day. So I didn't. I still wonder why I changed my mind. I would have thought that the Camino Conversation would have given me an extra little push. Wednesday turned out to be ugly. 30°F (16.7°C) colder than the day before. Windy. Drizzly. Part of me thinks I need to be walking in this type of weather to prepare myself for those ugly days on the Camino but a bigger part of me is relieved that I didn't go walking.

It is rare that I have a completely unscheduled day. Yesterday was such a day. I watched the new episode of Warehouse 13 and followed that with more SyFy fair with the first three episodes of Defiance. (If you want my opinion, Warehouse 13 is awesome and Defiance is ... meh ... it's okay.) I topped off my day of inactivity by baking a pan of brownies using one of my Christmas brownie mixes.

I woke up today to white. Snow. Yes, we had a small accumulation of snow on the ground. It's amazing how depressing snow can look on May 2. Fortunately, the snow was gone by the afternoon.

Snow on May 2, 2013 ... Crazy!

This post is turning into a ramble I think. Despite wanting to stay away from the topic of walking, it is turning out to be a lot about walking ... or not walking. I will be walking tomorrow ... rain or shine. It will be an Urban, pack-less, pole-less, walk around Omaha.

I still have some more walking posts ideas that are jumping around and trying to get my attention. I think I will have to surrender to the fact that I will be posting a lot about walking in the near future. I can think of worse things to be obsessed about.

Four Days Of Walking

2013-04-28T15:31:00.001-05:00

This week has been dominated by a lot of walking. I ended up walking four times this week, the most in one week since my Camino.

The first walk was my usually scheduled urban walk on Tuesday. This week I walked around Bellevue, NE, a suburb of Omaha. It was a nice pack-less and pole-less walk. It was windy but the temps were warming up as spring finally start asserting itself this week. The walk took me through some nicer neighborhoods up in the hills near Fontenelle Forest. At one point I was admiring the houses when I saw two concrete deer in a house's backyard. I thought this was a bit cheesy for the nice neighborhood until I noticed the ear of one of the deer twitch. They weren't concrete. They were real and were watching me attentively. Not so cheesy after all. The hike ended up being 12.42 miles (20 km).

The second hike was the Hawk Walk charity event for the Wife's school on Wednesday. You donate money for tuition assistance and get to walk with 700+ students from the school to lake Zorinsky, around the lake, and back to the school. This was the second time I've done the Hawk Walk, the first time being the last hike before I left for my 2011 Camino. I'd used that one to be sort of a dress rehearsal for my Camino and I walked it with a full pack. This time I walked pack-less and pole-less (Last time I got some strange looks). The weather couldn't have been much better - sunny with a cool breeze. I ended up walking it in just a sweatshirt and jeans. Spring is definitely here. The distance ended up being 5.27 miles (8.5 km). This was the first time I've done back-to-back hikes since the Camino.

The third hike was my normally scheduled Friday hike. This year it fell on Arbor Day, a holiday that was first observed in Nebraska, and the tree lined Wabash Trace was the perfect place to celebrate. I started in Silver City and headed south with a full pack and poles. I also used an hydration bladder instead of a bottle this time. I'd been using a one liter bottle on the last few pack hikes but I found it a bit difficult getting it in and out of the side pack pocket. The one liter bottle was a bit too big for easy access I think. The bladder, with it's attached drinking tube, is much easier to access while walking. The hike was a bit tougher than I expected but I was able to counter the tiredness of my legs with more frequent rest stops. I tend to not stop for rests or I keep them limited to one or two. This hike I rested at the 4, 6, 8, and 11 mile marks or about twice as many times as normal. The distance ended up being 12.18 miles (19.6 km) despite the internal debate about shortening the hike to 10 miles. I guess that extra five miles I did on the Hawk Walk took its toll. Surprisingly my legs felt better than usual after the hike with the strength recovering in a few hours.

The fourth, and last hike, was a Backwoods hosted/guided hike in Indian Cave State Park. I'd been trying to attend one of these Backwoods' hikes since the beginning of the year but the last two have fallen on the same days as Trek Up The Tower and Curling. I hoped to meet some like minded hikers and, perhaps, discover some new hiking trails in the area. We met at the trailhead shortly after 9:00 AM and the ten or so of us (including the two Backwoods people) hiked trails 10, 11, and 9, stopping to rest at the Indian Cave. I would say a third to a half of the people were new to hiking. The remainder had same experience. I'd walked most of these trails before but we did follow an alternate steep descending trail from an overlook to trailhead 11 that I'd never done before. It was one of those trails that if you tripped you would have had a hard time stopping. Fortunately we all made it down without incident. The final distance turned out to be 4.18 miles (6.7 km). It was also the first hike I've done with both a pack and elevation. It went well. I like to hike alone but I enjoyed having people, including two interested in doing the Camino, with me this time.

All four hikes this week were very satisfying and I like how my body is recuperating after the hikes. I've been experimenting with a few things to reduce the stress on my feet but these will be shared in another post. I will say that my feet feel pretty good after 34.05 miles (54.8 km) this week which, I hope, will translate into a more comfortable 2013 Camino.

Wandering Around The Near Future

2013-04-18T18:58:00.001-05:00

When I hike my mind wanders. Usually to the past. I've re-walked the Camino countless times since I got back. Sometimes, when I am preoccupied by something, I wander in the present. Last week, during my two hikes, I wandered around the near future. Back in January, the first post of the year as a matter of fact, I implied that I would not make any plans for the new year. During my wandering last week I threw that idea into the trash bin and I made plans. Actually they are less plans than a framework that someday may become a plan.

My change of heart came when I realized without something to work towards, something more concrete than some vague notions of what I would be doing in the future, I would never achieve any of those vague notions. None of these goals are new. I have mentioned some many times before but, for the first time, I have attached a date ... or at least a year to each one. Here is the framework I put together:

2013: A week or two in and around New Orleans in June. My second Camino in September - October.
2014: The Wife and I are going to Africa. Most likely Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and one other country. The other country will likely be Egypt but, if the political situation changes to the worse then we will have to find an alternate and we have a handful of options..
2015: I will finally do RAGBRAI. I've talked about doing it for years and now I am setting a date. I will have a year and a half to train for it after I return from My Camino which should be plenty.
2016: The Wife and I are tentatively going back to South America for an Amazon cruise, Patagonia, Chile, and Easter Island. Plans for this trip are still a bit vague which is to be expected at this early stage.
2017: This is the year of the big one. The Appalachian Trail (AT). I've said that I wanted to do this before I turned 55 - in 2017 I will turn 54. I will be attempting a through-hike. Thousands try to through-hike the AT every year. Only one in four succeed. Training for this one will start after my return from the Camino, training that will include learning how to camp and hiking with more weight. Hopefully three years is enough time to prepare. Camping skills will also be useful for RAGBRAI.

So there you have it. An ambitious plan with actual years attached to events. I am ready to step up to the challenge ... or should I say challenges. I just hope my body is up to the challenge.

Whatever happens, I should be able to get a few good posts out of my efforts.

Photograph: Autoco-Wrong

2013-04-16T16:52:00.001-05:00

A sign I saw on my walk today. Gave me a chuckle.

Autoco-Wrong
By Bruce H.

Tale Of Two Hikes

2013-04-13T15:27:00.001-05:00

This week was dreary, drizzly, and a bit of a downer. The light snow on Wednesday and Thursday didn't nelp. Gloomy weather always dampens my mood. I sometimes wonder how I survived California's June Gloom. I countered the gloomy cloudscape with a couple of hikes. The first was an urban/urban park walk through Council Bluffs, IA. The second was a nature hike along the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. Would you like to guess which walk had more wildlife? If you guesses the Nature Trail you would be ... wrong.

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The first hike was on Tuesday. I expected this to be a rainy and wet hike. It turned out to be a drizzly wet one but, fortunately for me, it never got above a heavy mist. The umbrella I carried hardly was used but my rain jacket was and, surprisingly, I did not overheat like I usually do when I wear it.

The urban hike took me across the John Kerrey pedestrian bridge into Council Bluffs and up into the Loess Hills. My original route would have taken be through a cemetery on top of the hill and would have been about two miles longer than what I eventually did. Google maps let me down when an intersection turned out not to exist ... or once again I missed it. When I hike my mind tends to be a million miles away and missing a turn would not be a surprise.

I'd never really walking up into the hills in Council Bluffs before. One thing I discovered was, as you get closer to the hills and start climbing, the property values and the size of the homes climb as well. On the top of the ridge the houses appeared to be a bit out of my price range. Along with the expensive homes I saw wild turkeys - the first wildlife of the hike.

I went down the other side of the hill (and watched the home values decline as well) and went to the nearby Big Lake Park passing a curious deer along the way. Big Lake Park actually has four lakes or, more correctly in my opinion, ponds. One of the smaller ponds is open to fishermen though this cold, drizzly day kept the fishermen away. The others serve as habitat for all sorts of birds and animals. This time through the park I saw two types of birds that I usually don't associate with land-locked Iowa: Pelicans and seagulls. At first I thought I was seeing snow geese, more common in these parts this time of year, but the long bills gave the pelicans away.

Pelicans ... in Iowa.

From the park I walked back to the car. The wildlife filled urban hike turned out to be 11.32 miles (18.2 km), two miles shorter than what I'd planned. Despite this It was a satisfying hike and my spirits were lifted.

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The second hike was a bit more substantial. While the urban hike was just a simple walk, the walk I did on Friday was a full blown training hike. I had my poles and, more importantly, I carried a full pack on my back. This was the first time I'd carried a pack since my last walking day of my Camino (23 June 2011).

My backpack was packed with essentially the same gear I'll be taking in September. I ended up over packing. Instead of using a water bladder I used a one liter bottle and, thinking it would unbalance the pack, I put extra weight on the other side of the pack to balance out the bottle. I thought the extra weight would be roughly the same as some of the stuff I had not yet purchased. The final pack weight was 17.6 lb (8 kg). I think this weight was about one or two pounds heavier than my pack will actually be. I overcompensated for things I hadn't bought yet.

The hike was along the Wabash Trace Nature Trail (The three pictures in the slide show on their home page are mine - others can be seen here). I started from the Council Bluffs end and headed in a roughly southern direction down the flat, straight trail. I started out pretty good. The pack did feel heavier than I expected and I will have to rethink how I pack things in the backpack. The smaller pack size carries a bit differently from how my older pack did. The older pack seemed a bit more forgiving. The new one will require some thought. I ended up shifting a few things around in the pack part way through the hike which made the pack ride more comfortably. Carrying water in a hydration bladder will also shift some weight closer to my body and show help it ride better. Next time I wear the pack I will use a bladder.

View from a bench along the a Wabash Trace.

Despite being overcast and gloomy, Friday was probably the best day of the week. At least it wasn't raining. The trees were leafless and, frankly, the Wabash Trace can be boring in spots - too straight and flat. Having said this, there were still nice views from the trail and the new bench they added on the trail looked very welcoming. I'd seen a similar bench in another part of the Wabash back in 2010. I didn't try it out because I was afraid I would never want to get up.

A welcoming bench along the Wabash Trace.

When I planned this hike I didn't take the pack weight into account. I planned for a 14 mile hike which would have been fine without a load but with a pack, especially when you take into account that it had been a couple years since I walked with a pack, I should have shortened the hike. Around the six mile mark my legs started feel a little achy. I turned around at mile seven. My legs complained quite a bit the seven miles back to the car. They're still complaining today. It's been awhile since I've had aches and pains the day after walking. In the end I hiked 14.09 miles (22.7 km).

Photograph: Officer Big Mac

2013-04-12T19:08:00.001-05:00

At the risk of Homer's Travels becoming one of those Facebook "Like if you know what this is" statuses, here is a picture I took the other day while on a walk through Council Bluffs Iowa.

Officer Big Mac
by Bruce H.

Makes me a little happy and sad ... and hungry.

Passings And Changes

2013-04-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

I figured I should put a post together so I looked to see if there was a theme to my week gone by. The only thing that I could see is death.

The week started with Easter which has, as one of its components, death. Of course Easter is about much more, specifically everlasting life and change.

Later in the week Iain M. Banks, the author of the Culture series (of which I have read eight of the nine books), announced that he had been given a prognosis of only months to live. Makes you wonder what you would do if you found out you would not live out the year. Would I go out and travel the world and live my last time on this Earth to its fullest or would I crawl up into a ball in some dark corner and wallow in a pool of self-pity? I think that's a question nobody really knows how to answer until it actually happens to you.

Next came the death of Roger Ebert. In the days when I was still a fan of going to the movies I remember watching Siskel and Ebert every weekend to see what movie(s) I should go to watch the following weekend. When he left the show after his cancer diagnosis I stopped watching and sometime later I lost interest in movies (at least going to the movies at a theater). Strange how the death of a celebrity can bring on the feeling of sadness I experienced when I heard the news.

The week ended with me going to the funeral of my Uncle (my Dad's brother). Over the past ... decades ... yes, decades! When did years become decades? ... Over the past decades I have drifted away from my father's side of the family. Some of that was distance - moving to California took me far away from most of them. Some of it was deliberate on my part. After my Dad's death I found I had little in common with that side of my family, just as I had little in common with my Dad, and I took another direction away from them. I went to the funeral to pay respect to my Uncle. I felt an obligation as he had taken the time to attend my wedding ... and he was a good man.

In the past I would have not handled this week well. Especially my Uncle's death. But I'm ending this week unhindered and fairly content. I have been changing over the past year or two. I'd thought that my attempt at becoming more positive had been an utter failure but I realise now I was just impatient. The move is slow, steady, plodding at times but progressing. I am sad for my Uncle ...and even a bit sad for Roger Ebert and Iain M. Banks ... but I am handling it better and looking ahead instead of dwelling in the past - a most positive thing to do.

Photograph: Evil Easter Bunny

2013-03-31T15:43:00.001-05:00

Is is just me or does this chocolate Easter bunny have a crazy look in its eyes?

Evil Easter Bunny
By Bruce H.

Happy Easter Everybody!

A Spring Day's Exploration

2013-03-30T18:08:00.002-05:00

I went for a hike yesterday. It was the second of the week and it was awesome. I'd kept my first hike of the week relatively short (10.5 miles - 16.9 km) since I was still recovering from a cold and from some of the aching muscles I got from curling. I felt pretty good after that hike so on Friday I decided to push it a bit more.

My plan was to do a 12.5 miles (20.1 km) walk through Council Bluffs, IA. I would start from the Nebraska end of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and walk to Fairmount Park located on a hill overlooking the city. The day was perfect for a hike with temperatures nearly reaching 68°F (20°C), the lightest of breezes, and without a cloud in the sky.

Fairmount park is a nice little park tucked up on the top a section of the loess hills that pass through Council Bluffs. There are areas for picnickers and a lookout point. I entered the park and headed over to the lookout. As I got there a car pulled up. I looked over to see who was joining me when I saw the driver of the car lean over to whisper in the passenger's ear ... or maybe she was kissing him ... or maybe it was going a bit farther. I decided that I would let the lovebirds have some privacy and I turned and walked away instead of enjoying the view. This didn't bother me much as the view from the lookout is not the most impressive, overlooking a mostly industrial and commercial part of Council Bluffs.

I decided to explore more of the little park. I followed a trail that appeared to lead out of the park. The trail took me to a trailhead that I'd seen on other walks and had always wondered where it went. I use the term trailhead loosely as I don't think these trails are official but they do appear to be well traveled. I'll have to go back someday and explore a few more of the trails that wind around the park.

As I was nearing the park exit I saw a sign for the Fairmount Lodge. I turned and followed the sign up a road I'd seen a few times before but never followed. The road climbs a short hill, the only type of hill we have in these parts, and arrive to the "lodge". The lodge was a half buried affair, the roof being a railed in patio. Under the patio was a room that would have been used for either a food stand or tables for indoor parties. At one end of the room were bathrooms. At least, that is what it once was. Three of the four doors were barred. The last may have been sealed at some point but was now open. I went in and found graffiti covered ruins

Revolutionary Graffiti ... In Ruins.

I have always been a bit fond of ruins. There is always an aura of mystery. What surprised me most, really, was the type of graffiti. Beside the usual anarchy symbol was an hammer and sickle, kind of unexpected in such a conservative part of the country. Other slogans talked about "Red Revolution" and "Worker Power". None of the graffiti was particularly artistic. Pictures of the "lodge" can be found here.

Red Revolution ... On Yellow.

I headed back out of the park and made my way back to the car, stopping first for an unhealthy, but yummy, lunch at Arby's. I ended up walking more than I had planned. I think the gorgeous spring weather encouraged me to wander a little more than I usually do. I ended up doing 14.2 miles (22.8 km). The important thing is I felt pretty good after the walk. I think I can call this cold ... and Winter ... officially over.

Camino 2013 - New Trails, New Stages, New Planning

2013-03-28T19:15:00.001-05:00

The month of March is almost over and I think I need to start planning for my upcoming Camino. Who am I kidding? I've been planning for my second Camino since I got back from my first. My planning started with deciding on a route. I've already mentioned the new route in other posts a few times now but I have always been a bit repetitive. Instead of starting in Saint Jean Pied de Port the "traditional" start of the Camino Frances as I did last time I will be starting in Oloron Sainte Marie, France a bit further south on a route known as the Arles route. The Arles goes from Arles, France (naturally) to the Spanish border near Somport. From there the route changes name to the Aragónes route named after the Aragón river it follows.

There are nine walking stages between Oloron Sainte Marie and Obanos close to where the Aragónes merges with the Frances route. This stretch is said to be beautiful and rather solitary as few pilgrims take this route. I will be walking with G_V, who I met on my last Camino, so I won't be totally alone. I think this will be a good start for my Camino giving me some quiet time on the trails before joining the throngs that walk the Frances every year. Included on this section will be a detour to the San Juan de la Peña monastery. We will be taking a bus, probably, from the city of Jaca to the monastery and then walking from the monastery back to the Camino. This will give us time to explore the monastery and get some walking in.

The Aragónes route joins the Frances near the town of Obanos. The way from Obanos to Santiago de Compostela is the same one that I walked last time. Planning the stages on this part of the Camino has been challenging. I am trying to satisfy a few criteria that G_Vand I have both agreed on:

First, avoid the larger cities.
Second, avoid as many of the places we stopped at last time.
Third, include some of our favorite stops as well as add a few we missed on the first Camino (places like Grañon and the monastery at Samos).

I started to put together a plan in November 2011. It took me four versions before I had a set of stages that would meet most of the criteria. This process was complicated by the fact that some albergues close for the winter and this had to be taken into account.

Late last year, a whole year after I'd put together version 4.0, I took another look at the stages and generated version 5.0. Last month I looked at the stages again and realized that my plans were too aggressive. I had the opposite problem than last time when my planned stages were too conservative. Back then I planned roughly thirty-five stages from Obanos to Santiago de Compostela. In actuality I walked it in thirty (I actually bused two stages - this is included in the thirty). Version 5.0 had me doing it in twenty-six. I went back to the drawing board.

I am now on version 9.0. The plan has twenty-eight stages between Obanos and Santiago de Compostela. I'm stumbling my way to a more realistic plan. Twelve of the forty-one stages will be repeat stops (including Santiago de Compostela and a few stops on the way to Fisterra). Two of the repeats are cities (León and Astorga). Version 9.0 includes walking to Fisterra (three days) and continuing on to Muxia (one day) and includes all the "must stops" that we wanted. I haven't met all the criteria but I think I did a pretty good job. All plans are subject to change so there are a four days of padding to play with. In an emergency we can bus to Fisterra and Muxia freeing up two more days.

One thing I found, while planning the stages, was if I stopped at everyplace with fond memories from last time, I would pretty much walk the same Camino as last time. Sometimes you have to let go of some good memories to allow the creation of new good memories.

You can find the proposed list of stages on the Camino de Santiago tab at the top of the page or you can just click here.

So what am I getting myself into this time? Last time I walked 513.61 miles (826.58 km). This time I will be doing 626.96 miles (1,009 km). Substantially more. I will be walking it in forty-one days, five days more than in 2011. I will be averaging about one mile more per day than I did last time. I will also have the longest hiking day I've ever had between La Faba and Samos (22 miles - 35.5 km).

The only thing that is guaranteed about this plan is that it will not be the final plan. Last time I never predicted I would stop in Burgos for two days to let my tendinitis heal. Who knows what will happen this time. The only thing that is certain is that there will be changes along the way. That is the way of the Camino.

Photograph: Princess

2013-03-26T18:51:00.002-05:00

When I go hiking I have a couple of choices to make. One is to find a park and hike in the wilderness. The other is to do a walk around the city. The first choice usually has a lot of beauty associated with it. The other can be a bit sterile ... unless you take the graffiti into account. I'm not a fan of tagging (the act of writing your signature or sign on a surface) but I am a fan of artfully done graffiti such as the one I saw on an electrical box in downtown Omaha:

Princess
By Bruce H.

Note: The artwork was not signed and I took the liberty of naming it.

Curling ...Once Again

2013-03-24T13:33:00.001-05:00

Saturday was the third annual Sioux City Curling Classic (A news video) and like the last two, the Wife and I went up to participate.

Friday night was introduction to the game and practice on the ice. There were nearly double the teams this year over last and the curling classic is becoming a popular even in Sioux City. This round of curling classic, being organized by the Brother-in-Law (BiL), was much better organized than the last one where the scoring had been chaotic and a bit infuriating.

After practice we all went out for a late dinner where I ate a complete plate of Garlic - Parmesan bread sticks followed by a french dip sandwich. By the end of the night I was feeling a bit disgusted with myself. The next morning, having to get up early for our first match, I continued to feel bloaty and generally crappy from the night before. I'm thankful that I don't drink because if I did I probably would have been totally incapacitated. I can be such a lightweight at times.

Our team was a bit smaller than last time. S_T, who had played the last two times was not available this time so we played with a team of five. The BiL was one of our five and he was a bit torn between his organization/scoring/playing duties.

We lost our first match (3-1). We tied our second match (1-1) so we had a shoot out. I threw for our team (the PRESSURE!). My throw was terrible but the opposing team's thrower was worse so we won the second match. We won our third match ... when the other team forfeited. Not the best performance but it was enough to get us into the semi-finals.

The last match was at 3:00. One of our team members, one of the Wife's nieces, became sick and dropped out after the second match, so the BiL and I ended up throwing twice as much as we would have had we had a full team. I'd been relatively fresh for the first three matches but as time went by I felt my energy flow out of me. I was getting tired. My performance in the fourth match showed it too. My aim has always been fairly decent. My main problem has been throwing the stone too hard. During my fourth match I would say that half of my stones didn't even make it to the opposite hog line (the stone must cross the opposite hog line to remain in play). Another quarter of my throws were way off the mark. The game ended with a 1-4 loss and me being totally exhausted.

I was so tired I let the Wife drive home - those who know me know that I usually do all the driving. I think my issue was a combination of still not being over my cold, eating too much junk after the practice session, and having to throw more than I have in the past. I woke up this morning and my thighs are screaming. I don't remember that happening last year. I don't think it's old age creeping in. Must be the cold.

Despite all this we had fun and we are all looking forward to the Sioux City Curling Classic IV ... where I hopefully won't be fighting a cold and we will have a full team. Next time ... Victory will be ours!

A Cold First Day Of Spring

2013-03-20T10:18:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of Spring and I was planning to commemorate this day with a 12.5 mile walk around Council Bluffs. I got up, did my stretching and strength exercises I do each weekday to prevent the plantar fasciitis that I successfully battled late last year and to keep my pelvis on the straight and narrow, and then felt totally exhausted. I guess the cold that I thought I was getting over is hanging around for one more day.

So today, the first day of Spring, a very chilly, below average, Spring day, will be spent resting and recuperating. No walking for me today. I have to recover since I will be curling this weekend and need all the energy I can get to finish last again this year.

I'd been hoping for an early spring, as were the flowers in our back yard, but the snow in the forecast for this weekend is saying otherwise. Oh well, it will be here soon enough ... we just have to be patient.

Happy First Day Of Spring Everybody!

Photograph: Spring Preview

2013-03-19T15:54:00.000-05:00

From our backyard. a little preview of what is to come ... soon.

Spring Preview
By Bruce H.

Goodbye Google Reader ... Time To Move On To The Next Shiny Object

2013-03-15T20:24:00.001-05:00

I am a news junky. I get news mostly from RSS feeds and Facebook. This week a very useful tool for keeping up with the happening around me began a three month process that will end in its demise.

For years now I've been been among the thousands ... millions (???) ... of people who used Google Reader (GR) as their RSS feed reader. GR brought me my daily news, my morning funnies, my tech news, and, most importantly, my blog posts from my Internet friends. When I learned Wednesday that Google, in it's attempt to clean up its portfolio of services, will be killing GR, I went into mourning. It was like I was losing an old friend.

By coincidence, a few days earlier ... I can't remember when ... has it been a week? .... more? ... anyway, I decided to dip my little toe into the Twitter puddle. I'd thought of doing it for a while. What had stopped me before was I didn't know what I would get from Twitter that I already didn't get from my RSS feeds. I finally took the plunge when I realized that I'd better stake a claim to my Twitter handle before someone else got it (yeah, I'm a bit late but I was lucky as it was still available). My Twitter handle is @HomersTravels. I haven't tweeted anything yet but I plan to tweet my Homer's Travels posts just like I auto-post them to Facebook. As a matter of fact this post should be my first official Tweet (apologies to everyone who is both my Facebook friend and my Twitter follower for the redundancy).

What does Google Reader and Twitter have to do with each other? Turns out a lot of my RSS feeds (like Engadget, Gizmodo, Boing Boing, etc.) are also tweeted. Following a sites twitter feed does the same as subscribing to their RSS feed. Twitter is not a complete replacement for GR though. Many of the blogs I follow do not have a twitter account so I will still have to find an RSS reading solution.

That's where FlipBoard comes in. My relationship with Flipboard has been a bit rocky. The app allows you to combine multiple social networks/aggregators (Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr, YouTube among others) into one slick, magazine style, user experience. At first I found it confusing and difficult to use, especially when using it to read GR RSS feeds. The app seems to have a limit to the number of RSS articles it would download at a time. It took a little snooping to realize this and, after you've read your feeds, you had to reload to get more articles. I was so frustrated that I uninstalled it ... and reinstalled it ... at least three times before I decided to buckle down and just learn it. My experience with FlipBoard changed when I used it to read my Twitter feed. The Best Man had said he used FlipBoard to read Twitter and I can see why he likes it - it can be pretty slick. As I have added twitter feeds, I have deleted RSS feeds and this, in turn, makes GR work better with FlipBoard because there are fewer RSS feed articles and you don't bump up against the limit as often.

So, how does FlipBoard help with the whole GR is going away issue? This FlipBoard blog post says it all. It appears that if you link your GR account with FlipBoard, they will copy all of your feeds over. It also explains that you can add any RSS feeds to FlipBoard.

So, it seems that a combination of Twitter and FlipBoard will solve my problem while giving the added benefit of aggregating all my updates into one app. No more checking GR then checking Facebook then checking Twitter then back to the beginning ... ad nauseum. With the addition of Twitter to my news repertoire I will never be starved for news. If anything my news obsession will go into overdrive. The only issue I have now is that FlipBoard is a mobile app only and there is no desktop interface. Since I am finding I'm using my Nexus 7 much more than my desktop for casual browsing, I don't imagine this will be a problem.

A side benefit of all this Google Reader brewhaha (on Twitter the shut down of Google Reader trended higher than the new pope for a while) is that I'm taking the time to trim out the chaff in my RSS feeds and doing a little housecleaning. Turns out I have a lot of feeds that I rarely read or rarely update. All this cleaning ... and just in time for Spring.

Preparation Not Prepared

2013-03-08T19:41:00.001-06:00

Today the weather was perfect for a hike. There was a light breeze, much lighter than on Tuesday, and the temps were going to be in the upper 40s to low 50s. I decided to go to a state park I haven't been too for a long time. As a matter of fact I've only been there once back in 2010. The park: Preparation Canyon.

I got in the car and just under an hour and a half later I rolled up to a padlocked gate. Yeah, the park was closed. No sign of explanation anywhere. This was a bit disappointing since I'd visited the park's web page a few days earlier to print out a trail map and had seen nothing about the park being closed.

Not wanting this to be a total waste I headed to the nearby Loess Hills Overlook, a nice viewing platform in the Loess Hills State Forest. From the observation platform you can take a short trail along a ridge line. The trail was muddy (Loess Hills mud is thick and sticky - the worst kind) so I walked along the edge on the grass. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) must be working on the trail as several evergreen trees along the trail had been cut and the trees were left on the trail. I assume they will be returning to cut them up and remove them from the trail. I stepped over or walked around several trees until I reached a fence. I turned around and took a spur along a side ridge until I hit another fence. From there I returned to the observation platform. All in all I walked a whopping 1.24 miles. Not very satisfying.

The trail runs along the ridge. (This is what it looks like in late summer.)

While I was walking this path along the ridge I remembered that Preparation Canyon has a "back" entrance to give campers easy access to the back country campsites. After my little ridge walk I drove to the back entrance. The back road, like many roads in the Loess Hills, is a dirt road. Just as the trail I had been on was muddy, the dirt road I turned on was also muddy. It didn't take long before my ol' Honda was sliding around. I decided to turn around before I ended up in a ditch and headed home, my hiking itch unscratched.

UPDATE: While I was drafting this post I sent an e-mail to the Iowa DNR and got a very quick response. I could have parked outside the gate and hiked in (I actually considered this but I tend to respect locked gates). He said the park us usually closed between Dec and Apr but that he would go up there soon to unlock the gate. He apologized about not updating the web page and was nice enough to attach a new updated trail map (there are more trails now). Looks like I'll have to go up there again ... when it's drier.

Updated Map of Preparation Canyon
{Click on it to see a bigger version}

Pole Position

2013-03-07T13:44:00.002-06:00

A while back I mentioned that I had to figure out how to get my trekking poles to Spain for my next Camino. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) frowns upon taking trekking poles into the airplane cabin and, since I was going to carry on my pack and all its contents, I had to figure out how to get my trekking poles and a small pocket knife/scissors, whose inch and a half blade would also be considered a deadly weapon, to the start of my Camino.

Earlier this week the Camino must have whispered in the TSA's ear when they announced both small knives and poles would be allowed in carry on bags. This fixes all my problems. I should be able to pack my poles and pocket knife into my pack and carry them on the plane. I just hope the flight attendants and the sky marshals don't get their way and get the TSA to reverse their decision.

There is another trekking pole issue I have to tackle. It's not that big of an issue but I am notoriously indecisive. During my Fontenelle Forest hike a few weeks ago I bent one of my poles. While I managed to straighten it, the third section will no longer collapse (trekking poles collapse to make them easy to pack/transport). Not being able to collapse one of my poles means I need to buy new poles. Should I buy my poles in the US before I go or should I buy them in Oloron-Sainte Marie, France where I will be starting my Camino? Should I buy good ones (i.e. expensive ones) or buy cheap ones for the Camino and buy better ones when I get back to use on the Appalachian Trail? Decisions, decisions.

Buying the poles in France would make it easier - one last thing to pack - but it would also mean a late start on the first day because I would have to go to an outfitter and buy a set of poles. And what about the quality of the poles? My first instinct would be to buy a nice set of (probably) expensive poles but expensive poles have been known to walk off on their own along the Camino.

Any suggestions or thoughts (including suggestions on brands you would recommend) are welcome in the comments. I have some time to think about these minor conundrum.

Blown Away

2013-03-05T18:17:00.001-06:00

I think I must have been a little crazy when I went walking today. The temps were in the 20s-30s, not really that cold, but these temps were accompanied by some wicked northwest winds. Half of the walk was fine because I was heading to the east or south and the wind was at my back. The other half was pure heck frozen over.

I must have looked pretty bad as I walked west along Cornhusker road. This stretch of busy road borders a river (the Papio) and flat farmland that provided no obstruction to the wind. You know how I posted about no one ever stopping to ask if I needed help (I talk about it here)? Well, I must have really looked pathetic today because three ... count them, three ... cars slowed down and asked if I was okay and asked if I needed a lift. It's really nice to know that people care but it's not nice to know that I looked so bad. I told all three of the drivers that I was fine and thanked them for stopping with a smile.

I managed to complete the walk though it turned out to be a half mile shorter than Google Maps had said it would be. I was hoping for around twelve and a quarter miles and ended up with a less satisfying 11.85 miles. I guess Google doesn't take the wind into consideration when it measures distance. That sounds a lot better than saying it was user error. At least that's what I think.

In Search Of A Group

2013-03-03T15:50:00.002-06:00

When I returned from the Camino I looked for Camino groups in Omaha. I'd heard of various groups where pilgrims and pilgrims-to-be got together to swap stores and advice. I was disappointed when I couldn't find any close to home. A week or so ago, while perusing the Camino Forum, I came upon a post about the first meeting of the Camino de Nebraska. That meeting was last night. I was excited.

The meeting was held at the Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, NE. The organizer who was planning her own Camino in a few years, invited a guest speaker who had walked the Camino twice (Spring 2009 & Fall 2011). I looked forward to sharing stories and learning from the guest speaker's experience.

My expectations turned out to be off the mark. I'd had a very good experience at the Backwoods Camino Conversation last January and I'd expected that this would be something like that - a gathering of future and past pilgrims exchanging stories and ideas. It really wasn't anything like that. The speaker, instead of facilitating a conversation, lectured. The lecture was more about the speaker's experiences than how you should go about planning your own Camino. The group of people in the group, maybe a dozen, really were more curious than really interested in doing the Camino - there were a few of course including the organizer and her daughter who were planning to do it. I did enjoy the speakers pictures as they took me back to my Camino.

The organizer is also trying to put together several mini-pilgrimages to and from several religious shrines/churches in Nebraska (hence the name Camino de Nebraska). Joining in on one or more of these hikes is tempting but I haven't decided if I'll participate or not.

I'm not sure if this groups is right for me. The guest speaker's lecture fit the group well I think but I didn't feel like I fit in. There was a religious undertone that really doesn't appeal to me. Maybe it was just the setting of the first meeting and how the hikes were being described as pilgrimages to churches and shrines. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Not really sure why that even bothers me since the Camino is a religious pilgrimage ... a pilgrimage that has become very secular.

I'll be keeping my eye on the Camino de Nebraska group. Wait and see how it progresses. Who knows, I may discover that my first impressions were wrong. But, when I mentioned I'd been looking for a local Camino group, I was told twice that I should start my own, a clear indication to me that the Camino de Nebraska is not the group that I'm searching for.