Rainbows and Midsummer and Dreams

Well, I asked for sunshine and it came out in the most glorious rainbow just moments ago! I'm looking at a triple rainbow which is dipping down into the city below. It is beyond magnificent! You can't tell by the photo, but in reality, the rainbow looked gianormously HUGE and wide.

My housemate is off to Honduras tonight with a team of about 25 folks from our church, Trinity Episcopal in Portland's NW neighborhood. She'll be back on July 1st.

So much to do between now and July 2nd when I take off. Eeek! Just realized after reading and re-reading travel info that I DO have to re-microchip Sam. In order to enter France, he has to have a 15 digit microchip. The one he already has is only 10 digits and does not meet international, European ISO standards.

I hiked back up the hill from church today in the rain. It was lovely.

And I decided to throw together an impromptu costume party for tomorrow night. Theme is Midsummer Night's Dream. Costume is anything Shakespearean, Roman or Greek god or goddess (think toga), or faerie folk. It will be a small gathering with a few friends, but everyone is welcome. We should be gathering around 8:30pm till ???
I'll light the candles, turn up the hot tub, open the billiard room, and hopefully, as the weather cooperates tomorrow, we'll open all the french doors to the balcony and enjoy the great new city views (thanks to the tree trimming crew which was here yesterday).

Tomorrow promises to be sunny with clear skies for the longest night of the year! Yay! So, if you're in town, drop by for fruit, cheese, and wine, a few lines from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, maybe a solstice dance, and gratitude for a fantabulous summer ahead and new friends!

Countdown to take off...

(Photo by Charles Croninger-2008)

Yep, I'm off to Europe in 12 days! Still have a ton of errands to do before I head to France, but I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the relaxed pace of summer vacation.

Good news about my car! My Honda dealer says they can cut me a new key (to replace the one which was stolen a month ago) for only $7. Yippee!

Gotta run down to Salem to get Sam's international travel papers, pick up a few more items for the trip, and we'll be ready!

My college roommate is coming to visit before I take off. We'll head over to the wild Oregon coast for a day or so. Sweet! If you haven't been to the Oregon coast before, you don't know what you're missing. The beaches are rugged with mountains dipping into the ocean. And they are NOT overcrowded like the beaches in California. Nice.

Oh, and I already tried out my new shirt (an early birthday gift from my sister) which is the latest in clothing technology: SPF 50+, sleeves that are long but can be rolled up, antimicrobial fibers (to prevent odors), and moisture wicking. Ingenious. I love it. The new hiking/sport sandals from Keen (TM)are pretty good, though I think I need a bit more arch support.

Still looking for one more good, comfy pair of shoes for the summer trek. Thinking of getting a pair of trail running shoes, for super-duper cushion. Decided not to toss my old hiking boots after all. I started to pitch them (had 'em since 2002), but wore them last week hiking in the Sierra Nevadas and found that they are still in great shape and supported my ankles well in rocky, gravelly, scrabbly terrain. So the Timberlands (TM) stay. What can I say? They make a boot which lasts and lasts.

Well, time is slipping away and I haven't done a 5 hour hike yet today, so I'm off. It's a nice, cloudy day, perfect for hiking and NOT getting sunburned. YAY!

Wishful thinking and the power of hope

Well, three weeks ago my backpack and wallet were stolen as I hiked with my closest friend in the Portland area. Bummer! The thieves bashed out her car window and stole her purse and my backpack. We think we arrived at the car within 30 minutes of the incident, so we were able to cancel credit cards and bank cards immediately.

The good news is that Sarah's wallet was returned to her within 36 hours! Yay! All that was missing was the cash (about $15). The rest of her cards and everything was still intact. Frankly, I would gladly have PAID the thieves NOT to break Sarah's car window.

I'm still hoping and believing that my backpack with my car key (the only one I had) and my wallet will be returned to me BEFORE I leave for Europe. My bank cards have been replaced, account numbers all changed, but still waiting on replacement cards for everything else (social security card, insurance card, drivers license, etc.).

I was hoping to find a round-trip airfare for less than $1000. So far, the prices have been hovering around $1600. But I'm believing for a better deal. Found just what I wanted on StudentUniverse.com, but they say I am too old! Age discrimination!!! I qualify as a full-time grad student but some flights are only for students under 25 years of age. Darn it! I'm still hoping that I will get this price.

I hate to buy more things, but I did get Sam's doggy backpack, collapsible bowl, doggy shoes and socks (in case his feet get sore), and travel diapers for the air transport part of the trip. Still need a more affordable airline-approved kennel and need new hiking shoes for me. Happily, my wonderful Italian neighbors (who work for Nike) have offered me a family-discount pass at the Nike family Discount store to help me get outfitted for the trek. Now, I'm believing for favor along the pilgrimage route for places which will allow my dog to stay here and there. We'll be camping sauvage, or primitive camping, along the way to save money.

The itinerary at this point is below:

July 2: Depart Portland
July 4: Arrive Paris, catch train from Paris to Calais
July 5: start walking! from Calais to Wissant (approximately 9 miles)
July 6: Wissant to Guines (app. 10 miles)
July 7: Guines to Alembon (12 miles)
July 8: Alembon to Wisques (app. 12-15 miles)
July 9: Wisques to Enguinegatte (10 miles)
July 10: Enguinegatte to Amettes (LAUNDRY DAY) (9 miles)
July 11,12: Amettes (camp out) to Arras (25 miles)
July 13: Arras to Peronne (possibly campout) (27 miles)
July 14-16: Peronne to Tergnier (campout) to Laon (app. 23 miles + 23 miles)
July 17: Laon to Corbeny (campout) (12-15 miles)
July 18, 19: Corbeny to Reims (the Cathedral where Joan of Arc helped crown the dauphin king of France is here). Stay at Reims 2 nights, July 18, 19. LAUNDRY. (18-20 miles...trip total so far, 200 miles)
July 20-21: Reims to Chalons-en-Champagne (this is nearly 28 miles...possibly camp out again- one to two day walk, depending....)
July 22-23-24: Depart Chalons-en-Champagne, camp out 1/2 way, arrive Brienne-le-Château (stay 2 nights). LAUNDRY, etc. - 44 miles
July 25: Depart Brienne-le-Chateau, arrive Bar-sur-Aube (15 miles)
July 26: Depart Bar-sur-Aube to Clairvaux (9 miles)
July 27: Depart Clairvaux, walk to Chateauvillain (10 miles) stay 1 night. (Trip total so far...300 miles)
July 28-29-30: Chateauvillain to Arc-en-Barrois (10 miles)Celebrate my birthday, rest, LAUNDRY
July 31: Arc-en-Barrois to Langres (15 miles)
August 1-2-3: Langres to camping (15 miles) to Dampierre-sur-Salon (15 miles) Stay at Domaine des Papillons- 2 nights
August 4-5-6: Dampierre-sur-Salon to camping (15 miles) to Besancon (16 miles) Stay at Besançon 2 nights (trip total so far, approximately 395 miles)
August 7: Train to Lausanne, Switzerland. Stay in Lausanne 1 night. (75 miles)
August 8: Catch ferry from Lausanne to Villeneuve (OR take the S1 commuter train, 23 miles)
August 9: Walk from Villeneuve to St. Maurice (15 miles)
August 10: St. Maurice to Martigny (9 miles)
August 11-12: Martigny to Orsieres (17 miles- this will be very steep, may need to camp out one night and adjust to altitude, dependent on weather forecast-Alps)
August 13-14: Orsieres to camp out to Bourg Saint Pierre (30 miles- trip total, approximately 500 miles, again weather permitting)
August 15-16: Bourg Saint Pierre to the Hospice at the Grand Saint Bernard Pass (8 miles at 8113 feet above sea level or 2473 meters high) LAUNDRY and spiritual retreat: stay at Hospice Hotel which accommodates dogs, of course!)
August 17: Walk from the Pass to Aosta, Italy (20 miles down hill)
August 18: REST in Aosta- do LAUNDRY
August 19: BUS from Aosta to Fidenza/Pontremoli
August 20-21: Cross the Cisa Pass at Pontremoli to Sarzana (24 miles)- possibly camp out one night
August 22-23: hike from Sarzana to Pietrasanta (Marina...on the coast) 18 miles- camp out on beach one night, then one night at Youth Hostel on beach
August 24: BUS from Pietrasanta to Pisa
August 25: Pisa sightseeing + LAUNDRY
August 26-27: Bus from Pisa to Siena, sightseeing in Siena
August 28: Walk from Siena- 17 miles south- to Campriano (the Vineyards)
August 28, 29, 30, 31: Stay at Campriano (TRIP TOTAL = 980 miles) LAUNDRY
see www.campriano.com
September 1: Hike from Campriano to San Quirico d'Orcia (21 miles = 1000 miles trip total)
September 2: San Quirico d'Orcia to La Scala to Radicofani (16 miles)
September 3: Radicofani to Acquapendente (14 miles)
September 4: Acquapendente to Bolsena on the Lake (11 miles) camp out
September 5-6: Bolsena to Viterbo (19 miles), stay in/near Viterbo 2 nites- LAUNDRY
September 7-8-9: Viterbo to camp out 1/2 way to Campagnano di Roma (30 miles),
stay at C di R Sept 8& 9.
September 10: Walk from Campagnano di Roma to La Storta (10 miles)
September 11: La Storta to Roma!!! (10 miles)
September 11-12-13: Sightseeing in Rome (TRIP TOTAL= just over 1100 miles) LAUNDRY, POST Office- pick up Sam's kennel from Post Restante.
September 15: Rome to Portland

Obviously, I tried to schedule rest time and days to do laundry or run errands, and I hope to stop over at internet cafes to post photos and blogs as often as possible. So the schedule will have to be flexible, somewhat. I tried to build in a cushion around days on which I hope to travel (in other words, I tried to plan for the chance that I might be walking more slowly than I had anticipated). I think I can walk between 2-3 miles per hour with full backpack and dog on/off leash. So with long summer days, I should be able to cover anywhere from 10-20 miles in a day, possibly 25 if the terrain is flat.

My major benchmarks are arriving at Reims by July 18+/-, Chateauvillain/Arc-en-Barrois by July 28, Grand Saint Bernard Pass Hospice by August 15th, Campriano by August 28, Roma by September 11, and back to Portland September 15.

Hope this helps! And I'd love for you to join for all of it or for any part of the trek. I've made reservations at the vineyard at Campriano, just south of Siena. Only 50 euros per night per person at the villa/estate. I've been telling all my friends to meet me there or in Arc-en-Barrois if they want to hang out.