First Sello of 2016

Every pilgrim carries a credencial to identify him or her as a legitimate pilgrim. They are issued by various Confraternities of Saint James, and you can also get them at Cathedrals and other places along the Way. All pilgrim albergues and refugios require that you have a credencial in order to stay there.

You get it stamped at least twice each day to record where you’ve been and to prove that you’re actually walking (or biking or riding a horse) on the Camino.

Last time I went a little crazy in collecting the stamps, or sellos, along the Way. I ended up filling three credencials.

It was fun.

Today being Leap Day, I thought it might be fun to get our first sello for 2016.

During my lunch break, I walked up to Saint James Cathedral in Seattle and did just that. So I suppose that in some way our Camino has already started.

Yesterday we walked about 15km, and then I spent most of the rest of the day on my feet. Today I am sore! I know that a typical Camino day will be five or ten kilometers longer, but we’re clearly still working ourselves up to Camino-ready.

Francine is nursing a plantar issue that is manifesting itself as pain in one heel. Fortunately her new Keens seem to be helping! Even so, we’ve been dialing back the training hikes a bit. We need her injury to heal before we arrive in Spain.