New Trekking Poles!

I used to not much care for trekking poles, but now i just love them. I was using them wrong. What would the world be with out You tube to learn new things?  Not only do they help with balance, they are great for pointing, using to steady a camera, whack weeds out of the way. Also I found that sometimes my hands would swell if  I wasn't careful of the salt in my diet. (Also a Camino concern as fries are pretty much a staple on the pilgrim menu) and that doesn't happen if I use poles. I had previously bought the Black Diamond Z poles that were of a fixed length. While I liked them, there were just slightly too short.  I used them anyway for awhile, but recently decided it was time for new ones. I got the adjustable yet still foldable into Z style,. so they are easy to put in your backpack and hopefully can be carried on planes.  I love them! I got them from Sunny Sports, at a good price. My sister was able to fit my old poles, so I was able to set off the cost of my new ones somewhat. I highly recommend them They are light, easy to deploy.

Stock photos of my new poles!

Since it is still fairly cool, I decided to go a walk thru the shade-less desert

Its actual quite early for wildflowers here, so hopefully it is a sign of a good season.

It was surprisingly difficult to get a shot of my walking stick while holding it. But They are just wonderful! 

Pilgrim book review: Laughter and tears along spain's 500 mile Camino de Santiago

This book had a lot of potential, but I think it could have used some editing.  The writing was good, but what threw me was that he had quite a bit of repetition. He based this book off of his blog, so he would begin the chapter with the blog post then go back and write about the same events. Sometimes with the exact same wording. I found it confusing.  This was his first trip abroad as a 53 year old American from Texas.

As with all Camino books I find it fascinating what lessons they take away from their experience. In someways, everyone's Camino is fairly similar. Sleep walk eat repeat.

The item that stuck out most to me was said by a fellow pilgrim he met:

"Every pain has a meaning, and when you find the meaning you don't need the pain anymore."

Along the same lines, " Maybe you can't find the peace and happiness unless you slog you way thru the difficulties too... "

What I learned most from following his journey was facing regret and fear with the attitude of what did it teach you and how it can make one a better person. And it is never too late to try something that pushes you out of your comfort zone.