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I’ve now hiked more than 2,500 miles in my hiking “career”. My goal is to surpass 3,000 miles by the end of this trek. That will happen.

My other goal is to have raised more than $100,000 over those miles for the charities I hike for. Little nervous on that one. As of now, we’re about $5,000 short. If you’ve been procrastinating, now is the time!!

Loved my little tent spot last night. First opportunity to tent where I could hear the surf.

Cloudy and a bit cool starting out this AM!

I’ve got my walking pace pretty dialed in. I go 5 Km’s/hr (3 mph). On the AT it was usually 2.5 mph.

I go pretty fast but I also get temporarily disoriented once in a while. Yesterday I went past the same person 3 times. Missed a couple turns. Sometimes the signage is a bit confusing.

Today was the best I’ve felt physically. Been having a pain in my left shin each morning that usually goes away in an hour. Think it’s shin splint from too much pavement. Today there was very little pavement and no pain.

I’ve decided I won’t be leaving the coast and the Camino del Norte for the mountains and Camino Primitivo.

It has been cool enough for me here along the coast. I’m pretty sure I don’t have appropriate attire for the mountains.

Plus I don’t need to prove to myself that I can hike up and over mountains. Been there…done that. If I feel the need to do that again I’ll just get on Pacific Crest Trail. Nothing like that planned…just to be clear.

Did I remember to mention that I am really enjoying the coastal views?

The last half of the day was up in the hills. It was a nice change of scenery. Reminded me a bit of the AT.

My “Hola” pic of the day. Doesn’t she have the prettiest smile? She thought I was loco for wanting to take her pic.

This next lady offers coffee and drinks to pilgrims as they pass by her house. I had a coke and chatted with her for 15 minutes. She forced me to use Spanish. That was good practice for me. When I was leaving I said “Muchos gracias” in my best Spanish. She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said “You’re welcome”. We both had a good laugh.

I’ve been on a mission last 2 days to make it to Villaviciosa.

I’ve got a birthday party to get to and I’m excited to meet up with some of my friends.

I made it!  One of the good things about being an old guy out here is that the young ladies feel sorry for you and let you hang out with them.

Meet my posse! Left to right…Jessica, Deniella, me, Sally, Scout, and Naomi. It was Deniella’s birthday. She is from Mexico. The other 4 just graduated from college in Utah. They had been roommates for a couple of years and have a great time together.

Last Friday, June 7, I made a big error.

It’s difficult to post videos to blog and I rarely do a video because it takes up too much memory on my phone.

On that Friday, I posted a video to Instagram and Facebook thinking it was just some stupid bit.

The reviews told a different story:

“I believe the Sangria is flowing in your head with Bob Dylan.”

“Apparently you scored some weed before shooting this video.”

“English. Spanish. Jamaican. I’m digging the accent, mon.”

“What kind of happy pills are you taking, buddy?”

“You are a goober mi amigo.”

I erased it from my phone after posting and feel badly that some of my loyal followers have not been able to see this masterpiece!!

If you are interested, I believe there are 3 options:

1. Try this link. May need FB.

2. Find me on FB (Jeff Peterson…there’s probably only 83,247 of those) and look for video post on June 5.

3. Find me on Instagram (just_pete99). Video has my face predominantly displayed.

If none of those work, my humblest apologies.

Just Pete

It was a really nice, partly cloudy, 65ish kind of day. Good walking weather. 

Got my long board out to shred a few today. 

I think we should all chip in, buy this beach house, and just make it party central.  I’ll be in charge of the Budweiser. You guys figure out who’s in charge of all the rest of the minor details.  Who’s in?

Approaching the town of San Vicente de la Barquera. Appears to be another nice surf town. I’d only been walking for a couple hours but thinking about stopping here for the day. 

Went by a bunch of surf shops and surfers just before town. I was liking it. 

This guy must be extremely patient. I can’t imagine how long it takes to rake together one of those big bales!

One of my “things” is I smile and say “Hola” to everyone. Construction workers, joggers, farmers, everyone I pass. I get extra special enjoyment when it’s an elderly person who is alone.  I’ve gotten some unforgettable smiles in return.  You can do this at home yourself. Sometimes these people are alone and sad. Your hello may make their day. It’s easy and you’ve nothing to lose. Give it a shot.

I offered $1000 for this old school cigarette machine. Fortunately they said no because I really didn’t think about how I would carry it. 

Happy trails and buen Camino!

My feet and knees were sore enough last night that I got up about 1AM and soaked in a hot bathtub for 20 minutes. Felt a bit better after that. 

They weren’t lying about the wind warning. Blew pretty hard all day. Guessing sustained winds near 30 mph and gusts to 40. 

Remember yesterday when I saw what I hoped were clouds up in the mountains. Well, they’re not clouds. 

Llamas…or are they alpacas…or is it the same thing?

Heading back to the coast. This wind is howling. Going into the wind, my hat tries to blow off but string holds it on…and darn near chokes me. 

In most of the towns, the Camino goes by or near a church. This is in Cóbreces. One of the standouts from my perspective. 

Kris, I say we get something like this to tow around the country!  Looks like something the Clampett’s should have had.  Jay Reidenbach, think we can just park it in Plantation?

The sea is very angry today. 

That really is snow and it keeps getting closer!  Been walking towards it for 2 days. 

That is Comillas in distance. It is an older beach town (cobblestone streets).

Antoni Gaudi is my favorite architect. Well, right after Bernie and Renae Wenzig.  These pics are from El Capricho, one of his first works of importance (1883-1885). 

I have no clue what the name of this river is but it was a major pain in my butt today. See those houses across the river?  I would walk on the other side of them 2 hours (and 6 miles) later. Frustrating!

When you walk by yourself for 8 straight hours with no music, podcast, etc., you have lots of conversations with yourself and sometimes animals. I really tried to encourage these sheep to take a short break from eating and enjoy the view. They did not respond which I guess is fortunate.

Got just little teaser views of ocean this afternoon. 

Every once in a while the towns and the setting are so scenic it almost looks fake. 

26 miles is a loong way. I don’t care what the terrain is like. After 20 miles my legs are pretty dead, my mind is pretty shot, and I’m pretty much staggering down the Camino. A bit scary when you’re walking down a road. 

After 8 hours of walking, I finally made it to Santillana del Mar. It’s billed as one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. Many movies are filmed here and it is filled with tourists. 

The Camino goes right down “Main Street”. 

Thought I was going to be in for some rain today as I left Noja. 

I’ve seen thousands of this type of palm tree in my days. Never seen one with geraniums growing up the trunk. Love this look. 

And then for the last 5 or 6 miles we are back to the beach. That just doesn’t get old!

The Camino goes right along the top of these cliffs. 

Sometimes it’s good to take a look back and see where you came from. 

Sometimes it’s good to take a look back and see where you came from. 

Sometimes it’s good to take a look back and see where you came from. 

Our destination is that long stretch of sandy beach ahead and the surf town of Somo. 

Spent some time with a couple salty locals.

Happy trails and buen Camino!