IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SHOES 👠

I have a pair of hiking boots. I bought them years ago because we always went to a state park for a few days at New Year’s Eve and hiking was part of the fun.  Actually those “hikes” were more like a walk. Our girls were young so a 10 mile hike was out of the question (as if I would ever ask that question) and my boots were just fine for what we were doing. As I started my training (a 1-2 mile walk with the dog is training isn’t it) I discovered that my boots weren’t all that comfortable on a daily basis.  So my husband suggested a trip to the REI store.  This was before we had fully committed to the Camino.  So in my mind we were going to a store we didn’t need to go to, to shop for things we weren’t going to buy, for a trip we weren’t taking.

In shopping for boots the big problem I ran into is my feet and considering we are planning a 500 mile walk this is not a good place to start with a problem.  Several years ago I broke my right ankle in three places.  The circumstances of the break involved my dad’s attic and a pile of aluminum pie pans (about 50 of them that I was reaching for, don’t ask why those pans were so important) and I fell through the ceiling on to the concrete floor of the garage.

Since my ankle is a bit janky (I’m sure that’s a medical term) I wanted the good ankle support that a high top boot would give and at the same time since my ankle bone is misshapen and sticks out a bit I liked the low profile of a hiking shoe that wouldn’t rub against the bone.

The people there were very helpful. I had a young man helping me but another young man and woman in the department took an interest and made several suggestions. Despite my leaning toward a hiking shoe they found me a boot with lots of ankle padding.  I ended up purchasing a pair of waterproof hiking boots with great support and a pair of trekking poles.

So much for shopping for things I wasn’t going to buy.