Day 5 by Doris

It is finally time that I contribute to this blog again. My only earlier attempt was not posted as it did not pass Gary's quality control. I was rather put out at the time but with hindsight he was right (him being right does not happen often – so savor it). I had written a 'we started here, then went there, then there and ended up here' kind of entry when I hardly could keep my eyes open.

We have found our rhythm and a daily routine very quickly. The day starts by waking up and assessing levels of pain and stiffness that remain from the previous day. I have been very lucky with little pain. Yesterday I woke up completely without, today after our first very hilly walk I have some but I know it will be gone as soon as I have warmed up. Then we have a hotel breakfast – some more varied then others but all Continental featuring at the very minimum bread rolls, German sausages, ham and cheese. I make up two sandwiches which we take along for elevenses but they usually are all we eat until dinner together with a couple of apples.

We know the distance we would like to achieve on the day and set out to achieve it. We might not be the fastest walkers but we very determined ones. Every day we have either achieved the distance we had set out to do or we added some more because we did not want to stop at 3 pm or like yesterday when Gary had his first pain free walk we took on a challenging walk leaving Miltenberg at 2 pm.

We find a hotel just before our legs go on strike, we shower and I wash what needs washing. Then we have dinner and Gary gets out his special 'tool' to measure the distance we have actually walked. It is a shoe string with a knot in it. The knot represents 21 km which has somehow become our badge of achievement and is regularly surpassed. Then we decide where and how far we are going to walk the next day.

We are tired and tend to be in bed between 9 and 10 pm – one would think we would both just pass out and sleep through the night. But whilst we are both physically tired, we have not had any mental challenge during the day and we find ourselves in a very unusual situation that makes us both sleep very fitfully with minds racing. I guess it will take time for our minds and bodies to adjust to their role reversal.

Whatever happens, I am immensely proud of our achievement so far. We have walked 1/10 of the way already, are both in good spirit and acceptable physical condition. Gary and I make a really good team. The weather has been cloudless blue skies since we have left and we have had more than our fair share of encouragement from our family and friends and many well wishers along the way.

Life is good on the road