The final post for The Walk for Water ... I fly back in the morning. Can't wait!

Arrival in Santiago was nice. Great weather and good trail conditions. It was an easy day. So what's the one question I'm getting asked the most? How did the two Camino's compare? It's very difficult to duplicate the first Camino. I take a ride in a Police car, I walked ten miles in the wrong direction only to be saved by the Dos Jose's, I meet Michele, Rainer, Nelly, Fernando, Emma and Emily, Bono, Irish Ann and others. Impossible to duplicate. Yes, but in the last half of Camnio Dos I did get to meet some very nice people. People who were not just nice but fun to be around. 

One thing I experienced on both Camino's regardless of how hard I tried to avoid it was this. After the first three difficult days to start the Camino I can clearly recall waking up on day four feeling tired and sore and then just sitting there thinking .... I have thirty one more days to go! 

The weather was different between the two Camino's. On the second day of Camino Uno it snowed. That was a very difficult day. The rain I walked in over the last week or so of Camino Dos has been biblical. Just think of what it would be like if you went on a seventeen mile walk, carring about twenty pounds up and down some very tough hills, lots of rocks, mud and then throw in having someone in front of you for the entire day with a firehouse on you. I think you get the picture.

The Hotel's, Pension's and Hostal's were the same and in many of the thirty four days on the Camino I did stay in the same places. The food was good and as always some days better than others. I did a reasonable job with the laundry as well as trying to figure out how best to take care of the passengers when I had my blisters. I was much luckier than lots of people who had to give up because of injury, many because of blisters, knees or shoulders. I think I was a little better prepared for the first Camino. I may have  been a little to confident but I payed for that in the early part of this Camino but survived.

I think I can say that I did a better job with the camera. On my first Camino I was just so focused on getting to the next village that I just walked past most of what was there to take in. I believe that I did take in a great deal more this time. I'm stilled challenged by the technology but perhaps just a tiny bit better this time. 

I walked alone for ninety nine percent of both Camino's and that was planned in order to experience the solitude that was so surpriseing the first time. Walking all alone has it drawbacks but it worked best for me. My pace, my schedule. Speaking of my pace my schedule I will for the last time raise the issue of pilgrim vs. tourist. I completely agree that if you can't carry your backpack because of physical challenges okay then use the Donkey service. Here's where I have problem. If you can't carry a backpack with all of the things you think you will need then just show up with a backpack and have it sent ahead each day. Bringing two fifty pound suitcases is no different than going on a two week cruise to the islands. Not sure what you will need just bring it along. That's not the Camino. 

I had to plan and then decide what to bring and what I needed to leave behind. When you have a limit of twenty two pounds you have to make those decisions. That's part of what the Camino is. When I went to the airport on day of departure I was struggling about bringing both the new and the old Limos, just in case. I chose not to because of weight. When my blisters showed up I immediately began second guessing my decision. If I was bringing two suitcases because of the Donkey service I would have had both the new and the old Limos. The list of things I could have brought is to long to attempt to cover. The Camino is about discomfort both physical and emotional. Not having the things you would wish you had in the middle of a storm is part of the journey. My mother had a simple way of explaining that and I never forgot it. When there were times when I wished I had something or needed something and I voiced a complaint or asked the question why? ... She would simply say "make do". That's what I learned and that's what got me through the Camino. The tourist really don't feel that and that in my opinion is a huge difference.

You want to walk the Camino but use a Donkey service? Fine but bring just one backpack and go through that part of the journey. Leave the two suitcases and a carry on at home.

One very obvious difference in Camino Dos is that on this Camino I committed to do it again but this time for a charity. That becomes a solid motivator. The last thing you want to do is to let down a lot of people who were kind enough to support the Clean Water project. Those people did make Camino Dos very special. 

In summary, first I want to say Thank You to everyone who was able to make a donation. Your contributions ( of over $102,000 ) will provide clean life saving water to many children and their families. The impact of your gifts will be felt for many years to come!

By the way the donation page will remain open until the 15th so if you you know someone who might be able to help please send them the link.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon. Good night and Buen Camino!

It's "O" day as in SANTIAGO. Just twelve miles and the journey will be complete. I can't sleep.

Another lucky hotel with radiators which have been turned on. My limos will be dry on my walk to Santiago. There is one drawback. I have only one small window and it's open as much as it can be but its losing the battle between the heat being generated by the radiators and any attempt to cool off the room with some fresh air. There is also the noise. Once again I have the road room and it's all trucks all the time. I did get to sleep at around 10:00 but I just woke up, I'm wide awake and it's 1:22 am. This will give me a head start on today's blog. When I woke up I was thinking maybe it's getting close to departure time. Could be a little anticipation about getting to Santiago. I think I went through this on the first Camino.

I will begin the process of eliminating items I will no longer need and therefore reduce the weight of my backpack. Assuming that the weather forecast remains as good as it is now I will leave behind my trash bag with arms, my serial killer hat, several shirts which are just shot, a pair of shorts that have seen better days and no longer fit, socks and more. This will be the added benefit of being on the last day.

I finish breakfast, packing and I am on the Camino at 8:30. It will be about a twelve mile walk today. The weather is okay. It is not raining but the sky looks threating. The temperature is perfect for the walk probably in the low 50's. The only issue will be the trail conditions. There has been so much rain in the last four days that I know there will be some mud. As it turns out threre is some but mostly in the forest where the tree cover is keeping the sun from drying the trail. All in all it is a simple and easy walk with minor mud dancing.

I stop at the first cafe because I did not remember to grab a bottle of water at the hotel. It will be brief. There is one other little cafe where I plan to stop. It is just prior to reaching the Hill of Happiness. I stopped there the last time and I was entertained watching everyone working there completely glued to the tv watching the Detriot version of Pawn Stars. I really want to see if they have changed and perhaps downgraded their TV tastes to even lower levels. Who knows maybe they will be watching the Kardashians. 

When I reach the cafe it is packed with about twenty young people so I will just pass. I'm getting to close to create any delays. As I turn the corner I can see a large group of people up ahead it's the monument built to honor Pope John Paul ll. it is located on the Hill of Happiness. I have the stones to place. There are concrete benches at the base of the monument so I take a seat to get out the stones to photograph which I will the send by email. I have been on the bench for less than a minute when this German women comes up to me and asks if I'm done yet? I said very quietly "no" and she turned away and said something to her friends about me which I don't think was flattering. I take the photos and pick up my things so they can have the bench. How do they find me?

So now it's time to march into the city. It is about three miles from the monument to the cathedral. I will first stop at the large red Santiago de Compestella sign and ask someone to take my picture. It's easy, there are a number of pilgrims doing the same. The sun comes out and I am on my way . I arrive at the cathedral at 2:00 and I have made a sign which says .... I MADE IT and below that it says CAMINO DOS. My Five Hundred Mile Walk For Water is complete, all One Million Steps!

I'm going to sign off now and just chill before dinner. Tonight it's dinner with Gaynor, Jane and Mel. Tomorrow dinner With Peter, Charlotte and Sonia. I will post one more summary of the blog tomorrow.

Good night and Buen Camino.

I have arrived in Rua my last stop before Santiago. I am twenty five thousand steps away from completing the one million step journey.

It is Tuesady the 6th of October. I walked her to Rua today from Arzua. It rained for the first three miles and then the Sun came out for the balance of my twelve miles today. I made good time and arrived here in about five hours which included one short stop. I am trying to keep my feet dry but it's hopeless and once the rain stops it's a mud dance which just can't be avoided. My feet are wet but not like yesterday.

I got lucky with the hotel in Azura. When I first got there my feet were drenched. I get to my room and do the best I can at getting the Limos cleaned up. But will they dry? It's going to rain on my way to Rua but regardless I would like to start with dry shoes. Many of the little hotels still have radiators but they only work if the hotel has the entire system turned on. I'm in luck. They have turned on the system and I will now have dry Limos on Tuesday to start the day.

After I get all of my daily work done and cleanup my Limos I am on my way to the pharmacy. I need some Spanish bengay. I'm sore. I am walking back to the hotel and I run into Bill, Gaynor and Jane. We agree to have dinner. First we will have a glass of wine because dinner is not for another forty five minutes. 

They are all good people and fun to be around. Jane is still trying to figure out why she is on the Camino. I think she feels like she is the only one who does not know why she's here. I just offer an opinion that it does not matter and perhaps she will reach a conclusion about it after she completes the Camino. It really does not matter. She goes on to tell me that she is going to visit Bill next year and that when she does she is going to visit me in California. I think she is serious.

Bill and I compare notes about today versus the day we walked together from San Juan to Burgos. We both agree that today was very difficult but the Burgos walk also had much tougher trail conditions and elevation changes but most of all it was the wind. 

Gaynor and Jane will be walking much longer on Tuesday because Gaynor wants to arrive in Santiago on Wednesday in time for the noon Pilgrim's mass. Jane does not care about the Mass but will walk with Gaynor regardless. Gaynor is flying out on Thursday so it's the only way she can get to the Mass and then still have time to go to the Camino office to get her Compestella. I will walk a lot less today because I will be in Santiago for two days so I can attend the Pilgrim's Mass on Thursday or Friday night. I'm in no rush.

Dinner is very good at the hotel. We all chose the veal and its was a good choice. So that's it for now. I'm having some gmail issues which is causing photo challenges. Tomorrow I will walk the final twelve like miles into Santiago. One thing I will do for sure is to wait by the Santiago sign until someone is there to take my picture. I just took the picture of the sign the first time but I won't make that mistake again. Tomorrow also brings me to the Hill of Happiness where I will place Walker's stone along with two others. The other two have been requested by friends who prefer that I keep it confidential which is what I will do.

So that's it. SANTIAGO. One million steps! Good night and Buen Camino! 

It is Monday I will walk today to Arzua not Ribadiso so add about three miles ... It's raining, really rainy.

I am sleeping with the widow open and the sound of the rain pounding on the tile roofs is loud enough to wake me. I take a look and its raining about as hard as one can imagine. My first thought is that perhaps the storm predicted for the morning is moving through more quickly than anticipated and maybe we will miss it. 

I go back to sleep thinking I might get lucky and when I go to breakfast at 8:00 I find out I'm wrong. I return the hairdryer-shoe dryer to the front desk and I ask about the weather and she tells me that it is not good. She then shows me a print out of today's forecast. Basically it shows rain for the entire day, hour by hour. I'm going to need a plan B. There is a Camino shop a short distance from the hotel which opens at 9:00, I will start the day there buying a poncho which will cover most of me but most importantly the backpack.

It's the same shop where I bought my new powder blue running shoes yesterday. The same women who does not speak English is there and as I'm looking at the poncho's she just grabs one out of a box, rips open the bag it's in and hands it to me. She is letting me know that it's the right size as I start to put it on over my backpack. It is the type I'm looking for that has arms and a zipper. I don't want the pull over version with just a hole for your head with an attached hood. As I'm trying it on a women, an American, is also trying on a bright yellow pullover version and asks loudly if there is a mirror? I nearly lost it. She actually wants to see how it looks? The women managing the shop is trying to tell her that what she has on is to small by pointing to me and my backpack. She is repeating the Spanish word fior small and I get it. I turn to the American women who looks like a giant lemon and suggest that what the women is trying to tell her is that the poncho is too small because she is not trying it on with a backpack. The women just says to me " that's not a problem ". I get it. I pay for mine and just leave.

As I start it is raining and within fifteen minutes I have to stop and shed at least two layers, I'm sweating  because the  heavy duty trash bag with arms I'm wearing just locks in all of the heat. I'm as wet inside as I am outside. It's a steady rain and it does not appear that it's going to stop anytime soon. Progress is slow because I'm doing my best to avoid the larger puddles and mud in an attempt to keep my feet as dry as possible for as long as I can. That will soon prove to be a waste of effort.

I'm now four hours into the days walk when the rain stops. There is even a patch of blue sky and I'm thinking it's over. Another wardrobe change is in order. I'm now walking in just a tee shirt and it's wet from the inside. The poncho did do its job, the backpack is dry. This patch of clear weather lasts only for about thirty minutes when it starts to rain again but this time it's raining heavily. It's pouring and it's nonstop and continues for the next three hours that way. The dancing around puddles is long gone as the trail becomes a river. The only thing you can do is just look down to avoid a large rock or a hole. That's it. 

I stop in Melide for something to eat but more importantly to take off the trash bag and cool off. I'm worn out and it's seems that everyone else in this place is in the "same boat" if you know what I mean. I take a look at the map and it's only then that I realize that I'm actually going to Arzura which is beyond Ribadiso by about two miles. Great, I'm actually farther away than I thought.

Photos today will be few if any. My iPhone is tucked away under the trash bag to keep it from the weather and there nothing to photograph anyway. It's just raining to hard. When I finally arrive and walk into the hotel the rain has slowed and it's on the verge of stopping. I get out of my trash bag and dig out my voucher and the clerk just looks at me and says "you look tired". Really? That's a shock. By the way he is correct, I am tired and  my pants from the knee down are drenched as are my Limos. I can't image I will be able to dry them out by tomorrow which by the way has the same weather forcast as today. At least I do have a pair of dry running shoes I can wear. I need to get to the pharmacy, I'm out of bandages. 

Tuesday I will walk to Arca which is about twelve miles away. I'm within twenty six miles of Santiago. Just two days to go! Tomorrow is "G" day.  Good night and Buen Camino.

SANTIAG_

 

Sunday October 4th, eleven miles in a driving rain storm and five miles in the sun. Everything is wet including what's in the backpack. I'm as wet inside as I am on the outside.

I'm awake at 8:00 which is good for me. I slept well. I think the fatigue is catching up with me. My battery is lower at 8:00 pm now than it was three weeks ago. I guess that's normal. The walk to Palas de Rei was more difficult than expected.

When I wake today the first thing I do is take a look outside for the weather. I knew what was coming but you can always hope they get it wrong. My father use to say that you can't trust a guy to tell you what the weather is when he doesn't even have a window in his office. I agree. I take a look and it's raining sideways. This is no shower, this is the all day version. I head to breakfast hoping that may it slow down. The wind is at least twenty mph. I take my time. 

After another who cares  breakfast I'm back in my room trying to figure out what to wear in the storm. I know that as far as the Limos are concerned it won't make a difference ... My feet will be wet. I pick the best wardrobe available and leave. It's 9:45 and the rain is just relentless. I have to leave, it's going to be a long day regardless of when I leave Portomarin. It's seven miles up hill to Lingonde. It's hard because it's a driving rain storm and it's very difficult. I'm into the climb and within the first thirty minutes  I am soaked to the  bone. I still have six and a half miles uphill to go to the first resting point. It does not take me long given my attitude to recognize that I'm alone. I have not seen another pilgrim in the first mile or two. Where are yesterday's Sarria people? Don't know but I'll soon find out.

I'm into the day for about three hours and the rain lets up. It does not stop it just slows down. I reach  the village of Lionge about seven miles from the start and well beyond the hill test. As I cross a road into the village a mini- bus with the same group of American women from yesterday pull up and exit. They all go immediately into the tiny cafe. I stop and just watch. Some of them I'm sure pickup on my presence but don't look at me. They buy someting, coffee etc. and are then lined up to stamp their credentials. Then it's back on the bus to who knows where. I would so like to say something but what's the point. They can go home and tell their friends just how difficult the Camino is and they will all know it's just bullsit. Sorry, I just can't keep that in. In spite of the fact that they do have a string bag with a Camino shell attached to it carrying their lipstick I will not refer to them as pilgrims ... They are tourists.

There is a great ending to today. The sun comes out about five miles from the end. I'm tired . It gets warm and I'm down to a tee shirt, as wet from the inside as I am outside. The balance of today's walk is flat and uneventful. I arrive at my Hostal at 5:45 making today's trip an eight hour day. It's been a long day. 

I check in. I've stayed here before and I tell the clerk that I was here two years ago and ask if breakfast is still in the lower level. She now knows I was really here before. I ask for a hair dyer and she just laughs and asks "for the hair or the shoes"?. I don't lie to her and just say shoes and maybe the hair. She smiles goes into the back and brings out a dryer.

I get to my room and it's laundry time but it's unlikely anything will dry in time. I do have a ceiling heating unit and before you know it I have arranged my laundry to take advantage of the heating unit. I think this might work. The Limos are a completely different problem. There is no way they will dry but the hair dryer will help. I need to buy something to wear when the  Limos are wet like for, next two nights.. I get lucky the Camino store is open and they have one pair of cheap slip on's my size. They are power blue and they are a bit tight but I'm going to need them for tonight and the next two nights because it is going to rain through Tuesady. I buy them, they cost $35 US.

Here's the good part of today. I leave the Camino store and go to a restaurant I've been to before but it's packed. I go to the center of the village and run into a couple I've met only briefly before. Terry and Alan, from Calguary Canada. We sit and have a glass of wine. She is a roit! An Italian living in Canada and she is just plain funny. Let's just say she us not an introvert. They are headed to the Camino store because her jacket is not waterproof just water resistent. That will not work for the next two days. We agree to meet again. Hopefully that will happen. I go back to the same restaurant and I get a table. The food was terrific, a great ending to a really tough day. Just an FYI , the Hostal is having wifi issues so I'm not sure when this will be posted.

Tomorrow I will walk (in the rain ) to Ribadiso, sixteen miles. I will then be within twenty six miles of Santiago . Nearly one million steps! Tomorrow will be the "A" day. Good night and Buen Camino.

SANTIA _ _.

It's Saturday ..."T" day. On my way to Portomarin, thirteen miles and it's crowded.

It's 8:00 am and I will check out the breakfast. It's good they actually have eggs, fruit and more. There will be very few places to stop so I will bring with me a couple of apples and a small bag of nuts along with a little extra water.

It's forty degrees and foggy. I will use an extra pair of socks as gloves. There is a reason it will be crowded. When I reach Santiago I will go to the Camino office and present my credential which I have had stamped along the way at least once each day but most days two or three times. I have filled one credential and I'm now almost through the second one. From this point on I will have it stamped once each day accept for a couple of places I will revisit. That is all the room I have left.

The Camino office will review the stamps making sure you actually walked the Camino from your starting point, in my case St. Jean , France the entire five hundred miles of the Napoleon Way. However if you begin in Sarria and have your credential stamped at least twice a day you can get a Compestella in Santiago just like mine. The only difference is it will show the starting points for each. So, you can walk the Camino for about sixty miles and you qualify. Or you can do less and still get the Compestella. I'll give a real example.

I leave Sarria at 9:30. When you return to the Camino from central Sarria you immediately face a staircase of about eighty steps followed by a left turn up another hill. It took me about thirty five minutes to get started and it was hard. It's early, it's cold and in my case my legs are just not ready for this opening challenge. From here you continue up hill for the next six miles, nearly half the days total. It's hard. 

I'm working my way up the hill and I cone to a railway crossing. I remember it from my first Camino because when I got here a high speed train came by and it was impressive. As I start to cross the tracks I can see three pilgrims attending to another who is on his back and bleeding badly. I stop and I ask if I can help. I have bandages. The guy on the ground bleeding simply tripped over the tracks and went face first into the concreate. He has a serious gash above his right eye in addition to other scraps on his arms and legs. The others tell me that they are just working on putting pressure on the gash to reduce the bleeding. There is a lot of blood. There is also nothing I can do so I move on. File this away momentarily. 

I get back to it and at end of about the seven mile mark I'm about to cross a road when a group of twelve American women are getting out of their van and starting to walk the Camino. This means that they purposely drove be young the first most difficult miles because of the climb, None of them are carring anything, not even a bocadillo pack. I pass them but they are soon past me. They are at best in their late forty's. 

I don't see them again until the next small village where they are all busy getting their credential stamped as the van waits to take them beyond. They have walked a total of about a mile and a half and are now on their way to Portomarin. So when they get there they go to their hotels and check in and have their credential stamped and they are on schdule for their Compestella. They will have walked

a total of one and a half miles, none difficult, collected their stamps and will soon be getting their Compestella. I can see it now. I'm in line at the Camino Office to get my Compestella and all of these woman are ahead of me telling anyone who will listen how difficult the Camino walk was! I think there should be two lines for the Compestella , one for those who did it and another for those who started in Sarria. Okay I got that off my mind. 

I arrive In Portomarin at 4:00 so it took me about  six and a half hours. You cross the bridge over the man made resiviour. The village you can see on the top of the hill was at one time here in the valley. Each of the buildings were moved stone but stones. Each were numbered and the result is impressive. Once the buildings were moved the valley was flooded. I like the town, it has a nice feel. Today it's not how I remember it because the weather is turning and most of the outdoor cafés are empty.

It will be an early night. Tomorrow I will walk to Palas de Rei which is a sixteen mile day and it has a hill climb which will take us on a climb of 450 meters or about 1,500 feet which is followed by a steady decent into Palas de Rei. It will be a long day especially with the weather report showing rain stating tomorrow and continuing through Tuesady. When I reach Palas de Rei I will have forty two miles to Santiago. Good night and Buen Camino. Sunday's letter is "I".

SANTI_ _ _,

It is October 2nd my brother Bobby's birthday. He would have been 70 today but he has gone before us. Happy Birthday Bob.

My walk to Tricastela is uneventful. There are a couple of tests along the way but overall it was a good day. The weather has been perfect. With the exception of that incredible storm on the day I walked from San Juan to Burgos it has been terrific. Chilly to start and then blue sky's and warm. No complaints.

I'm walking alone as always and I begin to think about my dinner meeting with Jane in O'Ceberiro. Gaynor having referred to me as AC Jim brought up the subject of my book on my first Camino. That came up when I first met Mike and Teresa with the couple from Novia Scotia, I guess that's how she came to hear about it. When Jane hear's that she jumps on me with a barrage of questions with the leading question...Why? I tell her it was written for my grandson's and was never intended to be a book. She presses .... Is it a real book, a real story about the Camino? I ask her what she means by real several times and all I can tell her is that I wrote it and it's real, whatever that means.

She says that my Grandson's will never read it. Gaynor jumps in and says that's not true and that she wishes her Grandfather had left behind something for her to learn about him. Jane continues and says that her Granchildren would never read a book written by her. I'm lost in the conversation and it just goes away.

So here I am today walking about thirteen miles to Sarria alone and I'm trying to figure out what Jane meant when she asked "is it real"?. I still don't understand the question but it does remind me that I do miss those two little buggers. They live in Seattle now. A great decision even if I wished they did not move. I get it. They live in a beautiful home, overlooking the Puget Sound, the kids are in great schools and they love it there. Pretty simple.

Brayden is ten and Taylor is five. Taylor reminds me most of my son Ryan when he was five. Funny, an actor who loves entertaining, a ham, loves the camera and was always a bit mischievous. I can't help but remember one event when Ryan was just about the same age as Taylor. 

We were in a restaurant, I think it was an Easter Sunday. Nice restaurant, linens and a party of about twelve, all family. Ryan is dressed in shorts with knee socks, a checkered vest, a shirt, blue and white shoes and a bow tie . He hated the bow tie and I don't blame him. So we are having dinner and I notice that Ryan is no where to be seen. Where's Ryan?, I ask to know one in particular when out from under the table Ryan jumps out and with his hands out stretched over his head he proclaims in a very loud voice .."I'm Naked". Several other diners thought this was very funny as did some at our table. Me, not so much. I order him to return under the table to get dressed. It was funny. It's something I can see Taylor doing. They also have another thing in common. When Ryan was five his hair was auburn red, very distinctive. Everyone went out of their way to comment about his hair, same as Taylor only Taylor's is white like you would expect to see on a kid surfing in Southern California. 

That brings me to Brayden. Age nine, soccer team, flag football team and the cross country team. Funny and very ahead of his age in lots of ways. When the kids came to visit this summer Brayden wanted to make sure we would get to play some golf at the Club. Taylor was also excited because he wanted to drive the cart. So we are on our way to the Club and I look in the mirror and Brayden is reading. I ask what it is? He tells me that it's a book about the life of a kid in India. He then tells me that he has chosen a "new genre" with this book, while sitting next to him Taylor is putting the rear window shade up and down.  New genre, I don't think I knew what genre meant when I was nine.

Brayden and golf. He would surprise most people. I have a picture in my office of Brayden at the Club hitting balls at age three and if you play golf you would immediately be amazed. A complete turn, hands at the top ... Classic. I know people who have been playing for forty years still trying to get to that position. He had it at age three even with the diapers he had under his pants. Maybe I'll post the picture. I do miss those little burgers. I hope we get to see them soon. 

I leave Tricastela at 9:30. It's chilly, you can just feel the fall coming. The tree's are starting to change colors but it is perfect weather to go on a thirteen mile walk. I did notice one thing as I started out today ... I'm tired. More so than any recent days. My guess is that I'm just now getting the full impact of the climb to O'Ceberiro. The first place to stop today will be a bit more an six miles from the start. I did not have breakfast because all the hotel offered was toast. I did have a cup of coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.

The weather changes for the first time to cloudy. It remains cool and there is lots of shade but I'm still sweating and I can sense that my fatigue is causing me to work harder on some minor slopes. I arrive in Samos where there is a very large monastery which is one of the oldest monastery's in the whole of the western world and is one of the largest ground plans and cloisters in Spain. It's time for a break. There are two cafés directly across from each other as you walk over the bridge into the village. I walk into the first one. It's run by an older lady by herself and there are at least eight pilgrims backed up inside trying to order something. If each of them only wants coffee this will take forty five minutes. I'm gone and headed to the competitor. It's worse. Same number of pilgrims ahead of me and just one person trying to get it all done. Impossible.

I decide to find a market and just buy something to eat and resupply the water. I find one, buy some sliced ham and some cheese along with a small bag of almonds and I'm off to the park for lunch. It serves the pulrpose and I'm back on the Camino well before half of the pilgrims in those two cafés get their coffee.

The one thing I do notice about today's walk is the dust. There's  lots of soft sand and it gets kicked up by the passing traffic when the Camino moves closer to the road. When I'm finished today I will walk into the hotel looking like something the cat dragged in. I arrive at my hotel at 4:00 which means it took me six and a half hours. Not bad considering how I felt at the start.

I reach my hotel and go to my room to get the laundry taken care of. The shorts I've been wearing everyday for the last three weeks are just shot. I will not attempt to wash them again. It's time to get rid of them, which I do. Clearly the fabric in the shorts would make the cut at Martin Golf. I know Rick's standards. I will find a Camino shop and replace them with long pants. The weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday calls for significant rain. I'm not surprised, we are overdue.

I find what I need and return to the Hotel for dinner. The food is not very good. I order a steak and it's as tough as that donkey I saw today on the Camino,  I just hope it's not actually him. 

Tomorrow I will walk to Portomarin which is fourteen miles away with some significant hills including the Alto Parmo, an elevation increase of a little more than a thousand feet. When I reach Portomarin tomorrow I will be within fifty eight miles of Santiago . Tomorrow is "T" day. Good night and Buen Camino.

SANT _ _ _ _.  

I'm on my way to Triacastela a thirteen mile walk with a mini- Cruz de Ferro hill included. But first yesterday.

After checking into the "Ritz" after a nine hour walk I didn't care how bad my room was.That changed after dinner when I got to focus on just how bad a dump I'm in. It is what it is and it's only for one short night so I will just suck it up. That's what the Camino is supposed to create for the pilgrim ... Less than ideal conditions and clearly meant to get you out of your comfort zone. Misson accomplished.

O'Cebreiro is really a stunning little village biut after nine hours of some of the most difficult walking I'm in no mood to go exploring. The wifi at the "Ritz" only works in the bar and it's not working there so I go back up the hill a short distance to the hotel I stayed in the first time to use their wifi and grab something to eat. The wifi works well and I take a seat in the dining room. The pilgrim menu does not offer much and I decide on the Galician soup and the veal steak. The soup is a broth and the veal steak is not as thick as two stacked dollar bills. That's thin. If you want to go ahead and stack two dollar bills on top of each other and see what you get go ahead and see for yourself.

I'm not having the pilgrim wine, I upgraded to the Creienza which will boost my bill from eight Euro to twelve Euro and that's the bottle not a glass. It's much better and I'm not being a snob. There really is a difference, trust me. I'm nearly finished when three women walk in and sit at the table next to me. One of the three is Mark's wife from Novia Scotia. She tells me that Mark is having dinner with a couple of guys he met who were in the Navy just as Mark was. I didn't know that and she goes on to explain that Mark was in the Navy as a career. Anyway she says that she did not want to have dinner with three guys talking about the Navy all night so she is having dinner with two women she just met today. They are Jane from Australia and Gaynor from Londom.

I get introduced as Jim from California and Gayner says "your AC Jim". I never met her before, actually I have never seen her before so I'm a bit surprised. She tells me that she met a women who is walkng with her daughter who told her about me. She says it all good. I'm a little curious but I don't press it. The two of them start with a lots of questions about my first Camino and it goes on. Jane was with a  male "friend" from a walking group at home who traveled with her from Austarila but it didn't out so she is walking alone. She has known Gayner for a couple of days. They are interesting and both have a great sense of humor.

I have moved to their table so I would not get a stiff neck trying to answer their questions. I have already finished my veal steak. In the end it was fun and I need to get back and retrieve my laundry before they close. I need the check. I go to the bar and find the waitress and I pay the bill for all four of us. I had the added wine cost and I don't want to ask them to pay for the wine and I don't want to go through the math on who owes what. The total for all four of us is only about sixty dollars. 

I return to the table but I need to leave. I thank them for the entertainment and as I leave I let them know that the bill has been paid. They all say no you should not have and I just say that I'm just glad you didn't eat anything expensive. Ha, ha. 

Now I warned you about this from the very start of the blog. When I walk alone for hours there are a lot if things that are bouncing around in my head. So today I'm thinking about the comment often made when someone picks up the check and the other guy says ... If I knew you going to pick up the check I would have ordered something better! Ha, Ha. I've done it and I get it, which reminded me of this ... I did warn you.

I was working for Merrill Lynvh in New York and I left the firm to start a business. Merrill became our biggest customer and I would often take their sales people to lunch or dinner, mostly dinner and always at Sparks. There was a guy who I knew for six years who worked with me at Merrill but he was in the administrative area so I did not spend a lot of time with him and I never entertained him. I spent all of my time with the sales people. So one day I'm in New York calling on Mertill and I go to talk with him about some administrative issue and he says that he wants me to take him to lunch someday just like I do with the sales people. Okay, he's right I should do that and I tell him to pick a place for the lunch the next day.

The next day I call him to find out where we are going to meet for lunch and he tells me that he has made a reservation in my name at Del Monico's at Hanover Square in lower Manhattan just a few blocks from Wall Street. I know the place. It's famous, expensive and over the top. So I meet him there. 

The place is packed and he starts by ordering a martini and jumps right ahead and wants to pre-order the soufflé for desert. I can see where this is going. The menus arrive and he asks about the wine and suggests a very nice bottle. I'm dead meat by now so of course. His lunch is multiple courses and then comes the icing on the cake. This is back in the late seventies and the restaurant actually has a very attractive young women walking around with a farcy box attached to her by this strap which goes around her neck offering "cigars, cigarettes". Really, I'm dead serious. She walks by our table and suddenly Bill stops her and asks for two packs of Parliament cigarettes. They will be added to my check.

I've know Bill for at least five or six years and I never saw him smoke so I'm curious. I said to him, Bill I didn't know you smoked. He simply says, they are not for me they are for my wife, she smokes Parliament! Now I have seen it all.

 

So here's the summary and a free tip for today. Never take someone who does not get out much to lunch or dinner and tell them it's on you in advance because it can be very expensive. I warned you.

Tomorrow is Friday October second and I will be walking to Sarria. The distance will be about twelve miles. There are two route options. I will decide which one in the morning. I am eighty three miles from Santiago. Tomorrow is the "N" day. Good night and Buen Camino.

SAN _ _ _ _ _.

It was a very long day ... This could take a while, go get a glass of wine. I'm in O'Cebreiro after nineteen uphill miles.

There is a lot to cover including the last stone. First Villafranca. The twenty mile march here ends without any problems. I check into my Hostal. I'm on the top floor and when I get there I find a very small room with only a skylight. The room is fine. Very clean and comfortable. My issue is the laundry. After twenty miles in the sun I'm a bit ripe and dirty as is the uniform of the day. Okay I will just go back downstairs to see if they have a clothes line in the back. They don't but the guy at the front desk tells me that they can do the laurdry and have it back by eight o'clock. I'm in. Perfect, that gives me more time to chill and get the passengers taken care of. The toe was fine today because there were no major hills either up or down and the terrain was flat and good most of the way. Exactly the kind of day the Limos and passengers needed after the very difficult Cruz de Ferro day.

I get everything done and will go down to the plaza to find a pharmacy. I need more of the toe wrap. I'm changing bandages more frequently. As I am standing in front of the Hostal Tim and Agnes are walking by on there way to find their Hostal. We talk about dinner with Peter, Charlotte and Sonia and agree that we will find each other in the plaza around seven.

Peter, Charlotte and Sonia are staying at the same Hostal I'm in but have not yet arrived. I head to the plaza. I forgot how far it was from where I'm staying. It's straight down a long hill of steps and half way down I'm already dreading the walk back up. I buy what I need but it's only 5:30. I'm not going to sit here in the plaza until seven so I decide to walk back up. I was right ... It's a hike and it's mostly steps, lots of steps. By the time I get back up to the Hostal I'm feeling like I'm back on the Camino going to the Cruz de Ferro. I go into a cafe just short of the Hostal and order a glass of wine. A few minutes later Charlotte drops in and takes a seat. Peter is walking back up the hill after going to a pharmacy. His feet are having a blister attack. Peter shows up, sits and orders a beer. Two minutes later Sonia arrives. Dinner is discussed and it's unanimous, none of us want to go to the plaza and face walking back up here again. I've made up my mind that regardless of any ideas to the contrary I'm going to have dinner at the Hostal. I am not climbing the stairs again.

The food is fine and the guy who runs the Hostal could not have been nicer. He points to a tray in the corner to remind me that my laurdry is done. Everything is nice and clean and folded. It will soon be back on the Camino or stuffed into my backpack but it does look nice. There is much discussion about O'Cebeiro and the difficulty of the elevation change and it's length being ninteen miles. It's ninteen miles for me but not for them. They will all walk only to Herrerias just short of the final five miles where the elevation change will be more than twenty five hundred feet. There plan is to start on Thursday from that point and go from there. They will be at least one day behind me and if Peter's feet don't improve perhaps more than a day. 

During the conversation Sonia mentions how her daughter enjoyed the Camino and wants to come back and get her father to join her. I must have missed something so I ask Sonia when did her daughter walk the Camino? She goes on to explain that one of her twin daughters was with her for the first two weeks but had to get back to Canada because of work. I thought that she was with Peter and Charlotte from the beginning but no they met shortly after her daughter went home. Sonia goes on the explain that when her daughter left she was a little afraid of walkng alone and was fortunate to meet Peter and Chrlotte soon after and they have been walking together since. Peter says they have adopted her.

Charlotte starts to laugh and asks me if I have heard the transfer story? No, I have no idea what that means. She asks Sonia to tell me. Here's the story. 

Sonia has just started walkng daily with Peter and Charlotte and when they get to Carrion there are no hotel rooms available so her travel company books her into a Hostal about two and a half miles off the Camino. The company arranges to have a driver pick her up at a designated location in Carrion where the driver will take her to this off Camino location where she will have a room for the night. In the morning the same guy will come back to the off Camino Hostal and drive her back to Carrion where she will start the schduled walk without altering the routes or skipping any of the Camino. Makes sense.

The driver shows up at the designated location at the prearranged time. Peter and Charlotte wait with Sonia to be sure that the transfer occurs. Sonia grabs her backpack feeling a little apprehensive about getting into a car with a complete stranger in the middle of nowhere but she's convinced herself that everything will be fine. The guy pops the trunk and Sonia is about to put her backpack in when she notices that there are only two items in the trunk .... I rope and a shovel! She does not know what to do but decides she will go but asks Peter to take a photo of the license plate. So the solution is to be able to find her killer but to go anyway ! Everyone is laughing and Charlotte adds that she does not trust Peter with the camera so she memorized the license plate number which she recites to prove it. They are a good group of people who are easy to be with. They like to laugh and have a real connection to what the Camino is about. I look forward to seeing them in Santiago.

Now about the walk today to O'Cebreiro. I leave my hotel at 7:00. It's dark and it's cold, not chilly it's cold. My Hostal does not offer breakfast until 8:15 so I will just wait and get someting to eat on the Camino. The only light I'm walking with is provided by the full moon. It's a bit weird being out here in the dark but I'm not alone, I've seen several others in the plaza getting ready.

The first village is Pereje which is about four miles from where I started in Villafranca. When I get there it's like a ghost town. There is one cafe open but it just does not look all that inviting and I'm making good time so I will just keep going. The next village is Trabadelo. That puts me about seven miles from the start. I will stop and get something to eat. I see a couple of people I recognize from other points along the way. Cafe con leche and a bad version of an omelette, a water refill and I'm good to go. 

I look at my map and guide book and decide that I will stop in Herrerias which is about six miles ahead. When I get there the cafe patio is crowded so I skip it and decide to just wait until La Faba which is about another two miles. The weather is good, it's starting to warm up and I will soon make a wardrobe change before I have to face the hill. The walk from Herrerias to La Faba is much harder than I expected. I should have looked more closely because I am already on the hill. The elevation change in this short segment is up more than two hundred meters. I should have stopped because now I'm running out of water. Never a good idea. I am taking my time and stopping as often as needed. I just stop, catch my breadth and lean on my poles for a few minutes and then repeat my magic weapon and go. Spanish Potatoes on the entire climb. I actually pass several others who are working their way up the hill. It's difficult, very difficult. I never would have guessed that I would be passing others.

I reach La Faba and go into the second cafe in this tiny village. I order a Coke light. No bottled water so I will just take the tap water. I ask if they have wifi and the young guy says no but the bar back down the hill and a bit off the Camino does. There is no way I'm going backwards, wifi can wait. The cafe does have freshly squeezed juice in a bottle sitting in ice so I ask for a glass. I pour out half the water from my permanent bottle and add the juice. It does tastes better.

I leave knowing that I have only three and a half miles to go. My payoff starts because the views are spectacular and it's a perfect weather day. I take lots of photos. And then it happens. I cannot believe it but as I look up the hill a heard of cows with a bull are coming down the trail and moving very quickly right at me. I climb out of the way and then grab my phone for photos. I missed the bulk of the heard in the picture because I was to busy getting out of the way. If you read my first blog you might recall that this is exactly what happened on my first Camino. They must have been told I was back.

The walk itself was hard but not as hard as the first time I did it. It probably has something to do with walking right through O'Cebreiro the first time down the hill more than a mile and a half past the village. I will never forget that day. I was completely exhausted and when I walked into that little bar and simply asked "O'Cebriro" she just points back up the hill. I have walked right through and past the town and now must walk back up the hill adding about three miles to an already hard day !

That made the trip about twenty two miles. I was not going to make that bonehead mistake again. I reach the village and can't wait to get in the shower. My room is absolutely the worst room I've ever had anywhere on both Camino's. I don't care. It took me nine hours to get here, the room is 

secondary. I will be out of here in just a matter of hours.

I'm now in Galicia the final region of the Camino. I am less than one hundred miles from Santiago. The most difficult parts of the Camino are behind me.

Which brings me to the final stone. All of the stones which I placed at the Cruz de Ferro had one of two things in common. They represented either a blessing for those who have gone ahead of us for eternal peace or they were for a blessing related to a need for medical help. The last stone is not for either of these blessing and will be placed at the Hill of a Happiness on the last day of my Camino just before I enter Santiago.

The stone is for Walker Ford, PVT , U.S. Army who has been in training since he joined the military seven months ago. Walker's parents are friends of ours.  Walker will be deployed to Afghanistan shortly. 

So why the Hill of a Happiness? For hundreds of years it was said that as pilgrims reached this location it would be the first time they would see Santiago and thus the happiness for having achieved the goal of reaching Santiago safely. The stone I will place here represents a blessing of Walker's safe return which will of course have the same effect for his family as seeing Santiago for the first time did for the pilgrims.

So to Walker ... Thanks for your service and my God bless you and keep you safe. The Hill of Happiness. So that's it for today. It's been a long and yes difficult day but all is good. Tomorrow I will take a short walk of thirteen miles to Triacastela, mostly down hill. Tomorrow is letter A day.

SA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . Good night, Buen Camino.

On my way to Villafranca del Bierzo twenty miles away. I will now start my Santiago countdown. Today was tough but tomorrow is the most difficult day of the Camino. I have been dreading it since the moment I committed to walking the Camino again.

I will explain the Santiago countdown shortly but first yesterday. The walk to and from Cruz de a Ferro was very difficult. That said I arrive in the village of Molinaseca around five thirty. I left at nine thirty and had some work to be done and also took several breaks along the way. Net result is that I cover the  walk in eight and a hall hours.

When I arrive in Molinseca my guide summary tells me the accomadstion is directly on the left side of St. James way buy it fails to tell me that it's actually past the entire village, when I get to the end of the village I think that I've missed it but I don't now how. The street between the buildings is barely wide enough to get a single car through. I ask an old man siting on his steps and he tells me to keep going in the same direction away from the village. I feel like I flew in to New York and booked a room in Newark. 

I'm very tired, it was a tough day. The last thing I want to do now is to have to walk back into town to eat or buy water etc but it dawns on me that won't have a choice because I need to find a pharmacy for my toe problem.

On my way back to town to find the pharmacy I meet up with Peter, Charlotte and Sonia. I've been calling her Sophi but it's Sonia. We meet for dinner and the conversation is about the next days twenty mile walk. I agree that it will be a long hard day but I'm  already thinking ahead to O'Cebreiro. 

I leave for Villiafranca at 7:30'in the morning. It's dark  I can't wait to get out of the Hotel. As I'm putting on the Limos I stand up and catch the corner of the prehistoric TV mounted on the wall about five feet from the floor on my head. Och!, to say the least in about two hours I can still feel it, no blood but a nice lump to take along with me. I really don't like this Hotel.

I'm of my way I will just have breakfast in Ponferrada. It is a beautiful village with an impressive castle and lots of shops and cafés. I have breakfast and check my email. There will not be a lot to report today, it's just long.

I make my final stop in Cacabelos which is about six miles from Villiafranca. I'm sitting in the shade and Tim and Agnes join me and shortly afterwards Peter, Charlotte and Sonia are there. Tim and Agnes had to take a taxi to finish yesterday, she was sick and the last five miles would have been to much. Peter's shoe has fallen apart and he now has several nagging blisters and will need to take a taxi into Viilliafranca from here after he finds a pharmacy.

Villiafranca will most likely be the last time I meet with all of them before Santiago. They are all going to attack the O'Cebreiro monster in two days while I'm going to the top in one day. We exchange emails so we can catch up in Santiago for dinner. 

Now the countdown. When I leave for O'Cebreiro on Wednesdsy morning on October 30th I will have eight days of walking remaining. Santiago has eight letters so I will track my final countdown by assigning one of the eight letters to each day. Wish me luck and pray that my toe does not get worse.

That's it, good night and Buen Camino.     S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ !

Today I will place the stones at Cruz de Ferro on my way to Molinaseca a very difficult seventeen mile walk.

LFirst last night.  I am in the cafe getting online and having a beer. There is a couple siting nearby, it's the Irish guy I almost had a conversation with two days ago before being interrupted by the woman who asked me what my room rate was at the roadside Hotel and Casino. We start to chat and immediately I know this is a guy I want to get to know. He introduces himself, his name is Peter and his wife is Charlotte. They are originally from Ireland but moved to New Zealand nearly forty years ago. He tells me that Inspite of the time in New Zealand he will not give up his Irish accent nor will she. Why should they, it's just fun to listen to them speak.

Sitting with them is Sophie. I just assumed hat she was related because I did see her with them two days ago. I just thought that she was their daughter. When I ask they all burst out laughing. They met early on at the beginning or the Camino and jolkingly Peter says we just can't get rid of her. Sophie is from Ottawa Canada and she is walking the Camino alone. She and her husband had planned years ago to walk the Camino but she retired and he could not so here she is. They are all Catholics and are devoted. Peter and Charlotte have five children but pre-deceased by one. They also have seven grandchildren. They left Belfast because there was just no future and the political issues made living there dangerous and not a place you would want to raise a family.

Sophie has three children, twin girls who are twenty five and a younger son who is as she puts it helpless without her. She goes on to say that he is emailing her constantly asking how to do his laundry. Bottom line is that they are all good people able to laugh at themselves and they see the Camino the same way I do. They are on a spiritual journey. 

A short time later a younger couple walks into the bar ,we are all staying at the Hostal. Peter, Caharlotte and Sophie know them. They introduce me, it's Tim and Agnes. Actually  her name I can't pronounce but it's Agnes in Polish. They live in Chicago and he is a drop dead ringer for the actor Sam Shepard. Even sounds like him. They too are  Catholic and not taken with themselves. He sits I get introduced and he immediately buys everyone what they are drinking ... I like this guy. He's fifty nine and retired from the personal jet services business. I think he did it well. 

At 6:45 Peter gets up and says that Mass will be starting in fifteen minutes so let's go. Come on Jim we want to get a seat. We all go across the street to the Chapel. It's spectacular. Mass is in both Spanish and English. I do get to take one picture after the Mass ends which I'll send. Afterwards it's back to the Hotel for the pilgrim's dinner. The food was okay but the Company is much better.

There is some conversation about the next days walk to Molinaseca. I don't say much but I know it's a very difficult day up to Cruz de Ferro and much more difficult on the downside from the top. Lots of Sapnish Potatoes, about the same or worse than the Hill of Forgiveness out from Pamplona. On the way up to the Cruz de Ferro it's a long uphill trek with some shade. I left this morning at nine thirty and it was cool. Perfect weather conditions. I pass a number of groups on the up hill portion, they are struggling. They don't know it yet but this is the easy part. On the way down from the top you will get a real test.

I reach the top, the Cruz de Ferro and as I come up the final hill I can see about twenty pilgrims standing under the Cross. Where did they come from? Then I see the Bus parked in a lot across the street from Cross and I get it. A large group with the Donkey service is here. Okay I'll just wait until they have all taken their pictures and then I will take care of my business. I could use a break anyway, it was a long hard uphill climb.

The group moves on but many of them are walking toward the Camino, no packs but it does appear that they are going to walk down from the top. That should be interesting. I get all of the stones placed and take a few pictures and I'm ready to go. The weather is still very nice, cool, which is helping. In a short fifteen minutes I reach the first roadblock. There is a traffic jam on the hill. It's very steep and it's covered in Spanish Potatoes of the very large variety. There are a number of people buched together trying to figure out each step. The problem is that the trail is very narrow so we now have a single file group that stretches out and I'm now trying to figure out how to get around them without adding to what is already a very hard downhill section. While trying to get around them I'm walking in areas that have more rocks and I end up smashing my right foot into a very large deeply imbedded rock. I know I've done some damage because it hurts immedtsly and is not subsiding. For sure I will be losing another toe nail. Hopefully it's not worse.

This downhill challenge goes on for hours. The toe is getting worse and I'm going slowly. In total today will take me eight and a half hours. That includes the time at the Cruz de Ferro, several stops for a break and traffic jams. Thats traffic jams plural because I run into another group with about two miles to go. The last three miles is really treacherous.

On of my breaks I meet up with Tim and Agnes. They are taking it slow, Agnes is having a minor relapse of whatever it was she had in Astorga which kept her in bed. This is not a good walking day to feel sick on. They are not sure where they will stop or if they will try to get a taxi if she does not improve. I did not see them again . 

I walk into Molinaseca at about 6:00. The last two hours near the bottom of the hill the temperature went up quickly and it's now hot. I'm worn out and my right foot has a serious toe issue. I walk to my Hostal. I walk all the way to the end of town and I have still not found it. I ask an old man siting on the steps of a house and he tells me to keep going. I am out of town. I check in and the clerk tells me that the dining room will be closed and the cafe is also closed but he does point out that I can walk back into town to get someting to eat. Thanks.

The room is okay but the wifi is not working. It is now 5:42 am as I write this, the wifi is finally working. I will send a note to the travel people about this a accommodation. I get everything taken care of and when I do take off the right Limo and the toe is a mess. It's swollen and I have a blister on the end of the toe. I will need to get to the pharmacy to buy bandages for this problem.

On on my way back into town and I run to Peter, Charlotte and Sophie. They all are worn out from today and all agree that it was even tougher than the first two days. We agree to meet for dinner back at their Hostal fir the pilgrim dinner. I'm off to the pharmacy.

The toe is a problem I just don't know yet how big a problem because tomorrow my walk to Villafranca  will be more than nineteen miles! One of the three longest days on the Camino. This is not a good time for a Psssenger problem. It's now 6:09 am, I need to pack and get going while it's cooler and most of all I need to see how the toe us going to impact today's long walk.

Good night or morning. Burma Camino.

On my way to Rabanal a dusty walk of about fourteen miles. Dinner with some fun people!

Okay there is much to cover but I'll do my best. First let me apologize for all of the photos. I can't keep track of them so if there are duplicates just know that I'm not doing it on purpose. I have so many I did not send. I'm also challenged by the list creation so just know that I'm doing my best.

My night in Astorga could not have been better. I'm feeling pretty good, the passengers seem happy and I dot have any other physical issues as long as you don't count just being sore and tired. Given the fact that I have watched a number of people drop out because of injury I'm feeling quite blessed right now.

Dinner at Restaurante Serrano was on my must achieve this for this second Camino. I went through the schdule several times well in advance to be sure that I would not be in Astorga on a Sunday. It's the only day Serrano is not open. If I can't get a table that's okay but I know I can't get one if they are closed. I had the Foie Gras which was prepared in the same way it as two and a half years ago. I know because when looked at the I see the Foie Gras and I ask how it's prepared? The Chef's sister tells me that he only prepares it one way because that's the way he likes it and so do the customers. Great. 

For the main course I ask for suggestions and she tells me that he is preparing a roasted lamb and that it is one of his most popular dishes. I'm in, the lamb it is. Both dishes are just incredible and the 2011 Malleleolus was perfect. I say my good by's and return to the Hotel. The Catherdal and the Gaudi are now lit up and it completely changes the look of both. 

I get a good nights sleep and I leave around 9:30. No rush it's a short walk of about fourteen miles. There is a hill test today, not terribly significant elevation change but a long hill and it's completely in the sun. The walk takes me through a few interesting villages where I stop a few times for a cold drink. 

One of my other items on my "things to do list" is to stop at the pilgrims chapel which Is a little more than a mile out of Astorga. The church is managed by volunteers and is financed by donations. Most pilgrims will enter and make a donation and then have their credential stamped and spend a few minutes in the chapel. Well on my first Camino I had a real problem and I had to return to Astorga. In the end I visited the church again on my second departure from Astorga that day and I had the volunteer hold my credential while I took her picture, I took the same picture again today.

I'm one day away from the Cruz de Ferro where the stones will be placed. There are now ten stones. Rebbica, a friend of Robin's father passed away in July and Robin sent me an email that Rebbica's mother passed away just two days ago so I will now place both names on a single stone. One other addition is a stone for Mary Alice, Robin's mother who fell last week and has not been feeling well ... She needs a stone.

I have two stones that have made the entire journey. Betty Young, Beth Morre's mother who passed away two years ago and the stone for Lori with two names on it, her sister Diane who died as an infant and Jeri her mother who just had surgery after a bad accident.  All of the other stones are from the Camino. The question I was asked is how do you pick them? I don't they pick them, they pick me. There are countless stones I'm walking on every step on the Camino. As I am walking and looking down at the stones suddenly one will just look right and it will stop me and I'll pick it up and put it in my back pack. All shapes, sizes and colors. The only stone I was trying to find was a stone in the shape of a kidney. I saw many but none picked me. I do have one I think is close to the shape.

So with that I will sign off and take the stones to their place at the Cruz de Ferro. I had dinner tonight with some really fun and nice people. We all went to the pilgrim mass before dinner in the village's stunning little chapel which is more than six hundred years old. I have a photo. More on that tomorrow but now I need to get some rest. 

My guide book says "today we head up through the pass of Iragoto the highest point of our whole journey". It will be a steep ascent up to the Cruz de Ferro and it comes early. The distance to our next destination, Molinaseca will be sixteen and a half miles. I am now within one hundred and fifty miles of Santiago. Seven hundred thousand steps taken, three hundred thousand remain. 

Good night. Buen Camino.

I am on my way to Astorga and the Gaudi. It will be a long walk in the sun but in the end there is Serrano!

Before I tell you tell you about my nearly twenty mile walk today let's go back to last night. I arrive at the Hotel and Casino in Villanangos. It's been long, hot, flat and just not very attractive. There are some points of interest along the way. The bridge across the river and into La Virgen Del Camino is a surprise. But other than that it's just flat, dusty and noisey every step of the way.

I arrive at the Hotel and when I walk into the bar, cafe, card room and front desk I'm ready to get things taken care of and get into the shower. The walk to day to Villadangos is short, only about thirteen miles. Without shade is feels much longer. I have my credential stamped and head to my room. Of course it's on the third floor. It's a small room like most a Camino rooms are but there is a large window which will work well for the laundry.

I'm back downstairs and I order a small beer and decide to go outside and sit and watch the trucks fly by. The bar is noisey and the bar stools are not what I want right now. The little tables outside do have more comfortable chairs. I sit at a table  next to a white haired gentlemen and he asks me where I'm from? I tell him and he tells me that he lives in New Zealand but that he's from Ireland. I'm about to ask him a follow up question when this women , yes an American, just steps between us and asks me directly "what did they charge you for your room?" Before I can say anything she turns and asks the Irish guy the same question. She is obviously not with him and I'm not going to get to know her. I stand up and simply tell her "I don't know" and move back inside. I'm not spending another minute with this person. She sits at the Irish guys table and I just say to him "nice talking with you".

I'm now convinced more than ever that I will not be sitting at the pilgrim dinner table tonight. I purposely go to the dining room late so that I'm certain the pilgrim table will be on course two so there is no way I would have to sit there. I made a good decision because Miss "what did you pay  for your room" is at the table. 

I sit at a small table next to a couple. We start to talk and it turns out they lived in Westport Connecticut and he commuted to New Your about the same time I did. He tells me that they moved to Del Mar which is just south of us. Nice people. They are taking it slow, she has blisters. They will walk half way to Astorga tomorrow and will reach Santiago about four days after I do.

I decide to get up early to start the nearly 20 mile walk to Astorga to get in as many miles as I can in the cooler temperatures. I walk out at about 7:15. It's dark, really dark. The good news is there are practically zero turns today so I don't need to keep searching for the yellow arrows because if I did there would be a problem in this darkness. It is chilly, which is good and it will be great walking conditions for about the first three hours. After that it's warm and dusty.

After covering about fifteen miles I finally reach the Cruceiro Santo Toribio. One of the most famous places pilgrims leave their stones. There are two young Germans there asking for donations to help them build  a new Hostal on the Camino. I make a donation and he helps by taking my picture at the Cruciero. While this point does tell you that you are near Astorga, which you can see below the hill it's still about five miles to the city center. I'm already tired but I've made good time. The goal is to clean up and go to the Restaurante Serrano to try to get a table for dinner. I was there for dinner two yeas ago and it's still one of the best restaurants I have been to. It's now famous and I'm told it could be tough to get a table especially on Saturday night. I will walk over at about 6:00 to see if it's possible.

First to the Gaudi which is almost directly out my Hotel's front door. The Gaudi and the Cathedral sit side by side and are both very impressive. However once you step into the Gaudi you immediately know that you are about to see a building like no other building you have ever set foot in. Up the winding stair case to multiple views of the alters and the collection of crosses. I take a number of photos but I can't do it justice. I'm sure that if you went on line there might be a better photo summary of the Gaudi. It's just stunning.

I am now on my way to the Camino shop but it's closed until six so I just sit at a table outside the cafe in the center square. Mark from Nova Scotia stops by and we catch up. They are staying in the Albegue which has 160 beds. He tells me that Mike and Teresa from Long Beach had to leave earlier than planned because Teresa had a bad ankle sprain and could not go on.

I decide to go to Serrano now to see if I can get in. I walk down the narrow street to the restaurant and as I do the back door opens. There is a small car there and a young guy in a Chefs White coat. I excuse myself and I ask him if he is the chef? He smiles and says yes and I ask if his sister and mother are still also working in the restaurant? I now have his attention. I go on to tell him that I had dinner here two years ago and that I still remember that I had the best Foie gras I have ever had. He is smiling and shakes my hand. I ask him if it's possible to get a table for one tonight? He speaks near perfect English and says" for you my friend, yes. I will tell my sister. He asks my name, shakes my hand again and says eight o'clock." I'm in!

I will close now and finish tomorrow . I'll just say that dinner was great just as I had expected. Tomorrow a short but difficult walk of thirteen miles to Rabanal Del Camino. My new poles will get their first taste of the Camino. Good night. Buen Camino.

It's my lucky day ... I get to meet Miss USA's brother! I think he is her brother but he's different, he's coachable.

I will get to Mr. USA momentarily but first my time in Leon. I think I covered the walk to Leon. Short at less than twelve miles, flat, but it's warm. It's a perfect tourist day at the plaza around the Cathedral and all of the narrow little streets with one little specialty shop after another. The benefit of having been here before is that I know where to go for the things I need. There is a Norstrom type store where I can buy a couple of things I need which will let me get rid of those that have seen their last days. 

I also know where the Camino shop is. I need desperately to buy some new socks. The old ones are really shot from the sink washing. Let's just say that I have not been using any softener. So I run my errands including the purchase of soap powder. It only comes in a large box so I will measure enough to take care of the last twelve days, yes that's whats left, twelve days to Santiago.

I have a salad at the Hotel for dinner but have to wait until 8:30 although it's supposed to be a open at 8:00. No problem, but I have a call with Robin at 9:00 my time, noon her's which had to be pushed back. There are only three of us in the Hotel dining room but that does not matter. We will still go at a speed which is just a bit slower than most of us might expect. All good. Robin and I  have a nice call although her Mom, Mary fell and is still dealing with a nagging cough. Robin is also dealing with jet lag and getting things at the house squared away. 

So it's Friday morning and I'm awake early and decide to skip the Hotel's carb fest and get started early. It's going to be warm today but when I step out of the Hotel it is really very chilly. It's also refreshing  because the Hotel was really warm, too hot for me but I can't change it.

As I leave Leon it's really a completely different view. The crowds are gone, the cafe's furniture lining all of the streets are stored and I get to see a completely different Leon from the one I have seen both yesterday and on the first Camino. It's nice, it's peaceful and the sun is rising. I'm on my way to Villadangos del Paramo, a walk of about fourteen miles on the road route. Not pretty and it is very noisey. I chose this route because it would be different from my first Camino.

When you leave Leon you will first walk about five and a half miles to La Virgen Del Camino where you must choose which route to take, Mazarife or Del Paramo. It is also important to note that if you choose the Mazarife route this will be your last chance to buy water or whatever you need for the next eight miles.

Initially I am less than happy with my choice but I have decided to go as many new routes as I can this time regardless of the view. The route is as was described in the guide book. I really don't care. The last four days have been long, flat and hot. So who cares if there is another. There is a benefit to this route. There will be more places to stop and rest.

I planned on going to La Virgen del Camino where the "Yogi" is located because I have been to the little cafe at that point before. If you read the first blog it's the place where I showed the Vivian ( our cat) video to the mother and she went nuts. I had to replay it several times. I get there and Mom is in exactly the same place. I order but don't attempt to explain that I've been there before. I have breakfast and move on to the road route which will be about eight miles. I am making good time. The route while noisey is flat and dead straight. I'm about four miles into the road route when I reach San Miguel. I walk past a small cafe with a patio and as soon as I am fifty feet past I decide to go back, take a break. If I'm lucky they might have wifi. It turns out that's its really a nice little place. Impeccably clean and organized. I drop my back pack and go to the counter. I'm the only customer. I order I short beer. It's about the size of a half bottle. The little lady behind the counter hands me the beer and I give her a two Euro coin. She puts my change in a little dish and I say thank you and push back the dish. 

I sit and then ask "wifi ?". She quickly points to the wall where there is an eight digit password posted. Here is what I have learned about the Camino. If you need help, want to use their bathroom or their wifi, you should first purchase something, anything, before you do any of these three things. It's really simple. 

The beer I ordered is a fraction more than a Euro so my "tip" is nearly one hundred percent. Big deal. The wifi is working and I'm starting to send photos from my departure from Leon this morning when the little women brings me a dish of Sosnish rice with a small shrimp and a mussel. That's nice, and it's good. See how it works?

With that out of nowhere this guy bursts into this tiny cafe and shoves his guide book in the little women's face ( the same one i have as well as just about everyone else) and in a very aggressive tone demands to know where some Hotel he's looking for is located. The women speaks very little English and when she does not respond he gets angry and more aggressive. I've had enough. 

I get up and get between them and simply say to him "calm down". I go on to tell him that whatever is wrong I will try  to help him. He immediately goes back to the same voice and aggressiveness. I put up my hand and just tell him to stop. If you want help you need to calm down. Again I ask what's the problem? He finally slows down and proceeds to tell me that he cannot find his Hotel which should be nearby. He shows me his guide book and points to the location. He is at least five miles short of where he needs to be. I point that out to him and he starts to go back to being Miss USA's brother and once again I give him the stop sign. He starts to tell me that his wife, sitting outside on the patio cannot go any further.

Okay. Once he calms down I tell him that first you need to order someting. He looks at me with that "what" look on his face. Again I tell him to order someting and we will find a way to get him to his Hotel. He then turns to me and says okay I'll have a beer and my wife will gave a cup of tea. Great, now I'm working here. I turn to the little lady and order both the beer and the tea and she gets right to it. I turn to him and tell him to give me five Euro. He looks at me, hesitates but reluctantly gives me a five Euro note. The little women puts both the beer and the tea on the counter and I hand her the five Euro note and when she try's to give me the change I just say thank you. That's about a one hundred percent tip but it's also about two dollars. 

I grab the tea and head out to the patio where Mr. USA's wife is sitting. It's  no wonder she can't go any longer. She's dressed lke it's going to snow and it's at least 80 degrees. I simply explain that they are at least five miles from where they want to go and then ask if they want to have the women call a taxi? I point out that a taxi will get them to where they want to be in less than twenty minutes. There is no hesitation, the wife says " yes, please yes". Mr, USA does not get a vote and I go back inside and with that universal hand signal where you hold your hand next to your ear like you are getting a call or calling someone else I just say " taxi ". She says simply, Si. That's it. In less than ten minutes a taxi arrives and takes them to wherever they are going. I don't know their names, he never thanked me and they are gone. 

I am back inside and I order a small beer and the little women just smiles at me and then brings me a little sausage on a small piece of bread. I pay her and then return to the Camino. I'm actually pleased that I took the road route today. I had a Camino experience. 

I arrive at my Hotel located right on the freeway at 3:30. It's not the Four Seasons. My only hope now is that if I decide to go to the Pilgrim dinner that I don't get stuck sitting next to Mr. USA. My goal is to get to bed early because tomorrow my walk to Astorga will be nearly twenty miles! The longest distance of any of my schduled walks. 

 When I arrive in Astorga tomorrow I will have 164 miles to Santiago. Good night and Buen Camino.

  

The villiage of Mansilla de las Mulas is sold out so I'm staying off the Camino in a place about a mile and a half away from the center of the village. My dinner partner is in tears.

I will explain the dinner thing shortly but first Mansilla de las Mular. 

I don care about the location. No big deal I will just chill out and eat at the Hostal. I really don't want to go to the pilgrim dinner group but there is no choice. I arrive at 4:00 so I have plenty of time to get things done and rest. Dinner is at seven thirty. There are only five rooms so it will be a small group. 

I go down to the dining room early and get a glass of wine and sit outside in the backyard. The weather is perfect. I take a seat and just like that there is a dog in my lap with a big stick in his mouth. It turns out his name is Pepper. He the owner's son's dog. He is completely black which I guess has something to do with his name. Photo on the way soon.

The son comes out and apologizes for Pepper bothering me. But I just let him know that it's okay.  Pepper and I play fetch for about fifteen minutes before I get called in for dinner. There are five others for dinner. Four people are sitting at a table for four and there is one women sitting alone. There is another table for one. It would be the right thing to do so I ask if she wants company and she says yes. How awkward would it have been if she said no.

She is from New Zealand, her name is Linda and she started her Camino five days before me and has had some blister related delays. She tells me that soon after she started the Camino she realized that she was not as well prepared as she thought she was. The first day over the mountain took her two days. She had to stop at the half way point and beg her way into an Albergue or try to find transportation back to St. Jean, she could not go any further. She then tells me that her two son's both think she has lost her mind doing this Camino thing but have now become supporters and are encouraging her. She now feels much better about what she is doing.

We go through the usual Camino chat and she asks about why I'm doing it again? I explain. She says she regrets that she is not haveing a Spirtual Camino. Then she decides to tell me that her younger brother recently died of Cancer and that she is bringing a stone for him. I can't stop myself and I suggest that her journey is already a spiritual one otherwise why would she be carring a stone? She reaches for her purse looking for a tissue and starts to cry! The group of four are thinking who knows what. I can't imagine what they think I've done. The son comes out with the soup and stops and just looks at me. I just look back at him and shrug. What am I supposed to do. She gathers herself and says to me "your right". The conversation switches to the belief that the Camino is broken into three parts as you make your way to Santiago. The first third is the physical, the second is mental, and the last is spiritual. 

She is fine from that point on and the discussion shifts to where to leave the stone. I'm selling the Cruz de Ferro as it is the most famous location for leaving stones on the Camino. I think she has decided to leave the stone there. That causes me to think .... Why am I selling the Cruz de Ferro to others while trying to decide where to leave the majority of the stones I'm carrying? The Cruz de Ferro is the best choice.

So. in addition to the two stones I'm carring to the Cruz de Ferro for Beth and Lori I have decided that I will take all of the stones to the Criz de Ferro. I believe that I will reach the Cruz de Ferro on Monday on my way to Molinaseca. 

Dinner is fine and I'm back in my room by nine. I am a sleep quickly and then wake in the middle of the night, blog , emails etc and then back to sleep usually until 7:30. The walk on Thursday is to Leon. There us no great way to describe it but to say that it's along the highway, twelve miles,  noisey and dangerous at times. The good news is that it's a bit less than twelve miles. The only additional drawback today is that it's hot. Hot not warm. But at leas it's not raining.

I leave early and just go right at it. There is no need to delay. Leon will be one of the last major cities before Santiago, the other being Astorga. I will send photos of Leon as quickly as I can. The Hotel's wifi system will not let me use two devices with the same email address. Don't ask, I don't understand either. 

Tomorrow I will walk to Villas angus Del Paramo. Fourteen miles and fairy flat. There are actually two destinations fir today. The other is Villar de Mazarife which is where I stayed on my first Camino. I'm trying when possible to change it up so I'm going to Paramo. It will be warm but I'm in no hurry. I have two goals today. The first is to just get there and the second is to try to avoid making anyone cry at the pilgrim dinner.

I will  send the photos as soon as I can. Good night, Buen Camino.