After the Camino

I will not attempt to explain all of the reasons why I have decided to continue my Camino journey blog nearly six months after I returned from Santiago. A recent meetings with friends who followed my journey and offered great support without hesitation while also asking me to go back and write again has certainly had an impact on my decision. 

 Their support helped me take my first step onto The Camino everyday for 34 days and for that I will always be appreciative . 

I am as surprised as anyone with the number of times people ask me if I will continue to write on my Blog. It does occur more often than anyone would believe . It's equally surprising that there continues to be people reading the Blog everyday. The feedback has now caused me to rethink the idea of continuing to write.

Robin and I recently visited with a great friend who is fighting a personal medical challenge. I was moved beyond explanation when she told me how much she enjoyed reading my posts each day while facing a very difficult daily medical procedure none of us should ever have to endure.

I was thrilled and a little embarrassed when she said that the daily posts helped her greatly as she dealt with treatment and the fear of what she was facing. She enthusiastically told me how much she looked forward to waking in the morning eager to catch up on my journey. I can only hope that whatever I now post can in some small way continue to help her in the fight against this awful disease .

I will soon reach out to her and arrange a long lunch to sit with her and to more personally share with her my Camino. We had very little time on this last visit and I look forward to seeing her soon. 

While she and others have been nice enough to tell me how much they looked forward to reading about my Camino journey, I now realize that for a few my daily writings caused them to see me differently. Unfortunately I have even sensed a degree of discomfort with some when we are in the same company. 

I'm not sure why but I believe that it has to do with the references to my Camino's spiritual experience.

It was never my intention to write anything which could be seen as trying to force or promote my beliefs. I also never intended to make anyone uncomfortable but I'm afraid that has happened. More about that in the future.

My writings have always been focused on having my Grandchildren get a glimpse of who I was, how I think and my beliefs. I'm not trying to recruit anyone or judge anyone who sees the world differently. It was for that reason I kept much of my thoughts to myself. I avoided every person and conversation on The Camino of a political nature because as I said during my journey I was not going to allow any such conversations to in anyway destroy the very positive experience I was having. Believe me if I had decided to allow my political beliefs into the Blog it would have destroyed the purpose of what I was trying to accomplish. 

I will continue to abide by that rule in any additional writings. 

I have now been back for six moths and I have had an opportunity to reflect on my Camino. On occasion I look at the photos taken many of which were not posted and they have helped me to recall many memories which also were not posted. I will be working on going a bit more granular.

Again, the primary goal will be my attempt to leave behind a story written for my Grandchildren which also continues to give me a personal reward. 

My next post ( no schedule ) will be about my return. Until then, thanks for joining me,Jim.

My journey on the Camino ..... An attempt to summarize what is not possible to summarize.

It's all part of "the journey". That's what I have heard a friend say many times while we are playing golf. More specifically Bobby gets stuck with me as a partner and when I play poorly he would always say " it's all part of the journey". He is a very good player, I am not. As badly as I play he never gets upset .... "it's all part of the journey". I have a new understanding of what that means to me after the Camino.

I did not mention this in the Stage 34 blog so I will now. As I was approaching  the Hill of Happiness,  I was met by a local TV crew, one reporter and a cameraman. They were from TV Galicia. It said so in big blue letters on the side of their small white car. 

As I got closer to them the reporter started to move toward the trail, microphone in hand. I stopped and he asked me a question, first in Spanish and then after I responded in English he asked the question again. The question was basically how was it to walk in the rain? I responded "it's all part of the journey". He thanked me and I walked away with the camera man following me as I passed him. That's when it struck me that everything I have experienced on my 500 mile walk was in fact my journey and it had many parts to it. I doubt he understood my response and I don't think I'll be on the six o'clock news.

Rain, wind, snow, mud, cold, hot, blue sky's and that's just the weather. Throw in the people, the difficulty, the discomfort, the fear of failure and so much more and you start to understand that it really  is a journey. It's is a journey I will never forget. 

I will also take from this journey new tools which I will use in my coaching business. I look forward to getting back to my work with a young and talented sales team.

My goal when I left California on May 13th was to complete the Camino. I can't describe the feeling of the fear of failure. I had worked hard to prepare but I did not have any idea of what I would be facing when I took my first step onto the Camino in St. Jean, France. Was I really ready? Could I walk ten or more days consecutively carrying more than twenty two pounds on my back? In the end I will walk thirty four days in a row without taking a day off. That was not planned for, it just turned out that way.

The first test came on day two in the snow. Have I prepared for snow? No. I live in San Juan Capistrano, we don't have snow. That was the first test of my commitment. I am here as an act of gratitude for all the gifts and blessings I have received. Would the gratitude be for just one day and 17 miles because the snow caused me to quit? If I am here also to leave something for my grandchildren about who I was, what would quitting on day two say about me?

It's easy to quit. Always is, always will be. That is not the message I want them to get from my Camino. Being injured and unable to complete the journey is one thing, quitting because of weather is not an option. I can also tell you that the ability to reject quitting is made much easier when each day starts with a message from one of the people who want to see me complete the journey. It is a truly motivating reminder of why you cannot quit. There is no way to let all of these people down, you must continue. And let's not forget that in my backpack is a card that I am not supposed to open until my 30th day on the Camino. Should I just go home and open it at the club on the 30th day afrer quitting? Not going to happen.

I shared with you some of my fondest work related stories. There many more. I trust that in time when Brayden and Taylor are old enough to understand what message I am trying to send them , that they will see far more than just the story about young David and changing Tired to Fired. The message I hope they will come away with is that it is wrong to behave the way young David did. Calling in sick when you are not. Putting more work on others because you are just selfish. Realizing that the result was correct. My methods may have been a bit unconventional but they did work. 

When I was working I had cards printed, the size of a business card which simply stated our Value Proposition. The card said only this:

       We tell the truth ......... We do the right thing ......... We never promise what we can't deliver.

How would young David's actions line up with these values? Everyone had the card, it was lamenated and we encouraged everyone to keep it with them at all times. Simple and it works. That's the message.

So here I am on an airplane from Santiago to Madrid where I will connect to a nonstop flight to Los Angeles, 5628 miles away. The flight will take thirteen hours,  not much more than Stage 27's walk which was only 18 miles. That puts some things about the Camino in perspective.

I had dinner last night with both Rainer and Michele. The food was good and it was a good way to end the Camino. Michele walked the last two days by combining two Stages in order to meet us for dinner here in Santiago.

Before dinner I head back to the central part of ithe city, its a short walk to do some shopping. It's raining and I buy an umbrella for three Euro's . I guess I am preparing for my return to a fear of rain. Actually I buy the umbrella because its chilly and I don't need to have my cold get any worse. It's getting much better, I don't sound like Barry White any longer.

We have a forth for dinner. A guy who is from Italy Michele met back in Astorga. Interesting guy, played on three teams that won the Itailan Super Bowl, as in American football. Big guy, very fit. He rode a bike for his Camino and did it in twenty days. He builds custom motorcycles for a living.

The question comes up about would you walk the Camino again? For me the answer is very easy ..No.

Not because I didn't enjoy my Camino. I said No because I enjoyed it so much that there is no way I could duplicate it. If I were to do it again I know that I would be constantly comparing any second attemp with the first which would only mean disappointment . Now throw in the fact that I'm not getting any younger, I don't want to train that hard again and perhaps its easy to understand my "No" answer.

How could I ever walk to Villafranca without thinking of my "detour" and the Dos Jose's or my exit from Astorga when I stop at the tiny little Camino church and find that my Credential is missing and in a panic return to the hotel to begin a search for it? There are others, a ride in a cop car in Los Arcos, 

Lilo, Anna , Bono , Irish Ann, Big Billy, Burgos Ray, the Children just to name a few. 

My Camino experience was very special when I think of Nelly and Fernando but of course Michele and Rainer were the two people I spent lots of time with. I look forward to having dinner with them again next year at Michele's Restaurant. I'm guessing we just might get a good table.

So here I am waiting to board Iberia flight 6171. I am eager to get home and yes the beard will stay for perhaps a week but not any longer.

There are so many people to thank who helped make my Camino possible but there are also some who I want to say a special thanks to. 

To Pat who planted the seed . I know that you will enjoy your Camino and that you will meet some very interesting people. Thank you.

To Sharel without whom I would not have been able to complete my Camino. Sharel worked very hard to keep me out of bunk beds and put up with all of my constant changes. Thank you.

Last but not least, Robin who from the moment I first spoke of the idea of walking the Camino never stopped or wavered in her support. She put up with all of my training schedules and was there when I would express doubts about being able to go five hundred miles. Thank you, I Love You and I look forward to seeing you at the airport. Remember I will be the old guy with the mostly white beard!

So that's it, my blog is complete. I have enjoyed trying to get it posted everyday and I wait with great anticipation for my final grade. Thanks for joing me. I hope you got something from it, perhaps even a laugh or two.

Buen Camino and may you be as blessed as I am. 

Jim.

Stage 34 .... It's the final Stage to Santiago. One million steps, five hundred miles and a great number of really incredible memory's .

I will first have coffee con leche and then push off to Santiago. I have already started dumping anything I don't need to get to or stay in Santiago. I could leave my poles behind but I thought that they have really worked hard to help get me here and that the least I could do is let them walk into Santiago with me. We will part company before I leave on Friday morning for my connecting flight to Madrid. 

It was a somewhat restless night. A combination of my cold and a bit of anticipation. I just want to go and finish. I was asleep early and awake every couple of hours until I just gave up at 6:00. Each time I woke up I would look out the window to check the weather. It's been raining all night, not a heavy rain but a steady rain.

If this rain continues for my final Stage then it will be Barry White getting the Compostela at the Pilgrim Office. I was feeling a little better and thought that it might be Louie Armstrong instead. I will just have to deal with it one last time, continue to take the LAFOR and walk into Santiago with a cold.

I will not be getting to Santiago in time for the Piligrims Mass at noon anyway, so I will just wait and see if the weather changes. It is now 6:30, I will leave between 9:00 and 10:00. The Pilgrim's Office is open until 7:00 tonight. Rainer has already warned me that there will be a line which could mean that it may take an hour or more. I really don't care. I will just wait to see the swinging of the giant insense burner, Botafumeiro until tomorrow. The Cathedral seats up to 1000 people so there is a good chance that I will get a seat.

I finish breakfast at 8:15 and it does not look like its going to be getting much better. I am leavening early and will just take my time on this my final walk to Santiago. I am so glad there isn't a Stage 35.

I pack my gear for the last time and exclude a couple of items like the detergent. I will not miss having to do that little sink task again. It is 9:30 as I return to the Camino. I will make several stops along the way for water, coffee and to have my Credential stamped at least three times. 

The temperature is nearly perfect, about sixty degrees and just a slight breeze and its cloudy. There are sections of the trail where there is mud but nothing that will cause me to perform the mud dance. The rain has left the trail soft which is good for the Limo's and their passengers. I am dressed as well as I can given the fact that I don't have many options.

I have all seven stones in my backpack and they will be placed at The Hiill of Happiness which will be about ten miles from my starting point. I will take several pictures today including a few of the markers which count down the number of kilometers remaining to Santiago. Each is a clear reminder of just how close I am.

It begins to rain after only two miles but I am in the forest so the tree cover acts as an umbrella making the rain a non event. As I come out of the forest the rain stops and I will make my first wardrobe change. It's getting a little warm and of course I am heating up from inside the rain jacket. 

With about four miles to go I make my final stop for coffee. It's a very small place and very few customers. As I drink my coffee it begins to rain. The two people who work here are completely glued to the television as they watch the American reality show filmed in a pawn shop in Detriot. The show is a less than flattering example of how people in the U.S. behave. 

I reach Monte do Gozo which is now marked by the sizable monument commemorating the visit by Pope John Paul the second. The Hill of Happiness. It is certainly not the view that pilgrims from a thousand years ago had from the top of hill. It is very different I am sure. Hundreds of years ago the pilgrims could actually see the Cathedral from this location but now all you see is the outer edges of the suburbs of Santiago.

I place the seven stones at the base of the monument and take a few pictures. Robin will send them to  family and others. This is my final task. I begin my walk downhill into Santiago. I walk past the Monte del Gozo Albergue which is within a couple hundred feet of the monument. It has beds for up to three thousand pilgrims! Can you imagine the sounds that three thousand people in bunk beds can make! It's actually a row of buildings which are filled with beds. I am so glad that Sharel didn't book me here!

As I walk over a freeway bridge I see it. It's the sign that simply says SANTIAGO. I take a picture, I have arrived, my Camino walk is complete. I made it! Five hundred miles, one million steps. The Camino Frances. It's a bit odd because I am walking alone and there isn't anyone to say "hey I made it", I have completed my Camnio.

The next item on my agenda is to go to the Pilgrims office near the cathedral and claim my Compostela but first I want to find the hotel to shower and change. Everything I am wearing is wet and I don't want to stand in line as wet as I am still carrying all of my gear.

I get to my room and take a much needed shower. Rainer has just arrived and I will meet him in the lobby to leave for the Pilgrim's office. He's been there twice before so he knows the drill. 

We get to the Pilgrims office and as luck would have it there is no line and I present my Credential's to the clerk. She inspects them. I have two now because the American version is to small. She asks me to complete a short questionnaire. She stamps my Credential's and hands them back to me along with my Compostela. The Compostela is in Latin and it includes my Latin name, Jacobum. Not exactly flattering is it? 

Rainer and I will have dinner and then I will do my best to sleep in tomorrow morning. The only thing I have planned for Thursday is to attend the Pilgrims Mass at noon. 

I will post my final blog as a summary of my Camino. I will write it on the plane back to Los Angeles on Friday, I'm taking Thursday off. That's it for now, no more walking, I am in Santiago. 

See you soon. Good night.

A post before the post..... I made it ! I am in Santiago and will soon post the Stage 34 blog.

Stage 33 ..... I am really close, I am as shocked as you are .... Today 13 miles closer to the goal, Santiago

Fortunately the medicine is working. I feel much better today than when I went to bed last night. I guess walking in the cold rain was not good for me. I'm really close but I'm also really tired.

Breakfast is what it is, you just get use to it. I will get a head start on Rainer. He will be at a different hotel tonight because my hotel is sold out. We will meet for dinner on Wednesday in Santiago.

Unlike yesterday the weather this morning is clear but its cold. It's 18 C or about 57 F. That's a good temperature for walking but throw in some wind and it gets al little chilly. It's much better than yesterday and there is no point in dwelling on it. You just deal with it and go.

The Camino is crowded today . If feels like a "walkathon". With very few exceptions they are all new faces. I do see from time to time a few of the children, they are all spread out. 

It's a nice day and the trail is much better. The mud for the most part is gone. No surprise hills, just 13 miles. I am moving at a pretty good pace because I keep passing people but I'm not pushing it. I don't take my first break until I've gone about five miles. A little something to eat, water and a snack and I am back on the Camino. 

I think I am more focused because I am getting so close. I have all of the stones, they have all been marked and will be placed at The Hill of Happiness tomorrow just as I get set to enter the city. I will leave about the same time as I did today, 10:00. I could leave earlier to try and make the Pilgrims Mass at noon but that would just mean pushing it . I will attend the Pilgrims Mass on Thursday, it will be a lot easier. Getting my Compostela tomorrow will be my focus followed by buying one long sleeve shirt I can wear to dinner and then on the flight home. All of the clothes I came with will not be returning. 

I arrive in O Pedrouzo at 3:30 , five an a half hours. It's amazing how the trail conditions will effect time. It's also amazing how fast you can walk 13 miles when you know that it's going to bring you to the last Stage of this 500 mile journey! 

Now a little dinner, some cold medicine and some sleep before I start Stage 34 a walk of only 12 miles to Santiago. Just think that for those of you on the west coast, I will be completing my Camino at the Cathedral of Saint James as you have your morning coffee, I hope you enjoy it as much I will enjoy seeing the Cathedral . 

Good night .

Stage 32 .... My walk today will be 17 miles to Arzua .... The tool I bought at the junk shop is no match for this hard rock soil. Rain, cold, wind and mud make for a very, very long day.

I tested the tool I bought and it won't do the job. I need to find a real shovel or something close to it to dig an adequate hole for my four Cross's. The good news is that as I walked into this very small village I walked right past a hardware store. Yesterday was Sunday so it was closed. The hotel clerk thinks it will open today around 9:30. I guess they are not in a hurry to get their day started. By the way the picture of my Cross's are attached to the Stage 30 blog.

When I went to meet Rainer for dinner it was raining and getting cold. It's been raining  all night and it appears that it will rain for all of my seventeen miles today.  Not a problem, no complaints. I have had fantastic weather for all but a few tough days back at the beginning of my Camino, so this was somewhat over due.

There is only one route and the trail will be mostly flat with an uphill portion starting around the ten mile point. The rain has been steady all night so its likely that there will be mud. My poles are now veterans and will once again get me through it.

Breakfast is in the basement of the building. It's 7:30 but I can't leave until I get a chance to visit the hardware store which does not open until 9:30. There are no windows at breakfast so when I go back up the stairs to the lobby I am pleasantly surprised to see that not only has it stopped raining, it's also sunny and getting warmer. I think it's going to be a good day. I will be wrong.

When I woke this morning I could also sense a head cold getting started. I will plan on stopping at the Farmacia on my way out of the village. First stop the hardware store for the tool.

The clerk at the store does not understand me so I just begin looking around the store and I do find one tool which will work. It's a hand held version of a pickax. I buy it. The handle is detached from the head which will make packing it easy. 

I am leaving the village and I stop at the Farmacia. My cold is getting worse and my throat's not all that good. The Farmacia is so small that four people waiting for help is going to take forever. I decide it can't wait. Bad decision.

The weather is cold but sunny. I can see the dark sky off in the distance and it appears that I am headed that way. The walk should be fairly flat. I will find out that with five miles to go I will be very, very wrong. The last five miles today will be straight up hill and will rain without stopping for all five miles.

After only one mile I am overheating and stop for a wardrobe change. I will repeat this four or five times in the first three hours. It's time consuming and its not really resting in spite of the fact that you are not walking and your backpack is on the ground. This is really slowing me down and it's an energy burner.

I am about six miles from my starting point when it starts to rain. The trail s covered in mud and puddles which means there is no straight line to walk, every step is zigging and zagging around the mud and standing water. The poles are hard at work. Again an energy burner. 

The rain is now steady and as I am doing the mud dance I am working on an idea for my four Cross's . I think I have the spot picked out. I will bury them today in the rain. One of the challenges I face in trying to close the book on my four Cross's idea is the pilgrim traffic. I would like to do this without a witness becoming curious. I really don't have a concern about someone doubling back to dig it up but I would feel better if I can do it privately. That won't be a problem because of the rain.

As it rains non stop and I am working hard I am also sweating so much that I am getting wet from the inside out. 

There is a beautiful little church in a small village of Santa Marie. It is near here that I have decided to bury my four Cross's. I find the spot, its also symbolic and I dig the hole with my new tool and take pictures with both my iPhone and my iPad . I will send them to Robin  and it will be quite easy to find the location which is very near a permanent structure which will be here for years to come. 

I am so wet from the sweat and so worn out from all the stops that when it stops raining with about seven miles to go I take off my rain jacket and decide that if it rains again I will just get wet. Within a mile I am now just walking in the rain without the rain jacket. I will just get wet. I've done it before in the first few days at the start of my Camino, no big deal.

The last five miles are a real test made more difficult because I did not see it coming. I arrive at the hotel at 6:30 nearly eight and a half hours after I started. Because of the wardrobe delays, the Cross's burial and a couple of stops for food and coffee this day is not only somewhat difficult, it's also long.

I meet Rainer at 7:30 for dinner. Dinner is good but my cold is now becoming a serious issue. I fell like crap and when I speak you think you are talking to Barry White. Now my problem is I need to get to a Farmacia but none will open until 10:00 tomorrow morning. That's not good. Rainer asks the waiter what time the Farmaca opens and he does say 10:00 but wait, there is also a twenty four hour emergency Farmacia. It's about a mile and a half from where I am sitting. It's now about 9:00. 

The last thing I am going to do is to walk another three miles trying to find a Farmacia in the dark while its raining. I can't find the Camino In day light and perfect weather so trying to find a Fsrmacia on foot while its raining in the dark is out of the question.

The waiter says he will try to get a taxi to come and take me. Ronald to the rescue . Ronald is the taxi driver who picks me up. He says to me in perfect English, "what do you need at the pharmacy"? I explain. 

We arrive at the emergency Farmarcia and its just a tiny window that cannot be more the two feet square. Ronald gets out, rings the service button and he explains what is wrong with me and just like that the guy in the Farmacia puts my cold medicine in the push out delivery door. I am now given my LAFOR Polvo Para Solucion Oral and we are on our way back to the hotel. Ronald explains dosage and also says  "no beer".  A taxi driver and a Doctor.

I am ready to get to sleep. It's been a very long day. I now have only two more days of walking . Tomorrow I will walk to O Pedrouzo, Stage 33, 13 miles. I hope the LAFOR works! 

Good night.

Stage 31 a walk of fifteen miles to Palas De Rei ..... I wonder if David is still tired ? Happy Fathers Day!

I did not realize it was Father's Day until this morning when I received an email from Robin. So to all of the Fathers out there, Happy Fathers Day. I wish I was there. I will be soon. I only have about 45 miles remaining. Just three more days. It's hard to believe.

I did not sleep very well last night. A combination of a bed that just was not comfortable and a room that was a little to warm for me. I will get over it. I'm on my way to breakfast.

It's the usual, that's all I will say with one exception. Today the coffee is not very good. I will pass and just get something at my first stop, Gonzar, which is about five miles from my starting point.

The first two miles are where all of the days walking challenges will be. After the elevation change which is up about 900 feet, the Camino will be flat and in good condition. The weather is perfect, a little cloud cover, a slight breeze and plenty of shade make for what I think is the easiest day yet. Yes, I know fifteen miles is difficult but trust me fifteen in these conditions is much better than six on a difficult trail.

I am in the lobby trying to download email and send the Stage 30 post because the wifi only works in the lobby. As I am trying to get that accomplished I am sitting in the lobby looking at the map for today's walk. I am interested in trying to determine if there are any surprise turns or more than one trail. Yes, I know exactly what you are all saying right now .... Jim's reading a map, this could be trouble.

You are correct. I have proven that I am not to be trusted with a map. It has given me a new found level of respect for the work being performed by that woman in the dashboard of my car. 

That reminds me, I have a person in my iPad Mini who is starting to get under my skin. He or she was hired by Steve Jobs to guess what word I am trying to type. It bugs me. You know, you type in the first two letters of a word and he or she just takes a guess and slips in a word. Annoying. I will admit that there are many occasions where the word is the same I am trying to type and that does help out. 

I don't know who this person is in my Mini but I do know this. He or she never won a spelling bee. 

Speaking of spelling this reminds me of one of the best Management moments of my career. I'm sorry but when you are walking for more than six hours like I was today these things do pop into your head.

Here is what happened. It was the mid 80's and I was traveling constantly. I just returned to the office after a road trip and my assistant is filling me in on what I missed while I was gone. She says to me "we have a problem". Ok tell me what it is. 

Jan tells me that David, a young man on the sales desk has developed a habit of calling in sick on Mondays when I am away and it's causing problems with phone coverage. Ok , I'll take care of it. I call David into my office and we have a conversation. That would be a BC Jim conversation where I do all of the talking and he just listens. I tell Jan our problem has been fixed.

About two or three weeks later I fly to the west coast on Sunday so I can be with customers on Monday morning. I call the next morning to see if I have any messages and Jan brings me up to speed and then says "David's not in today". You can't be serious.

I asked if he called in sick and so help me she says  "no, he called in and said he was tired"! What I said next was an immediate response, immediate. 

"Jan I want you to drop everything you have planned for today and find David, get him on the phone, tell him you spoke to me and then tell him Jim said, get a piece of paper and a pencil and write down the word TIRED and change the first letter to F"! Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Come on, you have to agree that was pretty good.

Who said you can't have fun at work. I think Jan actually liked it more than I did. I wonder if David is still tired ?

Back to the Camno. As I already said, it's a beautiful day. I am making such good time that I find myself telling me to slow down. There is absolutely no reason for going to fast. I left Portomarin at 10:00 and will arrive at 4:15, that includes stops where I have a bite to eat and  give the passengers some airtime.

Say hello to Tilley the talker. I am on the Camino and all is good. I can hear her behind me. She is a good distance back but I can hear her like she is standing next to me. She never takes a breath! It's constant. I am not walking with her but I am on the verge of a headache. I cannot believe what the guy she is with must be going through. It's so bad that I decide to take a break and let them pass. They are not wearing backpacks or carring anything so they should be faster. I stop and take off my backpack. She is talking non-stop all he way to me and for as far as I can see once they pass me. The Camino is quite, she apparently did not get the memo. Tilley the Talker, that's the name I give her and I will see her again three more times today and each time she will be talking without interruption. This guy is either a saint or he is deaf.

The balance of my walk today in Stage 31 is uneventful. No detours. My walk today will be about six and a half hours.

Now, the Stones. I will have seven to be placed at the Mount Joy, Monte de Gozo, a monument commerating the visit of Pope John Paul the second from which the Cathedral towers can be seen. It will be that moment when I know that I have arrived in Santiago.

The seven stones. First, there will be one stone simply marked with "THE LIST". It represents all of those who I have on my "list" which dates back more than fifty years, started on the day my Granfather died when I was about 15 years old. The list has grown as a list of this kind will. I have it memorized. This stone will be for all on the "list".

Each of those for whom I will place a single stone are also on the list. They are: My parents, my brother Bobby, my sister Susan, Robin's father and Clara, Bill's Mother. Beth understands the list and I know she will like the idea. 

As I am walking along I am looking at individual stones which I think will represent all seven. Once I have selected and marked them I will send a photo to Robin to distribute among family. The picture of Clara's stone will be sent directly to Bill and Beth.

The markings on the stones won't last very long but the idea will last forever. 

One last comment before I go. I opened Amanda's envelope and it was just the icing on the cake for what has been a really great day. With that I will say good night. Thanks for joining me, I will be there soon.

Tomorrow I walk to Ribadiso, a walk of 16 miles. Just three Stages remain. I'm close, really close. Good night.