Start: Sobrado dos Monxes
End: Arzua
Distance: 14.07 miles (22.64 kilometers) and 1,052 feet (320.65 meters) of ascent.
Quote: ““There was nowhere to go but everywhere.” – Jack Kerouac
Musings: The rain came back today. And so did Carol’s beautiful teal poncho. I thought perhaps we’d seen the last of it this trip, but no. At first, it was just a misty rain, and I hoped that maybe that’s all there would be. But a few miles from our destination for the day, the rain decided to stop playing around and got serious. But we’re weathered pilgrims now, and we know what to do in rain. All in all, we stayed pretty dry and comfortable under our gear and just kept moving forward.
The highlights today were two-fold. First, we enjoyed seeing Viv and Martin and meeting up with them for dinner again in Aruza. The conversation with these two is always lively. Second, messages and pictures from our Camino kids and friends started pouring in today announcing that they had reached Santiago. Honestly, I got pretty teary-eyed seeing some of these joyous photos. I’ll share some of them below. Be prepared though. You may get teary-eyed too.
That’s all for today. Just two more walking days remain! Please keep us in your prayers as there are no guarantees in life or on the Camino.
Until tomorrow, here are the photos from today:
View of the Monastery as we were leaving Sobrado.
Selfie with Monastery in background.
The return of the beautiful, billowy, teal poncho!
They were just so evenly spaced, I had to take a photo.
Guess which way we went. Yep. The long way!
A moment of respite in the rain so the teal poncho is stowed.
Here are the Camino completion photos from Camino kids and friends who have reached Santiago in the past day or two (posted with permission from the senders):
Helen and Tony from Upstate NY. Woohoo!!
Hilary!! Look at that smile and a few joyful tears too!
And a beaming Hilary smile!
Andrea, Hilary, Jihong, and Riley!! So many of our Camino kids all together!!
And another Camino kid — Nicole!! Woohoo! Boots off and a backpack pillow!!
But she’s back on her feet again!! Yay Nicole!!
Andrea, Sue, Jihong, Riley, Hilary, and Cherie! Woohoo!!
Congratulations to everyone!!
Whoo-hoo! Those kids are something else. Nice of them to be your advance team, no doubt they are setting up the press conference for when you arrive. 😂 But, no kidding, you guys are warrior pilgrims now. Here’s hoping your last couple days are safe, peaceful and happy!
AMAZING 🤩
🙏🙏🙏 You're SO close!