It was a long journey home. Nine hour flight from Madrid to Miami and then a 4 hour layover. Then a five and one half hour flight brought us to Los Angeles and then a 2 hour bus ride to Santa Barbara via the Santa Barbara AirBus. A taxi ride brought us to the front door at 1:30 Wednesday morning. We slept on and off all day but went to bed at 5:30PM and woke up Thursday at 8AM…..Feels like we are over the jet lag. Now begins the process of SLOWLY coming up to normal speed. AND NO MORE WALKING FOR A WHILE! We are so appreciative that we are safe at home.

We both have doctors appointments set up. Angie for her left swollen foot and me for a shin splint on my right leg. I was fine for the entire walk except for two days before the end. Then I developed a shin splint. The last half mile into Santiago De Compostella was made under severe pain. We both were limping in. At times I was only able to go 30-50 feet  at a time before I needed to take that foot off of the ground. At one point Angie said “shall I call you a cab”?… I said that I will roll to the finish rather than take a cab!….. I couldn’t believe it …with just 2 days to go I developed my first problem….how it happened I do not know.

We want to thank all of our family and friends for being such  loyal followers of this travel blog. Thank you for the loving and encouraging comments that you posted that helped us along our journey.

When we are up to speed, we want to post some highlight photos of the Camino that we did not include in previous posts.

As a closing note we would like to say that if you are physically able, we highly recommend taking this once in a life time journey. You will have fantastic memories of Spain, super experiences along the way,  great friends that you will meet along the way and the knowledge that you will  join an unbroken line of pilgrims dating back to the 10th century.

For Now,

God Bless All,

Mike & Angie

As the old saying goes ” All good things must come to an end” Our journey’s official end came with our attendance of the Pilgrim’s mass at the Cathedral Of Santiago De Compostella. This HUGE cathedral was totally packed and a minimum of 200 or so, standing. Mostly pilgrims and many still with their backpacks and walking poles. A beautiful and very unique mass. Can you imagine the emotion of total strangers embracing each other during the giving of the sign of peace? Pilgrims from all parts of the world.

The mass ended with the famous and giant Butafumeiro (incense burner). They originally used this incense burner to deodorize the air! Imagine hundreds of pilgrims making the journey without the opportunity to bathe?! Today it symbolizes all of our prayers rising to heaven. You can see a video of it on YouTube.com at this address:

This is a must see. When we get home, we will upload the video that I took. Keep in mind,  when you watch the video, we were seated in the first row facing the people hoisting the incense burner up. It went right over our heads! Awesome!

When we get home (after the jet lag) we will post some highlight photos. Now we close with some photos of the Parador we are staying at. For those of you that don’t know it, Paradors are historic buildings, owned, restored and converted into magnificent hotels by the Spanish government. This parador is called Hostal De Los Reyes Catolicos. It was originally a hospital for the pilgrims ending their journey here in Santiago De Compostella and was originally built in 1499.

One year ago, our dream of walking the entire 490 mile length (800 km) of the Camino De Compostella,  became a reality for us today at 1:30pm. WE MADE IT  !

As soon as our tear soaked eyes were able to focus, we asked a fellow peregrino if he would take a photo of us. Here we are in front  of the magnificent 10th century Cathedral Santiago De Compostella. This photo was taken just moments after our arrival.

We are staying at a Parador right in the cathedral square.  We will be here for 3 nights. Monday we leave by train for Madrid. Tuesday, the 4th, we board the aircraft for our return home!

Thank you Lord Jesus for getting us here safely.

On a personal note to my son Frank: Frank, it is now the time to pay your little brother, Chris, the $100 you owe him as we have officially finished our journey.

Tomorrow, sadly, will be our last post.

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2 days & 12 miles to go!

Today’s 12 miles were to be an easy task. But as luck would have it, it rained hard the whole time. Actually, it was the hardest rain of the entire journey. Now drying out all the clothes & boots. We split up the remaining 12 miles into 2 days. We have been walking 7 days straight without a rest day. So the last 2 days will be easy on our bodies and we should just coast into Santiago de Compostella on Friday.

Our friend, Ann Davenport,  wanted to know what is in our backpacks.  So here is the rundown:

This is the part of the pack that is against our backs. Shown or the shoulder straps and hip straps:

There are little holders on the shoulder straps. Shown here is a holder I use for eye drops for when the trail gets dusty!

There is a pocket on each of the two hip straps. One holds the sunblock SPF 50 and the other pocket holds a pocket knife.

On the right front side is the water tube that is connected to a water bag that is situated inside the middle of the backpack. We fill these up about half way to conserve weight. Then refill as needed. Great system…just put the tube in your mouth and suck the water out without having to stop and reach for a water bottle.

The real business end of the backpack is composed of 3 main parts. 1.A small compartment bag which has a zipper opening. Items such as cell charger, sun glasses, gloves, passport and anything that is used frequently. 2. Duffle area 3. Spandex type rear pocket.

This is probably going to be TMI (too much information! )

The main item container is a duffle bag type. Toiletries go in here but as with all items going in here are first put in a waterproof bag. The  toiletrie bag is shown contained within a red waterproof bag

Going on top of the toiletrie bag are the clothes. They go in a blue waterproof bag. The clothes are Hi tech, quick dry and perspiration wicking types. 1 pr underwear,  1 pr pants, 1 long sleeve T shirt, 2 short sleeve T shirts, 1 pr socks. The other pairs of clothing is what we wear. So we have 2 pairs of everything – 1 in the bag and 1 we wear. We wash our clothing in the sink each day and hang dry.

Then a small ultra light sleeping bag (usually used as a liner) we use when sleeping in a hostel on bunkbeds.

Last item in is our jackets. They are lightweight and made of synthetic down.

Jo

The draw string is pulled to close the duffle in the first photo . Not shown is the compartment bag folded over the duffle.

The rain poncho is inserted in the spandex type pocket attached to the outside of the duffle.

The complete backpack with water weighs about 14 pounds.

Other items I forgot to list are:

A micro fiber towel and walking poles. The poles are made of carbon fiber and weigh 6 oz. each. They fold in half and are put inside the duffle for when we bring the pack on the plane.

I think this was too much information!!

The countdown Continues: 3 days & 24  miles to go.

Regarding the last post, my friend Mark, posted this comment:  Can you spot the pilgrims that just started the Camino in Sarria from the seasoned pilgrims who started from the beginning?Yes ,Mark, we can and we have compiled a “Top Ten (or thereabouts) List.

Top 10 Ways to Spot a Pilgrim Newbie

10. Their faces are bright & cheerful & they seem to have a zest for life.

9.  They have a spring to their walk & they don’t hobble.

8.  As they pass you, they smell so fresh just as if they were doused in Bounce Fabric Softener.

5.  They seem to be so debonaire & bon vivant.

3.  They appear to just glide over the trail & they kick up no dust.

2.  Their socks show no evidence of blood stains…….AND THE #1 WAY YOU CAN TELL A PILGRIM NEWBIE;

THEY DON’T LOOK 20 YEARS OLDER THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE  !

We have nothing better to do with our time tonight  because it is raining. We will have a more meaningful (and factual) post tomorrow.

Thanks for all your emails & comments. Please keep them coming!

4 days to go and 60 kilometers (approximately 36 miles ) to cover ! We are still  in the Galicia area. Mostly cattle farms. Everything is green in color. Very few colored flowers. We are surprised at the lack flowers in this area.

The Camino is changing. During the first month, it was not unusual to walk all day and maybe encounter a few pilgrims. Also, some days we would walk 6 to 9 miles before encountering a pueblo. Now, there are many pilgrims because many have entered the Camino recently to walk the last 100 kilometers.  Most of the time the pueblos are 3 to 4 miles apart.

We will be starting early tomorrow on our walk to Arzua.

We have been without WiFi and cell coverage. Now in Portomarin with approximately 60 miles to go to reach our destination.

If you remember from the last post, the navigator,  I mean Angie, was not happy with my recent dietary choices. This is my latest choice, need I say more?

Seriously, though, after 430 miles I am learning to control my anxieties….. “Ahh,   but the strawberries, that’s …..that’s where I had them….”

Seriously,  we are in top shape considering the mileage! Angie still has constant pain in her left foot. It hurts the most on the downhills. She controls the pain with regular doses of Advil during the walk. She presses on each day. Our spirits are high and now we are further motivated by the closeness of Santiago de Compostella. We miss our family and friends…I guess you can say we are a little homesick. Living out of a backpack does take a toll over a month & a half!

Here are some photos on the way to Portomarin.  We went through a lot of cattle farms here in Galicia. No sheep photos because I have taken too many of those already. Also, no cows because our good friend Christine Holland, who is now in Paris, says they scare her (something about mind control)

Sorry, Christine, I couldn’t resist!

This one is for Pamela, Dr. Chris & Mark

The Galicia region is just stunningly beautiful. Country living personified.

“Country roads, take me (us) home “……..

Portomarin, where we are now for the night. Taken from about 2 hours away.

After 400 miles on the Camino, sometimes things get strained.  Take for example our lunch break today. I wanted to order pasta & a beer. Angie told me no. She wanted me to have tuna fish and a diet Coke. OK….I agreed to the tuna but held fast on the beer.

Other strange things occur after 400 miles of walking. Take for example yesterday. If you read yesterday’s post you will remember we got in at 7 in the evening. Well about an hour before we got in, I started reciteing poems. NOT the James Joyce stuff but…..”Mary had a little Lamb”….and “There was a old lady who lived in a shoe “…..well I was halve way through “little Jack Horner ” when I realized I was dehydrated…. I drank some water and I. quickly returned to normal.

Anyway tomorrow I am going to have that pasta and beer no matter what Angie says.

We got a late start from O’Cebreiro. Late getting up, late breakfast, long breakfast….BY the way…yesterday was an important day as we just broke through the 100 mile Mark. We have 96.4 miles to Santiago de Compostella . We have walked 393.6 miles!

Foggy & Temperatures in low 30s

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Scattered patches of snow in the shady areas..That’s me in my heavy weather / Terrorist attire.

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Here are some photos along the way.

The Mapbook we were following had a mistake of mileage.  What was indicated was an easy day of 12 miles.  The actual was 16.5 miles. We walked for 8 hours….got in at 7pm.

There’s the Pueblo of Tricastella  that we are headed towards. We are up very high with a very steep descent at Vino – 4 1/2 hours.

Ah….a little closer…..Vino – 2 1/4 hours

VINO AT 0 HOURS!