I thought of 21 more random thoughts and information tidbits.
1. I walk way faster than some pilgrims.
2. I walk way slower than some pilgrims.
3. Drivers in Spain are more respectful of pedestrians than in any other country I have visited. Seriously! They stop to let you cross the road when they don’t even have to!
4. The new pilgrims who recently started walking the Camino feel awful; every muscle hurts in their bodies — just like mine did on my day 3 of the Camino!
5. Tonight will mean I have unpacked and packed my bag 34 different times to sleep in 34 different beds in 34 different towns in 34 days.
6. Privacy? What’s that?
7. You can get used to sleeping in bunk beds if you have to.
8. After 34 days, I am still bedbug free. But I still carefully inspect my bed everyday before I put the sheets on.
9. I wish I understood German.
10. I wish I understood Portuguese.
11. I wish I understood French.
12. Okay, I wish I understood every language!
13. I have showered every day except for one!
14. I am still craving chips and salsa.
15. The sun rises every morning. If you don’t believe me, just look at my daily sunrise pics! 😆
16. Nobody has stolen my hat yet!
17. Don’t be fooled - this is not a walk in the park!
18. I wish I had an easier last name! It is a battle at every hostel to help them work through the name Trussell. If they didn’t have to look at my US Passport at every check in, I would temporarily change my name to José Santiago. Literally, that would be Joe James or, for short, JJ. That would be so much easier!
19. My exercise app says I am walking an average of two extra miles in the evenings after I arrive. So the official miles posted do not reflect the actual miles walked. The extra miles are for sightseeing or looking for a place to eat.
20. I am running really low on M&M’s. That terrifies me.
21. I really, really, really, really miss my family!
Today was a long day. To get a head start, I left the Albergue at 6:00 AM, which is 15-30 minutes earlier than my usual. Again, you try to achieve a certain balance — you want to leave early enough to beat the heat, but you don’t want to get there too early because you have to wait a long time on the street for the hostel to open. As it turned out, I only had to wait about 30 minutes for the hostel to open, but I was glad that I was able to get here before the sun got too hot.
Tim and Marsha
The Camino today gave me opportunities to connect with some fellow believers. I walked nearly an hour with Tim and Marsha from Vermont. They are involved in leadership in a church. She leads the music department and he is involved in other areas of ministry. It was so refreshing to walk with them!
Then, I met another pastor from Colorado. He has been in ministry for many years. He was the first pastor I had met, and I was the first pastor he had met. Those two encounters on the Camino were amazing. But then again, when it comes to my fellow pilgrims on the Camino, they are all awesome - I wish you could meet them!
I loved my home community for the night!
My lunch. Salad with goat cheese! Good stuff!
My $11 room for tonight.
The significance of walking today’s Camino stage was a bit special - the remaining miles dipped under 100! Now, thinking like an American from Missouri, where we aren’t known for our walking trails, walking 100 miles still seems like a long ways to go, and it is! But in comparison to where it was a month ago, seeing double digits is a big milestone!
The trail was really dark this morning!
An oasis in the desert
Now that’s a big shell!
However, I began to feel an urgency and kept praying, “God, what else do I need to learn over these last 100 miles?” I don’t want to miss a single lesson that He wants to teach me.
So, as you join me on the homestretch of the Camino, maybe we just need to ask God what lessons He wants us to learn together.
I loved walking with you today!
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 17
Approximate miles remaining: 98