Okay, let me tell you about our thoughts for Finns Terri, if we go by bus, 24 euros a piece, 3 hour bus ride, I hour actually spent there, 3 back again. Ahhhh, no thank you. 
So instead we now have spare time. We can then spend an extra day in Santiago and 2 extra in Madrid. Al gave us I day in Madrid because this is where we catch a flight, super early, 7am. Which means we need to be at airport at 5am, what was he thinking? 
We actually go back to Paris, because it was cheaper. We have 3 hours to get from plane to train station, which now that we are world travelers, we have already done this once before. Cool, now I can say, “Well the first time I was in Paris…” Plus the train station just happens to be in the center of the shopping district, where I couldn’t buy anything before, see how things work out. Practicing patience is paying off!
So our day in Santiago we spent exploring more of the old town, keeping our eyes on the look out for some of the friends we made. We found a few, the ladies from Canada who were concerned about my health. We saw them again and got to say a final adios. Then Charlotte from Germany who was rushing home to her parents golden anniversary. Esther, who we met on the very 1st day in St. jean. What a surprise it was to see her, hugs all around! Then Katherine from Australia, she is a biker. She retired a few years ago and is going on a bike ride through Holland and Germany with her sister. Avril we saw no sign of, but she also had that stomach thing that was going around.
Part of our plan is to buy a suitcase for on the way home. Nothing expensive, just big enough to fit our hiking poles in. So we asked one of the workers at the albergue, ” where do you shop?” Prices downtown were crazy, plus it’s all tourist stuff. He told us about a Mall about a half hours walk away. We also wanted to check out where the train station is because we leave early tomorrow by train for Madrid.
Al said we walked more today than we did on the camino. first down to the old town, then finding the train station, shopping and back to get just one more look at Santiago. But we now have a suitcase and are ready to go to Madrid.
Until then ,
Be well.
You will notice no pictures in this blog, I was mugged in Madrid, not hurt in anyway, just devastated, they stole my I-phone, which had over 1200 pictures of our entire trip so far on it. 
I will talk more on this later.

Sunrise, last one

Cypress grove

Nice trail today

From my door collection

Ad another

Can you imagine a door like this at your house

Dog on the left pony on the right

These are one of those granite paths, walk on top, muck below

All our kids know that their dad is the sentimental one in our family, not me. I’m the tough guy in the family. But when I was talking with Al before dinner saying I had no idea about what to write about today, then it came to me write about tomorrow. Then we had do go down to dinner. Which okay that reminds me. We are in a pilgrim hotel. We, us pilgrims have all been up before 6am. We, at least me is starving, why is dinner at 8, bedtime is at 8. Al is like, you can’t change the countries time, hello, this is not a public hotel , it is a pilgrim hotel, we, the guest are pilgrims, cater to us. Honestly we are hostages, there is no other place to eat, it is now 9:04, no food, only bread. I have allready just about finished the wine, we have all ordered, where’s the food? I have to be asleep soon.
Okay back to what I want to write about, I was telling Al how it’s no big deal getting to Santiago tomorrow, and I started to tear up, I’m doing it again writing this. This has been so huge for us. Today while walking, I told Al this was like a giant month long couples retreat. Where we learn to be a team player.
So what I learned is that my husband loves me unconditionally . He would literally do anything for me. if he us carrying 25 pounds on his back, and is hurting him just like mine is hurting me, he will still carry my 25 pounds too. He is phenomenal to me! I cried again!
What I have learned about me is that I am stronger than I think but that I still need others. I do not have to do it all alone. Other things I allready knew, I’m quick tempered, but also quick to say sorry.
Anyway, about tomorrow, I really have nothing to say about that except the journey couldn’t have been done without all of you.
Getting the time off, to Jan and the board Ed., Bill and Beth and Tonya. Tonya who is my partner at work, who was willing to work alone for 6 weeks in my absence. Thank you.
My family, without parents at home, this is a big one. My kids are incredible, Megan cleaning out the chickens cages for me, I know that’s not a fun job. Jozy, checking on my turkeys. Zac, mowing the lawn. There was so much to keep track of and to do in our absence, I think our kids now know how much we really do. They all pitched in and worked it out together, which is also good. Kasarah working full time, college and helping, thank you. Chanel and Hans, you have all that stuff going on and you still helped. Aj, Arlene and Jenna all working to keep the house in order, thanks again. UB, Brian, you know you are our other set of hands, so many times have you come through for us, what would we do with out you, I can’t imagine our life without you involved in it.

Thank you also to our online supporters, those of you reading this, some I know, thanks Mom for the prayers and well wishes. Some of you I don’t know, thank you as we’ll, your comments lifted our spirits and your prayers were felt. We are just 15km away from our goal, we have been walking for 30 days, rain or shine.
Anyway, no Finis Terri, just can’t do it. We decided maybe by bus, we will see.
Until then,
be well.

Sunrise and our two Canadian friends.

Well I thought I was better until I woke in the middle of the night to throw up, again and again. We have decided that I will drink lots of Gatorade drinks, stick to bananas, toast and other small bland things. I have zilch in the energy dept., but somehow your legs just keep going. We did another 28km today, one day closer to Santiago. We haven’t decided what we are going to do after Santiago until we get there. There are too many variables that have to be thought out and options weighed. 
We have met a few more Canadians, there are two women who stand out. We have seen each other many times in the past several days but once they knew I was under the weather, they have been very supportive and helpful. They had a break with us this morning and its at their suggestion that I start to curb the amount of the water i drink from here. 
The pathways were mostly good today, too many hills, I lost count. We wound around the highway again and again going through hamlets and villages. We also,passed over three medieval bridges. 
We went through one bigger city, Melide (pop. 8000) . they have a pretty cool church which i was hoping to see, the path normally goes right past all the historic stuff, and here it did not. We ended up in Arzua for the night. The last bigger city before Santiago.
We did our normal clean up chores and hit the streets in search of food. We found a grocery store, the kitchen where we are staying only has a microwave. With limited cooking options and Al’s getting tired of salad, we just got microwave meals, I thought they were kinda yucky, Al thought they were fine. The weird thing about them is that they were made by Nestlé. I didn’t know they did that. 
Anyway, another long day and one again tomorrow.
Until then,
Be well.

A church and grave yard, their grave yards have crypts, not in the ground graves.

A way mark

I have seen a few of these, no one can tell me what they are.

The Magdalena Bridge

Field of flowers

There was a smaller pony here too, laying down.

Medieval bridge into Furelos.

A door I liked

A short door

This was not a fun bridge to cross

I thought this was a funny little tree

Another medieval bridge, this one into Ribadiso.

The view when we went to get groceries. .

This is a city dog, they breed them smaller

I feel better, Yipee! Had a good night, roommates nice and quiet. We let them pick the wake up time so as not to disturb them. So we got up at 6:30 and out by 7:30. There are so many walkers now you just get in line and follow along. 
Someone promised me no more rain, well they were wrong. 
Great walk anyway today, we had to be in by 2pm, as per reservation and we had to walk 25km. We passed through woodlands and farm land today. We also walked along the road, when we pasted the fertilizer plant in Toxibo, Al and I both said at the same time, ” do you smell chocolate?” I don’t know what they put in thier fertilizer, but it smells good.
We crossed back and forth across the main road all day. We chatted with different people, some we just met, from Canada, and some others we had met way back on our first day. 
I think I mentioned these two, they have done the Camino several times and they told us this will be their last. It’s just not the same. They said they hoped the movie fanfare to settle down, but now Oprah is planning a special about the Camino on her channel. The crowds have been getting bigger and bigger as the years go on and the little towns just can’t handle the numbers. And if the numbers keep rising it will only get worse. I hope not.
We stopped for breakfast finally, first cup of coffee in days, and more toast. Some of these alburgues are old, Ligonde was a former medieval stop, they say Charlemange as well as other royal personages stayed there.
Al and I have this private language that we sometimes use that no one else knows what we are talking about.
We have a few new words, “Red shirts” these are the people that race ahead, sometimes couples separate to get the last two beds in town. “Day Walkers”these are people that only walk in the day light, and only carry day packs. Just water and some snacks. I try not to judge. I know, try harder. 
After several more KM,s we pass the Church of San Tirso and entered town, Palas de Reid. We booked ahead into a private hostel but still have to share a room with 12 other people. I know, where’s my pilgrim spirt? I’m tired, Brian tells us that since we started walking from the south of France we have now traveled, drum roll please! About 440 miles, (708.5 km). And the kicker, we only have 42 miles left to go.
Okay we also have a little question to put out there, when I was feeling awful I told Al, I couldn’t face walking all the to Finis Terre. It means big days of walking, it’s 90 more KM’s in 3 days. Okay we did all that extra walking to get the 3 days, and we did. Now should we use that to just hang out and take a bus to Finis Terri ? I’m torn, I feel better now, but it would be nice to be done, but it’s only 3 more days. 
What do you guys think?

Starting out, moon set

Kinda blurry, sorry, I was movin

Beautiful morning

I liked this house, but Al likes that little grain silo to the side. We see those everywhere.

Walkers and rainbows

There’s another,

Our vast line of pilgrims

This dog is a fellow pilgrim, see the shell, he is different

Church coming into town

A country dog, on the small side i know, but he still gave me the evil eye

And another one

A crypt,

Al had the camera most of the day

Coming into a village

Bridge into Portomarin, I walked across this, hanging onto to Al the whole time.

This is the staircase into town, and the arch, now an underpass.

The church if San Nicolas XIIthC

The church from across the river, before we enter town

We have been seeing lots of these

Well I thought I was better, could have been the 2nd pitcher of sangria but I don’t think so.
We had the worlds worst snorer in our room last night. The people in the next room even heard him, super bad. Kept me and several others in our room up half the night. Then there was the rain, felt like the epicenter was above our building, flashes of lighting and crashing thunder. On top of all that I was also feeling sick again, I actually volunteered for the top bunk, had to get up twice in the night to run to the bathroom. It’s no wonder I didn’t feel well. 
We left around 7am and I didn’t even know if I could walk today, got sick again on the trail. No food again, until later. I have no idea what’s going on, I can eat toast, no ill effects, bananas, no ill effects, nothing else. Al was great, we had a few hills, that took me forever, but mostly even terrain and road walking. We ended up going 9km before we even stopped for the first time. Some of the towns or even just the houses that we pass are putting out food, fruit and bread for pilgrims. They set out chairs and have a donation box nearby. By afternoon i felt a bit better, had some toast. The trails are crowded now, we are in the last 100kms to Santiago. As a pilgrim you have to do these last 100 to qualify for the compestela you get at the end. We have met people who only walk a chunk at a time, and now many more faces we haven’t seen before. All passing us. 
We walked through rural Galicia, which is wet and green. Lots of the paths have huge stepping stones made out of granite on the side, because they have either water or cow dung below. 
When we came upon Portomarin we had to cross over a huge new bridge over the mino basin. We roomed with a gentleman who is on his 4th Camino and told us that when he was here two years ago the older bridge was under water. The original bridge was of roman origin and the stair case we saw was part of this older bridge. Also the church was lower, it had to be moved, brick by brick to where it is now due to a dam being built.
I took two naps before Dinner time came but i decided not to risk eating, so I had a couple of cups of tea and a few bites of Al’s dinner. We will see. We were advised that from this point out we should book our nights stay a day ahead. A little more expensive, 10 euros versus the normal 5-8 but only 2 others in our room. They won’t let you book the municipal Albergues ahead, so it’s first in gets a bed. So if your a little slow, maybe you get one, maybe you don’t. We took the advise.
Tomorrow another 25kms
Until then,
Be well.

We reached the 100km left mark

We started the day with a selfie, no sun.

Ya still raining, day 24.
Ok got new batteries for the head lamp, left in the dark. All night I thought why are people taking showers in the middle of the night, it was pouring rain. Road was muck and rocks, more extreme hiking, oh and wind. Lots of wind. Al said when we were high, as in altitude, the gusts were at least 60mph. We went up two separate mountains and entered Galicia.
Lots of fog and now I know why everything is green here.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to let you know about this or not, I have had a stomach bug for a few days, today was the worst. I felt sapped of energy and Al had to carry my pack or I never would have made it. At times I had to simply run for the woods shedding my sweater as I ran. We walked 33 km and our book tells us when you adjust for the climb add a few more km to that. I was truly dragging when we got in. I didn’t really want to eat, but managed a couple of bananas then that night I had some tea and we went to the store and just made a simple salad for dinner. 
Brian has told us that so far we have come 636km, or 395miles! We are almost there, 83% of the way. 
Anyway now I’ve gotten ahead of myself, so it was dark and it was raining. We seemed to go up and up, and there would be a village! It seemed kinda nuts but there was a road and maybe village is an exaggeration, 2 or 3 houses. I have no idea how many it takes to be a village.
Then we actually crawled out of the woods onto the tarmac to huge stonewalls surrounding a thriving village. They had 2 stores, some restaurants, even a laundry service, and of course a big stone church.
Then we went down for a bit, a few more villages, then up again. The views were amazing, the mist would clear and all of a sudden you would see a quilt of green pastures as far as the eye could see. I made a few videos, sorry cant post for some reason, a picture just didn’t seem enough.
Al just reminded me, I had some toast at this fantastic albergue. It wasn’t in our guide book. The owner operator is a past caminoist, so when I ordered toast I got 4 huge pieces of toasted French bread with all kinds of jam. After some persuasion , I shared with Al.
We continued down through oak trees and these giant chestnuts on a nice sandy leafy surface. Then cement, another town and our albergue for the night. 
It has been raining so all off our clothes are damp, today I wore what I normally wear to bed. A pair of Al’s shorts and a longsleave undershirt. I just could not wear damp clothes when I already felt miserable. Al realized he left one of his shirts somewhere and My Socks! He is in charge of bringing in the laundry. Wearing our ponchos is like being in a movable sauna, Al said a wet shirt didn’t matter. 
More of the same for tomorrow.
Until then,
Be well.

Cows in a pasture

Slippery when wet!

A church

Cool tree

Mist clearing, for the moment

Coming into the walled village

I see two horses,

Not sure if this was once a church or not

It said those wires were electrified, we were careful not to slip

Just breathtaking!

One of the chestnut trees

This one liked me.

Remember the first Santigo sign said 790!!!

Day 23, still raining.
We left late this morning, we did so much walking yesterday, we were extra tired. Also the batteries in my headlamp quit, so we would have been walking in the dark, and wet because it is still raining.
We continued up the senda beside the highway, after a few km we then moved to a dirt track besides vineyards and up and some rolling hills. Then all of a sudden you come upon cement road,

Leaving town we followed the river

Our morning senda

I liked this gate leading to a garden

A house on a hill overlooking a vineyard

Coming into town

Arches within arches

Monastery

We left the town miles behind

Close up

Church of Santiago

Little bit of sun

Day 22, muy mal! Very bad.
First, Ken, I dedicate this day to you, Today, because i am behind writing this is day 23, just saying, still here. 
And what a horrible day the 22nd was.
It started out with this dog, we saw this dog last night and he was fine, today he decides to attack Al. I mean ruff up, teeth barred looking for flesh to tear out. 
Al was brave, I was preparing to run, I know the worst possible thing to do, but I am terrified of strange dogs.
Then we begin our decent, our guide calls it a steep rock defile, it was wet slate, and it went on, then up, then down, always bad terrain, a lot of it had to be done single file. We have both been doing some extreme hiking between today and yesterday. 
We walked and walked and walked into a medieval city with a castle. A 12th century Templar castle, Castillo de Los Templarios. 
We think this is where we messed up and got lost, we were lost for several hours, and several KM’s.
It was horrible. Everyone was sweet and tried to help us, but language barrier kept getting in the way. Finally these two ladies tried to help us, we followed them and then decided no we need to go back to out last way mark, which we did, civilization at last. We were found!
We checked into a great hostel at a church, Capilla de las Angusti XVIII C.
It was Sunday and they had a market going on, yes I was tired but a market, with all sorts of things for sale. Yes I know I can’t buy anything but I want to see it all anyway. 
Well we had a choice, it was late, eat or to market, Al won, we went to eat.
I am enjoying the blog, and I am glad you guys are too! I read the comments to Al when we have WiFi. One of the problems we have been having is getting in late, and then I am just so tired. We have to do our laundry, by hand in the sink, then ring it out, everything is damp, no sun for days now. We hang some of it from our backpacks and hope the breeze will dry it. Then we have to eat, then blog. So as much as I like doing it, other things are a priority.
I will try to catch up more later.
Until then,
Be well.

Our descent

Town below

A church

Bridge into town

Side view of bridge

At breakfast, we are happy because, bacon and eggs!

A tiny church

The castle walls

Coming into next town