S A N T I A G O !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! July 15, 2007

okay everyone you´d laugh so hard if you watched nicole and i entering Santigo! AMAZING RACE fans are you ready.......we left monte do gozo (a 45 min. walk to the edge of Santiago, and 1 hr. to the church) this morning at 11:15 and needed to be at the church for the Pilgrim´s Mass at Noon...we did it with two minutes to spare and laughing, literally running, grinning from ear to ear because we knew the Amazing Race cameras we covering the pilgrims. letting out a few wooo hooo´s, okay, maybe a little more than that to cars driving by and they returning smiles, some locals pointing to their watches reminding us of the Pilgrim´s Mass which made us dash even more....passing more pilgrim´s´encouraging them to quicken their steps and hopefully forgetting their tired and weary bodies......Wooooo Hoooooo! the mass was just starting, nicole and i had our packs on and trekking poles in hand; nowhere to stash them as we silently tried to squeeze our bulky selves into a place where we could hear the pilgrim´s prayer and possibly see the cystern swing ever so galantly across the church. i missed seeing this in 2002 and did not want to miss it again. the cystern in ancient times was used to help ease the the smell of the pilgrim´s for the locals and priests. i must say i can´t wait to get this pack off my back because even i cannot stand the smell! it´s okay to laugh because i do, every morning and every evening. yes, i say my prayers waiting for this moment. i have no idea what will happen on the plane home, they may have a special section for the pilgrim´s.

i found my old haunt, the cyber cafe that i loved dearly when last in Santiago. thank goodness not too much change here for this old pilgrim. i welcome change, but i have to say i do delight in remembering and going directly to my favorite places....i still have my memory intact! Woooo Hoooo!

the Camino has a special way of taking care of every need, it has never failed me. after hunger pangs struck nicole and i, we started searching for pasta....out of thousands of people the first person i asked was a pilgrim i´ve seen a couple times since arriving this morning (this was after we searched the city for pasta), she pulled out her Santiago map and told us exactly where to go. Nicole and I had the biggest smiles as we dashed off and then turned around to give a thumb´s up and saying thank you as they watched us, also laughing. LIFE IS GOOD! We are now full and happy once again acknowledging how the Camino takes care of us. and now, i´m typing away to all those i love.

Thank you Marc & Cindy for letting everyone know the pilgrim´s were okay and not to worry. we didn´t stop at the normal albergue´s like the majority of pilgrim´s so this threw us off not knowing if there were computers or telephones...i´m hoping i took good notes for next year. next year? did i just say that...i get delirious at times i´ve warned you. okay, i´ll think about it.

we´ve had a wonderful, often tiring journey, but an unforgetable one so far; either tomorrow or Tuesday we will start on our last leg of this pilgrimage...another three day´s walk to Finisterre, Spain....aka: the end of world as known to Christopher Columbus. this is my favorite indiana jone´s part of the camino...so, i´m hoping there won´t be any changes in that part of the world...if there is, i´ll deal with it and hopefully see it with new eyes.

i had another treat today. i haven´t reread my blogs so i don´t know if i´ve already mentioned this. when nicole and i were in molineseca turning a corner there was a young woman who turned the same corner at the same moment as we did. without hesitation i walked up to her and touched her arm and said....i know you...you were in finisterre in 2002...we met and walked together from the lighthouse. of this i was positive, but how could that be...here, now...five years later. she is here in spain at the same moment in time as i am. incredible! she just looked at me and said, no. yes, i say in 2002...you were. she looks again, starts to say no then realizes yes she was there. she looks at me and i know the moment she recognized me. what are the chances of that occuring? we decided to meet today at the church for the pilgrim´s mass, she would be with her father. we came in a different door of the church and did not see her. as i said the Camino takes care of me...later, in another part of town while nicole was on the phone with her mom, i was sitting on a stone ledge of a fountain listening to the water, admiring the people and my surroundings...when i hear, AriZona! yes, it was Vanessa...destiny. i wonder what is in store for the two of us, this was not just a chance meeting...this is destiny, she agrees. she has a radiant energy that i still love and can´t wait getting to know her for longer than a day. i love life! i´ll end this blog and work my way backwards for a day or two, i don´t have my journal with me. it is very difficult to remember what happened when and where. after doing this kind of journey it´s difficult for everyone we encounter including ourselves to carry on a detailed conversation that is even within a couple of day´s walk. it´s difficult to imagine but it is true. you have one goal... have food, water, sleep, a way to hand wash your clothes and, get to your day´s destination. simple, but at times challenging. ILY (in case you´ve forgotten: I Love You) LIFE IS GOOD....AriZona