We are still doing great, and the weather has changed to sun ! Great days of walking along a river to small villages. This is more of what I had expected. But tomorrow is a huge climb, so we´ll see how we feel then.

For those following by map, we are close to Ocibriero, (sp?), and heading toward Sarria, which is the last 100 km that one has to walk to get the Certificate.

Blessings to you all, we feel the prayers and hope you do too.

This is too amazing. I have been skiing in better weather than we had today! Big snows in these mountains, wind, cold, yada yada, but we made it to the town of El Acebo and found a nice hotel room with hot shower. Glory to God.

I may have told you before that this is, uh, hard. As Amanda would say, SHUT UP !

One of the people we have been ministering to along the way said yesterday: “I´ve been searching for a kind and wonderful man, and I´ve found a kind and wonderful God.¨ Wow. What a story she has from this Camino. There are so many stories…

I did not bring enough cold weather stuff, but am making do using socks as gloves, and the bandanas Ben gave me have saved my ears! The trail is up, down, long, rocky, muddy, cold, windy, and….did I say, long.

Carol is doing fantastic. She is thriving on the solitude of the long walks during the day, and then the conversations when we stop and meet so many.

I look forward to being able to sit down and share about this in better detail, but I hope you are able to follow along that we are having a God-anointed time and that our lives are not really our own. Each day brings its own events, and we attempt to learn from each of them. We´re down to the final mountains, and then the final push to Santiago. Blessings to all.

We arrived in Leon early,as planned, to rest my feet. Not blisters, just tired puppies! Carol is without complaint and loving the walk, although we have mountains ahead of us and thatś not her love.

Leon is a big city with lots of history, and I strangely dont feel like a tourist. We will soon go for some cafe con leche, after a little rain shower passes, and enjoy the busy street life.

We continue to meet up with new old friends met along the way. When you think about, where can they go? We are all on the way to Santiago, just at different speeds, ours along the slowest, but hey, weŕe making it.

Did I ever say that this is a looooong trip???

Carol is a bit frustrated because she wants to share some things, but it would be in great detail and not for this venue. She wants to go Level 4 all day…..and has amazing encounters with all she meets. Let,s just say the who, what, when, where, why, how, all get covered. Be prepared.

Carol notices that God appoints each Pilgrims journey, for His reasons, and loves to find that out. This is a very spiritual Way, and one can feel His presence along the entire Way. We are not exempt, and the discovery happens day by day.

Blessings to all. Keep praying.

I can hardly believe it, we are only about 8 miles from Leon, and ahead of schedule. How is that possible…hmmm, keyboard characters are different all over so I can´t always punctuate correctly.

Today we finished our planned distance by 1 pm so pushed on another 6k, which is how we are getting so far. The weather today was spectacular, blue skies, and grew hot during the day. In the Meseta it is long and pretty flat, with not much to do but walk. Then walk some more. Drinking lots of agua, and then walking…

I can´t wait to get home so you can debrief Carol about her friends and conversations. Pilgrims share a common life on the Camino, and while all have interesting lives at home, here we are the same. Breakfast, walk, lunch, walk, collapse in a bed, recover, dinner, bed. What a day. The simple life does have some advantages, as we are on pure survival mode most of the time, but it is a wonderful survival, with lots of discoveries along the way. Have you ever really studied ants…or thought about nothing for a very long time…..

Tomorrow is Leon, and we don´t know if we will stay there or not. We have little interest in being tourists, which is kind of strange, but we just want to walk. Over 428 kilometers so far, if my math is right.

Love to you all.

We just passed the 50% mark, praise God from Whom all Blessings flow! We are about 2 days from Leon, if you check a map, and the weather is magnificent. Blue skies and shirt sleeves.ç

Mostly alone today during the walk, until we got to this town, and met all our new friends. Dinner was fun.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and we miss you all and especially our Dayspring family we would like to worship with. I know that God has something wonderful for you and look forward to hearing about what He has to say.

Carol says ´hello´and is doing quite well. These new relationships are her forte, you know, so I walk along amazed by her gift at work.So many on different spiritual journeys, yet all seeking a similar thing, to know….

Still can´t get the pictures loaded, sorry…..

Love to all.

We´re still alive and well !  Sorry I can´t post every day, but computers are not everywhere we are. Today we did the longest walk, over 17 miles, and it was not by choice but by place to stay. We made it, and are thankful for the rest.

A typical day, we get up about 7, pack up and leave about 8, after a breakfast of bread and maybe coffee or cheese. We walk until about 10 and eat something more substantial, like ham and fruit juice and bread. Then we slog it out for the end ot that day´s walk and enjoy an evening meal of various kinds, all good by that time.

It´s now 8:30 pm and I´m so looking forward to the bed, but not until I do a little surgery on a blister. Just couldn´t escape it, so will have to deal with it.

We meet wonderful people every day, and have very fast greetings and discovery times. Carol is good at this. Today we met up again with the Australian and So. African women, and enjoyed dinner together.

With all day to walk and talk, one quickly gets beyond the trite and right to the meat of things, like why and who and what. Carol is very good at this! We still don´t have the answer as to why, but we are so enjoying all the life stories, and look forward to sharing them with you all.

We are a bit surprised by the scenery, it´s so much like Central Oregon, with vast fields of wheat and oats, canola, poppy, and birds everywhere singing us along the way. Ancient cities are mostly vacant now, except for those who stay to provide for us Pilgrims. More on the travelogue later.

Home is so far away, and that is probably good. We do miss you all, but are consumed, really, with just getting through the day at hand. We are almost half way, and it looks like we can finish! 

Hallelujah! God is up to something!

Blessings,

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For those who wish to follow along, get a map from the internet. We are in Itero de la Vega, a nice village and tonight with a private room! We´ve complete about 40% of our Camino, 313 kilometers, 196 miles, and my feet can tell you about every rock!

Carol keeps asking me why we are doing this, and I keep telling her that I don´t know yet, but that God keeps leading us and providing us a night´s rest. The last 2 nights the Albergues have been completo, full, and we sat down to have a beer and ponder our fate. A guy comes along in a taxi and offer to take us to a neighboring town and hotel, which was quickly accepted, and was wonderful. A private room after all these nights with fellow travellers and their bodily functions was welcomed.

Today we went quite a distance, ´cause we´re a bit behind, and felt good until the place was completo again. So we accepted another private room, darn, with it´s shower and beds. Suffering does have it´s limits.

The people from around the world are here, in amazing numbers. It is far more crowded than we thought it would be, and everyone is looking for a bed at night, which makes us feel a bit like those of old. To think that in the middle ages millions of Pilgrims made this trip is unimaginable!!!!

Spain has gone from mountains to the plains of the meseta, and the days of walking will grow longer, though more level. Let me tell any of you pondering this trip, that it is hard. Very hard. Romantic, yes, but hard just the same. What were we thinking???  Ok, we weren´t thinking very much, so we find ourselves here in Spain asking God many questions. My only recommendation a this point is for you to do the same, and join in that part with us as we all continue to pray for one another.

God´s Blessings upon you, and I´ll try to check in again soon.

Sorry, no pictures yet. In fact, with my superior tech skills I may have deleted the first 8 days worth on my card! Oh well, you wouldn´t beleive them anyway !

Each days walk is, well, hard to describe. I can say without hesitation that I´ve never done anything like this, nor have I ever considered anything like this. The days are long and have been hard, but God has protected our bodies and we are blister free! Showers have become the Glory of a day, and not every day…

I was not prepared for the up and down- did I mention that already- but the altitude changes are amazing and drastic, and the packs weigh in with each kilometer! We drink lots of water and have had good food along the way, even not knowing what it is.

The most special part of any day, however, is the people we meet. Wonderful people, all here for an adventure, to be sure, but also all searching and pondering their faith. Carol goes to Level 4 conversation almost immediately, so beware her return as she is practiced! Young people and old alike, even some that have jobs, so it is a good mix and each one warm and welcoming. It does bother me a bit when I can´t keep up with a 75 yr old, but oh well—we walk in a relaxed manner.

Sorry to not post every day, but many of the towns are smaller than Banks! and there aren´t any people in them! except us Pilgrims….

We love you all, and pray for each of you every day. It´s really something to have an entire day to walk along, with your mind out of gear except by what the Lord puts there, and it is often YOU. Bless you, and keep praying for us.

So far the weather is fabulous, but the rains are predicted. We ask God to keep them behind or before us. We´re selfish!

Scenery continues to be spectacular and breathtaking, says Carol, and like Oregon-Wales-Ireland to Skip. Lush and green. Today´s walk was a normal distance but we covered it in record time because it was flatter, so we quit at 2 pm and enjoy the rich delight of making new friends all along the way. So many countries are here walking with us, it´s quite wonderful. Carol love to go to level 4 right off the bat, while I at least try to find out where they are from.ç

Food is a story, and not like home. We are working much harder than normal, and seem to want less food. Breads, a bit of wine and beer, cheese, some ham and some fruit, lasts for the day, with very little fat or sugar. hmmmmm? Wonder if we can keep this diet when we get home…

Sure missed church yesterday, but ours was on the way. Jesus seems to be everywhere here, with lots of spiritual  conversations going on along the Camino.

I will try to upload some pictures, but they can´t capture what we see. Blessings to you all: we miss you and covet your prayers.

Yes, we have walked 9 days, and still going. Wonderful refugio today with this computer to make post. Not sure about pics, we´ll see…

Carol doing great. Meeting lots of folks and loving every serendipitous moment and conversation. Camino walkers have much in common, and most do not seem to really know how to verbalize why here, especially the spiritual component. Carol digs!

The scenery every day is a knockout, and we have TIME to see it, every pebble, every twig, but also every vista!

Today was cold and windy, but the rain held off until we stopped here in Azofra. Look it up on the map if you want to see how far we´ve come, or not…

Yikes, this is a long walk…   Every night we have dinner with folks from all over the world, which is interesting. The wine is wonderful, as I knew it would be, and the food simple but filling. We seem to have a divine appointment every day with at least one Pilgrim, learning of their struggle with the faith, if they have one, and one thing seems common: religion vs relationship. We try to help them, but we are helped more, I´m sure, as we confront the truths we are attempting to impart. So far these encounters have been very anointed, as God opens up the hearts to go where they don´t usually go. Carol is especially good at this, and it is wonderful to just be around her. She is holding up so very well! Who knew?

Blessings upon you today. Keep praying for us and know that we are busy too.

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