Can’t possibly capture all that we saw today…am just going to pick out some highlights!

Friends we’ve met over the last couple weeks!

Santiago de Compostela; Day 40; 10 km/6.5 miles

Third day of walking in the rain! But, praised be to God, we have arrived! We ran into Fr Jim et al and followed them in…it was only about a 30 minute wait for us to get our Credential Certificates…we had 15 minutes to make it to Mass at noon…the rest of the day was a blur of pouring rain and settling into our abode…we’ll spend tomorrow taking in Santiago and meeting Pilgrim friends who started in St Jean with us…Friday is a day-long guided bus tour of Finestre and Moxie…

Debbie and I thank you all for your love, prayers, and support during this wonderful Pilgrimage!!!

Many more photos to follow over the next few days…

Lavacolla; Day 39; 19.1 km/11.5 miles

We find it hard to believe that we are at the home stretch! We had scattered rain today which was bearable in comparison to yesterday! We are staying off the Camino way tonight but it is a beautiful room and our host is driving us into town for an early dinner…enjoy the last of the photos before Santiago! Buen Camino!

We headed out in the dark which sometimes has its disadvantages! After climbing down the 100 steps we hung a right instead of going over the bridge…we weren’t confident about our direction and decided to watch for other pilgrims…we stopped and were looking back when we saw a ‘jogger’ coming our way…we waited as we were going to ask directions…turns out this young Japanese Pilgrim saw us going the wrong way…he left his backpack on the bridge and came running after us!…talk about Divine intervention and Angel moments…thank you Jesus! We also stopped at a small church that had a blind Knight Templar who was stamping our credentials…that was special!

Portomarín; Day 35; 22.7km/14.4 miles

We walked with a new friend up and down some strenuous hills…and, we prayed 2 Rosaries along the way…great to share our Faith with the many Pilgrims we have met…The weather was a beautiful 82 degrees so we were told…ended the evening with a joyful concert in the church…the acoustics are unbelievable in these old churches…the young man played 4 solo pieces on his flute and then…Gregorian chanted 4 pieces…phenomenal artist!

Sarria; Day 35; 20 km/12.9 miles

Today we had one more big hill to climb and then we started our steady descent down into Sarria… we only have 6 days of hiking left…starting to get a little melancholy…we understand that we’ll be running into all the Pilgrims that start the Camino here…from this point forward, we have to obtain 2 stamps per day in order to get our Credentials certificate in Santiago…Buen Camino