Meeting Amazing People

Day 8-Najera-Santo Domingo de la Calzada
5 hours 45 minutes-22.5 km

To date:202km-126 miles

Wonderful wide country tracks through golden hay fields, farms and vineyards. We had one very long steep climb today, but at the top was a perfect picnic spot with marvelous views. It was very cloudy with a brisk wind whcih made for nice walking weather.

Each day is a gift. The views, the people, a bed to sleep in after a hard day of walking.

We have lost contact with some of our friends but were reunited with others that we lost track of. Of the hundreds of people that we have met, only 5 are Americans. We have met so many wonderful people from every where that are amazing. They  have walked from very far. An Austrian couple started their Camino in Vienna in May and will walk all the way to Santiago. We met 2 Bavarian couples, one from Munich and the other from Chemsee, each couple started in June. And one man from Lichtenstein who started from his home in July. They call the way Jakobsweg (The way of Saint James) and they must walk over all the high Alps and the very high peaks in France to get to where we started. I find it just amazing.

This journey is much more than physical strength. It is a challenge of body, but when the body is spent and I must go on for another several hours, the mind takes over and I find an inner strength to carry me on. My inner strength comes from the thoughts of my family back home. I visit in my mind each one and pray for them and think of all the beauty and love and laughter that we have shared and I am carried by these thoughts.
Love to all of you