What an AMAZING day.

Upon rising this morning, my feet reminded me of the 34 km they took yesterday. I tried to hush them with a new application of kinesiology tape to the plantar fascia, then chanting encouragement to them. I wanted something more original than, “Take a licking and keep on kicking,” but couldn’t get beyond “Take a beating and keep on…bleeding?” The chanting wasn’t helpful for some reason, so I stopped.

We caught our first glimpse of the sea around 16 km. This somehow reinflated my squashed soles and I felt Air-Jordanesque for approximately 92 steps.

We then reached Cee after a long downhill around noon, so visited a cafe for lunch – don’t think I’d ever had venison with guacamole before. There is a silent, lovely agreement between Ivy and I at meals; we both pause before eating, she to take pictures of our meal, then together we ask the blessing. 🙂

After lunch, we followed the trail along the beach and I felt a specific and telling ache along my right medial malleolus during terminal stance. Ivy exhibited patience once again as I taped myself back together.

We kept trudging along, taking a detour to the beach for the last 5 km and collecting seashells. 🙂 We checked into our albergue, showered, grabbed some food for picnic supper, and hiked the remaining 2.5 km to the very tip of the peninsula.

The excitement I felt was missing from my arrival in Santiago built quickly as we rushed up the hill to catch the sun as it dipped toward the horizon. As we crested the hill, I giggled, and began rushing from one place to another and spinning in circles, taking pictures and videos of everything, all while grinning like a kid. It was wonderful. I gave a very warm hug to the 0,00 km mile marker, as I’ve seen hundreds of the same, but with numbers ranging into the hundreds. Then, we settled behind some boulders to shield us from the wind as we watched the sun dip behind the fog floating on the sea.

I didn’t touch my picnic supper for a long time; the moment felt too special, too sacred, to disturb with sounds of zippers and wrappers. I soaked every sight and sound and feeling in. I revisited the lyrics of Live Out Thy Life Within Me once again. And, on a rocky outcropping stretching from the near-westernmost point of Europe, I recommitted to my life to Jesus. That, I think, is what Mi Camino was and is and will be all about. Tomorrow may be my last day of hiking in Spain as a peregrina, but I’m not done being a pilgrim yet. Onward, forward, and upward with Christ sounds like a super plan to me! Woohoo!!