Conversations on El Camino

I've spent the past week in recovery from daily hiking. Recovery activities have included laundry (in a MACHINE!!); short jaunts of exploration by foot (couldn't quit cold turkey, of course); strapping myself into metal tubes with strangers for stretches (contradictory verbiage) of 3 to 8 hours over the course of a 31-hour day; and thoroughly…

Driving is a continuous game of chicken. What appears to be a one-lane road is generally 2-way, with pedestrians and bicyclists thrown in to make things interesting. The drivers seem nonplussed; I, on the other hand... 😳 Flower boxes everywhere. Geraniums and petunias grace more windows than not (and I love it!) Not all bathrooms…

The end. Tonight, I was greeted as a peregrina at an albergue for the last time. I'll pack my backpack in the morning, but carry it only 300 meters to the bus - my first non-peatonal transport since September 10. I'd thought that nothing could rival the excitement I felt at Finisterre, but.... Back up.…