Then there were 5!

I, amy, arrived in Spain a couple of days ago- gorgeous country. I caught up to the  family and did my first day of walking yesterday. ..which is why you didn't hear from me...I was almost dead!

So, I met up with them at this little albergue (bunk style hotel\pension\hostel) with a nice yard- picnic tables, kids were playing with their puppy, hikers were finishing their day, showering and enjoying the 70* , beautiful afternoon!!! I thought- so far this camino is a taxi ride and a little roadside resort- I am enjoying this!  Well,  the next morning was good- I was ready...that lasted the first maybe 5 miles! By mile 17.5- I was not admiring the beautiful scenery, or the quality family time, or even air coming in and out of my lungs- I would have perhaps shaken my fist at heaven but I couldn't raise my sunburned hand that high in the air! My main difficulty with the day was actually in that my family (who are all in better physical condition than I am & have been walking longer/much longer than me) were missing the chance to finish the camino at their speed with their dear friends who they have met along the way. In short, I was holding them up- so, after deliberation  last night- we agreed that I would catch bits of walking and catch cabs here and there- I do feel a bit like I'm cheating but I am assured that each person must do their own Camino. I don't even really know what that means- but I think for me it means it's ok if I let my family go on and I don't try to save face by walking almost 20 miles a day for the next week.

So, today I sat in a cafe- had a good prayer time-looked around a church-sat in a different cafe with my kids and helped everyone settle in for tonight. Tomorrow will be cooler so perhaps will walk! My feet and legs are not as sore today. I'm so proud of my kids. They are doing so well. Only 3 days left!!

Prayers are appreciated for all of us as it is winding up- especially Thomas and Kristina- that there would be a good sense of closure and we would be able to grab whatever nuggets the Lord has for our initial processing of this whole event. Love from Spain!

Pictures are

1.towards the beginning of my first day
2. LESS THAN HALFWAY through my day and i alredy look exhausted!!!this was a big deal- the 100km marker!!! (Thomas and Kristina started at 800km!)
3. The 5 of us.
4.some of the amazing places we walked.
5. Wild lilies!
6. My love and i -even if love was not the emotion I was feeling at that moment!