Home Sweet Home!

Our flight was at 6:30 and I had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 5AM just to be on the safe side. When we came out there were a few people walking around that had obviously been up all night. The taxi was right on time and in about 30 minutes we were at the airport. We checked in and flew to Madrid. When we arrived in Madrid we learned that our flight to NYC had been cancelled so they rebooked us one that flew to Dallas. The good news is that we would only get home an hour later than originally scheduled. The bad news is, that Dallas added 3 hours to our main leg of the trip. We also lost our aisle seats that was especially important to my Dad and his bad knee. My Dad checked to see if we could get bumped up to business class but they only had one seat available. I pleaded with him to take it but he would not do it unless his son / sherpa could be with him. So the attendant put us on the waiting list for business class. Right before the plane was to start boarding two seats became available. Sweet....this was going to be nice. We entered the plane and got settled in. I loved it. You had to watch a video just to see how you operate your seat. It was comfortable in just about every way and the food was superb. Thanks Dad! From Dallas we flew straight to Greensboro and after about 24 hours of total travel we landed in Greensboro. Joanne and Lyn were there waiting on us. Lyn came up and presented both Dad and I with a present. She had taken some of our pictures from our trip and personalized them in a frame for us. Love this woman!!! Finally after just a few minutes we were home! As much as I love to travel I also love that feeling you get when you walk into your own home after a long trip away. I am so thankful to have had this trip with my Dad. It is clear that some roles have reversed. It is now me who watches over him like he did me when I was younger. Looking out for uneven stairs or maybe a car coming down the road, even helping him get his leg over his bike. But I can tell you that I am still learning. He is still the teacher. I watch the way he interacts with people over and over and I see the outcomes that come from it. He has no language barriers or at least none that you would never notice. I watched as everyone he talked with was left with a smile and a great story to pass along. We met so many people and heard so many stories that we would have never heard had it not been for his outgoing personality. My Dad did have two bike accidents while we were over there and I did not put them in the blog so as not to worry anyone. The first was innocent enough on a bit of gravel on the dirt walkers path. Everyone ran to his rescue and some how he got back up no worse for the wear. The second one was on the road and a bit scarier and we are still not sure exactly what happened. A car was parked in our lane. I went around it and was a little bit ahead of my Dad at the time. When I looked in my small rear view mirror. I could see that he would be passing the car when a large truck was about to pass him. I thought he might stop but when I looked again he was on the ground with the bike slightly wedged under the parked car. We are still not sure if he was avoiding the truck at the last minute or if he was blown over by the truck. Anyway this time he had hurt his bad knee and we were both shaken up a little bit. The lady came back to her car to check on Dad and the truck driver came back to make sure he was ok. After thumbs up all around we were off again. We rode over a hill and there was a small church. We stopped there went inside and said a few prayers of thanks. My Dad who is 78 (In his 79th year) was the true hero on the Camino. He just kept going at every turn even when quitting would have probably been the best solution. I will always remember our week on the Camino. But as we learned in Santiago your Camino actually starts the day you finish the Camino de Santiago and go back into your regular life. So really our journey and what we have learned is just beginning.  Buen Camino!

Dad's quote for the day is from the movie "The Way". "You don't choose a life. You live one."

The final two days!

We got up Thursday morning about 8AM and had the breakfast buffet. We would need to change hotels for the last two nights since the one we are currently in was booked. We found a small Alburgue right around the corner that had very nice rooms with a bath of our own and a balcony. Oh and by the way it had an ice-cream store and a Laundromat downstairs. It was about a 3 minute walk to the Cathedral. We had planned on going back to the Pilgrim office at 9:30 and going to another service that Katherine had invited us too. We got the town square and ran in to the couple from Dublin that had giving us the great clapping send off in Samos. Awesome! They had just gotten in and were looking for the Pilgrim office. Since we were going anyway we offered to take them there. We caught up on each others adventures and they joined us for the quick service after they got their Compostela's. After the service we had coffee with Katherine and another Sister and a few more pilgrims. We learned about each others journey's and just shared good conversation. There are so many inspiring stories here. Way too many to put here but I will share one. Katherine said that last week a young man in his early 20's had biked all the way from Germany to Santiago in honor of his Mom. She had died of a lengthy disease and had always wanted to walk the Camino herself. After she died he got her bike which was just a bike to run errands and road it all the way from her grave to Santiago and then he planned to ride it back. Anyway we heard so many stories here. To hear them was very humbling. After that we turned into tourist and just ran around town checking things out while occasionally meeting friends from the Camino. One thing about Spain is the portion sizes are large. Even a $3 sandwich should be split. So for lunch we decided to split an appetizer. We ordered clams and when it came out it was one clam in a shell. We ended going somewhere else and ordering just drinks and they gave us free chips, olives and muffins. We will figure this place out but it still surprises us at every turn. One thing that my Dad wanted was a bike Jersey to commemorate the trip. Lots of stores had t-shirts but we had not seen a jersey yet. Of course my Dad has no problem talking to people and in one store he starts asking questions about bike jerseys in full on english. After a little back and forth and more paragraphs in english the lady at he counter walked us outside and pointed down a little hill. It turns out we were literally standing on top of the bike shop the entire time. We went down and they actually had our size. Mission accomplished!  We had salads for dinner trying to make up for all of the overeating and finished it off with Santiago cake. Oh well at least tried.

On our last day we got up around 8 and were on our own for breakfast. We decided to go back to the place that gave us all the food with our drinks and see what they had to offer for breakfast. Of course by now we know to split so we split a cheese sandwich and of course it was enough for both of us. My Dad is a big coffee drinker and by big I mean he drinks about six cups of coffee every morning. In Spain the cups of coffee are small and no use of the words cafe grande makes your drink any bigger. So our routine is that I usually order  tres cafe con leche and that gets my Dad a two cup head start. This works well especially when the place is busy. This time I went up to the bar and pointed to the cheese sandwich and said uno and tres cafe con leche. He politely corrected me and said dos and I said tres. Finally after going back and forth I agreed to dos and of course 10 minutes later he was bringing Dad another cup of coffee. Ha Ha I told you. We stopped by our old hotel and sat in their courtyard to warm up a bit. Dad met a guy from Switzerland that had worked for IBM and actually did some training in Raleigh NC. They talked about growing up during the war and really had some interesting conversations. His wife wanted to walk The Way but he was content to let others walk it. He said after all I am 80. Well it turns out he was born in 1937 the same year as my Dad who is 78. When we asked him about it he clarified that he was in his 80th year as his birthday had already come and gone. If you remember my Dad was always saying he was 79 during our trip. Turns out they are both right. Today we planned to go back and tour the cathedral and Dad wanted to leave a rock for Joanne. As you know it is a tradition to leave a rock for someone or something on your mind. He had no idea where he would put it but he knew he would know when he saw it. We toured the cathedral and ended up going behind the alter. This is really cool. You are not allowed to take pictures but you are literally standing right behind the top of St James and looking out over the church.This is were you hug St. James to thank him for your safe travel. This is also where we noticed someone had left a rock. Dad's light bulb went off and he tucked it around a corner. I think that will rock will be there for hundreds of years! After we left there we decided to go back to the room and rest up a bit. We were going to finally see the Botafumeiro in action. On Friday nights at 7:30 they had a service and as part of the service they would swing the Botafumeiro. This was truly the last item to check off on our list. Ever since I had seen the movie The Way I have always wanted to see it. On our way back to the room we saw Steven. He is the guy my age who is trying to use Dad's story to get his Dad to walk part of the Camino. We had not seen him since Samos. That seems like a life time away but it is really only a week. We went back to our room and rested for a bit and headed back about 7. When we arrived it was standing room only. We got in a good position and at the end of the mass they put in the hot coals and incense and swung it over the crowd. It really did not disappoint. What a great way to end our trip. All items on our list were completed and we are both safe and sound. We went back to the room got ice-cream (We did skip dinner.) and packed for our trip home tomorrow. While this trip has meant so much to both of us it will be nice to be home with family and the things we are used to. We are both thankful for all the prayers, good vibes and support that all of you have given us on this trip. It has meant more than you know. Will we be back? I think it is tugging at my heart to walk the entire route with Lyn. So far she has said yes, so I may just see this Camino again. Buen Camino.

Dads quote of the day: "Ben is ready to turn me over to Joanne for selfkeeping." Ha ha thats a fact jack!

The Holy Grail!

Well we finally made it and after checking into our hotel we had a great nights sleep. We got up around 7:30 and went down to the breakfast buffet. Plenty of coffee and all kinds of food. Yum yum nom nom! After breakfast we planned to head out to the Pilgrim office and have our trip and Pilgrim passport validated. If all of our stamps look right (Meaning that we got at least two stamps a day.) to them and we have truly done the 200k required by bike from Ponferrada then they will issue us our Compostela. This will include our last stamp in our pilgrim passport and our certificate of completion our Compostela. When we got in the building there were only a handful of people in line in front of us. We felt we had done everything required but to us this was the Holy Grail. The validation of our trip and a job well done. We had told ourselves along the way that if this part did not work out we would still be happy with the trip. Yeah right. We wanted this it was our Holy Grail and it would really mean a lot to us. When our turn came we went to the counter together and handed over our Pilgrim passports and everything checked out. They entered our information in the official books that will be on record there forever. Next thing I knew we had our official Compostela in our hands! We bought two tubes to put them in and walked out of the office and in to the hallway. We were greeted by Sister Katherine. She asked if we would like to come into the sanctuary and have a prayer and reflect on our Camino. We said yes and she showed us a slide presentation that was both simple and yet meaningful. It really did make us reflect on our entire trip. After we finished there we decided to go to the Pilgrims mass. It is held every day at noon at the Cathedral of Santiago. It is beautiful in every way. The pictures below do not do it justice. There was a sermon in spanish and singing through out. It was beautiful to say the least. We were waiting for the swinging Botafumeiro to be swung but found out it will be done the next day. The Botafumeiro is a giant incense burner that was originally used to fumigate the sweaty pilgrims. We will see it tomorrow for sure. Here is a video clip from the movie The Way so you can see how it looks.  Click here to see a short video. After mass we went back to our room and had peanut butter toast. The lunch of Champions! We took a short nap and headed out to take our bikes back to the bike shop that we rented them from. They were the ones that boxed up the bikes and sent them to Ponferrada. Because it was so crowded we walked the bikes there. We found it without too much trouble. The owner welcomed us in and we gave him our bikes. As crazy as it sounds we had gotten attached to these bikes. It was kind of sad to see them go. The owner was super nice and wanted to video tape us talking about our trip. So we gave him a short interview and we were off this time on foot with no more bikes to worry about. We walked back and found a outdoor cafe and had a few snacks and beers. We felt great. We called it an early night and were back to the room by 9. We have two days left but most of our mission is done but you still never know what might be around the corner. That is the one thing that makes this trip so fun. Oh yeah and that Sherpa thing I was thinking that my job was over. But while I was in the bathroom. I hear my Dad yell out. I am OK and not to look out the door of the bathroom. Well of course I had to look and there was dad laying flat on his back. He had been taking off his shoes and some how slipped off the bed. His only comment was that at least he knew how to fall. Ha Ha Joanne get ready you are getting him back Saturday night! We are looking forward to tomorrow whatever it might bring. Buen Camino!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

Well we really slept well but Dads knee was really bothering him yesterday and we were a little worried about how it would react to biking for two more days. We were down to the final two stages and they were both only about 20 kilometers long. The routes looked reasonable but everything in Spain still has hills in it. We got up about 8 and Dads knee was not feeling well. We packed up and I got the bikes and luggage ready. We went around the corner to have breakfast and the place turned out to be a bakery. We both got a pastry and a couple cups of coffee. Ok now it was time to try out the knee. As it turned out Dad was able to bike but walking was going to be a problem. Some walking was going to be required so we were still worried. As we rolled out of town we saw a beautiful sign that said Santiago 38K. Wow that gave us inspiration! With the added pressure of Dads knee it started to feel like we were going to OZ. Following yellow arrows instead of a yellow brick road. We knew today would consist of riding the highway, some paved walking roads and even the dreaded rocky path. Luckily it was supposed to be more of a rolling hill kind of day. We started out downhill going out of town! Then the dreaded hills started. Not mountainous but still a hill all the same. The road was busier then usual. Not really bad but too many cars for our liking. We rode about 15 kilometers and stopped at an outdoor cafe and had three coca cola lights! Just what I needed. We found out that we were a little further than we thought and finally we said out in the open what we had both been thinking. Maybe we could go all the way today! It seemed like a great idea. Why not go while the knee is working. Of course a few minutes later was a huge hill. I pushed the bikes and Dad followed with his cane and of course with his helmet firmly attached to his head. At the top of the hill we saw the Camino's walker path and a small sign that said bicycles were welcome to. This was a great moment as it is always better to be off the main highway. We started following the path and with in 30 minutes we were well into the woods and some very small towns. I was starting to worry that we were on a fake path. All of the signs looked super old and I really did not see any walkers. Apparently some of the cities have built new Camino paths and this redirected the traffic away from some smaller towns. Sort of like what happens when we build a bypass. It has been said that some of the locals have been known to cover up the new signs and paint some that get the walkers to go through their town. I cant say as I blame them but  we really did not want to make a mistake this late in the game. Finally we came across some walkers and they said we were on the right path. It was nice to be off the main highway but this path was very hilly. I would push the bikes up the hill and Dad would walk up with a cane. We repeated this several times. One time when I was pushing the bikes up the hill I met two woman from the Philippines. One lived in Germany and the other one in Austria. They were surprised when I greeted them with Kumasta Ka. Hello how are you in their native tongue. They instantly asked me what I knew about the Philippines and of course I told them all about Lyn. We felt a connection right away. One of them took one of my bikes and helped push it up the hill. At the top of the hill we exchanged emails and we all took pictures on all of our cameras. They were so helpful and friendly. Exactly what I expected! Finally we rode off and I yelled Mubuhay (Which is sort of a way of saying cheers in their language) I am loving this Camino! We kept riding and felt like we were going to make it all the way. We stopped one last time for lunch at a cafe that was also a campground. It was very relaxed and the owner said we only had 7K to go. Lets do this. We rode some more and finally came to the edge of town. Unfortunately it was slow going a mixture of biking and walking. Finally I caught my first glimpse of the Cathedral. Oh my gosh we were really almost there.  Finally after carrying the bikes down two flights of stairs we were in the town center at the cathedral! We took our bikes to the center of the square and just looked at it! We could not believe it. We decided to go take a picture of both our hands actually touching it! Awesome! While Dad rested I went and worked out a hotel for the night! I was able to get a room in an old Monastary that had actual heat. It actually had all the trappings of a 4 star hotel! We got showers and relaxed. It had not sunk in what we had actually pulled off. Later we went to dinner and decided to call it an early night. Tomorrow after breakfast we are taking our Pilgrim passports and having them validated! This is the last and final step. More on that tomorrow. As for tonight we are going to bed as the Camino has just about worn us out for the day. Buen Camino!

Dads quote of the day! "I was the donkey and Ben was the carrot! He rode just far enough in front of me to make me think I could catch him but he knew I never could!"

Here comes the sun!

We slept really great in our cozy little room. We actually had heat and blankets. Using our handy dandy spanish the night before we surmised that breakfast was at 8AM so we decided to eat first and then pack because there was a crazy amount of fog outside. We went up to the bar to grab breakfast and the door was closed. It was obvious that no one was there. We decided to get packed and ready to go and then hopefully they would be open. There were only two other people in the entire place. They were walkers of course and they said that this place did not serve breakfast and that there was a cafe up the road. Oh well so much for our spanish skills. We packed up and left the town of Hospital. As usual I had trouble finding the trail even in this small town. The walkers path is obvious but the bikers was not. (At least to me that is.) It seemed like our only options were a busy highway or the walkers path. The walkers path was paved so we took it knowing that any minute it could turn into a muddy mess. Luckily the paved road continued. Within 5 minutes were at a cafe and saw plenty of Pilgrims both walkers and bikers. Awesome! We had coffee and huge egg sandwiches. We were about to leave and we ran into our couple from Virginia again. We caught each other up on our journeys and headed out. I love how these chance meetings happen and am very impressed with how far they walked. To put it in perspective they are walking about a half marathon every day.  Wowza! So we headed out wondering how long the road would last. It was great. It lasted about 10 kilometers and went through small neighborhoods and beautiful countryside. The sun came out today and stayed out all day! Finally when the path went to gravel our bikers road was right there waiting on us. The Camino keeps telling me to trust it and yet I keep trying to second guess it at every turn. Hopefully by the time I finish I will have learned to focus on the job at hand and to not worry about all of the possible outcomes. Our goal was to make it to a town called Melide and have lunch there. We rolled into town about 11:45. This town was a larger town. I found a few benches in front of a church were we could stop and rest. I left Dad and went and found a cafe to eat at that looked good and had room for our bikes. We went to a cafe that was based on Charlie Chaplin. We had a great waiter who spoke pretty good english. Dad got a cheese omelette and I got cake! Not just any cake but Santiago cake. Yum yum. Before we left he told us where the local bike shop was. Our bikes are fine but we wanted to top off the air before we continued. Unfortunately it was closed so we went and ahead and got back on the road. I still have not figured out this Siesta thing. We continued to ride and had our sights on a small town called Puente. We were hoping to find a single room there. We were on rolling hills most of which we did not have to walk. We stopped and rested a few times and one of those times was at a very small church. It always amazes me what these churches look like on the inside. Very ornate to say the least. In most of them you can light a candle for a loved one. We have done that in several of them along the way. But now the new thing is these automated candles. You put a coin in the box and electronic lights light up. I guess it is probably safer especially since some of these churches have no one there most of the time. We were riding so well that we missed the town of Puenta and ended up in a town called Aruza. It was a big town that had lots of options. We found Dad a bench and I left him there while I went and searched for a room for the night. I went in a few only to find out that they had no single rooms or they did not have heat. Finally I found a place that was super nice for $45 Euros a night. It had just been redone inside and had everything we would need including our own bathroom. They even had a place to lock our bikes. I went back and got Dad and we came back and checked in. After showering we went out for a beer and to just take a look around. We were just off the town center so there was a lot of places to check out. Right next to our place was a place called the Nebraska Burguer Bar. It looked really cool so we went on in. When we go in there was no one there except the bartender. She was sewing a baby's bib. and on a table near by, there were these strange playing cards and notepads that looked like someone got up and left in a hurry. Ok no problem I still wanted a burger. Can I have a menu please? In Spanish she said no menu if you want food then you need to go down the street. I looked around and all she had behind the bar was two packs of potato chips and one pack of donuts. Hmmm no burgers.......so I decided just to have a beer instead. We sat there taking it all in and when we left I have the distinct feeling that several people came out of hiding and finished their card game. We walked down a bit and found a place that had beer and food and split a vegetarian pizza and had a couple of beers. We decided to head back to our room and went to bed around 10PM. Tomorrow is another day and the Camino is calling. Santiago is getting closer but we still have a ways to go. Buen Camino!

Quote of the day from Dad. "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" He is sleeping while I write this. :)

The Day of the Sherpa!

After getting maybe three hours of sleep we went down to the breakfast buffet! It was awesome in just about every way. Plenty of choices and all of them quality food. Our plan was to have a good breakfast and steal a few slices of bread to make peanut butter sandwiches for lunch that day. By the way Dad asked me to carry all 8 slices of bread up since I went back to the room before he did. When he came up he had stolen four more because he forgot that he had asked me to carry the first four up. We really enjoyed the food and it was also great because you could pour as much coffee as you wanted!  Of course Dad's pilgrim radar is on and he meets everyone that is walking on the Way. He was really impressed by a pilgrim named Julie. She had walked the Way several times and was doing it this time after having open heart surgery. She said she had slowed a bit but was still totally drawn to the Camino. She had walked with her husband in the past but his knees had gone bad so this time she was walking with a friend. Hopefully Dad can remember her name ha ha. Julie hmmm should be familiar! After breakfast we packed up our bikes and went on our way! For some reason finding our way out of town can be a little difficult. Today was no different. After going down a few dead ends we were on our way! Our goal for the day was Portomarin but first we would have to climb a mountain to get there. These hills were no joke. After several days of riding our energy levels were down. Every hill felt twice as steep and twice as long. Hills are what really take it out of my Dad so we decided we would have a new strategy today. More walking and less climbing on the bike. So every time we started a serious climb we got off our bikes and walked. This was a great plan but after awhile pushing the bike uphill was wearing on Dad! He would not say anything but it showed. So I finally convinced him to let me push both bikes up and let him walk.. So our new routine was any major hill consisted of me taking both bikes handing Dad his cane. I would push the bikes up the hill and wait for him to follow. I am not sure what the cars thought that sped by. They saw one rider pushing two bikes with no one else around, Then they came across an old man wearing tights and a bicycle helmet. Ha ha. Remember this is "Our Way" and we will do it however we please. Finally we made it to Portomarin! It was a very cool town that had a very cool vibe. We decided to eat lunch there and then head on. We parked our bikes in the church courtyard and proceeded to eat our peanut-butter sandwiches. As usual we talked to several people on the Camino and one man  from the USA was very impressed with us and asked to take our pictures and was going to send it to his son to inspire him to ride the Camino with him. Just as we were about to leave the couple from Virginia came up and we shared some more stories and insight on the Camino. Finally it was time to leave.  As we haeded out we came acoross a foantain. My Dad placed a shell in the fountain in honor of his friend Steve Lucas. This shell came from Steve and Beth's beach house. I placed a good luck penny that my Mom had given me in the fountain as well. We had wanted to put in some extra kilometers to insure that we would make Santiago in the allotted time. After we left Portomarin things started to get crazy steep which meant a lot of walking to us. The routine would be that we would hit a big hill and I would take the bikes to the top. Because the bikes were fully loaded I could not balance them while walking at my Dad's pace so near the end I would run the bikes to the top of the hill and then Grab Dads water bottle and head back down give him water and walk up with him and repeat when necessary. I finally figured out that my role was that of a Sherpa on this trip! Do not get me wrong I am not complaining I have always been impressed with Sherpas. They do all the hard work while the climber gets all the credit! It just dawned on me that I was Dads Sherpa. I have been all along and did not even know it. I have been carrying bags, carrying bikes and making sure we are on time at every corner. If you have ever wondered how hard it is to get a 78 year old across the mountains of Spain on a bike just keep reading it will get clearer every day. Ha Ha! Actually it is a true honor and I would not miss it for anything but it does have its challenges. Anyway this Sherpa got Dad all the way to a town called Hospital! How appropriate. We wanted a private room and the town was so small that we only had one choice. I decided to leave Dad at the top of the hill and go check it out. I went in and asked for a private room. They had one. I asked for a look just to make sure it was up to my Dads standards ha ha! (This is what Sherpas do by the way.) The room had two beds and a bathroom right down the hall. Shut up and take my money! We will take the room. I rode up and got Dad who was now hanging out with two Italian road bikers and told him we had a room. We went down and checked in. This place was simple and very cool. It had a bar and restaurant right above our room. We got cleaned up jumped on wifi had a few beers and dinner and hit the sack around 10. Great day! Looking like we are on time to finish in Santiago on Thursday! Tomorrow should be easier....hoping so anyway. Buen Camino!

Dads quote of the day! "If I had known it worked ike this I would have gotten me a Sherpa along time ago!"

Finally Rain!

Well as expected it was cold last night. Something about no heat and concrete make for a super chilly night. We got up with everyone else. By now we knew the routine. Get up and get moving! This is one time we did not argue. We wanted to get outside where it was probably warmer. When we made it outside we noticed it was raining. We had been lucky so far but today looked different. Since it was still too dark to ride we went to the bar across the street and got some coffee and breakfast. They served toast and jelly.  One of Dad's new friends actually video called his Dad who is 78 and told him about Dad trying to encourage him to walk the Camino with him in the near future. We also met a couple that we had originally met in Tracastela. They are from Manasses Virginia and were walking the Camino after hosting an albergue for two weeks. While my Dad chatted with everyone enjoying his celeberty status I went and retrieved our bikes. They had been stored in a garage around the corner. Finally we packed up and headed out in the rain. As we were taking off we met an older couple from Dublin and they were very inspired that Dad was doing this at his age. They actually left a few minutes before us on foot. When we passed them a few minutes later they literally ran out in the street packs and all and applauded as we rode by. It was exactly how they do it on the Tour De France when the riders are climbing up a tough hill and the spectators run and clap by the riders side. It was funny and inspiring all at the same time. What a send off from the town of Samos. Our first stop was in a large city named Sarria. It was only 12 kilometers away and it looked mostly down hill on our map however you really never know. We made pretty good time and ended up in Sarria about 11:45. We were both feeling the effects of all of the riding and two nights in bunk beds. We decided that maybe the best option was to have a short day on the bikes and stay in Sarria and just have an off day. It would get us out of the rain and give us time to do laundry and just over all get our act back together. We ended up in a nice hotel that had a bathroom in the room, sheets that were not disposable and they only expected us to sleep two to a room! Get out of here! We were living in the lap of luxury. The hotel backed up to a river and was right on the walking Camino path. Pretty cool all the way around. We took showers and while Dad rested I went and checked out our new neighborhood. There were all kinds of shops restaurants and cool stores. I saw many pilgrim walkers and a few yelled over as we had spent the night with them the night before. I went back and got Dad and we headed out to find a laundromat. We found one close to the hotel. When we went in we noticed that they had no soap. I went to a store across the street and bought the smallest one they had. As it would turn out the machines already had soap and it was added automatically. They had free wifi there and it was some of the best we have had on the trip. We video chatted with Lyn and Joanne, finished our clothes and headed back. Later we walked along the river and had some really good food for a late lunch. After lounging around we went and bought a few supplies at the grocery store and headed to dinner. It was a pizzeria and it was really good. Finally we headed home and turned in for a 10PM bedtime. We would finally catch up on our sleep. Not so fast at about 11 a huge party downstairs cranked up and went on till 3:00 am in the morning. Apparently someone had rented the venue and nothing was going to stop them from using it. We did mange to get 3 or 4 hours asleep before heading out for a big day full of more big climbs! We felt rested so we felt ready for the day. Buen Camino!