Today was day 33.  Tonight I am sleeping about 16km outside of Santiago de Composteles which is about a  3-1/2 hours +/- walk depending on the weather.  We had a front coming through today and it rained on us for a few hours.  Most of the group walked further than me today which I think is a huge mistake.  In my estimation, they will arrive in Santiago long before the noon Mass that seems to be the final “Goal” and I doubt very seriously that our hotel will have our rooms ready before then.  So they will end up wet and tired and sitting on their thumbs until noon.  I’m going to time it so I roll in around 1pm when the Mass is over and head straight to our 5 star hotel  We have a Group dinner tomorrow night and then I am pulling away.

Everybody else is spending almost all day Tuesday driving to and from a place called Finistera which is rumored to have been considered the end of the world before anybody had the nerve to sail out past the horizon.  One of the guides told me it is a filthy littered mess because thousands and thousands of Pilgrims have dropped, burnt, hung, painted, and scribbled crap all over the place.  When I get back to San Diego I think I’ll take Tim to Georges on the Cove in La Jolla, pronounce it “The end of the World” have a cocktail and some food.  That sounds much better to me, especially after what will be 34 days of some pretty harsh conditions.

Like so many things in life, I suspect that this trip will become magnificent after I have been home for a few months and have managed to forget the worst of it.  Then, because there have been so many great moments, it will reshape itself into the life shaping experience that it truly has the potential to be.  I’m already ass-kick shell shocked so I’m curious to see how this congeals.  But my anti-sheep behavior is pulling me strongly away from some of the finish rituals.  I’m not interested in walking through some Cathedral Gift Shop to listen to someone speak in shotgun Spanish for an hour, then exit back through the Gift shop.  Nope, my journey ends when I plop my tired behind into a tub full of steaming water tomorrow afternoon.

I’m going to keep this post short.  It was raining today so my camera stayed in a zip lock bag all day.  As we approach a City like Santiago, there is less and less to photograph anyway.  I liked the trails today because the trees provided a canopy which broke up the rain somewhat and it was also relatively flat but I could have taken a hundred pictures and they would have all looked the same; trees.

I have to pinch myself to believe that this is my final night ON the Camino trail.  Tomorrow night and Tuesday night I am, what I am told, is a great hotel right in the center of the City then what I know is a great hotel in Barcelona then row 1 to New York and Row 1 to San Francisco and then a Black Town Car to whisk me down to San Jose.  All of that sounds so good to me right now.

Please don’t be afraid of the last post.  Like I told Tim, that was one of those times when the words just came out of the ether.  When I arrived at our fantastic hotel last night I was re-energized.  It was so unspeakably beautiful that it kick started my writing juices.  I realize that some of it was a bit harsh, some of it a bit personal, and some if it, well, I don’t know, why don’t you use the Comment box and tell me.

Joe Jeter   Nov 2, 2014