Day 12 - O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compo

Today was truly a day of Camino magic!

Before I get to that story I'll fill in some other meaningful details - Bonnie and I finished our Primitivo Camino today around noon! We enjoyed our morning walk through the woods and got excited as we neared the outskirts of the city. We took some celebratory pictures when we reached Praza do Obradoiro, the plaza outside the cathedral. It was a different feeling for me this time, even from my entrance two weeks ago from the coastal. This time I felt a real sense of accomplishment for what Bonnie and I pulled off over the last 12 days. I also felt a mix of connection, gratitude, pride and awe of getting to have this adventure with Bonnie.

We celebrated with food all day - non-alcoholic beers, a plate full of "rabid tiger mussels," a basket of churros with a cup of molten dark chocolate for dunking, and fantastic Japanese ramen bowls for dinner.

Santiago is a big city but we kept running into friends throughout the day, stopping for conversations, congratulations, and promises for more connections. By chance we ran into my Instagram friend Monica, who just finished her second long Camino carrying her mother's ashes. I followed her story online and met up with her when we were both in Santiago two weeks ago. While Bonnie and I walked the Primitivo she went to Fisterra, Muxia and back to Santiago. She has a wicked-smart sense of humor and her updates kept Bonnie and I laughing. We had fun visiting with her in person again today.

But the real magic started about half-way through our walk today. Bonnie and I had just climbed up a long incline and stopped to look at a monument. The woman who had been standing next to it started talking with us. "Are you the father and daughter team that has been walking from Sarria?"

"No, we are just finishing the Primitivo."

We exchanged the regular Camino pleasantries, which included that this wasn't our first rodeo and that Bonnie and I had walked the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon with Jamie and Kona two summers ago.

"Wait. Were you interviewed on a podcast? On Nancy's podcast?

Nancy Reynolds has created a very helpful podcast, especially designed for those preparing for their first Camino. She interviewed me before I walked the Frances route solo last year and recorded a follow up interview when I finished. We have become Camino family and stay in touch regularly. I couldn't believe that this woman had recognized me from what little Bonnie and I had shared, and possibly my voice, and connected it to what she had heard online.

"Yes!" I responded.

"She interviewed me too!"

And then I got chills because I realized who she was. This woman walks with a little hitch in her giddyup. Back in April Nancy had interviewed a woman named Nysie who has multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed 10 years ago and had put aside a dream to walk the Camino. This year she decided to do it regardless of the additional challenges of her physical condition. On the podcast episode she shared she would be walking from Le Puy, France before joining the Frances route and would be walking for about three months.

I was walking the Greenbelt beside the Boise River when I heard her share her inspiring story. I messaged Nancy later that day, "I was very impressed with Nysie and her huge plans despite her physical limitations. Do you have a rough idea of her schedule? I'm wondering if I will be finishing around the time she is."

My heart was in my throat as I realized that what I had written to Nancy three months ago had just magically happened! We randomly found each other on the Camino having walked different routes, different dates, and different speeds.

Bonnie and I slowed our pace and we talked with Nysie for the next half hour. We came upon a cafe so we had a second breakfast together, getting to hear each other's stories, but this time face to face. I read her what I had messaged Nancy and we all teared up.

Bonnie and I then made our way to Santiago, amazed at what had just taken place. We finished our walk, got our compostelas, ate, checked into our hotel, did some shopping and then messaged Nysie to see how she was faring. What took the two of us five hours to walk today, including our breaks, took Nysie ten.

So we waited for her! We filmed her last steps down the stairs, past the bagpiper, and into the plaza. She had added me earlier in the day to her follower's group page so I was able to share her victory with her family and friends seconds after it happened. We then located another cafe in the shadow of the cathedral and celebrated together.

It was the perfect ending to a very special Camino!

Tonight Bonnie and I will rest in a quiet hotel and sleep in way past the sunrise! We will eat breakfast without our backpacks next to us! We will order a second cup of coffee in the same cafe 20 minutes apart instead of the cafe's 8-10 kilometers and two hours apart! We will meet up with more friends who finish tomorrow and probably eat more rabid tiger mussels!

We will start from home on Friday - Bonnie via Madrid, and me back through Porto. We will say goodbye for now to Spain and the Camino, but our pilgrimage is far from over. It begins anew each day. It is in our present moments. It is marked in our weary bodies and our bubbling spirits from the distances we have traveled and the span that we have grown.

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