Camino Friends - September 27

Yesterday we bumped into one of the first people we met on Camino on day 1, Gillian. She is a lovely woman from Canada and like Olga, is a walking machine! She didn’t take as many rest days upfront like we did so I was worried we wouldn’t ever catch up with her but as luck would have it she rolled into Leon yesterday and we found her sitting in the square near our apartment. We ended up having a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant.

Of course this is now the second time I am kicking myself for not getting a proper picture of her! Next time we see her that will be rectified.

Making friends on the Camino hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be. We have read countless blogs of people making lifelong friends and having Camino reunions so I pictured burrowing myself into countless people’s lives by now. You know how I do…I meet you once and then never let you go 😂. I sound like a crazy stalker but to anyone who is reading that doesn’t actually know me, I am charming (trust me). Ok now I sound even crazier. Could someone that knows me please testify to my not craziness? 🫣 I digress, it has been a little different on this journey. I think because on the trail I am just focusing on not dying and then we are mostly staying in private rooms instead of the communal albergues. So, I am super thankful for the lovely people we have connected with so far on this journey, like Gillian.

Even more than that, I am so thankful for my amazing tribe of friends back home. I hit the husband jackpot but I also hit the friend jackpot many many times. I’m overwhelmed by the amazing women that I get to call my besties. There is one that I have to call out by name because I don’t think I have expressed here how important she is to our whole Camino experience. Alisa Theil take a bow! We absolutely could not have done this Camino without you. Alisa has graciously taken Pepper into her home for 8 weeks. Pepper LOVES her Auntie A so we don’t have even the slightest worry about her. Ok, except that Auntie A has a slight aversion to picking eye boogers (Pepper’s, not her own…I assume she is just fine picking her own if she has any).

Thanks A - for being the kind of friend I can leave my fur baby with and taking such good care of her. Love you!

I love all the rest of you too!