We are so close...

Can you believe we have already been on the road for 20 days? We cannot hardly believe it! We are over half way and yet still have a long way to go. We have decided to go 25 kilometers a day until the end. Our book has several days that are longer than this, but we have decided that this is a good distance for us. Some days we will go more if we feel up to it.

I am still battling with blisters and have become quite frustrated with them. We are hoping and praying that the rest of the trip will be pain free walking for me. Toni has been very patient and gracious with me and has actually made me stop walking a couple of times. The mental fatigue because of this has been remarkable.

Funny blister story...well actually not so funny now. Yesterday we were sitting on our backpacks under a tiny bit of shade eating lunch. I was inspecting my feet and changing out a bandage, when this group of French people walked up. They didn´t speak any English, saw my blister and immediately reached into their bags and started putting something on my feet. I couldn´t say anything nor could Toni. The woman even took scissors to the material and cut between my toes. It was crazy! Then in a moment´s notice, they were gone. We call this the Indy 500 pit crew stop. I was fixed up in no time flat. However, the stuff they put on my foot made a blister I finally had under control worse. Funny when you are learning to depend on others and then somehting like this happens. I did appreciate their helpfulness though. I am sure it works on their unopen blisters.

Throughout our trip we have come across many people for whom we have made up names because we haven´t asked theirs.

mean laundry lady - took our clothes out of the dryer (that we paid for) to dry her socks - she hands Toni our clothes and says, they are dry - NOT!! - later she and her daughter were very kind and faces that we looked forward to seeing daily

chocolate milk chugger - this woman was AMAZING! We never spoke a word to her but we heard her chugging a liter of chocolate milk BEFORE we walked one morning. It was one of those times when you can hardly breath because you are drinking so much. We both said we would have puked within the first hour if we had had that before walking.

Myra the supermodel - we knew her name was Myra and that she was from Denmark, but we were guessing what she did for a living. She has until the middle of August to finish the camino, so we figured she was retired. We thought she must have been a supermodel before, because she was beautiful. However, turns out she is a psychologist. Funny how our impressions aren´t always right.

Of course, as we name others, we wonder what we have been called... the white, slow, American girls? Toni has been asked if she was my mom several times. We have been told we speak great English - a woman thought I was foreign yesterday because my English was so slow, clear, and good. You see, because so many people don´t have English as their first language, we have slowed down, cleaned up, and simplified our English. We even talk to each other this way which is funny.

We are very impressed that you are thinking about our challenges. Mary and STef, you are right. Doing something challenging is rewarding as is stretching yourself. This is what we think you should do... stretch yourself in some way. ... We have worn three sets of clothes for 21 days, perhaps you could try this? JK

This trip has truly been a blessing and very rewarding. We hope that some day many of you will be able to take this trip. It is well worth it!!!

Continue to pray for endurance, peace, strength, sleep, and blisters. We are entering the supposed spiritual part (the first was physical, the second emotional) of the pilgrimage, so pray that the Lord reveals even more to us.

It is interesting how our "rucksacks" have gotten lighter as we have gone on. By this we mean our worries, burdens, and cares. Perhaps our challenge to you this time is to lighten your load. Take out something you don´t need.

All our love,
Mel and Toni