July 20-21

One of the gifts the Camino has provided me is the chance to see the Orrison family again. The Orrison family is not a family with the name Orrison. The first stop in the Camino trek is about 7 miles in, after a steep uphill trudge. Not everyone stops at Orrison, but those who do, usually spend an evening there and participate in a community dinner.

I cannot overstate how difficult the first leg of the trek is, and how exhausted people are when they stop there.  You can read about our experience at Orrison in post called Day 4.

Upon determining I wanted to return home early, what I was most sad about was leaving my Camino family without saying goodbye. Debbie and Kira had been a few days behind and Christy’s family were traveling a few days ahead. 

Personally, I had to backtrack to Burgos and then bus to Leon to get to Madrid from there and fly to PDX. Since I had been communicating with the friends every couple of days, I updated them on my journey. 

You will not believe this. Kira and Debbie were IN Burgos and were planning to bus to Leon as well. And... Christy’s family was IN LEON! We would all get to reunite one last time after all. 

This was a gift I cannot describe. I am so happy that my last days were filled with friend love! I even found another friend, Jen, from Montana in Leon and she joined us for a few fun times. 

I have no doubt that I will see these people again, and that I will know them forever. Here are pictures of our time together, which included the museum and the cathedral, which you can see those pics in the next post.