May 8, 2025, Arzua

Our hotel was a nice experience, but this morning it was a 1 mile walk through the countryside to get back to the Camino.

The walk today was 15 miles by the time it was done. We met a nice couple from England that was leaving our hotel the same time as us. Alice had walked the Camino 5 times with her girlfriends, this was the first time she was walking with her husband Michael. Garrett and Ryan went back to the counter to get their stamps in their credential. Michael had never gotten a stamp and wanted to join them. As he was talking with Alice and I, he fished out his English passport and was going to get it stamped, I recognized the real passport and stopped him before the got a stamp put in the visa section.

We met an interesting couple from South Carolina as we were getting close to a coffee stop late in the morning. Their names were Jim and Shirley. They have been walking for a month and Shirley injured her knee yesterday. She was in obvious pain and hobbled over to a table while Jim retrieved her a gin and tonic. The 5 of us talked about our time walking. They had been to Eureka and were curious about the Carson Mansion.

We continued walking and after a few miles came to another cafe for a break. Jim and Shirley were there again. This time we each got a Spanish vermouth and soda for the warm afternoon.

We had 3 miles to go to Arzua, this meant one more town and 2 hills. While walking over the bridge into Ribadiso I spotted the couple from Phoenix that is walking with one of their elderly mothers, they were soaking their feet in the river. I yelled down to them to say hi. There was a group of school kids, probably teenagers, walking on the Camino and not looking like they were excited to do it.

Now it was up one more hill to Arzua for the night. Not sure what to call our lodging for the night. It is very nice, it’s a home turned into a small hotel, maybe closer to a B&B. After walking 15 miles I am just overjoyed to have a bed.

Tomorrow we walk to Arca, 11.8 miles. The next day we will walk into Santiago to finish the pilgrimage.