Home Again

October 22
This post will be very short.  Sure, many hours will pass before I arrive home, but most of them are of the usual travel variety.  There are only a few things I will bother to mention.

There is awful fog this morning, causing delays and some cancellations.  Fortunately, our flights leaving Santiago and then Madrid are unaffected.

My trekking poles made it all the way from Colorado Springs to Santiago, and then Iberia Airlines manages to lose the duffel bag containing them somewhere between our small regional jet and the baggage claim carousel in Madrid.  I have to fill out a claim form to have the bag delivered to the US once--I mean if--it is found. (Two days later, Jim finds it hanging from our front door knob when he goes to get the newspaper in the morning.)

Boarding the plane in Atlanta, a man behind me makes a remark about the Camino.  In the brief conversation we have walking down the jetway, I learn that he and his wife are planning to do it next fall.  We exchange e-mail addresses for future questions/answers.  What are the odds?

And what is the first thing I do when I get home?  Soak my feet and legs in epsom salts, then fill the tub up with scalding hot water to soak all of me before putting on a completely different set of clothing (flannel pajama pants and a sleeveless T-shirt) and climbing into my very own, Egyptian-cotton-sheets-and-thermal-blanket bed.

Although this concludes the journey, I do have additional photos and random thoughts to post later.  I will also check in on the blog itself to address/answer your comments/questions.  Thanks for being with us in spirit. 

¡Buen Camino!