George and I woke up to the church bells ringing. Such a sweet way to welcome the day. Breakfast starts at 8am and we wanted to be there as soon as possible. We packed up, dropped off George’s pack for the Donkey Service to transport it. That is something we never did last year, but with him not feeling 100 percent, why not? I stashed a couple of bags inside his pack, so my load was lighter too. It’s the Camino version of Slack packing!

We had a scrumptious breakfast that never ended. Started with Fresh-Squeezed OJ and fresh berries floating on top. Then the Potato Tarta, Toasted Bread with Melted Cheese and Ham, Croissant with Apricot Preserves and my morning Espresso. That’s what I’m talking about. Now we’re ready to conquer the Camino. As we walked out the door, all the world of Pilgrims did the same.

We headed down the street, made a left turn and started our morning climb. I’m not sure but that wasn’t much of a warm-up for Georgie. I could not believe the numbers of people walking the Camino this morning. We stopped momentarily to check out the big pregnant horses and the one who already had their fouls. I’m sure there’s proper names for this, Muriel, help me out! They looked like Clydesdales or some Big-Ole Ranch Horse that could pull whatever needed to be pulled. They were more than huge in size.

Our morning climb was 1000’ of fairly upslope over the first two miles. Not exactly what we were expecting for George’s first day out. Welcome to The Camino baby, I guess it’s making up for what you missed!

We ran into the Pilgrims I had befriended and everyone greeted George like an old friend. In fact Mark had a nice pep-talk with George, easing his worries and encouraging him. This is what Camino-life is truly all about. The comradery is already happening with each of us watching over one another. It truly is something to behold.

Our day had ups and downs, litterly and George was struggling. His cold-like symptoms were still lingering and it was obvious he tried to do more than he should have. As the day progressed, I seriously considered that this was too much, too soon. Fortunately when we arrived at Zubiri, which is a tiny village at the base of the mountain. There was a lovely river running through town, with people wading in it. As we finished up the hot and sultry day, I looked to see our options to get to our resting spot. Two hours and a taxi would arrive. Seriously?!? Well the only logical thing to do is head to the local watering hole, get a beer and wait.

As we turned the corner, I saw my friend ViVi who had already beat us to beers. As soon as I was looking for a table, a taxi arrived. Hmm, is he picking up another Pilgrim or was this a God-appointed meeting? Ends up that he was looking for any Pilgrim who was in need of a ride. Thank you Lord. What perfect timing. He took my pack and poles and drove us to our Oasis on the water, Hostel Etxeberri on Embalse de Eugui. It’s a mouthful but think of Lake Comi in Italy without the high-end mansions. It’s stunning. How do I find these places?

Our Taxi Driver dropped us off at the Bar and we were done. A round of beers for everyone. Luckily that’s just me and George. We sat on the patio and ogled at the crystal clear lake. This was the best reward for a long days work and a perfect place for George to recover!

One of the interesting facts of this area is due to the extreme hills and winding roads, there are many cyclists that prepare & train for the Tour de France. Sure as we were drinking our beer, a cyclist shows up and I’m sure, he’s in contention for the next big race. I snap a photo as he puts his fists in the air. This guy’s definitely the real deal!

We hung out until dinner is served and grab the last fish stew of the day. George settles for Beef Tenderloin which is closer to Pork Jerky. I think the waiteeess was trying her hardest to speak to us in English and misrepresented the menu choices. Well, there’s always breakfast in the morning, to balance things out!

Tomorrow will be another solo day for me. After today, George is definitely not fully recovered and we have hundreds of miles to cover. So he will jump ahead, meet up with some friends, who plan to join us on this journey, and George will take a Rest Day. I am reminded of this verse and know that we can only do so much in this world, but as long as we have our faith, we will be lifted again.