I’m sorry but this will be short and sweet. Today was nothing like we had imagined. Moody is an accountant, great numbers guy and had stated that today’s walk would be 150’ of elevation gain. Sweet, that’s the best day ever. The problem with that was, Georges watch at the end of the day said we actually climbed 1560’! That’s ten times more. Hmm, and I’m going with that. We climbed 150’ the first quarter mile. It’s just another day on the trail!

We had a lot of uphill as soon as we stepped foot this morning. By 9am, I was a sweaty mess. But boy oh boy, we had some incredible views. The Frances is a trail where you can see for miles and miles! It’s breathtaking. The farther we walked, the more beautiful the Camino became. Rolling hills, huge plateaus and long vistas with wildflowers, colorful villas and gorgeous expansive views. I would compare it to the difference between the mountain tops of the Sierras and the green tunnels of the Appalachian. It is God’s wonderful imagination and His splendid glory. I love Spain.

We stopped a few too many times but that’s really not a problem unless, you want to get to your final destination in a short period of time and beat the heat. My true complaint is, it’s flipping hot! We made the command decision, as a group of four, to leave earlier. If we could be on trail by 6am instead of 8am, that would make a huge difference. We’ll see. Easier said than done.

The towns we passed through today like Manaru, Ciraqui and Lorca were dazzling. There’s something special about old wooden doors of the past mixed with modern frames of the future. The colors are virtually the same from town to town, brown, tans, shades of white and beige. The CCR’s must enforce color palettes in Spain. Whatever it is, it sure looks stunning.

We had lunch in Lorca at a tiny Cafe along the way. All I wanted was fruit and salad. Being it’s Mothers Day, the sweet Lord must have heard my petition because I had the best lunch ever. A Mista Salad and a Fruit Smoothie. It just doesn’t get any better than that. George had the same, Mel joined us and had a Smoothie and Moody, Vegetable Soup. We drank the entire blender and licked our salad bowl clean.

Our last few miles were going through fields of wheat and small towns that were virtually vacant. It’s like a Ghost Town around here. Moody is really having a hard dilemma as he just can’t figure out what these people do for a living? How can they have such tasteful homes, nice cars without a source of income? It is a great question and honestly, I have no answer. I think tourism is a big part, maybe grain production and olives, but there must be more cash flow. It’s really inexpensive here so you don’t have to make an enormous amount of money to live. The jury is still out. Moody will start pounding on doors if he can’t get an answer soon. Being a numbers guy, this is a big deal to him.

We arrived at B&B Zaldu. It is a lavish home run by an incredibly kind couple, Pablo and his wife. We checked in exhausted and they showed us around. George and I took the 2nd Floor and M&M were directly below us. All I could do was jump in the shower and cooldown. Pablo and George talked for quite sometime and I chilled out.

Later we all headed to town, had some Tapas, Beer and Wine, then made our way to dinner. For $18 you receive a Starter, Main, Dessert, Wine or Beer. It’s quite the deal. We all had plenty and headed back to our humble abodes.

Another day on The Camino. We had a long, hot day but when it was all done, we looked back and are grateful for the memories of a day well walked. That’s my perfect rendition of a Mother’s Day.