Another wonderful night of sleep. Last night we stayed in the Albergue but did it our way. No shared room, so the only snoring was my dear husband. We were up at 6, eating breakfast at 7 and hitting the trail by 730. Today was going to be our longest day yet. Close to 20 miles, roughly 1500’ climb all within a two mile section. The fun begins!

As we left Belorado, we met Michael. He was leaving a Donativa, which is a donation based Albergue. A friend had mentioned that if he had a chance to stay there, it surely is one of the best experiences on the Camino. When he walked in, the lady who was running the place, put her arms around him and said we’ve been waiting for you. How sweet. Then her husband took his shoes and pack, and carried them to his bed. He felt like a long lost friend who was coming home. What a beautiful gift to receive while walking all day.

Belarado has beautifully painted murals on just about any blank wall. Artwork everywhere we looked. Such incredible tributes that honor the thousands of pilgrims which pass by annually.

Moody found a Cafe and decided to grab a cup of Joe to go. Being Sunday and Union Rules are a bit lacking today, the Boss Lady, that’s me, caved. We all stopped and grabbed something to take for the trail.

Our morning walk was typical, wheat fields abound but there was something else. There was vast amounts of yellow dotting the trail. At closer inspection, I realized it was kale that had flowered. It was so brilliant.

We walked through our first town Tostantos and met a couple of Pilgrims, Nina and Jesko from Germany. Nina is a Dolphin Trainer from Playa de Carmen in Mexico. She’s fairly young, decided to quit her job and travel for the year. Such a free spirit who seems to be enjoying herself. She walks 8-10 miles a day, and typically checks into an Albergue by noon. Sounds like a perfect plan. No time constraints and no schedule.

We found our way to a Cafe-Restaurant in Villafranca Montes de Oca. There were lots of Pilgrims sitting around and being our breakfast was pretty lackluster, I felt it was time to fuel up for our climb. I saw these red bowls that were filled with warm food. That’s what I want. I asked George what he desired and he asked me to pick something out. Wow, this is the new and improved version of George. I went inside and saw many types of food from meats, vegetables and tartas. I thought I was ordering a little of each, but to my surprise I was getting a bowl of each item. I walked out with Meat, Chicken, Mushrooms, Cauliflower and Broccoli Mixture and One Big Ortega Chile. It was a feast like nothing we have had for lunch. Everything was incredibly tasty and the meat and chicken fell off the bone. It was our best meal on trail to date. No doubt!

After finishing this incredible meal, we had to tackle our climb of the day. Definitely we were fueled, but maybe a little too much of a good thing. We headed up, and up, and a little more up. The scenery was forest-like with pines, firs and shrub. It helped to shelter us from the spit of rain, which kept us cool as we climbed.

Once on top, we followed the widest trail I’ve seen on the Camino thus far. It was twice the size of a Forest Road with huge rock arrows on the ground. Someone wrote Alexa in rocks and as I looked closer, it was a memorial for a life lost much too young. I’ve noticed that quite a few Pilgrims are processing grief of some sorts. It’s poignant and makes me reflect on my many losses.

We walked on top of a plateau for quite sometime and finally started dropping. The rain was off and on but nothing too crazy. We stopped in San Juan de Ortega for a rest. The boys and I had Beer and Mel was the Sober Walker. She had her Coke and us girls took our feet out of bondage! As soon as we were considering our exit plan, it started raining. But this was real rain. Put on your Packcover, Rain Jacket, get the umbrella ready and get ready.

The last five miles were wet. We had a field of Cattle Crossings and then the big cows. I hadn’t seen livestock since I left France, which was quite awhile ago. They were minding their own business, on their side of the wired fence so no need to be concerned. Cows don’t bother me and I enjoy seeing them. What I have learned is to not drink the water where they reside.

As we were heading across the plains, an electrical storm was my biggest concern. The lightening, at first was miles away. But as we walked, it was as if we were headed directly into the eye of the storm. The thunder was overhead and the lightening wasn’t striking straight down as it was before, but horizontal across the sky. So, the question is, umbrella or no umbrella? Walking Sticks or no poles? My hair wasn’t standing up so I felt fairly safe but there was some rumbling among the COP’s.

The rain was coming down fairly hard at this point and we went through our last town of Ages. It was only a little more than a mile from our destination of Atapuerca. Moody wanted to stop at the Bar and wait the storm out. For someone who deemed himself a Navy Seal a few miles ago, I’m thinking Buddy, this is your training. Heck no, we are heading into this storm and getting to our place of respite. Boss Lady won that battle and we continued on.

Just before 5pm, and after walking close to twenty miles, we arrived at our 3-Bedroom house with a pool. The pool served us no good with the rain, but the house was exactly what we all required. The owner showed us around, had George fill the Pellet Stove with pellets, and we collapsed on the sofa. Now this is why we kept walking Moody, because we’d still be at the bar waiting for the storm to end. Thank goodness the voice of persistence and vigor won out!

Today was the day when you really figure out what you’re made of. We’ve had some tough days, some long days, some climbing days but we haven’t had it all in one day. Today was the Final Cut of who’s in and who’s out. As far as I’m concerned, we all made it! M&M went the distance and finished strong! Yes, we still have one day left with them but it will be a nice, relaxing, easy peasy twelve miles. Burgos, here we come!