Oops, this was suppose to be an easy day! We were up at our typical 6am but didn’t find our way till 730am. I had estimated some 15 plus miles, not 19.5. No wonder George is beat tired! To our saving grace, today was flat as a pancake.

After we drank our Spanish Coffee, our day started. There was a bit of a search for the trail, but after circling the town, I saw the yellow arrow and off we went. Sheena was having the same dilemma but we all converged and started following the canal.

It continued for endless long flat miles. Easy walking and we had a great time talking with Sheena. She’s a nurse from Seattle and walking solo for the moment. She started with her brother but he was much faster and after a few injuries, she decided to take a few rest days. He continued on, and Sheena started back up after she recovered.

Ends up that she enjoys hiking solo, being in her own thoughts and contemplating her next steps. Her and her husband are both nurses and since COVID, there are many options available for their future. We stopped at the first town, Fromista, had another coffee and tortilla, and nodded farewell.

As we left town number one, we came across a rolled over Big Rig and Dump Trailer. He may have taken the roundabout a bit too fast, dumped his load, clogging the roadway. That was a costly mistake. They had three heavy duty tow trucks, attempting to upright the trailer. Gosh, memories came flashing back to the days of work. Now my only work is walking from town to town!

Next stop was town number two, Pablocion del Campos. It really wasn’t much of a town, but with the sun shining and the day warming up, we stopped for a soda and the most important, bathroom stop. We kept seeing my friend Carolina from Day One at Orisson’s. She’s been laying low with a bum knee but back walking again. Yeah Carolina.

As we left, there were two distinct trails, both going towards Santiago. After consorting with my Wise Pilgrims App, I made the command decision to take the trail to the right. It ended up adding on those additional 3-4 miles by way of wandering through the farmlands. Almost all the other pilgrims took the same route however, as the other path followed the road with heavy traffic. That’s never fun.

We talked with quite a few pilgrims and even a Bicyclist. She was the first biker who I actually saw stop and enjoy the scenery. I commented to her that it was nice to see her enjoying the sights. She’s from Colorado and riding about 40 kilometers a day which is 30 plus miles. She just exchanged her road bike for an E-bike. It was too hard to get up the mountains with all the extra gear on pedal power alone. Now she has options and is having a much better experience. E-bikes are the way to go here as the trail is quite challenging for bicyclists.

Villamentaro de Campos was lunch stop. We both decided on a Mista Salad which has tuna, egg, tomatoes, corn and spring salad mixture. It was just what our bodies required, along with some hops and barley.

After lunch is when we realized the miles were not adding up. What do you mean we still have 9 miles to go? We followed another muddy creek and fields of grain. For the first time, we actually saw farmers plowing the fields, cutting the crops and appeared to be harvesting some of the grasses. As I was watching one of the farmers on his big tractor, I noticed that he had a cattle dog, chasing him back and forth. At closer inspection, it looked like our dog Zoey. I called “Zoey” but she didn’t respond. Maybe it was just another dog that looked like her. But boy oh boy, she had lots of energy!

We covered many miles and saw one last town, Villalcazar de Sirga. The place was small but had a sign for Smoothies. That sounds great. George and I both partook and cooled our body core temp down a few notches. There were a few Pilgrims enjoying their smoothies too. As we left our final rest stop, sure enough we saw a couple more storks and their grand nests atop the highest point. I’m gonna guess that these nests are the size of a 55 Gallon Drum. They are big enough to house a Pterodactyl!

We hooked back on to the path that followed the road. Now I’m thankful that we took the other route. I definitely would not have enjoyed this walk. We walked quickly into town, some four miles more to go. Poor George. His bag wasn’t packed well this morning and his back was screaming. Lesson learned. Pack the heavy stuff lower. He had his clothes riding high and it was “no bueno!”

Once we arrived, it was a self check-in. Kind of like ringing up your own groceries and bagging them. At the end of a hot day, the last thing I want to do is check myself in. God’s timing is always perfect timing and this beautiful woman arrived and asked if she could help? Please, I’m about at my Witt’s end and really don’t get all the details that this machine requires. She plugs in all the vital information and before I know it, two key cards are spit out of the vending machine. Then she opens the door and tells me what room we are staying in. Three floors up, Room 5. We are on our way. Thank you my sweet angel!

As we are climbing the stairs, I look outside and there’s a pool. Oh my, that is an incredible surprise. All I can do is get to our room, strip down, and throw on my tank top over my underwear and very stylish bra that acts as a bathing suit, in a pinch. And then I head to the swimming hole. At this point, it can be a cold plunge but I’m still going in!

And it is. The temp says 68 but I’m thinking 50. One foot at a time and this girl is in the pool, I’m the only one, but that’s okay. After awhile, George gets brave and puts his feet in the water. Definitely not going for a dip.

After lounging around, we head out for dinner and find a fabulous restaurant recommended by the locals. All the Pilgrims are there with paper tickets in hand. Hmm, we don’t have tickets or reservations but they still allow us in at 7pm. Yeah, dinner at a high end fancy pants place before 9pm! That’s a big deal. The food was outstanding and we waddled home, climbed the stairs and tucked ourselves into bed.

Today was not the short day I was hoping for and definitely not the day George had envisioned! But we still made it, with a few new blisters on George’s feet and me, a bit tired, pooped out and ready to plop into bed. The lucky part is we have a lovely bed to flop into. That’s much more than most people. Another incredible day on the Camino, doing it His way!