Walk On
Thank you to everyone reading the blog! Sara and I really enjoy
seeing all of your comments and likes. It's nice to get the feedback
and every comment reminds us of home. Muchos Gracias!
Today is May 6th. We have stopped for the evening in Sahagun at
a decent hostel. Yesterday was a tough day; we reached a point mid-day with an
option to stop after 20km or push forward to 37 km. As we want to make it to
Santiago on time (we have to arrive by 5/21 - it is becoming a tight schedule) and are addicted to the physical and mental
challenge of the longer distances, we of course decided to go for 37km. It
turns out that this extra distance - the stretch from Carrion de los Condes to
Calzadilla de la Cueza (17 kms) - is (1) one of the most boring stretches of
the Camino with nothing but flat terrain and fields of wheat as far as the eye
can see; (2) the longest stretch anywhere on the Camino between towns and (3) a
stage that people often skip over via bus/taxi/etc. At one point during this stretch earlier in the day a bus was driving along offering weary pilgrims a ride to Calzaldilla. Finally there are no stores, no services, no
toilets, no shade...barely even a place to sit down.
To make matters worse after a cold but relatively mild day once we got on the road to Calzadilla the
weather took a turn for the worse. We slowly but surely pushed forward even
though we could see that we were heading right into the ominous eye of the storm. Sure
enough a few hours into the trek we got absolutely dumped on by Senior Camino.
The rain was coming down hard and fast and if that wasn't enough L. decided to
drop some hail on us. We had neared a breaking point...for the first time this
trip Sara seemed like she had had enough. She was limping, moving slowly and
her feet were in pain. I wasn't in much better shape than Sara. I just started yelling at Mr. Camino to bring it, hit us with your
best shot, show me everything he had. While I might
have been temporarily insane, it was therapeutic to let it all
out. The rain eventually abided, the sun came out and we continued to walk
on. In the end, that's what we do...we walk on.
Another lesson taught by the Camino: If life seems tough, if
life is raining down on you, if it's dark and lonely outside... continue to push
forward. Eventually the sun will come out and you will reach your
dreams.
We achieved a milestone today when we moved past the halfway
point (400 km) of our trek. On the one hand it feels like we started walking a
long-time ago as we have come so far in our knowledge, experience and
understanding of the Camino; especially when compared to the beginning. On the
other hand, it is sad that we are half-way done with our journey. Either way while we are loving this adventure we both miss being home, we miss our routine
and of course we miss the the dogs. That being said I am stoked we still have
a few weeks left on our Camino adventure. This continues to be an experience that
will last a lifetime.
Camino Tip del Dia: Use a pair of walking poles. I bought a pair
for each of us largely because they were cheap at Costco. I figured we would
try them and eventually just ditch them. I was wrong...they have come up huge! They really help take some of the pressure off your back and your legs. I have actually
completely worn out the ends of mine and am actively looking for new rubber
ends.
Camino Friend del Dia: Today we walked with one of the more interesting individuals we have met on the Camino....Bathtub Gin. We briefly met BG a week or so ago but
walked with him for the first time today. BG is a gay Asian American (he
called himself a gaysian) from Southern California. There are
a surprisingly high number of gay peeps on the Camino and they seem to gravitate
towards us. The toughest people of all on the camino might be the lesbians...
they are not afraid of the rain, push on for long daily distances, are appalled
at the thought of having to take a taxi or bus and like to travel alone.
While we have been having hard days on the Camino, Bathtub Gin has been
having hard nights. He has been enjoying the ubiquitous vino (wine is cheaper
than water here and the water only costs 0.40€ for 1.5 liters), cruising the
bigger towns, hanging out at dance clubs till 5 am, hitting the bars after
dinner (including the one gay bar in a town on the camino) and even picking up
multiple guys utilizing his grinder account. We had no idea how he was burning
the candle at both ends until we realized he was doing some bussing between
cities by day. Everyone's journey is their own!
Camino Random Observation del Dia: Politics are a very taboo
subject on the Camino. People don't really want to get into anything along
those lines. Religion also isn't really talked about that much either. Most
conversation, while fun and enjoyable, has been relatively vanilla.
Camino Song del Dia: Get it Together. Beastie Boys. Thanks
Adam...you and the boys were a huge part of my childhood.
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