O Coto to Lavacolla

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry
-Adapted from “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns

Day 35 – O Coto to Calzada – 16.3 Miles

June 21, 2023

E: Happy first day of summer! Now I can truly order my vino tinto verano…red wine of summer. Red wine with seltzer water or Sprite. Okay let’s be honest I’ve been ordering sangrias and Gary and I like cervesa con limon…beer with lemon soda! Who needs a special date on the calendar to drink wine??

We are walking through eucalyptus trees more and more. If only I could add the wonderful fragrance we’ve been enjoying to this journal entry for all of you to breathe in!

We have been meeting many Americans lately. They all started in Sarria. One of the guys was entertaining today. He thought it was so funny that he and his wife were 59, born in 1964 and Gary and I are 64 this year, born in 1959. He said his wife calls him Dory, from Finding Nemo, because he’s always distracted. He asked me if I knew what A.D.D.O.S.S. stood for. He went on to say, “Attention Deficit Disorder” he then looked to one side quickly pointing…”Oh! Something Shiny!” We both laughed. Hopefully this humor comes through in my writing but I just had to giggle since any of you who know me, know that I get totally distracted quickly…Oh, look, a bike! Where was I? Tee hee.

Today was dodging the masses! We have avoided the crowds for 2 days but part way into our walk today we entered a town called Melide. Our peaceful walks came to an end for the rest of the day. Literally 250 high school age kids in multiple groups, but close together, walked past us, behind us, and in front of us. all day. We took three different alternative routes through wooded paths to be separated of them but we seemed to reconnect with one or more student groups of pilgrims no matter our efforts. So, we strategized what we thought was a great idea to get ahead of them tomorrow. We checked into our Pension in Arzua, rested for an hour or so, left our packs, took a taxi about 3 to 4 miles ahead and walked back to Arzua. Our reasoning was that we would be 3+ miles ahead of the herds of kids…welcome to spontaneous occurrences that can happen on the Camino. We started walking back to Arzua and who’s coming towards us walking further ahead than we thought? 250 high schoolers! Which means they will be starting where we thought we would be ahead of them! We walked back to our Pension and are planning on taxiing back to where he took us today, or maybe a bit ahead. We are hoping our 7AM departure will jump us ahead of the kids who are bussing in again in the morning. Hope they sleep in!🙃 Saint Francis de Sales said it best: “Have patience with all things but, first of all with yourself.”

G: OK, more thoughts. We continue to be asked why we are on our fourth Camino. A woman today from California said “I have seen these sights, why would I come back?” In my opinion she is missing the point of being here. The journey is an experience, not a sight seeing trip. Some people think of the Camino like going to see Mt Rushmore, or even visiting the Grand Canyon. This is a month long experience in which we have met interesting people from all over the world, tried to communicate with locals like Senor Perez, walked 13 miles every day, etc. . . , but also, it involves things we don’t do. We have not driven a car, we have not watched TV, we have not listened to the news, we have not had an appointment to keep. Here in Spain we live life a few hours at a time, there is no need to plan too far ahead as those plans are likely to change, and that is OK. In short it is a very different life while walking. I love the simplicity of trail life. It is interesting how many people get up early and walk quickly to their next stop. We not only enjoy the social side of the trail side cafes (locals and other walkers), but we stop to pet the dogs, look in all the small churches, take photos of the countryside, etc. I am not religious, but this is very definitely a spiritual journey. Like I stated a few days ago, everyone has their own experience here, I just feel many people miss the bigger picture of what the Camino has to offer.

We love watching the local kids play. Typically, they have a ball and that is all they need as they run around with their friends as their parents chat and watch them. Life is at a slower pace here in northern Spain and we love that part of the journey as well. An example today at a new café, the owner came out to take our order with his 11 month old son in his arms. It is not unusual for kids to be with their parents while they work in the restaurants here.

Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.
– John Muir

Day 36 – Calzada to Lavacolla – 15.0 Miles

June 22, 2023

E: Update on the masses (hundreds!!) of kids on the Camino…our plans to walk last night and get ahead of them worked! As we were starting out in the AM we saw the 6+ motorcoaches pass us, empty.  We assume they drive forward to meet the kids at the end of their walk for the day and take them somewhere to sleep. The kids must have been dropped off behind us – we never saw them today. I am glad they are getting a Camino experience but we were very happy to walk peacefully on this stretch! At one of our rest breaks a group of pilgrims said they knew about the hundreds of students because all the busses stopped at their Albergue last night to have the kids use the bathrooms! Crazy!!

I met a Korean woman who did not speak any English this morning and we figured out that she was impressed that I walked from France. I went to fist bump her and she smiled and stopped Gary, motioning that she wanted a picture of herself and me fist bumping. She was tickled by the action and friendliness. We are assuming she was older than we are. It’s so much fun “talking” with others, even if mostly via hand gestures.

We walked a little bit with a young man that was born in Baghdad. At 24 (10 years ago) he left because he did not like the way that his mother, or any woman, was being treated. He doesn’t like the culture, the beliefs or way of life there. He moved to Austria 10 yrs. ago and is getting married in 2 weeks to an Austrian woman. He now speaks Arabic, German and English. We told him the story of our oldest son Cooper marrying his wife Chelsea and then Gary and Cooper left to hike 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail one week after Cooper’s wedding. Our Baghdad gentlemen said he was doing the same thing, but even longer. A week after he is married, he leaves for 3 months to go back to Baghdad to spend time with his parents. Very adventurous and exciting people walk the Camino!

Another fun story…we stopped at a bar half way through the day. The gentleman who served us was very pleasant and we had wonderful jolly banter back-and-forth. We walked an additional 3 miles and entered another bar to get an ice cream. Out of the kitchen came the previous bar manager with his arms out stretched saying, “Hello mi amiga!” He gave me a big hug. We inquired about why he was there and in broken English and my limited Spanish we found out that he does breakfast at the first bar, lunch through late afternoon at the second bar and dinners at the third bar that he manages just up the road. He asked where we were staying tonight and low and behold! It was at the same lodging where his 3^rd restaurant is! He said his name was Javi (Javier) and that he would see us tonight…for the third time in the same day!

It is very common to make friends instantly with both pilgrims and the wonderful people who work on the Camino if you wish to. I love it!

Random comment re: costs of things on the Camino.
Gary and I were talking about the cost of being here while walking today. Besides the airline ticket – which for us this year was done on points due to using our American Airlines credit card, my flight ravel with work being reimbursed and our flights to visit family throughout the last 4 years (since our last Camino) we literally are not spending much more than if we were living at home! Our nightly room costs and food are no more than our groceries and gas at home. We cancelled our cable while we are gone, took the road/driving portion of our cars insurance off, and our utilities will be lower at home due to us not being there, etc.

Today was our penultimate walk on the Camino de Santiago Frances route. The day before we arrive in Santiago after 36 days and roughly 500 miles on foot!

How do we feel? We are relieved, sad, excited, tired, energized and pleased to be getting to Santiago. We will post about our arrival and the festivities in Santiago in our next entry.

We have an additional week and a half of our Spain adventure yet to share.

My sister Sarah put our adventure so beautifully:
“I am so moved… by your intrepid soul walking… A wonderful investment in your own lives!!”

Thank you for following us. Stay tuned! More fun to come! Be well! Buen Camino!

G: We walked a bit today with a 34 year old who grew up in Bagdad. I don’t think I have every met anyone who grew up there. He moved to Austria at 24 to get away from the culture and live his own life. Unprompted, he mentioned how those who start in St. Jean are Pilgrims and those who start later on are tourists. He then talked about how hard it is to explain to his girlfriend at home the experiences he is having. I obviously agreed and told him we were just talking about that ourselves.