Travel is the bridge between cultures and understanding. – Author unknown
May 21 Sahagun to El Burgo Ranero
Today’s miles – 11.1 Total miles 265.3
Elizabeth: Today was a song lyrics day for me. I am feeling better physically and when I turned on my iPod a few of the songs on my play list resonated with me right away:
1) Fight Song, by Rachel Platten
“…My power’s turned on
Starting right now, I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song…
…’Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me…”
2) My Girl, by The Temptations
“I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day
When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May…”
3) Rose Garden, by Lynn Anderson
“…I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain sometime…
So smile for a while and let’s be jolly…
Come along and share the good times while we can…”
Cooper handed me a pin today and said he got lucky finding an Arizona flag pin on the ground…I laughed and said “No way!? I lost my AZ flag pin walking yesterday!”. What are the odds that he would find a ½ inch pin on the ground, in the mud, that dropped off my pack hours before!
The night in the monastery was cold (no heat) but we had plenty of blankets. The breakfast, which is donativo (by donation only), had a good selection of meats, cheeses, toast, various danishes, juice and leftovers from the dinner last night…pizza, tuna pie, a pound cake and more. I loved that the coffee was in a pot! A rarity here. And, I love it when there’s a Nutella equivalent! See pics.
The walk today was quite flat and views didn’t change much. Dirt path beside a road that had only a couple cars on it…for hours! The park as we were leaving Sahagun was cute and had a small zipline I had to try!!
Our place tonight is above a restaurant we have loved twice before in previous years. Only 4 rooms. Cooper and Chelsea are staying in a different place in town. They shot us a WhatsApp text saying they were heading to a restaurant that had Angus beef hamburgers, a grilled vegetable platter, additional vegetarian options and homemade ice cream. We laughed and texted back that that was the place we were currently checking into! We had an amazing dinner at Pension Restaurante La Costa del Adobe. Jamie (pronounced High-may) and his wife Maria are wonderful hosts, cooks and entertainers. They remembered Gary and I from last year and made us a few dishes that were not on the menu for a late lunch. They said they were closing and not serving dinner tonight to take a personal day. Just because it’s Tuesday. Yup, they decided to close later afternoon for time off. As my Aussie friends would say…Good on ya! More of us should do that, more often! See pics.
Although it’s been a rainy trip it seems to not be affecting any of our plans or moods. The cool weather is great for walking and most of the rain has been when we can be indoors, late afternoons or nighttime. Today was a sunny and windy day. Long sleeved clothes but some blue skies.
Gary and Cooper left after our late afternoon meal and walked a 4-mile loop out of town, and back. They stopped at a truck stop for a beer, of course! Why you ask? Cooper wanted to rack up some additional miles. He was talking with a Camino friend the kids call Apostle Paul and Cooper and Paul thought it would be cool to say they walked 1000 kilometers. Our schedule will get Cooper to almost 900k. So, Gary and Cooper are planning evening and additional miles to tack on as we get closer to the end! They returned just in time! It’s pouring out again.
In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
– Abraham Lincoln
May 22 El Burgo Ranero to Puente Villarente
Today’s miles – 16.1 Total miles 281.4
Elizabeth: Maria was serving breakfast this morning which was included with our room. We both had eggs, bacon (fried ham style) and toast with jam. I had a cafe Americana. We all have been enjoying the fresh squeezed OJ many cafes offer. They have several machines that squeezes oranges behind the bar. The larger grocery stores (Dia is one) also offers fresh OJ. They have a larger machine. The oranges are cut, pressed and squozen into a plastic bottle. In the stores there are usually three sizes, equivalent to about 8oz., 16oz and 32oz. Yummm!
Maria had baked fresh vanilla custard squares with bananas on top with a sweet glaze and cinnamon rolls with a custard inside so we ordered one of each to para llavar (take away) since the first town wasn’t until 10+ miles today.
Brierley’s Camino guide book mentions a couple ” featureless” walks…today was one of them. See pictures. Level walking, fields, flat scenery and straight dirt or small stone paths along a small road, all day.
We did not get Brierley’s paper guide book this year due to Gary knowing the trail and lodging, plus he uses the FarOut App. But since it was sold to FarOut (was Gutthook) it has not been updated for several years nor does the company read comments/suggestions or makes their Camino App a priority (they have many trail Apps). So not a good App for 1st time Camino travelers. There are several other Apps that we have heard others use on the Camino: WisePilgram, CaminoNinja and BuenCamino are the ones we hear about.
Field mice were scurrying through the leaves and grass along the trail and the poppies and spring flowers along the path were pretty.
We are staying at Albergue San Pelayo again this year, tonight. Our 5th time here. Kelly and her husband have renovated her father’s horse barn into a few bunk rooms and about 8 small private rooms with two twin beds and bathroom. The back yard is grassy with a bar and covered and uncovered tables. There’s a separate patio for hand washing laundry and hanging clothes. They have a group pilgrim dinner and offer breakfast. Kelly is French and speaks Spanish and a little English. She recognized me right away. In broken English, mostly Spanish, she used hand signals to say she recognized my smile, face and hair. So sweet.
Cooper and Chelsea decided to go all the way to Leon today. So, they will walk a total of 23 miles and have gotten a hotel in the heart of the city. We will meet them tomorrow for lunch after we walk 7+ miles into Leon.
G: Just as I arrived into Puente Villarente I caught the kids. They were putting their packs on to finish the 7 miles to Leon. They had stopped for a short break and ran into a fellow pilgrim friend, so ended up staying for 30 minutes to socialize. It was before 3pm, so they still had plenty of time. We have been encouraging the kids to have their own Camino experience and not just be with us all the time. It has been great to see them really enjoying this journey.
What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.
Robert Brault
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 