Margaritaville

It has been quite a day. Michele Lea and I had coffee and hot croissants for breakfast at our Albergue. We sent off just after 6 AM. Very dark morning. You could see the Milky Way. we walked mostly in silence in the cool air. After several miles we found a breakfast spot. we seemed to be ahead of the pack. We got orange juice and pastries. The usual suspects showed up. TDFSF, etc. The Dutch woman, Karin, who Justin tried to chat up arrived. I call her Johnny Cash because she always wears black. Justin reports that she has a boyfriend with a motorcycle. that seemed to scare him off. she is very nice, but may be a little shy. Walking with Michele, we asked ourselves “why are we doing this?“. The question can be interpreted two ways: what is our purpose for this spiritual journey?; Or what the hell are we doing here on this walk across Spain; are we nuts? The walk is definitely an endurance event. I keep thinking it will get easier with time. It has not yet. Every day is difficult. you think about the physical challenge of the Camino before you come. I don’t think that I fully comprehend it the psychological aspect of the Camino. Everyone becomes very introspective on the long walks. You will have ample opportunity to think about yourself and your problems. whether you planned it or not you, end up discussing all of this with fellow travelers. Everyone is understanding. I had a Margaritaville day. I haven’t talked a lot about my feet recently. for the last week or 10 days I’ve gone barefoot in sandals, that I bought in Logrono. it has worked out well for me. No pressure on my toes. i’ve now had three blood blisters under toes. my right big toe and my two second toes. I will lose all those nails. it sounds a lot worse than it is. I’m not in very much pain at all. I’m able to walk every day. my blister should calm down. we just walked 16 miles today. My feet feel fine. Back to Margaritaville. One of my sandals fell apart today. I walked with a broken sandal for about a mile. We came to a good place to stop with some benches. as I sat there and looked at the sandal and thought about how I might strap it together, A gentleman walked up and said “somebody told me that it was a good idea to bring duct tape on the Camino“. He was a physician named Chuck from Saint Paul Minnesota. he had red duct tape and scissors which he gave to me. I’ll return them tonight. It took me a while to figure out a way to strap the sandal together with duct tape. Just then, the doctors showed up. We introduced real Dr. Chuck to fake Dr. Chuck. The other fake doctor, Don, said he was a whiz with duct tape. he took over and solidified what I had started. I was able to finish the day on the sandal. The last 5 miles my back really hurt. I had to take a lot of breaks. Lea kindly offereD to carry my backpack the last couple of miles for me. My pride wouldn’t allow it. I’m going to try to ship my backpack on to the next stop. We only have about 12 miles to the city of Leon. We are going to take an extra rest day there. Jim Burd saw that I was having a difficult time. He took the time to help me readjust my backpack. I’ll take same ibuprofen and look for ice. Lea has some cream. Cowboy Russ is an osteopath. He offered to take a look at my back. One more shout out to retired fireman Jim from Buffalo New York. he is taking care of, and walking with, Justin and a young woman from Croatia whose friend had to leave. she was afraid to continue on the Camino alone. he met her at a pilgrims mass. This is the gentleman who travels with a medics kit, taking care of everybody’s feet. He is very religious. I think he is a saint. We had a fun dinner last night with the doctors. we ate at a local restaurant in Bercianos. They served a specialty call Chopillo. Ham and cheese between slices of veal, breaded and fried. quite delicious. Love, the bear