Stage 18 Ledigos to “bear”cianos

16 mile walk today. I walked with Lea. We started at 6 AM. 6 AM seems like the right time to start. We were supposed to meet Michele in the next town. she wanted to walk alone so she took off without us. The morning time, in the dark, is the best time to walk. it is a little bit cool and you can see the stars. This morning, Lea thought the big dipper look like an arrow. We are looking for arrows everywhere, as we walk. We usually walk in silence in the morning. (Except when we are looking for arrows to find the path). In the second town we came to, Moratinos, we came upon the doctors. We had an excellent breakfast there of Friday eggs on toast, orange juice and coffee con Leche. We also saw the Romanians, Michael and Julia with their dog. I didn’t take any notes today. It’s hard for me to remember all the things that I wanted to blog about. We are in the habit of looking back and watching the sun rise from the east behind us. so beautiful. We continued on for five or 6 miles until we came to Sahagun, the halfway point of the Camino. We ran into the doctors again and Justin at a nice little café. there were a lot of familiar faces there. We had second breakfast. After second breakfast, we continued walking about five or six more miles to our destination: Bercianos. We are staying at Albergue Santa Clara. A charming little place. i’ve already had a vermouth, Some hard boiled eggs with paprika and a hot shower. I am getting good at hand washing my clothes. It is easier than you think. They are hung up to dry. I haven’t forgotten anything behind; it could happen. We have dinner plans with the doctors at a local restaurant. I forgot to mention that we had a great dinner last night in Ledigos with Russ Parker, a physician on the big island of Hawaii. Very interesting character. He grew up in Salinas. He used to be a professional rodeo cowboy. Great story teller. I liked how he asked questions of Justin and Lea about their lives and direction. He listened and was interested. Good people skills. Lea and I enjoyed our walk today. We discussed her future and the good questions Russ posed to her last night. I am giving her a primer on country music. I should have started with Hank Williams. Today I played her Mama Tried. You gotta start somewhere. Lea has little family. We discussed her doing 23andMe or something like that when she gets home. Just in case anyone is wondering- Lea is like a daughter to me. We are great Camino traveling companions. Nothing more. Hasta manana. Love, the bear