Fruit Stands, Calves and concrete

Vallar de Orbigo/Astorga

Oct 01. 15 km

John probably overexerted today, but I think he was determined to get to Astorga. We had a leisurely time in the morning and didn't head out until just before 8 AM. The sky was clear and star filled, but the weather wasn't as cold as it has been in the previous mornings. Never the less, we had on gloves and fleeces when we left our albergue.

A few kilometers into our morning, we crossed a dairy farm as part of the path. I'm such a sucker for calves, and there were plenty of them there. We were passed by tractors today on our mostly clay and rock road, as they headed to the fields to plow. . What a reliefs hose clay roads were for John's tendinitis. Shortly after the farm, we were greeted by an elderly man who was out for his morning walk.

He stopped by this funny pilgrim homage and was talking up a storm with me. I sure wish I knew what he was saying, as I'm sure it would have been totally entertaining. We bid one another adios and he wished me a buen Camino.

John and I walked side by side for parts of the day, and I walked my own pace for other parts. He is forced to keep his pace slow and it almost pains me to go that slow. So I'll forge on ahead and either circle back to him or wait at a nice bit of shade, a viewpoint or a hilltop.

At a the top of a rather long climb up a hill, we encountered a stand of fruit, breads and juices, being offered by a man who was running a volunteer relief stop.

The stand was a welcome site and we met with walkers from all over.

Ben, from Montreal, seems to be on the same slow pace we are as we have run to him numerous times during the past few days. I had to get a photo of him as we were getting some fruit. John took the time to to put more Voltarin on his shins. After a few minutes, we took off, down the hill.

My darling was struggling more than he should have. But he's stubborn and was determined to get to the albergue in Astorga.

As we crested to the last hill top outside of Astorga, we came to a large cement cross, a park in the making and a guitar player earning some euros from the passing walkers. We enjoyed a few minutes in the shade, and then took off of the final descent into the town. It was mostly concrete and difficult walking for John. We walked past warehouses, with corn fields behind them, over a train track, across another bridge and finally, up the the last hill to get to the albergue.

The very large (holds 162 beds) is well laid out and we ended up in a room with only two sets of bunk beds. We shared the room with two young German women. We decided to cook some dinner in the small kitchen but completely forgot about the mad house in large albergues at dinner time. John got completely frustrated, partly because his legs hurt so much. I ended up with a lentil, veggie and chorizo stew, salad and bread. A man who played guitar a few nights back at Jesus' house, made some pasta. But we had to wiggle around up to 15 people, jostling for burners, pans and places to work. I've promised John that I'll stop cooking in the big albergues. We met a delightful woman from Denver, Maggie, who brought bread and wine. She said she will look us up in couchsurfing...I hope so. She was a great dinner companion.

I did a bit of cleanup on John's blisters. The surface was dry so we decided it was It time to cut the outer layer. It took some time, but the blisters look like baby skin now. We will put Compeed on the new skin and see how it does. The blisters have been placed on the less intense list of medical things for John. The shin splints are getting better, but not healed. When we purchased some warm stocking caps at a sporting good store, John found some kinesics wraps,that we will try tomorrow.

I have been discovering, more and more, that my language has changed, fare readers, when I refer to the people who are on the quest to Santiago. It has become evident that most do the people walking to Santiago are, indeed, not pilgrims. They have a physical accomplishment to make, a need to be alone, want to meet new people, need an adventure or any other of a myriad of reasons to walk the Camino. I'm finding very few people who are here on a quest for a greater understanding of God, or of His wishes for us. Hence, I've begun calling these Camino folks walkers, not pilgrims.  So be it. It's the Camino and everyone have their own needs.