Pleasant Surprises

It was 47 degrees when I left the lovely monastery at 6:30 this morning, but I did have on a long sleeve shirt, and there was no wind or cloud cover, so I was never uncomfortable. The first 10 miles today were ostensibly without any services, so I’d home to the grocery store last night. On my worst limping day it’s taken me less than four hours to go ten miles, yet I stock up like it’s a three day Appalachian Trail food carry. I had an apple, a bag of trail mix, half a loaf of bread, and half a bag of Nutella cookies, plus a liter and a half of water.

There were some benches and picnic tables about four miles in, so I stopped for a healthy breakfast of Nutella cookies in lieu of a chocolate croissant. Two-tenths of a mile later there’s a food truck, and since I can’t pass one by, I stopped. For a chocolate croissant and a cup of coffee. After I was done and went to the counter to stamp my passport I keep reminding myself, “Don’t forget your poles! Don’t forget your poles!” I’ve had to backtrack too many times and didn’t want this to be one of them. Grabbed my poles, proudly started down the road, and realized I’d left my daypack at the table.

A tenth of a mile later there’s another food truck, this one much less busy. But since I can’t pass one by, and because I felt sorry for the owner standing at the road watching pilgrims walk past, I got an orange juice and an Aquarius. The orange juice here is almost always fresh-squeezed, usually in front of you, so I was happy to have some. Aquarius is a popular drink. It’s not carbonated, not mineral water of any sort, but it does have electrolytes and can be very refreshing. I stuck that in my day pack for later (even warm it’s not bad), but wasn’t as thrilled with my choice to add even more weight. Plus, inevitably, every single time I have one I spend the next half hour, at least, singing, “This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Aquarius.” Since those are all the words I know it’s quite the ear worm.

A tenth of a mile later there’s another food truck, this one closed, probably best for my wallet and waistline. Because it had the same astroturf area for seating as the first truck, we speculated that perhaps the owner got tired of being food truck number two and started a new location in front of the other guy. (Astroturf is a weak basis for this, but you gotta think of something while walking 14 miles.)

I finally reached the town at mile ten, which consisted of two albergue/bars and a tiny minimart connected to one of them. I sat for a bit, had some trail mix and my Aquarius (Aquarius), and started the final four miles. The first ten were on a lovely light dirt path with minimal gravel, but the last four were pure rocks.

I’m sharing a triple tonight with Kathy and Mim in Legidos, a couple miles short of the “main” stage stop of Terradillos de los Templarios. This town also has two albergues, as does Terradillos, so we took what we could get. The option would be to walk to Terradillos then taxi to a town with available rooms, then taxi back in the morning. So we had a slightly shorter day today but will make up for it tomorrow.

As it turns out, this place is lovely, and they offer massages. No reason to go anywhere else! The dinner was very good; the pilgrim's meal tends to be £16 or £17 and has a choice of starter, main and dessert. Sometimes wine is included; tonight it wasn't. I had a white bean salad with tuna, pork knuckle, and an ice cream cone.

There is also a breakfast buffet included with our room. I don't think Kathy meant to book it, but we will certainly take advantage. They start serving at 6:30 am, which is earlier than most others have and is incredibly helpful when you have a long day and want to leave early. The plan is to be there right at 6:30 then get going. At least we aren't trying to beat the heat these days.Read more