Pobena to Castro Urdiales

I battled with demons all night long. Not ones in my head, ones buzzing around my head, as in mosquitos. I reacted to their bites and took a benadryl to counteract their poison. When I woke up this morning I had reacted to the benadryl and my head was in a fog. After hunting and killing a half dozen demons, four of which were filled with both their blood and mine, we headed to the nearest cafe where I attempted to counteract the fog with caffeine. My attitude was lousy until we climbed the stairs outside of town and saw the coastline below. Then the fog lifted. 

The first half of the walk was high against the shore and included views of waves, trees, horses, tunnels and lots of mining and shipping history from this area. We passed out of the Basque region and started walking through Cantabria. It looks and feels different to both Bonnie and me, beginning with the architecture and style of the buildings.

We had a choice about halfway through today's hike to take a longer route up and around, or a shorter path along the ocean. We didn’t care so much about the length of the route but the ocean description made up our minds to go right. Well, we didn’t really get to see the ocean as that whole next section was on a highway with no shoulder and we had to look out for traffic. It wasn’t picturesque or enjoyable and I was quickly reverting back to my earlier foul mood.

But once again the Camino provided connection with a pilgrim we needed to meet and now we are not second guessing our path.

We stopped at the first cafe we came to, to rest our toes and refuel on caffeine. We saw people that we met yesterday, a group of retired seniors from the US who were biking the Norte in a group, and a few other new pilgrims as well, including Brian and Daniel. Daniel kept looking at my hoodie, trying to read the words on the front. Finally he asked me, “‘Mauka to Makai’ Is that Hawaiian?”

“Yes! It means, ‘From the mountains to the sea!” I thought it was an appropriate shirt for this Camino.”

We discussed Hawaii, our Camino histories, and our plans for the ones we are currently walking. Then he asked, “Hey, have you been on a podcast?”

Daniel recognized me from Dan Mullin’s podcast that was recorded after our family walked the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon. He specifically remembered me sharing about how important it had been for us to take rest days on that stretch. He also remembered the story about Jamie having a birthday dessert at a special restaurant in Porto. I was blown away that he remembered me as well as the stories. This is the second time that Bonnie and I have had a chance encounter with someone who recognized me on the Camino from one of the podcast interviews I've been on.

As Bonnie and I walked into Castro Urdiles I continued to process the power of stories. I’m grateful for the ones we have told, and am excited about the ones we are writing down right now. Czytaj więcej