Puente la Reina to Estella

Today we tackled 3 hilltop villages, Mañeru, Cirauqui, and Lorca before entering Estella. They were pretty good climbs, but the cool morning weather and the blue skies made it perfect. We passed by farmlands, olive trees, and vineyards planted in the red, rich soil of the Rioja region where many of the best red wines are produced. At the end of the day, it started to heat up and we were very thankful to arrive in our beautiful albergue. We did about 22km and tomorrow will be a bigger day of about 29km. This will set us up for going into the city of Logrono with a little shorter distance, and more time to enjoy the wonderful tapas street. Honestly, the hardest part of today was dealing with how last night went. This cold I am trying to shake kept me (and everyone else 😞) up. Being a cougher is worse than being a snorer in an albergue!! Needless to say I made a few friends and pissed off quite a bit more. I feel so bad. There was no where to go and nothing I could do. I got medicine from the pharmacy to try and help it, but it only worked for a few hours until 1am. Another sleepless night. At some point I’m going to crash hard. Lack of sleep surely isn’t helping matters. Tonight I’m booked in a bed in a room full of people. Holly booked a private room with 3 beds because it was last available when she booked a month or so ago. I’ve been stressing about going to bed tonight and she just said, as we are both blogging, that I’m welcome to share her room with her. I am so very grateful for her generosity. She doesn’t hear the coughing (so she says…she’s also very sweet and wouldn’t want someone to feel uncomfortable) because she puts headphones on at night listening to her book. Thank God. The next few nights at least we have private rooms booked so hopefully this cold will be gone by then. More tomorrow, and hopefully it will be a little more upbeat for you!

P.S. yesterday’s blog posted under Hiker Holly’s blog because I was added as a traveler with her. We removed me from that so it shouldn’t happen again!Read more