To Estella

It became obvious to us today that our memories from five years left out some of the more grueling aspects of this journey. Our memory of today’s short, steep hill in reality was not short, but a very long, steep path that went on forever. I told Alan our brains must have glossed over some of these hard sections and just emphasized all of the good. 🙂

Besides that, The morning was beautiful walking towards and then through the towns of Cirauqui and Lorca. Then the early afternoon heat hit hard and it seemed Estella would never get closer. After a needed popsicle/ice cream bar break, we broke out our reflective umbrellas! They really helped keep the worst of the heat off of our heads. We’re praying for some cooler temperatures. 🙏

Special Person of the Day:

Nestor - Nestor is originally from Argentina and he hosted us at his pension tonight. He does not speak English, but through Google translate he showed us so much kindness - making sure we were drinking enough water on our journey and that it was ok to take a bus if needed. I think we must have looked pretty wiped out. 🥵😂 He also served us an amazing paella dinner, explaining to us the local ingredients used. It was the best we have had so far on this trip.

It’s now almost 10:00 pm. Our room is in the old part of Estella and we can look down onto the street and see families with kids walking around, visiting and playing plus a group of teenagers rolling a couch down the street on top of a shopping cart. 🤣

The Most Irritating Fact:

Biting flies/insects seem to be attracted to me (probably because I sweat so bad) and like to bite me. 😡

The Most Surprising Moment:

3/4 through our walk today, when we were low on energy, we came across a donation only food stand for pilgrims. I can honestly say I didn’t expect to eat toast with olive oil along the trail -Yummy and a big morale booster!Read more