Just a note before I begin my thoughts for today. A shout-out to those who are helping me with the behind the scenes details of the blog. Here is the process: As I begin walking early morning, I ask God for inspiration of what I should write. OK, maybe the snoring segment of yesterday’s blog didn’t come from the Lord. 😏 Once I finish my walk for the day, and get checked in at the Albergue (hostel), and get a shower, I begin typing on my phone or speak texting if no one is around. Once I finish, I then send it to three editors, my wife, Faith, and my daughters, Erica, and Becca. They have permission to correct typos, grammar, and anything that is just flat out dumb. After they are finished with it, Faith sends it to Pastor Jim, who also has a green light to edit as he pleases. And then he puts it into a format for the website. So please find time to thank these people for what they are doing.
When I began planning this trip 6 to 8 months ago, I made a decision that I was going to go as a pilgrim, and not as a pampered American. We as Americans like to be pampered. But I wanted to experience the Camino as other pilgrims do, which meant staying in common “Albergues” that sometimes will have several dozen people in a room. I did this for at least a couple of reasons. One is because when the apostle James ministered here in Spain, he didn’t pamper himself. He didn’t even have what we would consider the basics. But secondly, I have chosen to do this because I wanted to be available should God give me an assignment to help someone on the Camino. So about the only pampering I have allowed myself is my daily cup of coffee (actually today I made it two cups) after walking 5-6 miles in the morning. I drink that and eat a granola bar and that will generally do me for about 15 miles. But yesterday at the Albergue, I allowed myself to be pampered in another way. After walking a good part of the day in the rain, I was a filthy mess. My shoes and pants were muddy, and I hadn’t done laundry yet on this trip. I had brought along three pairs of hiking pants, and was on my last pair of half-way clean ones. My inner clothes were also needing to be washed. So the way you typically do laundry here is, they will give you a wash tub, and you go to the faucet and scrub and rinse and wring out your clothes. That is not fun after walking a good part of the day. But there was a lady that worked at the Albergue that was willing to do this for pilgrims - so, for 2 euros I was pampered and let her do my laundry! Now I did have to hang my own clothes on the lines, but I didn’t mind that. So I began the day today with clean clothes. What a good feeling!
Something else about last night’s lodging - when they took me to my room, it was a room with only four beds. Compared to the 24-28-bed rooms where I had been staying, it seemed like a private room. And it even got better when only one other pilgrim showed up for the night. He was from France - really nice guy. We struggled a little bit in our communication; I speak zero French and he didn’t speak much English or Spanish. But when you really need to communicate, you can get by. But perhaps the best thing I can say about my roommate is that he did not snore! Yippee! So last night was the best night of sleep I have had since I arrived. But as we were chatting in our very elementary way of communicating, one of the questions I asked him last night was, “What time are you leaving in the morning?”
He said, “I’ll probably leave around 7:30 or 8:00.” He was really hurting from walking and needed extra time in bed. I replied that I would probably leave a little earlier than that. I told him I like to walk early morning. And his response was really interesting. He said, “Well, the vibrations are better when you walk early morning.” I didn’t know for sure what that meant, but if having better vibrations helps you walk, I’m all for it! 😆
The walk today was a short walk of 11 miles. Right now with lodging so difficult to find, you basically plan your day according to where you can find lodging. I made reservations at a little community, as I would learn today, that overlooks a beautiful valley. It sits at the base of a castle that had its beginnings in the 11th century. Really incredible views all around.
Home for tonight
My body seems to be acclimating fairly well these days. For the last two days, I have lamented that I hadn’t been able to find lodging another 3-5 miles farther down the trail. They do say that the further you go on the Camino, the more pilgrims bail, and lodging isn’t as difficult to find. So even though I have lodging reserved for the next two nights (again, a bit closer than I wanted), I hope it will soon work out to find lodging at around 15 miles for each day. Finding lodging still continues to be the greatest stress point.
The trail was rather uneventful today. I did get my early start so I could get in on the good vibrations 😂, but the one feature about today’s trail is that it took us by one of the favorite places for most pilgrims. That is the famous wine fountain. It is sponsored by the Bodega (wine shop) of Irache. One faucet dispenses water and then the other dispenses wine. That’s right - real wine!!! Pilgrims love this spot! In fact, as I was walking up to this area, I saw a large group of people hanging out there. I wondered why, until I got there. As I read the signs, I realized the explanation. The signs do ask you to be considerate of the other pilgrims because they limit the daily flow of wine to about 25 gallons per day. But if you get there early like I did, the faucet still had a strong flow of wine! Ok, I am reading your mind right now - you are wondering - did I drink some wine? In fact some of you are wondering did I fill my water bottle with wine? None of your business! What goes on in Spain, stays in Spain! Haha!
The famous Wine Fountain
Ok, I’ll tell you! But not today. I will leave you in suspense until my blog tomorrow! You may be a bit surprised at the way this story ends. My family doesn’t even know! Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story! Have a good day!
Ruined castle on top of the mountain
The view I share with my eleven roommates