Crops of the Camino

Sent from my iPad

Stage 8: Los Arcos to Logrono (30km--29 degrees)

We left this morning at 4:45 and walked into the daylight. The first set of photos were taken before full sunrise. The morning temperature (19) made for a comfortable first stretch. The second set of photos show a few of the different trails we walked today. We certainly appreciated the shady ones and felt fairly fortunate to have a bit of a breeze most of the way. We arrived in Logrono around 11:30 and collapsed at the pilgrim foot fountain at the edge of town. We are booked into an apartment overlooking Laurel Street where we will spend an extra rest day. I (Betty) will post some pictures for our Prairie friends and relatives. All three of us are taken by the beauty in the crops!

Flowers of the Navarra Region

Stage 7: Estella to Los Arcos (22 km--33 degrees)

Bunions, corns and wonkie knees are not the signs of old age!  However, talking about them for six straight hours might be!  I have alway thought that walking was a great catalyst for great conversations. We are old but I think we are prevailing.

Yesterday hinted at today's temperature and so we got up two hours before the crack of dawn and hit the trail at 5:15.  We watched the sun rise and slowly diminish our long shadows until it was beating straight overhead and telling us to stop for a break.  When Laurel and Betty literally started cutting corners, we gave into the heat and stopped.  Our picnic lunch in a vineyard recharged us and helped to quicken our pace.   I think starting in the dark is a good way to avoid the heat but it does have drawbacks--today we missed the turn off for the only wine fountain on the Camino and I had to settle for water again!!!

Fields of wheat, barley, and canola; vineyards and olive orchards were the backdrop to our winding path.  The walk was gentle and not so long, yet we all had something to complain about.  We were grateful to arrive in Los Arcos before noon and we were grateful to have each other to listen to and complain to.

Stage 6: Obanos to Estella (27 km--29 degrees)

We hit the trail with the light of the moon, and walked and walked and walked as the day revealed itself to be the clearest, sunniest, and hottest so far at 29 degrees (but no doubt, later on, this will be "cool" in comparison).  The windmills, which were so huge as we had passed below them yesterday, now shrank and then disappeared on the horizon behind us.  In front of us appeared vineyards and olive groves.  Along the way, we crossed over numerous Roman stone bridges and wended our way through beautiful villages.  Now for an early bedtime and a good night's sleep in this monastery with simple, modern bedrooms.

Stage 5: Pamplona to Obanos (22 km--19 degrees)

Another stellar day and a Very exciting one for me (Betty) as we arrived at the Camino cutouts! We had a snack while we watched a school group pose for photos. I thought of my teacher friends. This would be quite the field trip! The weather is still cooperating and we are seeing amazing scenery and some pretty touching pilgrims--a grandma and her grandson, a father and his challenged son sharing their backpack. We are all healthy and after today's walk Laurel's knee, although still sore, seems no worse.

Rest Day: Pamplona (17 degrees)

Laurel found us an apt. on Airbnb and we rested and soaked up the city of Pamplona.  The place was owned by a lady from Vancouver and she really went the extra mile to make us comfortable.  We had the best sleeps of our trip so far, not even the exuberant soccer fans celebrating Spain's 3-0 win over Turkey (until 4:30 in the morning) could thwart that!  Question: What do perigrinos do on a rest day?  Answer: they do a 15 km walking tour of the city!  We traced the running of the bulls circuit and saw every church in Pamplona.  Being Saturday, there was lots going on with markets, concerts, and impromptu parades/dances (soccer fans again).  By the time siesta rolled around we were beat and retired for the day.  Tomorrow we are back on the trail--Buen Camino!