Walking The Way

Sept 14- I walked 21 Km (12.8 miles) today from Villamayor de Monjardin to the town of Torres del Rio.

I hit the trail early today at 6:30am, headlamp on the forehead, with my Camino friends Viola and Mike. Today was beautiful weather, with cool breezes, a little sun, but overall walking through this wine region was spectacular.

Along the route this morning, we came across a food truck in the middle of nowhere. It turns out the food truck is run by volunteers who are originally from the USA and is designed to support the pilgrims on the trail. I had a welcome egg and cheese sandwich and coffee that gave me the daily boost I needed.

The walk was fairly flat with rolling hills surrounding us as I walked through the towns of Cruce, Los Arcos, Sansol, and finally reached the destination of Torres del Rio.

The location for my stay this evening is Torres del Rio. It is a town that was conquered from the Muslim occupation in 914 AD and belonged to a monastery several centuries before the citizens of the town bought the monastery out in the 14th century. The architecture in these towns really reflects their history.

Overall, it was a great day. I really enjoyed the company of new friends and the views along the Camino. Feeling pretty good physically and finding the hills much easier and the overall walk a lot easier than the first several days. Dinner tonight will be paella in the pilgrim hostel! Super excited!!

Tomorrow, I will head to the city of Logrono, and will spend an additional rest day there. Another big milestone as I will hit 100 miles walked tomorrow (so far I’ve walked 96.5 miles)!

My thoughts: hard things get better with time if you keep doing them. I’m able to walk further and still feeling great (even better) physically. I’m definitely getting stronger and more fit along the way. I’ve met some great friends along the trail and feel very fortunate and grateful to meet such amazing people and share this experience.