Day 20: Virgen del Camino to Santibanez (James)

Day 20: Virgen del Camino to Santibanez
20.2 Miles
Total: 318.5 miles

We left the bustle of Leon and it's suburbs early this morning.  Can't say I will miss it.  I'm sure large cities have their charm, too, but it is quite hard to find it in the short amount of time you spend in them.  If I were to simply walk across Eugene and Springfield, I'm sure I would note how ugly West 11th is and comment on the noise and traffic of Main Street.  The really special things about where we live reveal themselves slowly over time.  Those passing through simply won't notice.  I feel the same way here, ignorant of the culture tucked away in the nooks and crannies, and after a few miles of Leon pavement, billboards, noise, stink, and traffic, I find myself pining for some open country.

I got my wish sure enough and we were back traversing old country farms, crossing canal ditches, and waving to Ma and Pa farmers in their tractors while their dogs scurried along after.  One might think we were back in the middle of the Meseta, but mountains are clearly visible in the west.  In a couple of days we will be back to wiping sweat away from our faces and taking short breaks to ease the burning in our thighs.  I can't wait.

We passed a couple of milestones today.  One, we passed 300 miles for the trip.  At the time of this writing, we have less than 200 miles to Santiago and then a three day hike to the ocean to complete our walk across Spain. As for the second milestone, we have now completed 20 days of hiking in a row.  Not too shabby.  We, of course, have aches and pains, and blisters still occasionally rear up.  However, it is to be expected and if our goal was the illusion of comfort this summer, we would have never left our couches.

Oh, I suppose Auna completed a milestone today as well.  It is her last day as a fifteen year old.  Bree and I have concocted a plan where she will leave the hostel early tomorrow morning and try to make it to Astorga, the only moderately large city on the route tomorrow (the rest are very small mountain hamlets) before us.  I am going to take the girls to the main plaza and hopefully Bree will be there having found a cake of some sort.  If that fails, which is quite possible given the times stores open around here, we hope to scout out a nice place to have a real breakfast.  If that fails too, we will just say "Happy Birthday" and continue walking up into the mountains.         Luckily, Auna is the type of girl who will appreciate any of the three equally.  

If you are following along on a map, we are north of the northeast corner of Portugal, traveling at speeds in excess of 3 mph, sometimes a bit slower when heading uphill.  And downhill, for that matter.  For those of you following along from the Northwest, because of the time difference, the vast majority of our walking is done while you are sound asleep.  If you can't sleep, close your eyes and try to count our footsteps.

Thanks for reading!

James