Miles Total: 29.1
Well we defeated day two and charged in like a gallant steed, just barely defeating our enemy. We arrived in the form of a half dead horse, pleading for life. We found the will to live when we arrived in Zubiri.
Our day started off decently. I woke up at 5:30am to our bunk partner from Italy bumping and hustling to gather his belongings and start walking. I try not to be grumpy at people when I wake up, but this Italian man kept me awake for two hours with his incessant, snorting warthog snore. Two hours of beautiful sleep that I missed out on because of one man... But let's continue...
The first thing I felt after putting on my backpack was the ache in my shoulders, then we started uphill and I felt an ache in my calves. The continuous change of uphill-downhill hiking soon brought to my awareness the terrible ache in my knees, hips, and shins. But this was the new normal so I let it slide.
Each little rest break was about 3k-5k apart, but the last stretch was a hefty 7k. We were used to getting that little break and I remember clearly hearing March tell us, "At the next town we [March and Sahra] will stop and wait for you to catch up."
They didn't stop, and we walked alone for that last stretch.
Now after looking in the small town, thinking we would see our advisors, sitting with their water, as they always did, not finding them brought a series of emotions for me.
It started with the thought of 'Whatever, they're just ahead of me,' to, "Well, I haven't seen them in a while, maybe they took a wrong turn.' this continued to the thought of, 'What if I took the wrong turn?'
I still continued, slowly but steadily, creating a gap between me and Emily with Lanie. Soon my thoughts becomes stresses and I began to think, 'I am lost, wait... I see a pilgrim! Oh crap, I really am lost, but I see the Camino Shell, but where are the pilgrims?'
Eventually there was an hour gap before I encountered anything close to human. My thoughts then were, 'I am gonna die. I have crackers! That should last me for the night. No, I am going to starve.'
Now singing to keep the worry down, 'Just keep walking. Just keep walking. What do we do? We walk.'
Oh and more thoughts? 'Well this is the end. I am not going to die from physical activity. I am going to die in Spain because I got lost. This is it. I love you guys! All of you! Tell Mom and Dad, I love them!'
But guess what!?!
I didn't die.
No, in fact. March and Sahra were only two minutes in front of me the whole time. Eventually we headed uphill with a difficult climb to a dreadful downhill, but at the bottom of the downhill was our hostel, waiting for us.
The hike, walk, wasnt as bad as I thought, or felt. Our aches, pains, and mentality may have added to the difficulty level, but looking back, it was bearable; and we survived.
Now once at the hostal I have some great stories to tell.
We started by unpacking and searching for food. We came to the one and only supermarket in town half the size of an average Seven-Eleven/ Dari-Mart. Unable to speak Spanish to the butcher owner because he kept interrupting, we left flustered, hoping to come back later after Ciesta (the mid-day nap Spaniards take from 2-5ish in the evening. We headed back with March and Sahra near 17:00 (5:00pm) because we knew Sahra could speak some spanksh and could help us buy our food.
17:30 hit and no store doors opened... 18:00 rolled around and March decided to ask the Café workers if the store would open. They replied, 'No, because it is Saturday. He closes early Saturday.' We wound up sitting in front of that shop for an hour. A whole entire hour waiting, and hoping for it to open.
So we went to the Café across the road. We got kid-sized pizza and chicken fingers (compared to our appetite) for dinner. Then it down-poured. In the middle of dinner. How encouraging!
Oh we did shower, wash our clothes, journaled and stuff. But that was the minor details on this second day of walking. Do not doubt me when I say today was a good day. I just hope that tomorrow, with luck, should be much better.
Buen Camino and Goodnight,
Mimi
Special thanks for the day:
Ron Harmon, Cliff and Jo Schutte, and John Overton
Mile sponsors:
Grace Kyser, Jan Cornelius, Doug Harmon, Joseph and Toni Connole, Kevin and Rhonda Durfee, Eileen Sanders, and Linda Knotts
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