Miles today: 21.2
Miles total: 377.6
As much as I wanted to roll over and keep sleeping when I got the wake-up tap on my foot this morning...I got up anyway. We waited until they opened the gate at 6 and we took off in the dark with only the street lamps and the moon to guide us.
I've been feeling speedy fast lately and I can keep a real steady pace. I stayed and kept up with Sahra the whole day and it was really fun. We started sort of scattered in the morning and then at one stop while we were waiting for Emily and Mimi who were going a little slower because of injuries, Sahra and I decided to keep going and find a place to sit and wait for them. And for the rest of the day, it was us two walking ahead.
As we walked, we talked about school, sports, the bad days balancing out the good days on the trip, and just random stories about back home. It was really nice to talk about everything and about being homesick and how this is definitely an amazing experience for us all. There are so many valuable lessons I've learned walking the Camino. So many new skills and stories I'll be able to tell my family and friends when I get home.
We came to a cafe in Camponaraya where I bought a hot chocolate. It was even served with a little piece of apple cake! It was yummy! We continued on to the next town when March, Emily, and Mimi had got there. At the pace Sahra and I were going, we walked a 6km in an hour which is pretty good. We came to another small town called Pieros and there was a split in the trail. One continued on the main road and the other went off the trail onto a dirt path. They dirt path was a tiny bit shorter so we chose that one. It was gorgeous once we got to the top of the hill. There were giant vineyards and you could see all the towns in the distance. (We also passed probably 25 giant fig trees Mom!) Nothing is ripe yet but it's still really cool to see it all growing.
When we got to Villafranca del Bierzo, we stopped at a bar and had Bocadillos. It was probably the best one I've had so far. (I had chorizo and cheese) We continued onto the main road that had a side path for pilgrims. The only bad thing about that was the path was pavement and it doesn't take long for your feet to start aching. It isn't fun, but we all pushed through and made it to Pereje at around 2:45, where the hostel we'd be staying in was. Sahra and I went in to ask for five beds and the man said the hostel was all full! That meant another 5km to the next town with a hostel! Since that was our only option, we walked on to Trabadelo.
It was hard to add an extra hour of walking to our day especially when our bodies are telling us 'You're done, stop walking now'. We finally arrived there at about 4pm. We chose the first hostel because it had a kitchen, it looked nice, and there were barely any pilgrims staying there. It was so silent and calm with no one else around! We also got our very own room.
After everyone was showered, had washed their clothes, and got things organized, us three girls headed to the rather super nice kitchen and made a wonderful dinner. It was the same as always, pasta with tomatoe sauce, but this time we bought a red bell pepper that I cut up and mixed in it. It was really good! We also had some bread too. As we ate, we watched Disney Channel on tv in English:) It definitely felt like home in that moment.
After dinner, we sat downstairs, talked, and bought a hot cocoa. (It was only 1€, the cheapest I've seen!) We came up when we finished, journaled, packed up, and now everyone is fast asleep as I type these last few words. Now I shall sleep the night away...
Peace out!
Lanie
Special thanks for the day go to:
Patrick March, Uncle Brad Anderson, Julie March
Many thanks to our mile sponsors as well!
Edie Granger, Jan Cornelius, Kay Yanit, Paul and Ruth Westlund, Jeff and Holly Tomlin
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