ANOTHER TOUGH DAY

michelleperram

Sep 2

1 September 2023, Camino 3, Day 2

Puenta la Reina to Estella

Elevation Profile

Yesterday was long and arduous and we made it. As we dragged ourselves into Puenta la Reina I said to Glen "There had better be a cold drink for me". What I meant was that as soon as we got checked in I wanted to find a bar with a cold drink (non-alcoholic). We checked into the hotel and the owner told us to wait a minute. He went into a back room and came out with two cold glasses of lemonade. They say the camino will provide. Indeed the camino did provide in a wondrous and hospitable way

This brings me to thinking about eating on the camino. I experienced this on my second camino and I'm experiencing it again. I'm simply not hungry. I know some of you are saying, "Geez I wish I could walk all that distance and not feel hungry. I'd lose so much weight". I think my head is telling me I'm hungry and I need to eat to have energy to continue, but my body is saying, "I have exhausted all my resources keeping you walking and I have no more to give to digest any food". Therefore I don't feel hungry.

I also remember someone telling me to drink a beer at the end of the day to restore nutrients lost during the day. Well that was probably a rumor started by big beer drinking pilgrims. Beer might restore some nutrients, but it has alcohol and doesn't replace you electrolytes. There is a sort of Spanish sports drink called Aquarius (made by Coca Cola)…

It's non-fizzy, cold, tasty, and comes in orange or lemon flavors. It will hydrate you like no glass of water and certainly no glass of beer will. It certainly came in handy today.

While the climbs were difficult they were certainly not the big up and big down of yesterday. Nonetheless it was hot with very little shade. By the time we arrived in Lorca (about 5 miles short of Estella) we were spent. So after a brief deliberation we decided to take a cab the last 5 miles to Estella.

Now let me tell you about the acts of grace we experienced. We met a young couple earlier on (She is Dutch and he is German) and another young American woman. They were all very sweet and much faster walkers than we are so we soon lost them. We were walking on mixed terrain and Glen and I know that he is better on the uphill, I'm a little better on the level ground, and I am way better on the downhill. Walking down is difficult and feels dangerous for him. So we've agreed to walk at our own paces and eventually find each other somewhere.

As I was walking ahead of Glen the young couple passed me as they had taken a break. They called out, "Mr. Glen is fine. He took a break with us in the shade." About a mile later the American passed me and said "Mr. Glen is fine. I saw him at the swimming hole." When I reached Lorca they were all together in a cafe and I joined them. It was great and 20-30 minutes later "Mr. Glen" walked into the door and we all talked and ate for another hour.

We also met a young Jewish man raised in California and now living in Tel Aviv. He's walking the camino seeking guidance about his future. He's worked for many years in a few different jobs and now he wants a career. He's a few years younger than our daughters and it was a joy to talk with him. We discussed our own career paths and those of our girls, why the camino, spirituality, and even politics. He said to us twice when we parted that he really enjoyed talking with us and had many things to think about. We said it was the same for us. He really meant it…and so did we.

Another blessing…our hotel had a laundry service so we gathered up all our clothes that we had been attempting to wash in sinks and handed them over. And now they are clean.

Buen Camino

A sense of humor on the camino

Too much time on someone's hands

I have never added to any of the stone sculptures that people have started because I'm afraid that I will make it all tumble. Today I saw this empty stone marker and I thought, "I'm going to start a stack". I found a flat stone for the base. It looked lonely and it seemed to be just a rock on a marker. So I added a second stone to make a "stack". When I walked away I felt sad for a moment because I will likely never know if my little stack grows into something beautiful