Diana and I are perfecting the stealth departure from the aubergue without waking our fellow pilgrims. We were in a room of 20 people in Villalcazar de Sirga and were on the road by 5:30 to another glorious clear starry sky. After we cleared the lights of the town, it was if we were in a bowl with the dark horizon rimming the sky. In the distance, we could see clumps of lights from villages, but we savored the quiet of the wide terrain.
My blister was definitely letting me know it was there when I first started walking, but after a couple hundred yards and after the advil kicked in, I was fine. We have found the solution for blisters. After they are popped and drained, we put an antibiotic cream that we can bu over the counter on it and cover with a bandaid. Seems to be working, We also found we can buy extra strength pain relievers over the counter. We are set! To be honest, if I started out from my own front door for a walk with my feet feeling like this, I would just bail on the walk. I'm discovering I can just push through it and get to the other side much more easily than I ever expected. Diana has been my model for this - she has managed much worse blisters and keeps on going!
After a few miles, we entered Carrion de los Condes and breakfasted at a wonderful aburgue and prepared to hike across the Meseta, now called the Tierra de Campos, a long 10 mile stretch of grain fields, sunflowers and dry terrain. We had a brilliantly sunny day with cool breezes that made the walk possible.
After about an hour, we were surprised to find someone who had set up a little shop with drinks, coffee, hot dogs and other snacks for pilgrims at a picnic area. This was a good time for us to unlace our boots and give our poor feet a break.
The lore of the Camino is that the Meseta can break pilgrims with the long stretches of monotonous walking. I understand that when it is hot, it is terrible because there is no water and very little shade. Along the way, there are a few picnic rest stops and an attempt to provide shade. I found this day to be one long walking meditation. Getting into the rhythm of walking and allowing thoughts to float through my brain as I listened to the crunching of our boots and clicking poles.
After surviving the long desolate walk, we arrived in Caldadilla dela Cueza, got cold drinks ate our picnic lunch in a park and let our poor feet breathe a little. The French woman whom we met the night before did the last leg to Terradillos de los Templarios with us and we ended up having another delightful dinner with her. Since our other two friends didn't make it to our 4 beds and a bath luxury room, we invited her to stay with us.
My angel card today was 'adventure' and I was thinking that I guess anything that takes us into unknown territory, that stretches us or shakes up our lives is a bit is an adventure. It could be trying a new route to work, exploring a part of the area we live in that we are unfamiliar with (I recently found 'Cambodia town' in Philly and was delighted) , or trying some thing that might have been taboo in our family of origin. I guess this is one of the biggest adventures I've ever had and everyday is a little stretch. I know I will continue to try new things and highly recommend it!
Your photo on the long road is priceless. Keep on, keep on! Glad that you can walk on despite the blisters. I like your definition of adventure. I guess we can have one any where and any time.
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