The Camino Saga Continues (6/18/2016)

I’ve been quiet on the Camino for the last few days for several reasons. First and foremost, our internet has been spotty, at best. We’ve been able to hang out at cafes and check email and post a picture or two, but haven’t really had time to write much and get pictures uploaded.

And, as I ruminate on things, I haven’t seemed to settle on a little nugget of truth or a “secret of the day” that I’ve wanted to encapsulate.

We’ve had blessings and we’ve had challenges. In my last post, I linked to Rachel’s post about what I will call her breaking point. The next several days were a series of what I might call mini breaking points. Not bad things…but things that helped us look at things from different perspectives.

After Rachel hobbled into Fromista, Eric and I walked the next leg and called a taxi for Rachel. She met us at the hostel where we were staying in Carrion de los Condes. While that was a good choice for that day, we decided that we weren’t doing that again; we either all walk, or we all ride. And, we began to look at adjusting our walk. We knew we couldn’t do 15+ mile days with Rachel’s feet/knee/blister issues, so we either needed to slow down or ride ahead. After realizing that there were no hotels/hostels to be found in Leon for the weekend, we decided that an early bus ride to Leon would be best. Here, I’ll link you to Eric’s blog for an explanation of how we arrived in Leon: http://sabbathcamino.weebly.com/blog/days-15-16.

Leon was a lovely city, but I have to say that it didn’t call to me like Burgos did. I’m sure that was partly due to the fact that it was cool, cloudy and rainy while we were there, and we were trying to give Rachel’s body a chance to mend.

Our time in Leon included a Sabbath rest day. This one was practically a “forced” Sabbath because the apartment where we stayed had NO (that’s NO!) internet. So, we couldn’t lounge around on the couch and connect with friends or family via internet. We were forcibly disconnected. (At this point in the story, I think God is sniggering over my shoulder!). But, it gave us another opportunity to try Sabbath rest. Opportunity to talk about what Sabbath means. And a chance to play a rousing game of “heads up” while we waited for dinner time (7 p.m., if you are lucky, maybe not until after 8). I’m still working on this idea, and certainly not sure what God is asking me to do as a Sabbath rest.

Rachel inhales a monster bite of tortilla patate.

We have now pushed ahead on our Camino journey to the point where we can take shorter walks each day. Instead of going 15 or more miles in a day, we are shooting for 8-10. And instead of pacing at 3 mph or more, we are forcing ourselves to slow our walking pace. It’s funny how much more you notice when you take smaller steps at a slower rhythm.

And yesterday, we took a pleasant walk into Villar de Mazarife. This particular village is off the main camino route, but was a recommended detour both in the guidebook that we are following and based on my friend, Michelle’s, recommendation. We stayed at a lovely private albergue with a great staff and really, really good cooking! It was one of the “gems” of the Camino.

Today brought us into the village of Hospital de Orbiga, where there is this awesome bridge with a story of a knight defending his honor. We look out our hotel room at the view of this bridge.

The bridge at Hospital de Orbigo, where a knight defended his honor.

And, we strategize. Remember back several posts ago (6/8), where I talked about trying to live a little more spontaneously? Walking until we were tired and finding a place? Yeah…that never happened. :) We (mostly Eric) are strategists. We need to know what lies ahead. Part of our journey is the planning. And while I wanted to try things differently…the Camino gives us what we need.

And, given Rachel’s challenges, we need to strategize. We need to look ahead and see what the day holds. Is the terrain too hilly? Is the walk path too rough? How far can we walk today and not wear her out? At this point on our journey, I am even more thankful that Eric is the strategist. 

So, we learn again and again that there is no wrong way to do the Camino. We do what we can. We enjoy the view; we enjoy each other; we meet interesting people along the way; and we journey together. It’s an adventure, after all!