May 28, 2015

It’s funny how these things work out.  Today I’m still in the Meseta but today was so different from yesterday.  Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the people I met, or maybe it’s just me!  I left Castrojeriz and soon found I had a bit of a hill to climb.  It was a 12% incline (think 12 feet up for every 100 feet in length for those that found geometry a challenge) but good news, it was only about 0.6 miles to the top.  So it only took about 15 or 20 minutes to get to the views that were the reward for making the climb.  I am so blessed to have legs and lungs and heart that actually feel invigorated by the assent.  I met a wonderful man from Madrid who took a few pictures for me as we walked together.  The weather today started out cool, about 50 degrees,perfect for a walk up a hill.  Of course if you go up you must come down.

The rest of the first few hours were of just beautiful fields including a field of poppies.  I passed one bridge that were built by the Romans and a really cool canal just before my destination of Fromista.  Today was a nice walk of almost 16 miles.  Along the way I got a chance to talk with several guys form the US that are my age and recently retired, so naturally we had a lot in common and good converstaion.  The one guy even had on a Georgetown Univ. hat which had faded from blue to purple.  At first I though it said Elder!

This evening, I was sitting in the main square with the guys I met today when Chris and Jade walked up.  I hadn’t seen them is several days and didn’t think I’d see them ‘til Leon.  What a pleasant surprise.  We reconnected and Chris joined the rest of “us guys” for dinner.  More great “Camino” conversations.

All in all, today was beautiful and comfortable.  So nice.  I didn’t reflect on anything important but then again maybe this is important – our daily interactions with friends, new ones and older ones, may be among the most important things we do every day.

Buen Camino everyone.  And for those responsible for praying for good weather for my adventure, job well done today.

Tom