Day 2 - Getting into a Rythmn

Sept 29 - A much shorter day for us - 21 km and counting, hardly even broke out a sweat.  The weather was cooler, with cloud cover and much different terrain.  It was mostly flat - flat enough that the visual of those with poor bladder control are not a discreet as they think they are, in fact, as a word of advice, white is very visible from any angle.   We passed a wire mesh fence that stretched at least one km - it was lined with wooden crosses of all descriptions and sizes.  It was pretty moving and made one reflect on those that are no longer with us...it was quite touching.

I have to share some experiences that we have had so far - so - some of us did a great job with the items they packed, others (me) did not.  I had a warmer coat in my hand before we left, and decided, it would be too warm for that coat - so chose a lighter one, big mistake.  Did not pack my headlamp, not enough CLIF bars (decided to leave half of them at home) for protein and so forth.  So was on the hunt for a headlamp.  I was thrilled to find one at the airport in Leon, and went back to the group to show of my great purchase - quickly putting in the batteries and turning it on.....it was a RED light!!!!  How could that be - a headlamp that was red - if I wore that - people would get the wrong idea.  So back I went to return this purchase.  So I still needed to buy something warm to wear and a headlamp.  As luck would have it, after we boarded the train from Leon, a gentleman came onboard selling small little flashlights (only 2 euros each), it did not matter that he was rattling on in Spanish (did not understand a word), smelled of booze and only had one front tooth - I bought the much desired flashlight (it gets dark quickly and the sunrise is after we leave in the morning).

Yesterday, the long journey really tested our physical and mental endurance, as the previous post indicates.  About 6 km to our final destination, there is this fellow Dave on the Camino trail - offering free fluids, water, snacks, fresh fruit and a place to rest your weary body, free with whatever donation you wanted to leave....a real hippie - walking around with barefeet, pony tail, etc.  Marilyn and I arrived first and found this break just perfectly placed.  We enjoyed the ice water, juice and snacks while we waited for the others to show up.  Finally about 1/2 hour later, everyone arrived.  Because of the extra distance and late start we had, we were going to arrive later than what we planned.  There was concern whether the luggage would arrive and because we were going to arrive late.  Marilyn and I left to go to the hotel first.  Just as we took off - already had walked 27 km, Marilyn says - "well we should pick up our pace" - I thought that we were already doing a good clip, so as my colleague suggested, we picked up our pace, even with the last km being all uphill!

So far, we have managed pretty good outside of a full body rash, blistered feet, cramped quads and calves, shin splints, and achy feet!  Ibuprofen and moleskin flow freely amongst us, not to mention topical benadryl, and other pharmaceuticals!  We are thankful for the medical knowledge amongst us!  Will sign off for now, stay turned - we have 31 km trek tomorrow with quite the elevation and decent.  It will be interesting to see how we cope with this.  Cheers for now, Sandy