Today’s walk was another of our short(er) ones. The weather report called for rain all morning and winds all afternoon.

We tried to mentally prepare for our first day of walking in the rain.  At breakfast, fellow pilgrims mentioned that they were waiting until the rain stopped before heading out. Brilliant! We decided to do the same. We had a leisurely breakfast at our truck stop, and since it was a short day (11 miles), we had plenty of time to get to our destination.

The walk was beautiful, primarily because of the magnificent sky — big and wide as only a prairie can provide, and dramatic, too.

There was a lively wind, and the whole thing brought to mind the lyrics from Oklahoma, “And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain.”

The day was not without its challenges, though. The forecast was a little off, and we walked right into another rainstorm that lasted about an hour! So we’ve now walked in the blustery rain and are none the worse for it.

The subsequent sunshine and wind dried everything out except our shoes and socks. Those should be dry by morning.

For those of you readers thinking that our trip on the Camino is full of charming centuries-old villages, hotels, and churches, you would be right… and wrong.

Today, we arrived at our destination lodging and were taken aback, and brought down to earth, to see that it’s a truck stop! With several very decent hotel rooms, but still, a 24-hr, American-style truck stop (not as huge as the Buc-ees we discovered in our travels down the Mississippi this winter!)

The day started misty and threatening rain, which made Jane (who is writing today’s blog) nervous (not a fan of walking 11 miles in the rain…).

The Camino tests your physical & mental strength. You feel your vulnerabilities more because you are so exposed (outdoors all day) and so reliant on your body, heart, and mind as an engine to propel you forward.

We’ve been walking 12 days now, an average of 12 miles/day. There are many moments of joy, and also struggle. There are moments of solitude and, as we noted in yesterday’s blog, moments of community with other walkers.

It’s a lot like life across the board. Ups and downs. Rainy days and brilliant sun. And surprises like the truck stop that prompt a wry smile. (We decided it was a moment to call upon our senses of humor!)

What could be a disappointment turned into welcoming hosts at the door (yes, at the truck stop!), a clean room, bed, hair dryer!, and 24-hr access to just about any food or snack you might desire. Jane does find joy here at trucker land; Lori still may be sporting the wry smile.

As we complete our 11th day of walking, we’ve spotted and run into the same recognizable fellow walkers over and over again– staying at the same hotel as us, at rest stops, in bars & cafes, and passing us or us passing them on the daily pathway.

By virtue of walking pace and trip timing, these folks appear and reappear, sometimes on a daily basis, or a few days apart.

We’ve met folks such as John from Manitoba, Sheila and Joe from New York, Sharlene from Virginia, and two couples who literally travel the world all year. We had dinner the other night with a retired military officer from Brazil because it was easier to share a table than wait for an open one.

It’s been fun and enlightening to chit chat with these folks or just tip our hats as we/they go by.

It’s easy to strike up a conversation with the opening line: “where are you from?” …and then listen to/learn about Camino friends from around the world.

One of the things about the Camino that inspires people to walk it, including us, is the long tradition it holds. People have been walking this route for centuries.  Today, hundreds of thousands of people continue to travel here to walk the Camino.

Of course, people have different personal reasons for walking long distances, but doing it puts you in league with others — devoted, repentent, adventuresome, seeking, intrepid. The two of us think about our fellow pilgrims, past and current, as we walk. “This is hard. Can you imagine doing this back in 1200?…No!” Or, “Look at that woman walking with both knees and an ankle wrapped in athletic tape! Can you imagine?…No!” It’s enough to knock any hubris right out of you!

We started today in search of baked goods at the Monasterio de Santa Clara. It was founded in the 13th century by two women who were disciples of Saint Clare herself. The monastery has been run continuously since then by the Poor Clares. How astounding!

Later we walked along a stretch of the Camino that is built on top of the ancient Roman road, Via Antigua. Still in use!

It gives you a different perspective on your own significance to share a path trod by so many over the ages.

Jane observed that today is the first day of fall, right around the time Lori was thinking about our own streak of fateful falls over the last couple of years.

Many of you know about our string of mishaps. In January 2023 we went to Italy. In the confusion of rushing to board a train, Lori didn’t notice an uneven floor. Her foot slipped off the edge and down she went, breaking her foot. In September 2023, as mentioned at the start of this blog, Jane tripped on an uneven sidewalk and tore her hamstring. In June of this year, Lori slipped in our front yard garden and broke her wrist.

We went from feeling pretty good about our strength and physical abilities to feeling somewhat vulnerable and fragile.

One of our goals for walking the Camino was to regain confidence in our health, in our belief in our ability to be active and DO things, and our sense of adventure and possibility.

We want the world to continue to open up before us.

Also, on a similar note to yesterday’s entry, we marvel at our recoveries. Even with walking for hours on end, day after day, using hiking poles, Lori’s never had a twinge of complaint from the foot or wrist. Jane is powering up and down steep hills.

Who knows how long our luck will continue?  We still have plenty of days ahead for mishaps. But we know that even if there are falls and breaks and tears, we can still (eventually) get back up and on with it!

As for today’s walk, frankly kind of monotonous so not a lot of great pics, but here’s what we’ve got!

Every afternoon we arrive at our hotel totally spent. It doesn’t seem to matter if we walked 18 miles or 12. Either way, by the end, spent.

And yet, miraculously, every morning, we feel pretty much revived and ready to try it again. In fact, these morning hikes make us feel good to be alive.

The weather is cool, the moon is above us in the western sky, even though the sun is up. The birds are chirping. We feel energetic, and it seems like, sure, we can make it to our destination today!

It’s like magic, really, how much we can repair and rebuild ourselves overnight.

With our 12-mile walk today, we’ve completed 100 miles on the Camino. Yay!

A highlight was our picnic lunch at the ruins of the convent of St. Anthony (kinda appropriate for us as we live in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, MN.)

Except this San Anton was founded in 1146…..

Today an tiny nun, probably in her 80’s, blessed us.

We were walking out of the tiny town of Rabe de las Calzadas and came upon a tiny chapel. The door was open so we went in and were greeted by a smiling woman. After stamping our pilgrim credentials,  she offered us a small medal and a blessing. We agreed, and she put her hand on each of our heads, said each of our names, and recited a prayer in Spanish.

Gotta say, the whole thing left both of us kind of verklempt. It felt generous and gentle and earnest.

This woman probably blessed over a hundred people today, and surely we weren’t the only ones who felt cared for in the moment.

It was a lovely moment.

We took an English translation of the prayer. I won’t retype the whole thing, but here are parts of her prayer for us:

May the medal be our shield and strength on the WAY,

May we find peace in our lives,

May we be helped to love the weakest,

May we be moved to walk in truth and justice.

Amen.

We spent some of our break day in Burgos doing laundry. Lori met some other American Camino walkers at the nearby laundromat who helped her figure out the machines, soap, & money.

Jane rested her sore heel & then we both went out to tour the gothic Burgos Cathedral here, after sampling chocolate treats in an outdoor cafe near the River Arlanzón.

And we did manage to meet up with our Camino friends Ingrid & Andy (from Australia) this evening for tapas near the Plaza Mayor in the medieval part of the city.

Walking the Camino can be physically hard, but in its ever moving/shifting community of people, it’s easy to strike up conversations, share stories, and find joy in making new friends from across the world.

Here is a truth about cities. No matter how beautiful, interesting, historic, and charming they are, they also have their functional, industrial parts — usually on the outskirts — but there, nonetheless.

This is Burgos…

this is Burgos…

this is Burgos, and…

THIS is also Burgos!

Today we walked 16 miles. We started in a lovely little town & had a slow climb through fields and woods. At about mile five after a slightly late start, we crested a hill around noon, and the Pico river valley opened before us. We could see Burgos in the distance.

We passed a noisy quarry, walked along the edge of a small highway, then along the edge of a MAJOR highway, skirted an airport, and then did another two hours through an industrial corridor with thundering traffic, still following the Camino. (The picture shows a relatively calm stretch when Lori finally had the nerve to stop and snap a photo.)

Eventually, we got to the beautiful bits of Burgos, grateful for a nice quiet room (arrived at the hotel around 6) and a rest day tomorrow to look forward to.