Bye, Bye Meseta. Hello Hills (and More!)

A Series of Photos and Captions and Here’s Why

As we have walked these last 24 days (24 DAYS!?), I’ve looked forward to what Donna and I call “library hour,” which is when we Air Drop photos back and forth and I write my posts.

On the trail, I often think about what I might write later that day, and I look forward to doing so. (Words are my love language, remember?)

Today, Day 24, we arrived in Rabinal del Camino, a hamlet 21K from Astorga, which is where we stayed last night. Where we met Sue, Sue and her husband Chris, all from England. They told us about Steve and Carol from “somewhere in Southern California.” We met Steve and Carol this morning at breakfast.

We’re all here together in the same lodging tonight and we plan to eat together.

But when we walk into the lodging, we see Marie and Hilda, the fast-walking, delightful sisters we had dinner with four days ago. They’re from South Africa. This is their fourth Camino, and they plan to do 10 full Caminos. Perhaps one a year. We had a snack with them for more than an hour and invited them to join us and “the Brits” at 7 p.m.

And here’s what went through my head:
OK, I want to post. It’s been 2 days, and my almost-90-year-old Mom looks forward to each and every one. I love that! But I don’t want to miss being “here,” in the moment, with new friends I may never see again, but whose memories will last forever.

So I decided to just post some photos with captions. (And look how much I just wrote without a single photo! I know.) Here goes.

We’re gettin closer and closer! Just under 300K to go.

 

Our favorite lodging from 2019, and we get to stay again. A farm house that was a former mill.

 

A former flour mill, a river runs right under the house.
Donna migrated to the garden and found a HUGE zucchini.

 

I was drawn to these. Of course.

 

Best of all? We got to do real laundry. With a machine and soap.

Actually, our host, Mercedes, was the best part. She remembered us from before and we let her know that hers was our favorite place of the entire Camino.

 

Ten minutes out the door, and we had to don our rain gear.

 

An hour later, the rain has stopped, and we cross a medieval bridge where knights battled. Our reenactment pales to the full-fledged events held in this village every year.

 

Which way? This is a welcome, clear sign. (Zoom in.)

 

As we leave the Meseta, the terrain, the trees and trail change.

 

A welcome oasis in the middle of nowhere, on the way to Astorga.

 

Sole-shredding surface. This was uphill. Tomorrow will be downhill. Treacherous, technical walking manana.

 

Just cuz it caught my eye. And it’s pretty.

 

Donna, Marie and Hilda. No one remembers what was so funny, but we’ll always remember the joy of the moment.

I’ll post when I can. Buenas noche!

5 Replies to “Bye, Bye Meseta. Hello Hills (and More!)”

  1. This is the best one yet. So many beautiful photos. I also look forward to the beautiful smiles from both of you. I am also counting the days. By the way, I got ahold of Nike and got some birthday ideas for Colton plus their new address. Can you believe it, I did it all by myself.

    Love, Mom

  2. What are you using for a camera? Certainly can’t be a phone. In addition to your Mom, I missed hearing from you !
    Your fan, Ally

  3. Amazing. You two see places that only walking the Camino would show. Love the custom road sign, the mill house and all the pics you are sharing. Do you own one of every color in that shirt? I so admire the two of you…

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