I just arrived in Los Arcos and I am in the back seat of a Police car!

Ok, more on the Police later. Let's start with the beginning of the day. I slept well last night and did not wake until 7:00.

As always the first thing I do is open the window and get a feel for the weather. It's chilly, but its not raining. Not yet. The sky is dark and it sure looks like it is going to rain so I pack accordingly.

I'm getting pretty good at this packing stuff . It's actually easy once you get the hang of it. For instance anything you are certain you will not need between destinations simple goes in first at the bottom of the backpack and anything you are sure you want access to is available at the top of the backpack or in the lid which will let you get to whatever it is quickly.

 Today it looks like it will rain so I have my rain pants readily available. My guide book, passport, credential, cash, credit cards are all in Zip Lock bags and they are all in the top flap. Also in the top flap might be a snack or something to eat along the way. I also have my iPad mini in a Zip Lock with its charger connector and the Spanish adaptor at the top of the backpack. Those items are never separated from each other, never.

My medications which I take before I leave the Hotel are in Zip Locks and then put into a water proof shaving kit. Before I finish packing I go over a check list to be sure that at worst the critical, non-replaceable items are not left behind. As a side note I take everyone of the critical items with me whenever I leave the room. They are never out of my control. I just fill my pockets, the ones with zippers and they are always with me without exception. 

I can only imagine the smile on the faces of the guys I play golf with. Mike must be just shaking his head in disbelief. I have played a lot of golf with Mike and he has become the guardian of my "stuff". He will ask me five or six times when we play if I have my cell phone, my keys and anything else I have brought along. He knows me all too well.

So now that I have packed I am ready for the morning carb fest. I am shocked to see that today scrambled eggs are available. That's an easy decision. I also order my coffee con leche. That's coffee with milk. It's very good coffee and better than anything I have had at home. I wonder what would happen if I asked for decaf? I can only imagine the shock. You want coffee that's not coffee?  Might even be a crime here. 

I am having breakfast and my email kicks in letting me know I have a message. The Wifi did not work in my room last night so I'm getting messages sent from yesterday or whatever day it is at home. 

It's from Wally B a good friend and he tells me that he took my advise that came with my blog that started with "Get a glass of wine this could take awhile". He goes on to say that he is reading my blog with a glass of Camus Special Select and that this follows a wine session with Tony and John. Trust   me these guys don't need any encouragement.

I finish breakfast and get ready to take on this stage to Los Arcos a walk of 13.1 miles. I gather my

things  but I am missing something (I can just imagine the look on Mike's face). It's my hat. I look all around my table but there is no hat. Not a problem I must have left it in the room. That's ok it's not one of the critical items. I return to my room for the hat. It's not there. I look everywhere but it's gone. No big deal I will just find a place that sells baseball hats as I make my way to The Camino.

I am now at the front desk checking out and asking the desk clerk for directions back to The Camino. I know it's at least a half mile or more. She is very nice and takes out a map and begins to trace my route with a pen. She stops and circles the location of a market. She makes special circles around its location clearly indicating that if I fail to recognize this market and do not turn left at that point it will not be good. I thank her and turn to leave. "Senior". I turn around and she s holding my hat. I don't ask and she does not say how. Regardless I have my hat. I head for The Camino, it's 9:15. 

I walk for about ten minutes and I start thinking that I should be near this market where I must turn left.  

Did I pass it? I'm thinking that a "market" here is very different from a Ralph's . This could be a place the size of a small dry cleaner at home. I'm sure I missed it but first I will check the map she gave me and try to identify a landmark or a street name, something. I am standing there looking at my map and in less than ten seconds a voice simply says "Camino".

I turn and its and old man just staring at me and he repeats "Camino", but this time I know he is asking me if I am trying to find it. I say "Si". He then reaches out takes a look at my map and turns and waves for me to follow him. We walk about three blocks, nothing else is said between us. He takes me across the street at a crosswalk and hands me back my map and points over my shoulder and for the third time since I have known him he says "Camino" and walks away. He heads back in the direction of where he found me. This total stranger just walked with me for three blocks to be sure I found my way. God these people are nice!

I find The Camino and I am on my way to Los Arcos. My guide book tells me that most of the elevation change will come early probably in the first four miles of this thirteen mile segment.

The weather is improving and it appears that the chance of rain is rapidly declining. At about the end of my first hour I am working up a pretty good sweat primarily because I have dressed for different weather so I stop and shed the rain jacket. I continue to see all of the same faces I have seen over the last six days and whenever we pass one another we always say the same thing ...." Buen Camino". That's all you need to say. It's that simple and it matters not how many times you see the same person you always greet them the same way .... "Buen Camino". 

The scenery is spectacular. I will take many pictures today and they will soon be posted. The real difficulty in taking the pictures is that the more you stop to take the pictures the less you see. I know that makes no sense but its just an opinion. I hope you enjoy some of them and perhaps match them up with something I wrote in the blog.

I am at the point where the trail begins to climb. It's long and continues to look rather easy but I soon realize that it's still a fairly long climb. It's nothing like the first very difficult days but it still gets your heart pumping. It's not boring because its just beautiful. 

As I approach the four mile mark I catch up with a young couple. I have not seen them before and something is not going well. The young woman ( I'm guessing they are in their 20's. ) is seriously hurting. She is limping very badly and her pace is nearly a shuffle. I stop and ask the young guy if they need help. He turns and says with a smile "thank you". That's it. She is standing still just trying to smile and I ask him if he speaks English. He nods and says yes, a little. He asks me where I am from and I tell him. I ask him the same question. He says simply "Japan ". While we are trying to connect his young companion is clearly in pain. I suggest to him that to turn back he would only need to go back about two or three miles to the nearest Albergue to get help. To continue to Los Arcos is another ten miles. He thanks me but does not comment on the suggestion of turning back. I'm not sure where they began their Camino but I think I know where it will end. I move on.

The balance of the day is fairly flat and I get to Los Arcos in about six hours. I enter Los Arcos and begin to look for my Hotel. I'm looking for The Villa De Los Arcos Hotel. It takes about ten minutes to run out of whatever is supposed to be Los Arcos. I have seen several signs pointing the way to the Albergue but no signs for The Villas De Los Arcos. 

I turn back because I have run out of Los Arcos. I step into a Cafe with my iPad Mini out and 

fired up with the address clearly displayed in hopes that if I show a local the address they can point me in the right direction. I show the guy behind the counter my iPad mini and he looks at me like I just stepped off a space ship. As I'm trying to explain, a young woman having some power house coffee with her friends offers to help. She is an American and she speaks Spanish fluently. 

She asks for a look at the iPad and begins to speak with the guy behind the counter. The guy then picks up his cell phone and calls the Hotel. The young American woman tells me that the guy has never heard of the place. That's a bit disconcerting . He ends his call and then begins to tell the young American something while pointing out the door. 

She tells me that he said that the Hotel is 3 km from here and that I need to just go straight out to the street in front and just walk to where it ends and I will find the Hotel. Ok, I'm good with that. Another 1.8 miles is no big deal. It's not like I have a dinner reservation. So out I go.

I walk straight out as instructed but the street which I was simply to stay on to its end is suddenly a part of some plaza with multiple exit options. Ok, I take off my backpack to get my guide book to try and get a sense of where I am. I'm not sure but I pick a direction. I cross the street and I just know its not right. So there I am standing in the road with my backpack on and my guidebook in hand and a Police car slowly passes by me. The two Cops in the car are clearly checking me out. I am long removed from The Camino and they know it. They move on and I'm still standing there trying to figure out where I need to go. 

 In about three minutes the Police car returns and pulls up next to me and stops. The cop on the passenger side says something to me in his native tongue and I respond by showing him my iPad. The driver puts on the lights and gets out of the car. The people in the bar on the corner are now very interested in what's going on. The cop who was driving comes to me and looks at my iPad and says something to the other cop. I'm waiting . I have no clue why he put on the lights or what they are talking about. 

Finally the other cop says in English that the Hotel Villa Los Arcos is 2 km away and he points in the direction I need to take. I say more than once " Gracias, Gracias". He hands me back my iPad and I am on my way!

I start walking and two minutes later they pull up next to me again and the cop in the passenger seat says "get in". He pushes open the door from the front seat and I throw my backpack, poles and my iPad into the car. I am in a Police car in Los Arcos and I don't yet know why. The cop who told me to get in says they will drive me because it will be dangerous to cross the main road to get to the Hotel. Oh good I am not under arrest!

While we are on our way to the Hotel he asks me where I'm from. I tell him "California". He turns to the driver and says something to him in Spanish, the driver responds and the only thing I pick up is "San Diego". 

The cop who speaks English then says ,"aren't there a lot of people there who speak Spanish"? I answer yes. His next comment floors me. He says then why don't you speak Spanish? I tell him I just moved there. I just lied to a cop because I am to embarrassed to tell him the truth. 

When we approach the Hotel I start to understand what they were talking about. This Hotel is basically  a truck stop just off the freeway exit. They drop me off. I took a picture of the cops and after I checked in a picture of the freeway they didn't want me to navigate. I will post both. These people are just amazing !

More tomorrow . Stage 7, a short walk to Viana. It's been an interesting day. Good night.