I don care about the location. No big deal I will just chill out and eat at the Hostal. I really don't want to go to the pilgrim dinner group but there is no choice. I arrive at 4:00 so I have plenty of time to get things done and rest. Dinner is at seven thirty. There are only five rooms so it will be a small group.
I go down to the dining room early and get a glass of wine and sit outside in the backyard. The weather is perfect. I take a seat and just like that there is a dog in my lap with a big stick in his mouth. It turns out his name is Pepper. He the owner's son's dog. He is completely black which I guess has something to do with his name. Photo on the way soon.
The son comes out and apologizes for Pepper bothering me. But I just let him know that it's okay. Pepper and I play fetch for about fifteen minutes before I get called in for dinner. There are five others for dinner. Four people are sitting at a table for four and there is one women sitting alone. There is another table for one. It would be the right thing to do so I ask if she wants company and she says yes. How awkward would it have been if she said no.
She is from New Zealand, her name is Linda and she started her Camino five days before me and has had some blister related delays. She tells me that soon after she started the Camino she realized that she was not as well prepared as she thought she was. The first day over the mountain took her two days. She had to stop at the half way point and beg her way into an Albergue or try to find transportation back to St. Jean, she could not go any further. She then tells me that her two son's both think she has lost her mind doing this Camino thing but have now become supporters and are encouraging her. She now feels much better about what she is doing.
We go through the usual Camino chat and she asks about why I'm doing it again? I explain. She says she regrets that she is not haveing a Spirtual Camino. Then she decides to tell me that her younger brother recently died of Cancer and that she is bringing a stone for him. I can't stop myself and I suggest that her journey is already a spiritual one otherwise why would she be carring a stone? She reaches for her purse looking for a tissue and starts to cry! The group of four are thinking who knows what. I can't imagine what they think I've done. The son comes out with the soup and stops and just looks at me. I just look back at him and shrug. What am I supposed to do. She gathers herself and says to me "your right". The conversation switches to the belief that the Camino is broken into three parts as you make your way to Santiago. The first third is the physical, the second is mental, and the last is spiritual.
She is fine from that point on and the discussion shifts to where to leave the stone. I'm selling the Cruz de Ferro as it is the most famous location for leaving stones on the Camino. I think she has decided to leave the stone there. That causes me to think .... Why am I selling the Cruz de Ferro to others while trying to decide where to leave the majority of the stones I'm carrying? The Cruz de Ferro is the best choice.
So. in addition to the two stones I'm carring to the Cruz de Ferro for Beth and Lori I have decided that I will take all of the stones to the Criz de Ferro. I believe that I will reach the Cruz de Ferro on Monday on my way to Molinaseca.
Dinner is fine and I'm back in my room by nine. I am a sleep quickly and then wake in the middle of the night, blog , emails etc and then back to sleep usually until 7:30. The walk on Thursday is to Leon. There us no great way to describe it but to say that it's along the highway, twelve miles, noisey and dangerous at times. The good news is that it's a bit less than twelve miles. The only additional drawback today is that it's hot. Hot not warm. But at leas it's not raining.
I leave early and just go right at it. There is no need to delay. Leon will be one of the last major cities before Santiago, the other being Astorga. I will send photos of Leon as quickly as I can. The Hotel's wifi system will not let me use two devices with the same email address. Don't ask, I don't understand either.
Tomorrow I will walk to Villas angus Del Paramo. Fourteen miles and fairy flat. There are actually two destinations fir today. The other is Villar de Mazarife which is where I stayed on my first Camino. I'm trying when possible to change it up so I'm going to Paramo. It will be warm but I'm in no hurry. I have two goals today. The first is to just get there and the second is to try to avoid making anyone cry at the pilgrim dinner.
I will send the photos as soon as I can. Good night, Buen Camino.
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