Today I am walking from Estella to Los Arcos a walk of 13.1 miles ... Make that 14.1 with the detour.

Yes I have done it again. Details soon but first let's finish yesterday. I covered the lost charger and my good luck in getting a replacement because there are others as bad as I am about forgetting things. I can't explain it I'm just like the absent minded professor. I could have just not put it in the blog but that would not be what the journey is about. 

I arrive in Estella having some increasingly difficult passenger issues. Both are having problems but the right passenger is really in some blister trouble. I need to get to a pharmacy and start taking steps to fix this. The left passenger also has two blisters but they are not as bad.

After I finish the laundry I need to shower. That's when I take off my hiking shores. Yes, I have blisters but I now see another problem. At about the half way point to to Estella I slammed my right passenger's toes into a very well embedded rock. At the time I feel it and I just shake it off. Now that my shoe is off I see for the first time that half my sock is red. I didn't know I was bleeding. It does hurt but it's not broken. I will soon be short a nail. Okay but let's deal with the bigger problem ... The blisters. 

At the pharmacy the clerk walks me through the procedure I need to follow in taking care of the passengers. Antiseptic, a variety of bandages and lots of instructions. I will do as I am told and get back to the hotel and get out of the shoes, treat the blisters with the antiseptic and then put on the bandages. First I will have a mista salad and then head back.

I am in bed early and I am slaeep soon after. I wake up at about 4:00 am. My foot is tender and my toe injury is not helping. I complete the blog in hopes that it will get me back to sleep.  It does not. I do fall sleep for short periods but I finally give up at 7:30 and go downstairs for something to eat. The carb fest is underway but even the bread is not very good.

As I get started I'm lucky because the first two miles is on a fairly flat paved walkway with only a few hills. Most importantly there are no Spanish potatoes . I'm walking very slowly. I must or I will risk not completing the Camino. The blisters are not yet acting up and I'm pleasantly surprised. Today there is very little shade and it's warm. That's fine because I don't know if the passengers could have handled another downhill march.

As I am limping along I'm being passed by people on their bikes. The peddle kind. Here is why I warned you about being left alone to think on The Camino. All of these bikes remind me of something that happened many years ago. First let's just start with this. We were not rich. Let's just leave it at that.

I was having breakfast with my older brother Bobby and my father. I was about eight years old. My brother was calmly complaing to my father that we didn't have any bikes. My father gave him his standard response which was ..." A lot of people who have a lot of things we don't have didn't wake up this morning". I had heard this before but never really got it. My brother responded with this brilliant comeback. " Well okay then let's find out who they are and get their bikes!" Brilliant! Simply brilliant. I now for the first time understood what my father was saying and I completely thought that my brother's comeback was perfect. Yes, let's find out who they are, they don't need bikes anymore. It was the last time I ever heard my father use what was up until that moment his perfect way to deflect a "want or a need" comment. I think my sister in law Carol and my nephew Chris will get a kick out of that story. 

Bobby passed away far to soon after a tough battle with a dreadful disease. His birthday is just a few weeks away. He is missed.

I am limping along at a pretty good pace when I decide to stop for a little something to eat and to take off my shoes. I'm in a little village called Azqueta about five miles into today's walk to Los Aarcos. I go inside this little cafe and there is just one other person sitting there at the counter. I see his backpack so I know he's a pilgrim. I greet him with Buen Camino and he returns the same greeting. He is an American. I order a cafe con leche . 

I take out my phone and ask for the wifi password but I'm told there is no wifi. Not sure why but threre is none Inspite of the sign to the contrary. He asks me where I'm from and I tell him and ask him the same question. He's from South Carolina and he goes on to tell me that his Camino is finished. Blisters , a swollen knee and a hip problem probably all conected to trying to walk around the blisters. He will make his way to Los Arcos and figure out his return home from there unless there is a recovery in one days time. I don't say it but I know how this will turn out. Another Camino victim.

I finish my coffee and return to the Camino. Here's the detour part. I thought long and hard about not sharing this but decided it is what it is. Remember the part I mentioned about the wifi and me taking out my cell phone? Well I left it there. About a half mile from the cafe I reached into my pocket for my phone to take a picture when I realize that it is missing and that I left it on the counter. 

Now in a panic I'm am racing back to the cafe. This is not what the passengers need right now. I go back I to the cafe and the only person there is the young women who made the coffee. I simply look at her and say "telephone". She immediately jumps up and runs behind the counter and hands me my phone. I'm am relieved to say the least and exhausted from nearly running back to the cafe. I sit and order another cup of coffee. She brings it to me and with a smile and also hands me in a napkin a chocolate chip cookie. I'll say it again ... These people are nice.

So there it is another major mistake I survive and just one day after the first one. I can't  explain it. I'm the disaster waiting to happen.

It's hot and I'm spent both mentally as well as physically. Now some good news. I walk into Los Arcos and I am looking down at the street map looking for the Hotel Monaco when I look up and there just standing in front of me is Rainer! That's Rainer as in Rainer from the first Camino. He's with his wife and they are traveling through Spain and decided to catch up with me in Viana which is tomorrow . He gives me a big hug and we chat for a bit. They are going to stay at the same hotel I will be in tomorrow and we will meet for dinner. I'm really looking forward to it.

I get to my hotel, take care of the laundry and shower. It's then off to the pharmacy to figure out how best to deal with the blisters and the increasingly problematic toe injury. I will tell you more about that and about another couple I share a dinner table with. He's another victim .. They will take the bus in the morning. The victims are adding up ... I just have to make sure I don't become one of them.

Tomorrow I will walk to Viana, a walk of about twelve miles. It's twelve miles assuming I don't take any detours. On last comment. I am carring stones which were given to me by Beth and Lori. Both have very special meanings. I just want both of you to know this. At every hotel I empty everything from my backpack except the two stones. Both stones are in an inside compartment in my backpack and will not be removed until I reach The Cruz De Ferro. I thought you should know that so that you don't worry about me leaving the stones in some hotel room! It would be easy to think that given my track record!

Good night and Buen Camino.