Puente la Reina to Estella, 22.8km, 6.5 hours, Hostal Rural Volante, 65€

Today was like a new Camino for us, at least a new experience. Today Melanie was zooming along and I usually struggled to keep up with her. That’s different. She was still a little bit slower on the hills but only a little and there were fewer hills. There were definitely steep climbs and descents but in the dozen or so locations with steep slopes, they were mostly fairly short and under 100m change in height. I’m now prepared to accept that I won’t see Melanie’s big smile when she said “thanks for waiting for me”. Now I’ll just see her backside in the distance. I’ll get used to it again. I may even try some of those magic ibuprofen pills too.

Dan Taylor caught up with us today. He was the man who got me up when I fell. It was the first time I saw him since then and was able to thank him properly. I also apologized for getting blood on him but he said he was used to it as he is a doctor. Still I assured him that I had no blood transmissible diseases as of a few weeks ago when I had a blood work up in Singapore.

I also bought fingerless gloves today in a sports shop as I have been having trouble keeping my palm bandaged. No matter how much Leukotape I put on the bandaid, the location just assured that the walking stick straps would strip the bandages. The glove should work. By the way, my Dutch educated wife tried to point out to the sales lady that we only needed the right hand glove so we shouldn’t have to buy the left side too. Melanie, of course, was joking but seeing the saleslady’s face when she translated in her head what Melanie said, that was priceless.

One good surprise we had today was when my watch started to work again. As expected, the battery died last night and after a fresh charge, it appeared to be working. The real challenge was when I started the GPS and the tracking program in the morning. It worked fine so thank you for your suggested fixes and thanks to all of you who had added the watch to your Christmas shopping list for me.

Another unusual Camino sight made an appearance today. On hot days, many pilgrims look for a way to cool off. Just as we were about to pass over the Eva river and into Estella, we also passed over some sort of canal or aqueduct that was only a meter wide and deep. Standing inside the water, right next to the trail, was a pretty young pilgrim woman clad in a t-shirt and almost-thong underwear. I, of course, didn’t notice but Melanie told me the story later. (Please don’t tell Melanie that I really didn’t miss the woman).

Despite the fact that the old villages we visited today were all on hilltops, we greatly enjoyed walking through them. Mañeru (where we previously spent an exciting night), Ciraqui, Lorca, and Villatuerta were all fantastic with their own charms but Ciraqui is my favorite. It was built on a small steep hilltop and and just grew down the sides of the hill. The church is 800 years old and most of the houses are likely almost as old. There are small alleyways that shortcut around the hill and the town is serviced by a Roman bridge over the nearby stream, a Roman water fountain next to the bridge and a Roman road from there to the top of the town. Now that is cool.

The last lovely surprise of the day was when we were just 500m from our lodgings for tonight. My son Alex, called as he was taking the boys to daycare. We got to speak with them all even though Leo just gurgled back at us. That’s okay though. With the photos we received last night, we are beaming despite the aches and pains. Grand babies are the very-est best.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George. Goodnight Leo.