Another great day for a walk but we had an unfortunate start.  Upon leaving the hostal, our host pointed us down the road and said turn right, then right again. That sounded correct to us, so we set off. At that second right, there was actually two roads that were on the right at different angles. One of us, and I am not going to name names, said, “it’s this one”, so we walked down that road.  After about 350m, Melanie asked “Are you sure this is right.  I don’t see any arrows or other pilgrims.”  Meanwhile, I was looking at the stars in the sky.  Reluctantly, I turned back to show her we were on the right road and back at the funny intersection, we started to follow the parade of people on that other “right”.  That added 700m to today’s total but, hey, we are here to walk, right?

The first stop for food for us was at Población de  Campos, a small village with an oddly translated name, i.e., “Rural Population”.  There we shared a sandwich and drank our respective energy drinks, black coffee and fresh orange juice.  An English pilgrim overhead us talking about an alternative path along a river leaving the town so I showed him the trails on the Wise Pilgrim app.  He was mesmerized by the map and immediately downloaded the app. Then I had to spend the next ten minutes teaching him how to use the map to see the alternative routes and how to find places to stay.  That was my good deed for the day.

The official trail for today’s walk is straight up a gravel path right next to the road all the way from the edge of Frómista until the first building in Carrion de Los Condes. It’s flat as a lumpy pancake but boring and ugly as a lumpy pancake too.  I believe that is so that you walk though the villages (and spend money in the bars) of Revenga de Campos and Villamentero de Campos.  If you are walking this path one day, please, please, please take the “river route” all the way to Villalcázar de Sirga.  The beginning is clearly signposted at the end of Población and, just keep the almost invisible river on your left. You can’t go wrong. About a third of the pilgrims took the road way all the way.  Most of the others who took the river route crossed the bridge right after Revenga to backtrack a little for a rest there before taking the road way to Villalcázar de Sirga. The few experienced pilgrims kept on the river route, enjoying lovely views all the way to Villovieco where we crossed a bridge over the river to a fantastic garden bar with great music, good food, ice cold drinks and toilets.  From there we then kept the river on our right.  The best part was we were now in the shade almost the whole way to Villalcázar de Sirga.  Better still, we could see across the fields to all the other pilgrims walking in the sun next to the highway. I swear I never did a loud “nah nah nah na  naaaah nah”.  

A funny thing happened after we left that bar on the river route.  We had only walked about a 100m and there was no one close to us.  An alarm went off and it sounded like it was coming from a pouch I had on my waist.  All I had in there was an iPad mini and there shouldn’t be an alarm going off but the distinctive “brrrip, brrrip, brrrip, brrrip” kept going. When I pulled out a handful of things,the sound stopped. I must have been hallucinating.  I put everything back in the pouch and it started again!  Why???  At that point, Melanie was also checking her phone but then she looked up.  There was a light green bird on the branch above my head “brrrip, brrrip, brrrip, brrrip”.  I swear he was also laughing at me. 

The last 6km didn’t have a river route.  We were stuck on that gravel path next to the main road. After 2km on that, I already had enough but we met two young ladies, one of whom was having great difficulty. Her bag was very heavy and she had on a knee-brace.  It turns out that her bag contained medical equipment and medicine that weighed more than 3kg.  That’s a lot to also have space and weight allowance for clothing, a sleeping bag, toiletries, rain gear, etc.  we offered to walk with them and even carry her bag for a bit but she refused.  One important lesson I learned on previous Caminos was to be more ready and willing to help others in need. I later learned a more important lesson which was when I need help, I should not fear to ask for it and I should gratefully accept any help offered. That can be humbling at times to admit that I need help but it could be the difference between continuing or stopping the walk.  It could also have much more serious consequences too. If I could have carried her bag just 1km up a small incline, from the top, we could see Carrion and the slight descent all the way ahead. Seeing the destination picks up your energy level and makes the kilometers go easier. She may have found it easier to walk those last 3km into town. We’re keeping her in our prayers and she is forwarding her bag tomorrow. I hope she makes it to where she wants to go but I also pray that she can accept help when needed. 

It’s bedtime.  Peace y’all. 

Goodnight George, Leo & Stella.  We have special prayers for you all too. We will see you soon.