It was a challenging day with a surprising reward at the end. Today’s trail was as flat as frog roadkill, at least until the last kilometer or two.  A few small hills would have been nice but what we would have appreciated more was some shade from the sun or a single lick of a breeze.  Neither ever made an appearance. We started walking at  7:30am while it was still dark but an earlier start might have been wiser. 

When I say the route was flat today, I really mean it. We had a total elevation gain of 91m and we also walked down a total of about 70m.  40m of the gain was near the end of walk when we crested a tiny hill before walking down into Ledigos. 

There was a lot of talk and worry in Carrión last night due to the first 17km of today’s walk not having any regular place to stop and sit down, have a drink or some food, and – most importantly, a place to pee. This is the longest stretch on the Camino Francés without services although there is often a small food truck at the 7km mark.  The main problem in summer is that there isn’t anywhere to fill up on water.  Well, it isn’t summer any more. It was hot, but not Spanish summer hot.  Also, the “possibility” of a food truck turned into the reality of a food truck at 4km, another at 7km and another at 9km.  We didn’t stop at any of them although we probably should have. The last 2km of that stretch had us both dragging a bit.

As we crawled into the small village of Calzadilla de la Cueza, all we wanted to do was to sit in some shade and rest our legs.  Instead, we have to choose which bar will get our business. We look back and forth, the popular one on the left or the one on the right…. Wait, I recognize the one on the right.  We ate their two years ago and they have the sweetest woman who owns the place while most of her outdoor tables and chairs are in the sun, I know she will let us into her very cool dining room. Also, to confirm our choice, we finally noticed Susi waving furiously at us from a sunny seat in the right side bar’s dominion. 

The break was thoroughly enjoyed and about 20 minutes later, we were on our way again.  Melanie and Susi chatted for a spell while I talked with a guy from The Czech Republic who started his walk in Le Puy, France. He has been on the trail for 41 days. Overall, the last 6.0km today from Cálzadilla de la Cueza to Ledigos went by quickly but, after I checked the watch, they were actually at a slower pace.  If I had known that, I would have slowed down sooner!

The surprise of the day was as we walked into Ledigos and through the small village’s streets.  I remembered the town from two years ago as the location of one of our favorite hotels. I was describing the wonderful place to Melanie and what we did there last time and finally, I saw the sign for the place which gave me the name to go with the memories, La Morena. I apologized to Melanie that I forgot about the place when I was booking tonight’s accommodation. That’s when she said, it’s alright because I actually did book the same place for tonight. My mind is slipping but I’m happy.

We had a delicious dinner at La Morena, in fact the 15€ pilgrim meal was probably the best meal we have had yet this Camino. We sat with new friends Rolf and Trent (or Brent, or Brett, or Tom, I forget).  As the pilgrim meal started at at the appointed 6:00pm sharp as mandated to us when we checked in, and the service was efficient, we were back in our room by 7:15pm. That allowed me to write this last paragraph…. over the next two and a half hours in between falling asleep and waking up several times. Translated, that means I’m signing off for the night because I don’t want the next time I wake to be 2:00am.  And there is no proofreading tonight either as my partner in crime has been skipping over the waking up portion of tonight’s cycle.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George, Leo and Stella. We love you all.