12 miles walked

7:45 am to 1:30 pm walking time

Today was the shortest day yet and it was much needed for all of us. I’ve felt good walking the past couple of days but having a lighter day now means I’ll be more likely to enjoy the rest of the walk. The original plan was to head 15 kilometers to a private albergue about 4 kilometers past Redondela. Which is almost what we did.

This morning started off foggy and a little misty. Perfect conditions for heading up a big hill to start the day. Sergio and I walked together most of the morning, occasionally chatting with pilgrims we knew or were just meeting for the first time including a friendly group from Korea.

After a break in Redondela for snacks, stocking up on cash from ATMs and a stop at a Farmacia, all four of headed off toward a recommended albergue a little before Arcade.

All day today I was worried about finding a geocache. I needed one to finish off “Streak Week” and earn my digital souvenir. I kept striking out though. There were very few caches along the way and most had logs indicating they were missing. I checked anyway and sure enough it seemed like they were really gone. Finally I realized that I’d have no choice but to walk extra just to get one. Much easier to do without a backpack though. So I planned that I’d take a walk for a cache after we got settled into our albergue.

We arrived at the recommended albergue at 1pm and the sign on the door said it wouldn’t open for another hour. There was no shade nearby and no cafes or bars either. After a couple minutes I suggested we consider going all the way to Arcade to find an albergue there. At least there we’d have a place to wait out of the sun until an albergue opened. After discussing the distance to there we decided to head on down the Camino. After another kilometer we were checking into a fairly nice albergue.

I failed to mention one of the errands we did in Redondela was picking up a couple bottles of wine for our dinner tonight. Just what you need – an extra bottle of wine worth of weight in your bag. 😳 But at least it is Peregrino wine! Oh, and a bag of Ruffles! I don’t eat Ruffles at home very often but I crave them on the Camino.

After my shower and laundry, I headed out for a two mile walk to find my geocache. Essentially I followed tomorrow’s Camino route to the cache. At least it’s a pretty section of the way so I’m ok with seeing it several times.

Not sure where we will head tomorrow. But we only have to average about 20km a day to reach Santiago. For the rest of today we are enjoying Arcade and Stefano and Sergio will make us all a pasta dinner. Can’t wait for a home cooked meal. However, a nice couple from Slovenia just shared their pork ribs with me and they were pretty tasty! You definitely eat well on the Camino!