From Wind and Rain to Sunshine and Wine

Our day got off to an inauspicious start.  With rain pelting down as we contemplatively chewed our muffins in the hostel, it was obvious that we were going to have a bit of a motivational problem getting out on the trail on time today.  As we watched various fellow hikers dash outside to fill their water bottles at the fountain near the church and return to the hostel dripping wet, we grew less and less enthusiastic.  But, there really is no alternative but to carry on.  So, carry on we did.  Nolan (who is losing clothes at an alarming rate along the trail) bundled in all of his remaining layers and topped it off with a poncho. I think his backpack was empty at that point. The rest of us layered on clothing of our own, and we hit the road.

Less than 3 km into our walk, we arrived at the Alto de Perdon.  We heard it coming before we arrived, because, although they were shrouded in fog, gigantic wind turbines churned across the hilltops for miles.  The peak features wrought iron pilgrims with heads bent to the wind. We also found our Croatian pilgrims there and stopped to chat for a while and get an update on everyone's progress.

The view was a bit obscured, but this is what we were supposed to have seen. In the background is what we did actually see.

After our photo session, we got down to business with our eyes on a lunch stop in Puente de la Reina with its famous Romanesque bridge, built to bear the weight of the many medieval pilgrims whose routes converged at this stage of the Camino.  The skies began to clear as we walked through the countryside and the historic villages along the way.

Then, just before arriving in Puente de la Reina, we found St. James.

We followed our noses to the most important stop in Puente de la Reina - the bakery.  Having stocked up on fresh bread and treats, we found another shop to complete our picnic purchases and headed to the river for lunch. The sun burned through the clouds, and life was good.

Then it was time for the lunch time photo shoot - teenage style!

At last, the hardest time of the day was upon us - the time that we have to strap the backpacks back on and hike another four hours. We seem to be alternating company along the way - sometimes walking alone and other times pairing up for conversation. At one point today, I looked up and all three kids were running...uphill...in the sun...with full packs on. I could only shake my head as I struggled to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Nolan is the most social walker, so he's always looking for a walking partner.  The rest of us just find a pace that works for the moment, and somehow we all end up in the same place at the end of the day. Today it seemed that the logical resting points were in villages along the way, so we often found Foster on a bench or resting in the sun waiting for us to catch up.

Our afternoon walk was colored by hot sun, steep hills, olive orchards, vineyards and hill top villages. We were finally on the "Way" we had anticipated; It felt more like Spain and less like a trip to the rainforest. 

When we emerged from that tunnel, we were greeted with one more long, steep, hot, hill, but the reward was visible.  Lorca, tonight's destination, was lurking in the shimmering heat at the top.  We just needed to figure out how to drag ourselves up the final stretch, so that we could collapse for the night.  Confident that we would find a bed, because Lorca is a real village (not just a two street town like last night's resting spot), we didn't feel the end of the day panic that we had felt the day before.

We stumbled into the cheaper of the two hostels and met our very friendly host.  He moved a few pilgrims around, so that we ended up with a private room with two bunks. After celebrating having completed our first 100 km with Cokes in the bar, we then made full use of the hot water in the shower for bodies and laundry.  We did purchase our first bar of soap today (eeek), and Brianna was really pushing for shampoo, but I refused.  I told her to use the soap for her hair and that she could condition with sun block. You can imagine the horror.  Well, backpacking mom was not quite so content when, upon finishing her shower (using soap to shampoo), she realized that the sunblock she intended  to use to condition her lovely locks was all in stick form - kind of like rubbing a stick of deodorant on your head. I opted to forgo the conditioning and tied my hair in a big rat's nest instead.  Whatever. This is our way.