Halfway Point

It's official.  With our arrival in Terradillos de Templarios this afternoon, we have reached the halfway point of the Camino on our way to Santiago.  It feels like a milestone, and I'm grateful that it has been smooth sailing so far.

Before falling asleep last night, we had one more bit of convent cuteness to experience.  At 10:26, just before the 10:30 official "lights out" time, three nuns cracked open the door to our room, and came in to say good night and tuck us (probably Nolan mostly) in.  They gave him a few more pats, offered extra blankets and wished him sweet dreams.  The rest of us didn't really know what to do. I just said a lot of thank yous in Spanish.  Foster took covert pictures from inside his sleeping bag. We had a good giggle over it at breakfast, and Brianna, who slept through the whole scene, was disappointed that she had missed it.

Then it was time to carry on from Carrion.  We had read that it would be a 17 km haul along a flat track in the sun without any villages to break things up.  We had stocked up on snacks and water, and were prepared to walk 3.5 hours before our first break.  It was cool and flat to begin with.  We walked on a smooth gravel path through lots and lots of wheat fields.  We also began to see sunflower fields - not quite in full bloom.  The scene was like a pilgrim parade again today.  We are back on the  guidebook schedule for a day or two, so we meet lots more people along the way (and have a harder time finding a bed at the end of the day).

We were pleasantly surprised about two hours into our walk to find a man in a trailer selling drinks and snacks on the side of the path.  We paused for coffee and sodas at his tables and listened to his American pop music as pilgrims marched by, or did a double take and joined us.  From there, it was a quick hour and a half to our lunch break where we found pizza!  There were easily 30 other pilgrims stopped for lunch at the same time, so we knew we'd be in for a challenge when it came to finding beds for the night in the upcoming small towns.

We veered off the traditional path for a few kilometers after lunch in hopes of finding a shadier path than the one running alongside the road.  It was still hot and dry and in full sun.  We gladly stopped for ice cream when we merged with the traditional route again, and then we finished up the final 4 km of today's 27 km walk.

Out first hostel stop was unsuccessful - "completo" as they say.  Fortunately our second try netted some bunks and a quiet garden area for the night.  We are, once again, in a teeny tiny town with no food options apart from the "pilgrim menu" at the adjoining restaurant.  We'll have to chalk this one up to our halfway point celebration and go back on the sandwich diet tomorrow.

What are these flowers? They smell amazing!

Camino Rock Art