Camino Day 7 July 29 Villatuerta to Los Arcos

Camino Day 7 July 29 Villatuerta to Los Arcos (Albergue Casa de la Abuela) 16.8 miles Total to date 95 miles.

Yea! I have wifi. I'm at Casa de la Abuela in Los Arcos. I’m sitting in the kitchen/dining area near the entry door drinking diet coke and eating a homemade cookie.  I decided to stay in this alberque because I am an abuela (grandmother.) hehehe They do your laundry here. I guess there is no room for the traditional sinks and clothes lines, so you leave your laundry outside your room and they machine wash it and dry it, for free! The amazing little luxuries that you come across by chance on the Camino and appreciate way beyond the appreciation you would feel at home is astounding.

I ran into Clara again here at Casa Magica. We got up at 5 am and had a yummy Clara and I started walk about 6 am. We had decided to take the alternate route, the road less traveled. The Camino itself is off road, so the alternate route is off off road. This route went by the ruins of a fifteenth century hospital (what they used to call alberques) and up a mountain and around a ridge. At one point we were unclear about which way to go. My instincts told me to go straight. Clara being an English teacher was trying to parse the guide book, and we ended up off off off road going through roughly plowed fields. Then we saw a mother deer and her young one. We started running to try to see them again. We eventually got back on the path  The result of this misadventure is that my knee is trashed. When will I learn to put my well being first and stop when I'm doing stupid stuff like that?

So I limped the last seven or eight miles to Los Arcos. When I got checked in I asked the guy if he knew where I could buy ice for my knee. He said he had ice bags. It turns out he has several blue ice bags, so I am hooked up. I plan to ice every two hours and see how it feels in the morning. If it feels ok, I will walk five miles to the next alberque. If it doesn't feel ok I'll spend another night here in Los Arcos. They have a big church so I could spend the day in Prayer and meditation. lol I'm hoping this isn't the end of my Camino.  

Late this afternoon I had a lovely snack of bread, cheese, olives, and home made cookies. I was planning to go out later for the ten euro fixed Pilgrim's menu dinner, but my snack was so filling I wasn't hungry at dinner time. 

I tried to sleep in until six this morning, but it didn't work. Got up about five and went downstairs to ice my knee. It was feeling better so I thought I'd try the five miles to Torres del Rio. Well try is not exactly a precise description. Once you leave town there are no support vehicles to rescue you, you have to make it to the next town with an alberque. In fact when I was headed into Los Arcos yesterday and my knee hurt so bad, I knew I had to suck it up. My only other choice was to sit down in the middle of the road and wait for the critters to get me. There were moments when that sounded appealing. lol

While I was icing my knee, having some breakfast and drinking some coffee I got to chatting with a Brit named Rupert. He is in publishing. We chatted for about an hour or so until his Russian friends came down for breakfast and I went upstairs to get ready for my day's journey. He was really interesting. At this point the hospitalero, who had.been so gracious yesterday, was like a comindant herding everyone out at seven, even though leaving time is eight. Maybe this happens everywhere. I'm usually gone by six, so I have never been in an alberque at 7 am. 

I have been on the Camino one week and have walked 95 miles or one fifth. Please pray for my right knee.