Feets Do Yo Stuff: Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos

Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos

Numbers: Garmin totals today were 13.6 miles at our fastest pace yet (18:02 per mile). Easier terrain with wanting to get out of the rain will do that. Fitbit shows 32,000+ steps and 144 floors with 254 active minutes.

Dave journal:

The rain started after midnight and didn’t let up til 7:45 AM or so. We started out at 6:20 AM and – based once again on directions we didn’t quite understand, went a bit out of our way. Thank Dios, we caught sight of another drowned rat and followed him/her out of Estella, one of the few Spanish towns named after a Tennessee Williams character.

We have rain jackets, which we sometimes wish we hadn’t packed because they take up room, and big, wide-brimmed hats which keep the rain off our faces. Pants are another story. So are shoes, especially in Estella, where gutter puddles are substantial. C’est la vie, as they say in Spain and, once feet are wet, there’s no going back. Fortunately, the rain eased off by 7:30 and was done for our day’s journey soon after, leaving us with a few squishy patches, but mostly good footing and cooler temps than we’d had before.

We Caminars settle into habits and grabbing breakfast a mile or two out of two is now one of ours. As fortune – and commerce – would have it, that means a "bar" where coffee and croissants are available. By then the rain has stopped and, after a break, we pressed ahead, fearing the rain would return. Got in a few miles at a pace under 17:00 minutes per, a good clip. (We set a Camino PR (Personal Record) of 16:30 for one mile.) The terrain is mostly flat with some rolling hills. Mostly wheat country, which means deserted fields a couple months away from harvest. We see no farmers and few Caminars. Guess many decided to start later in hopes of better weather.

They – and we – luck out, pretty much. We hit Los Arcos at about 11:30 and decide to have our big meal for the day – the usual "peregrinos special" – then, since our "hotel" is 3 or so miles from town and the Camino. Could it be Mixta Ensalada again? Yessiree Bob, plus, for variety, the salmon instead of chicken. (Scout is bold and opts for spaghetti as her main course instead of salmon and the waitress/owner seems delighted that she has an appetizer as her entree). And, salmon comes with fries, of course, a Nutty Buddy for desert and a full bottle of wine. Or water, our choice.

Was there any doubt that we’d opt for the wine?

Rain begins again about noon so we’re glad we hurried to get the walking done early. A taxi from our itty bitty hotel rescues us, the driver telling us Spain’s in a drought, too and, as his car radio plays a selection from Bruce Springsteen’s "The River," how popular The Boss is in Spain. Who knew? Of course, over lunch, a TV in the corner of "Gargantua," our restaurant, was showing MTV videos from the ‘80s: The Village People doing "YMCA," Barbra and Donna Summer doing "Enough is Enough," Kim Carnes doing "Bette Davis Eyes" and a lot of drab Euro-Disco.

Our social contacts of the day are a woman from Norwalk, CA, her walking buddy from Quebec, and a guy from Malmö, Sweden (where Volvo’s are made, I think). All nice folks.

As are our hotel people, who struggle to speak English for us as Scout struggles to speak Spanish for them. The result is a tie. Our room, with a skylight view of the church, is warm and cozy as the rain picks up again. Love cozy rooms on rainy days. (We’re told the weather will last for three or more days; more wet feet, but so what? It isn’t all that cold and it’s good for the drought.)

The nice folks at the hotel kind of remind us that, in two or three days we’ll have forgotten them in the wash of new people and new memories. Too bad. The odds of us returning to Los Arcos or to any of the pleasant, but not spectacular, places we’ve been to so far are slim. Not unlike the people we meet on the Camino, all a metaphor for something or other.

For now, the rain and thunder are outside, we’re warm and dry and the future’s on the road somewhere ahead of us.

Tomorrow is a long day, close to 18 miles. We will get a ride back to town but not until 7:00 am, so our start won't be as early as today, but that's ok.....