Day 18 Mansilla de las Mullas

Yesterday I passed the 1/2 way point to my destination of Santiago de Compostela. I am both elated and sad. Elated to put an end to the pain of walking with a 25 lb pack, and sad that this journey will end sometime soon.

The warm weather has returned with today’s highs in the upper 70’s. Great Camino walking weather. I think it is the Meseta, but it could also be a bit of boredom. The terrain has been rather boring the last few days. Endless flat lands and straight paths.

So with boredom setting in and an itch for something new I pressed on today and put in 29 miles or 47km. No doubt a record for me. Sore feet… but burned lots of calories, means I get ice cream for dessert!

Today I was thankful for the many people who went before me on this journey and had the fore thought to plant trees along the endless path to provide shade for the pilgrims. Literally a good twenty miles of trees placed about 30 feet apart all along the way. With my guess the trees are about 15 years old. I can only imagine what these will look like in another 20 years.

Today I met Mike and Nicky along the way. Both from California. Nicky , Mike’s daughter has been living in Spain teaching English. Mike came to Spain to spend time with his daughter. Today was Mike’s birthday; I overheard Nicky tell someone at breakfast. So when I came upon them later in the morning I wished him Happy Birthday. Sure caught him by surprise.

Tomorrow I will arrive in Leon. With the next 20 km being industrial, I am contemplating taking the bus into town. Apparently this is quite popular and cuts out some more boring useless industrial walking. I am ahead of schedule to meet Lori on 6/30 and could use a day of rest. Hoping to see if Leon is like Burgos, a place worthy of exploring.

A little short on pictures the last few days, really nothing of interest but endless flat wheat fields…