Day 17- Wednesday, May 14- Burgos to Hornillos del Camino - 13 miles from 7:00 to 11:30 am

Day 17 - Wed. May 14 - Burgos to Hornillos del Camino -7 am to 11:45 am - 13 miles

It was downright cold leaving Burgos. We wore our puffy jackets, hats and gloves and kept them on for several hours and then changed to our wind jackets. It was very windy all day, blue sky and sunshine.

 

The walk out of Burgos was beautiful and it was not difficult to spottheyellow arrows. 

This is an enormous gym or sports complex with parking underneath. There is a swimming pool and tennis courts in back. 

This is a Fuentes where we could replenish water. 

Soon we were on a dirt road in the country. Again today we were walking with many pilgrims. I talked with Gary from the State of Washington who has walked the Camino once before. He started in the vicinity of Marseille, France. A friend will join him on Saturday to walk for awhile. Gary  called himself a "compulsive walker." His wife has debilitating arthritis (4 joint replacements) and will fly to Santiago a week ahead of his planned arrival and then they will spend some time touring Spain. We talked about shoes because he has suffered from plantar fasciitis too. 

I met Melissa from Miami who started 4 days after us. She says her pace is slow but she does long days. She experienced terrible weather from St Jean Pied de Port through the Pyrenees with no views. We were very fortunate to have had views from Orisson onwards. She stopped to take a break and I walked on. 

As I was passing him, a man from Spain asked in Spanish if I was from Estados Unidos and I replied 'si -Georgia'. He asked if I spoke Spanish and my reply 'un poco.' He said there were many Americans on the Camino this year. It is his third time to walk the Camino. The first time he walked from Lourdes, France to Santiago. Santiago is his home. He asked if I was walking to Finisterre and I said no. He took a pic of us together and this is the one I took. I tried to explain there had been a movie made about the Camino which had inspired many Americans to make the walk. He was such a happy man. Later as I stopped to stretch my foot, he stopped to take a pic of my foot. 

We stopped in Tarjados after walking about 2.5 hours (this was our first opportunity since Burgos - it is sort of desolate in this area) for coffee and the best bocadillo (ham and cheese sandwich) we've had. It had mayo on it as well as lettuce and tomato. 

Came upon a man in a cowboy type hat and his wife. They are Mike and Michelle from San Antonio, TX. I didn't say much because Stoney was probably 1/2 mile ahead and I was trying to catch back up. 

I later learned Nick was walking and talking with a man from Newnan, GA, a town about 20 miles from us. He had seen the movie several times at various church activities. His wife had taken a taxi today because of knee problems.  They may be in the same little town tonight. Maybe I will meet them. 

That's our destination up ahead. It's always good to see the stopping point for the night 

We are in a casa rural today. It's like a B&B. We have a lovely bedroom and bath. 

There are 2 other bedrooms on our floor and stairs go up one more level but I have not gone up there. Since we arrived early we sat in the back yard because Samuel, the owner, was still preparing the rooms for today. 

We will have breakfast here in the morning before our walk to Castrojeriz - 12.6 miles down the Camino. 

Tonight we will have a pilgrim's meal at the only place in town (population 100). Stoney calls them mystery meals. 

We have seen a man now for almost a week who changes into blue running shoes in the evening. Tonight we were seated with him and his wife. We had never seen her because she walks at a steady pace and he prefers to stop awhile and think. They are Joanna and Andrew originally from Poland but have lived in Canada for a very long time. We enjoyed our pilgrim meal with them. 

The church in this tiny village. 

We are in for the night.