The Roaming Rountrees

We’ve walked 407 km (253 miles) so far, only 370 (230) to go…

Introduction to BABs 2.0 and 3.0.

Day 29 – Oct 4, 2022 – Boadillo del Camino to Villarmentero (14.95 km / 9.29 miles)

Unexpectedly, today flew by.  We somehow managed to make it to our albergue by noon. 

Of course, it helped we started out before dawn. It was pitch black outside. The skies were clear which gave us spectacular views of the stars against the black sky. Thank goodness for our headlamps lighting our way making it easy to get miles behind is before the sun woke up. 

The guidebook (app) notated an alternate route which boasted more shade and a walk along the river, but it was a half a kilometer longer than the traditional route. We were making great time, feet were feeling good, and it was getting hotter, so we opted for the alternative route. 

We followed a “river” which was actually a man made canal for only a short time, and as for shade…all lies!  There were at most a couple shady patches. Luckily we were able to check into our albergue early and enjoy lounging in hammocks for several hours before the heat of the day kicked in. 

The property had a hippie vibe with eclectic art, and a chill personality.  There were barn animals as well, and a crazy guard goose. No shit, literally a guard goose. He was too funny. There was a local man so scared of him, he stood on a bench and threw sticks when the goose would come near him. We think the goose was attracted to his cigarette smoke because the goose would hold its head up as high as it could seeming to sniff the air near the smoking area. It was hilarious. In the video you can see the guy at the start on the left while a woman tried to distract the goose with a broom and he attacked it. 

Day 30 – Oct 5, 2022 – Villarmentero to Carrión de Los Condes (9.78 km / 6.7 miles)

We had a short day of walking next to a highway today. Luckily it was a dedicated path that paralleled the road rather than forcing us to walk on the road itself. We hate walking on paved roads. It’s absolute murder on the feet!

We chose the shorter day so we could stay in a converted monastery for the night. The room was beautiful and we got to take a tour of the monastery itself as part of our room rate. 

The monastery of San Zoilo was appreciated by the ancient pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, mostly due to its hospital.  It was founded in the 10th Century under the name of San Juan Bautista, renovated during the 11th Century. It’s name changed to San Zoilo. Originally it was ascribed to the Benedictine order but over the centuries it has belonged to Clunians and Jesuits, and not many years ago it was a Minor Seminary.

Since we were in a hotel tonight we needed to find a place for dinner.  We could have splurged and enjoyed and lovely expensive meal at our hotel restaurant, but chose to venture out. After passing many cafés and bars serving bocadillos (sandwiches), we stumbled on a very busy restaurant serving a pilgrim meal. For 14€ per person we got pasta, chicken and fries, water, dessert and (of course) bread. It was a nice meal and the carbs should help fuel our long hike tomorrow. 

Day 31 – Oct 6, 2022 – Carrión de Los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza (17.06 km / 10.6 miles)

Today’s hike was a long, uneventful walk through a lot of nothingness. Our destination was 17 km away and there were no towns or services along the way. No food, no water, no lodging, and most importantly, no toilets. So we packed up the groceries we had purchased yesterday and set out again before the sun came up.

It was surprisingly windy all day today. Luckily, it was at our backs pushing us along, but we repeatedly played the game of taking off layers as our body heat rose just to put them back on when the sun would go behind a cloud and the wind would chill us again. This played out multiple times during the day. 

Day 25 – Sept 30, 2022 – Burgos to Rabé de las Calzadas (13.04 km / 8.1 miles)

Today was a good day. We arrived at our destination early and were told at dinner the nuns of the convent in town invited all pilgrims to their nightly prayers at 8p. 

The nuns of Centro La Milagrosa (Hijas de la Caridad) convene nightly to thank God for the day and to bless the pilgrims walking the Camino. It was beautiful. They gave us a medal to protect, bless and keep us safe on our journey. 

One thing we’ve noticed is the age of the priests and nuns in the churches. We’ve seen very few under 70 years old. Where are all the young people who will replace these people when they eventually retire or pass away?  We have found ourselves pondering the status of the church and what it is doing to stay relevant with today’s youth.  

Something to think about. 

Day 26 – Oct 1, 2022 – Rabé de las Calzadas to Arroyo San Bol (13.53 km / 8.41 miles)

We officially entered the Meseta today. We have now walked over 300 km (193 miles). 

The meseta is the vast flat plains in central Spain. Beginning just after Burgos, and ending in Astorga, the Camino runs through the northern point of the meseta for about 220km. Many pilgrims skip this section and bus through, but not the Rountrees. We will walk all the crazy kilometers. 

As we walk past endless fields, I try to imagine the landscape in full bloom with amber waves of grain and tall proud vibrant sunflowers.  Unfortunately, this time of year, there are only sad drooping sunflowers, harvested wheat, and fields prepped for the upcoming winter. Luckily I have a good imagination. 

Today’s 13 kilometers flew by and we both felt strong when we rolled into our reserved albergue at 12:30. We could have easily kept going, but we have our next few days’ albuergues booked and rescheduling one causes a domino effect of changes we didn’t want to deal with, so we stuck with it. 

We slept in a very small (10 bed) municipal albergue in the middle of nowhere. This was the first time we’d encountered a location with no cell service, no WiFi, no bar, or café available to us.  We were literally off the grid.  Thank goodness we had indoor plumbing though!

Since we couldn’t officially check into our albergue until 2pm and with no other food available nearby, we sat on a granite bench by a babbling brook and emptied our packs of every scrap of food we had on us for our lunch. It wasn’t gourmet, by any means, but it kept us going us until dinner.  The sun and breeze were warm and we laid on a bench and took a nap until the albergue opened at 2pm. 

After the hosts served us an amazing dinner of paella and salad they left us to our own devices. We learned three of the people in our group were actors in Barcelona and performed in a comedy there. They regailed us with an act from their play which was quite funny. 

Then (at 9p) a knock came at the door. When we opened it, there stood two very tired injured pilgrims looking for a bed. We had a couple no shows so there were beds open. We couldn’t turn them away. We called the albergue hosts to get permission to let them stay. They agreed and we took down their passport information and took their 10€ each for the beds and left everything on the check-in desk for the hosts. They were very grateful for the beds. 

Day 27 – Oct 2, 2022 – Arroyo San Bol to Castrojeriz (13.77 km / 8.56 miles)

The walk today was a fairly easy one.  There were no major hills to climb, the trail was mostly dirt/rock until a sucky stretch of road walking for the last few kilometers near the end. I actually led the way some of the day today. It helps that Rex is mildly injured, but I am still excited about my increased speed. I am usually always behind him and by a lot. 

We had been experiencing cooler weather lately, but it did start heating up again today.  Boy we miss the cooler weather already. It is much easier to walk when it’s not so hot. Even though it was only the high 70’s today the sun is pretty intense here when there is no shade to protect us. 

We stayed at an albergue called Albergue Rosalía tonight. We picked it in part for the name which is my mom’s name in Spanish. It was the perfect choice. We didn’t have to deal with bunk beds and the pilgrim meal was fantastic!  We had homemade bread and hummus, salad with delicious tomatoes grown in the owner’s garden, paella, roasted chicken and something called “chocolate heaven” for desert. We walked away from the table fully fueled for a long hiking day tomorrow. Just what we needed!

Day 21 – Sept 26, 2022 – Agés to Casteñeras (17 km / 10.56 miles) in 17 minutes 

We are continuing our path forward today, just not by foot power. Today we took a taxi to our next lodging in order to maximize rest for Rex.  The road (again N120) followed the Camino path the majority of the way. 

We arrived to the hotel early and luckily our room was ready.  We took advantage of a semi-stable WiFi connection and made good use of this down day. Rex made an appointment with a foot doctor who fit him in on short notice. We brought a pack filled with our dirty laundry to find a lavandería and an ATM while we’re in town after the appointment to make use of the services available in the larger city. 

The doctor was very nice and spoke enough broken English to compliment our broken Spanish for us to describe what was going on. After asking questions and examining his foot, she said it was most likely plantar fasciitis or possibly a heel spur. I had done the painful but effective remedy for plantar fasciitis on him the other night and he didn’t cry, so I think it may be a heel spur. The doctor suggested new shoe inserts and started measuring his feet so she could make him custom inserts. She told us to come back tomorrow at 5pm to pick them up. What?  She’s doing this overnight?  Indeed she is. On top of that, she is only charging us 90€ for the consultation and the inserts.  

We have a couple of rest days planned in Burgos and this will give him time to recover and test out his new inserts exploring the town before we have to load our packs up again. Hopefully this takes care of the heel pain and this will all be behind us. 

Day 22 – Sept 27, 2022 – Casteñeras to Burgos (7 km) REST 

Happy Birthday to me!  Today we walked with fully loaded packs for 7 km into Burgos. It was an easy day walking a flat trail along the river to our AC Marriott hotel where we will rest for the next two nights. 

We have been roaming around finding drinks and pintxos today for lunch. We need to find a department store (Walmart doesn’t exist here). We need some base layers for the cold. Mornings have started out in the mid-30’s here already. I do hope it’s a fluke, but we need to be prepared. 

Of course we plan to find pizza for my birthday dinner.  We are also on the hunt for Tarta De Santiago as my birthday cake. I first heard of this when I was first researching the Camino.  I have been excited to try one and have been holding out until my birthday to make it extra special, but for some reason we couldn’t find it in Burgos anywhere!  We were told it would be more prevalent as we get to Galicia or closer to Santiago, so it looks like I may have to wait until then. I urge you to make the yummy dessert yourself and enjoy it for me.  Here’s the recipe.

While having our pizza dinner in this large city, our new friend Blanca entered the restaurant with her new friend Zaina from Brazil. Small world!  We ate together then set out to the only restaurant in the city I learned had Tarta de Santiago on their menu. When we got there, the restaurant was closed!  So we gave up our search and settled on going to a chocolateria Zaina wanted to go to. To my surprise, there in the case was one solitary slice of the cake I had been searching for all day! I made my excited selection and upon hearing my story, the young man behind the counter plated the slice and said no charge since it was my birthday.  More Camino magic!

Day 23 – Sept 28, 2022 – Burgos (Rest)

We rested today then attended pilgrim mass at the Cathedral. It was a beautiful mass recited in Spanish with a blessing to the pilgrims at the end. 

Day 24 – Sept 29, 2022 – Burgos (Rest)

It was a beautiful rainy day. Perfect weather to hunker down and rest. We had to move from our hotel to a private room in a hostal down the street, but that wasn’t a big deal. Then we had to pick up the second revision of Rex’s inserts. The arches were too high in the original set. Hopefully this revision will take care of it and his pain will be relieved. We will hit to trail again tomorrow.