You can walk on the Camino talking to others.  You can walk while hearing lectures or having books read to you.  You can walk while listening to music.  Or you can just walk by yourself daydreaming.  Today was a day for daydreaming.

The road from Sahagún, heading to El Burgo Ranera, led me through city streets before alighting on to more sendas.  I was happy about that.  With sendas, you can put your walking into cruise control.

I found myself walking fast this morning, at a three-mile-an-hour clip, much faster than the first week. What others have said is true:  the more you walk, the stronger at walking you become.

Ermita de Nuestra Senora near Berchianos

Nothing much to report today.  I met a couple from the UK, who were walking together the whole way, from St. Jean to Santiago.  I stopped into an Ermita de Nuestra Senora near Berchianos del Camino Real, took some pictures, and got my credencial stamped.  I arrived at El Burgo Ranera at 12:30 p.m., just as I had promised Lee.  We had lunch and settled in.  Lee went out for a walk in this small, sleeping town.  I caught up on some reading and writing.

In my walking today, I had hatched a new plan.  We were scheduled for two more, short, walking days to León.  I changed our reservations.  We would skip the next stop and go straight to León the next day.   It was just a matter of trading two short walking days for one very long day, and I felt up to it.  It would allow us spend two nights in León, including one full day, to give the city the attention it deserved.

It was foggy the next morning when I set out for my long walk and stayed that way for a long while.  It was cool as well, and that was a blessing.   I learned that Washington, DC , our home town, was having a heat wave with temperatures approaching 100 degrees.  Our days in Spain generally started in the high 50s and ended in the low 70s.

Noonday Market in Mansilla de las Mulas

I stopped for lunch at Mansilla de las Mulas, where we previously were going to spend the night.  I also stopped in the church there to get my credencial stamped.  After lunch, I found the walk slow going.  I was feeling the effects of the extended day.  I met a young woman from Germany and walked with her for a while,  before she found her albergue for that night.  Eventually, I got a second wind and made good time the rest of the way.

An unexpected companion at a pilgrim rest stop and fountain in Arcahueja

Celebrating with dinner in the Old City of Leon

Lee and I had arranged to meet up in Arcahúeja, the last small town before you begin to encounter the busy traffic and highways leading into the city center.  Those last few miles of walking would have been both unpleasant and somewhat dangerous, and upon advice of my guidebook, I was glad to forego them.  Even driving in was harrowing, as road construction had us re-routed several times.

We found our hotel and, after a short rest, walked into the “old city” and the area around León’s storied cathedral.  There, we ate dinner and celebrated the completion of this “leg” of the Camino journey.

Lee and I will return home in two days.  I have not yet made plans to return to the Camino to walk this final stretch, from León to Santiago.  It will likely be in 2019.  Until then, I am suspending this blog.  Buen Camino!