Day 13 Santervás de Campos

Once in a while a nice surprise comes along. Life is that way, and the Camino is especially so. Tonight we are sleeping in the (former) home of Ponce de Leon. He "discovered" Florida 500 years ago, and this building was once his private residence. It has recently been turned into a museum in his honor. As part of the renovation, a few upstairs rooms were set up for pilgrim accommodation. Pretty cool.

Have I ever written about blisters on the blog? If not, I should have. They are a constant threat to a successful Camino. We've only rarely been afflicted, but seen some world-class cases on others. I've always said they are the result of three factors: friction, moisture, and heat. That's still true, and I'll add a fourth, abuse from previous days activities.

There was no reason the toe next to my pinky should get a big blister in the last 500 meters of today's stage. It was a short day, on dirt track, with two long breaks. But yesterday's carelessness came back to bite me. What carelessness? We stopped by the restaurant in Villalón as soon as we got into town. We did not change our shoes, but instead sat through a wonderful one hour, three course "menu del dia" with hot boots and moist socks. Big mistake.

Damage done. Lesson learned. "Dr. Ruth" has done her magic, and we'll hope for a quick healing.

Today's walk should be considered on of the most boring of all Caminoland. But we both commented how glorious it felt. I'm really not sure why. A few factors such as clear blue sky, a few extra minutes of sleep this morning, the mud has nearly disappeared, a shorter distance, and absolute peacefulness. We did not see another pedestrian or vehicle at any point while on the farm roads of this stage, surrounded by wheat fields to the horizon (or at least to the mountains just visible to the north). Here are a few pictures.

 Leaving Villadón

 So nice to see shadows

Grape Hyacinth

"You are the Camino"

It's amazing to be on a Camino where nearly every footprint can be identified. Salvo or Juan Carlos. Probably.

Annie. Definitely.

Sunny takes a break with. He's always in a good mood.

The clay is already cracking, bit the crops will drawing on the moisture for weeks to come.

Juan Prince de Leon, the discoverer of Florida and the first governor of Pueta Rico. And us on a break, I can't figure out why pictures end up at the bottom of a post!