We are in Belorado

Our last night in Santo Domingo was a wild one. First, during our dinner the regular evening sprinkles began. Then the skies opened up and it poured. It was still very warm and humid and very wet. We were eating outside of the cafe at their covered sidewalk tables. This is extremely common here is Spain. Noone worries about the rain. They just carry umbrellas and keep strolling. The kids play and the moms push strollers and buggies with umbrellas. We later we were in our room at the Pension and the thunder and lightening began. One lightening strike was about a block away. I´ve never heard such a loud bang.

It rained during the night but about 11:00 the fiesta began. The band struck up a tune in front of the church a couple of blocks away and they sang in the cafe below our room, cars on the streets, people on the streets shouting and singing. (By the way, Spain won an important soccer match this week which added to the celebration). We were told that this week was a fiesta for San Juan, but it seems to be celebrated sporadically from town to town. We are not sure what it is about, but people seem to take any opportunity to relax, close their shops and have a beer with their friends at the taverns, moms, dads, kids, and dogs. We finally got to sleep about 1:00 and awoke to our adventure in moving today.

Each of us stretched our boundaries today to move on. We got up in Santo Domingo and I took Yvonne to the bus station. Where she made a lot of friends while she waited for the 9:15 bus to Belorado (it came at 9:35 after 3 other busses). You would be suprised what Yvonne can do. She talked an Italian man with limited English into putting her backpack in the luggage compartment of the bus (this happened as both of them struggled with which bus was going to Belorado).

My day was pretty uneventful. The busses are comfortable and air conditioned and very clean. I arrived in Belorado (it is a village of about 2000 people). We had reseverations at one of the Pensions so I went looking for it. I can tell you that a single woman on crutches with a backpack hobbling through town certainly gets noticed. Many people helped me find the Pension and get in the locked door and get rid of my pack for the day. I found a local cafe/bar and had my requisite cafe con leche and pulled out my book to read for the day while I waited for Stanley. It was a quiet day until I decided to find the refugio and wait for him there. Our book said there were 2, I went to one, it was closed. I hobbled around looking for the other one and finally got very tired and my knees hurt, so I went to the central plaza and found a bench in front of the church and sent Stanley mental images of where I was. Just about the time that I´d given him his last 15 minutes to show up, I heard ¨Hey, Chica¨and there he was. We are very happy to be together again and not concerned where the other one is.

I set out to walk to Belorado. It was weird to walk without Yvonne. Not as much fun and I can only talk to myself so long before I get bored. Walked for 7 hours and covered 25K. During the walk I saw Yvonne go by on the bus and waved but she was looking for me on the other side of the road.

This was a day of rolling hills but mostly up hill. Through fields of wheat and barley. There were towns every 2-3K but today seems to be a festival day (I think that most days are) so all of the cafe´s and bars were closed so I could not get a sandwich until late in the day. I saw several churches. Talked to a couple of ladies from Canada and one from Germany all of whom were stopped with blisters and foot problems. Finally arrived in Belorado and found Mom in the square beginning to worry about me. It was sure fun to shout ¨Hey Chica¨across the square and have several ladies turn around (in my dreams).

This being apart on our camino is not what we signed up for so I do not know if we will do this again.

Hope this finds you all well.

No pictures today, no connection for the camera.