Day 16
The Mile: People come into our lives and walk with us a mile, and then because of circumstances they stay a while. They serve a need within the days that move so quickly by and then they are gone beyond our reach, we often wonder why. God only knows the reason that we meet and share a smile, why people come into our lives and walk with us only one single mile.” Unknown. 

We left Logrono and headed out to Najera. It was another 18 mile walk. But we had rested and our friends David, Noel, and Mitchell were back with us. My friend Ellie was walking with us as well. Naverette was the first town we would come to. While walking we went through a beautiful park, with reddish brown squirrels. There was also a lake with swans and some babies.

One of our companions decided to take the bus. And Ellie was having trouble with her feet and told us to go on because she wasn’t sure where she was going to end up. So 4 of us headed out for the rest of the day. 

David’s blisters were nothing compared to a new problem of an Achilles’ tendon acting up. But he was a trooper and kept walking. We climbed and we descended. 
And then we finally made it to Najera. We united back with Mitchell. We walked around, visited with other pilgrims, rested, ate dinner. 

David’s foot was really bothering him. We made a bit of a plan that he and I would start early and then Lindsay, Noel and Mitchell would come a little later most likely catching up. But in the morning we decided that David needed to stay off the Achilles’ tendon and take the bus. It was a tough decision. But with a little help from friends David went on to Santo Domingo to wait for the four of to walk in. 

The Mile: People come into our lives and walk with us a mile, and then because of circumstances they stay a while. They serve a need within the days that move so quickly by and then they are gone beyond our reach, we often wonder why. God only knows the reason that we meet and share a smile, why people come into our lives and walk with us only one single mile.” Unknown. 

Lindsay and I got to spend another day with these friends that we met at the beginning of our Caminos. Though we walked only “a mile” together I believe we will be lifelong friends. There are others that you only get to walk with for a time…you get to share something, enjoy it, savor it, remember it always…and be thankful. That is how I felt this day. 

Day 15

We spent a day of sabbath resting in Logrono. It was nice to relax. Plus it rained that day. And we didn’t get caught out in it. 

I did a little splashing in puddles, sitting in the park, talking with friends. Logrono is a pretty good sized city. It was the capital of Navarra during the 11th and 12th centuries. The cathedral is quite spectacular. We had fun connecting with people. But many of them were only walking a short distance of the Camino so we prepared to say many good byes in the next few days. 

Day 14 Two songs:

“Ain’t nothin’ gonna break-a my stride. Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on movin’.” 

Break My Stride Matthew Wilder 
“I used to think that I could not go on And life was nothing but an awful song But now I know the meaning of true love I’m leaning on the everlasting arms 

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it 

[Chorus:]
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day 

Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly 

See I was on the verge of breaking down Sometimes silence can seem so loud There are miracles in life I must achieve But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it 

I Believe I can Fly by R. Kelly 

The walk from Los Arcos to Logroño was beautiful, long but beautiful. We started at 5 am hoping to beat the heat of the day and because we had 18 miles to walk. We started out with head torches in the darkness looking for the shells and yellow arrows. We walked in quiet until the sun rose. And watched the beauty of God’s creation come alive.

Two of us reached the next town ahead of the others and got an outside table. We got some fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee and waited for our friends. They arrived one by one. The last two arriving decided that because of feet and leg issues they needed to take the bus into Logroño. We all visited a few more minutes and then Sophie, Lindsay and I continued to walk. 

Between Torres Del Río and Viana there were no other villages. So we just had to keep walking. There were some steep climbs but really beautiful views. 
We could see Logroño from at least 10 miles away but it seemed to take forever to get to it. When we reached Viana it seemed to be a ghost town. There was a nice shady area with a fountain which was great because we all needed more water. A couple of men standing nearby talking and laughing but everything was closed up tight. 

We made our way through and up into the heart of the city and passed through an old stone gate and down a street where we turned a corner to find the city alive with locals and pilgrims. Our hearts soared. There was a place to sit and rest, get something to eat and take off our shoes for a bit. 
The last six miles seemed to take forever but we talked and laughed and met up with some other pilgrims. As we were coming into Logroño it looked very industrial and modern with apartment buildings and a modern bridge when suddenly we m a corner and could see the old part of town. We were very glad to arrive. We planned to take a rest day in Logrono which was a great idea. 

Day 13

“Walk away from anyone or anything that takes away from your joy. Life is too short to put up with fools.” Anonymous 
The other day when Lindsay and I walked into Puente la Reina we arrived at our hostel just inside of town. There was a loud conversation going on at the patio bar between two men, friendly but loud (at this point). One man was very drunk offering to buy the Australian man a drink. The drunk man from Sweden proceeded to offer to buy everyone a drink. 

He and his Turkish wife started walking the Camino in Pamplona but he gotten terrible blisters on his feet and had to rest. Since then he had been drunk and his poor wife had been following him around trying to get him to quit drinking and put cream in his feet. He would get belligerent, then apologize. It was so atypical of the Camino. The albergue owner was doing his best to handle the situation. All of us Pilgrims tried talking with him. 
But eventually we had to walk away. He didn’t want help. Nor did his poor wife. 

Lindsay has a bad rash on her leg. We aren’t sure if it heat or an allergic reaction to some plants we have walked through. But we got to Estella yesterday and showered and started the laundry, then we went to find a “farmacia”. There was one across the street from our hostel but it was closed. So Lindsay asked two ladies walking down the street (in Spanish) if they knew when it would open. They told her it should be open but then said there was another one and proceeded to walk us through town to the other pharmacy. The Spanish people are amazing. 

The countryside is beautiful! When we walk through the forests and woods and vineyards I breathe deeply I find great joy. 🙂 I hope you find great joy. And are able to walk away from those things that do not bring you joy. 

Buen Camino!