Valcarce Truck Stops Are Not So Bad

Today we are deep into the wine country. It is so exciting to walk through towns and see the many trucks and tractors with the trailers full of harvested grapes. We walked with Chris and her friend Susan for a while just marveling at the feeling of being able to witness what only happens once a year.  Sort of like Christmas.

We found ourselves walking a lot of pavement today, having missed the turnoff for a more scenic route through some mountainous terrain.  As we had turned around to go to that route, John said he saw a driver motioning emphatically for him not to go that way, so we heeded the warning.  Some people later that day told us that we had missed a spectacular walk but we tend to figure things happen for a reason and this helps us stave off any disappointment.  Who knows what might have befallen us?

Pavement is hard walking. That combined with cars whizzing by at a high KPH. Hard on the body and hard on the psyche.  John's shin started bothering him and since we have seen some friends taken out or delayed on the Camino from shin splints we didn't want to take any chances.  We would probably stop at the next town.

We walked with an affable American from Washington state for a while who we had been seeing on and off during the day, trading Camino stories and making our walking just a little easier. When John said finally, "Well I am John and this is my wife Cayce", he exclaimed, "You have got to be kidding me!"  I thought, ok has our reputation preceded us or something?  Then laughingly he told is his name was John Casey.  Another Camino moment for sure.

The Camino crossed the highway at a busy truck stop where we decided to stop, remove the shoes, massage the feet and enjoy an afternoon cervesa. We noticed they had a small veggie and fruit stand and a pretty well equipped grocery with everything from the typical cured cheeses and meats, olives and pates, souvineers of all sorts and anything else you might want.  There was also a hotel and restaurant and a busy cafe serving everything from coffees to beers and sandwiches. Lots of local flavor here. Not knowing how far the next village might be, we decided to check prices.

45 euro for a room. How easy is that? It was clean, big had great wifi and quiet!  Our dinner in the restaurant was really good and we took away some minced pork for sandwiches tomorrow.  Sometimes you have to take your good fortune where you find it.