Thunder rolled across the forest covered hills, the gray sky smelled like rain and the Spanish coo coo clock birds called to us as we walked the last three miles to Los Arcos.

We keep our rain gear immediately ready but I didn’t bother to put on my rain pants thinking, wash and wear.  If they get good and wet, I don’t have to wash them. When you only have one pair of pants, doing laundry takes on a whole new meaning.

Before the Rain

Before the rain, it was a beautiful day for walking.  The sun smiled down on us and a stiff breeze kept us cool and moved us right along.  If only this lovely cool weather would stay with us for as long as possible.  I love it!  Who wants to walk and walk – and walk – in the hot sun?!  Not me!

We Embrace the Green

Left, right, left, right, one foot in front of the other.  We walk. We embrace the green that surrounds us while we can, I suspect it won’t last too much longer.  The wind blows across the green blades like a wave in the ocean.  I stop to take it in. It’s nearly perfect.

And, the yellow fields.  There are no words to describe the depth of the color in contrast to the pillows of clouds.  It takes our breath away.

Day 7

April 18, 2015

Today we walked 12 miles

Highest elevation: 2,460′

The Initial Onset

Sunday, our 8th day of walking.  We survived the first week – kind of.  We are still here, we are still walking.  It’s been eight of the most physically challenging days of my life. I will say though that this morning was the first day I stepped out of bed and didn’t cringe with pain.  Don’t get me wrong, I still ache, but I think we’re walking our way out of the initial onslaught of pain.  Now, if my feet would just catch up with the rest of me.

My backpack and I are once again on speaking terms, although neither of us is happy with the weight of the shoes we now carry, but mutually agree the added weight is a necessary evil. I look forward to the day (will it come?) when my pack and I become one.  Hard to imagine.

Bathtub in Viana

We arrived in Viana by 2:00 today and it felt good to be done walking so early in the afternoon.  It felt even better when we discovered our hotel room had a bathtub!  I drained and refilled the tub with HOT water 3 times, to the point I almost couldn’t stand to be in the water, but what simple joy – a bath.

The landscape that surrounds us each day is beginning to change, soft flowing fields of green are replaced by olive orchards, vineyards and shrubs.

The wildflowers are blooming and the bursts of colors are wonderful to see.

The Inevitable Question

Today, we asked ourselves the inevitable question – yet again – why are we doing this? Neither one of us had an answer. It could well be that we may never have an answer.  What we do know is that this is where we are supposed to be at this moment in time. We also know that if we decide to stop, we’ll stop, but it would have to be mutually agreeable, without hesitation and without regret.  For now though… tomorrow we walk.

Day 8

April 19, 2015

Today we walked 12 miles

Highest elevation:  1,900′