Another long day but... Distance 28.9 (17.9mi / 18.1 ) to go - 586.7 km

My legs were like jello all day but I spent extra time preparing my feet, so I was virtually pain-free!

Apparently another cost cutting idea in the hotel industry is that rooms no longer have clocks! A wake up call might be possible but I think most people use their phone as an alarm now.

I woke up this morning at 6:15, but took the time to protect and cushion my corns. I had purchased what I call toe donuts in a farmacia but had not used them yesterday as I found that they are non-adhesive so I have no way to hold it in place while I pull my sock on.

This morning I figured it out. I held it in place with duct tape! Problem solved!

The early miles today were spent walking through the suburbs of Logrono. I thought that would make it easy to find a nice place to stop for breakfast but it wasn't. The route followed a long path, reminiscent of the Green Belt in Boise, devoid of rest stops. In fact, by the time I found a place to grab a ham and cheese sandwich (I'm growing fond of these Spanish dishes) it was 9:40 a.m. and I had already logged  over 7 miles. I then took shorter, but still important, breaks to rest my feet and legs virtually every chance I had.

(Please forgive me while I scream. I just wrote for an hour and, when I went to look for a note, I came back and found I had lost everything beyond this point! I hate computers!)

I stopped in Navarrete long enough to go into, and let my eyes adjust to the subdued lighting in, the Church of Assumption. I have seen numerous churches with incredible adornment throughout the sanctuary but this three story sanctuary was among the most ornate anywhere.

Inside the lighting was so low it would have been impossible to capture in any detail, but a simple light source would have been sufficient to ignite the gold brilliance of this sanctuary. I was able to get a picture of a somewhat more illuminated "Marys Alter", to the left. As incredible as this is it doesn't come close to what could only be described as dripping gold from a million corners.

I then walked on another 5.7 km to Ventosa, where I stopped for lunch. I believe it was between these two towns that I saw a unique fence that started its life as an ordinary wire fence. For quite some time (apparently) people had been coming along and weaving two sticks between the wires, forming a cross. The fence now is comprised of hundreds of crosses, some with writing or initials, most not, for over a hundred yards.

The pictures don't do it justice.

 As I sat at the outdoor table, Tanner walked up with an Italian with whom he had been walking. He is the young man that picked me out of a crowd a couple of days ago because someone told him he "had to meet" Frog. I took his picture this time, explaining that Brianna would be starting at University of Idaho in Moscow, and she could watch for him.

He explained that Moscow is a "black hole", where, if you return there, you will never leave. I told him I had viewed Beloit in the same light 50 years ago and never regretted going out of my comfort zone to explore the "world".

Another lady then got up and, as she walked by Tanner said, "Go Cougs". It turned out that Michelle's husband, and most recently, her two daughters had graduated from Washington State, just 8 miles down the road from the "black hole"! A round of introductions ensued.

Michelle, now from the Seattle area, Tanner, formerly from Moscow, Suzanne from Denmark, the 81 year old Japanese man whose name I can not remember, the Italian gent traveling with Tanner (who by the way confirmed that the Italian and Spanish words for Frog are both Rana), and John and Bev from the U.K.

We had all started our day from over 13 miles back in Logrono and Suzanne had decided to stay in Ventosa. I had planned to do likewise but it had become obvious that it wasn't going to rain and it was only 1 p.m, so I elected to walk on with John and Bev.

We walked for over an hour, which was enough time to find out that John had been given a Harley by his "mate" but preferred to ride his 350 c.c. scooter because of heavy and unruly traffic everywhere in the U.K.

He also told me, when Bev fell slightly behind, that he had recently had three emergency brain surgeries. After the third his doctor gave him some movies to watch during recovery. Among them was "The Way", and he credits that movie for saving his life. He became determined to go through recovery and rehab so he could walk his Camino with his wife by his side. She had a government job and had been given a sabbatical to walk with her husband!

We parted when I stopped to rest around Pasarela. I walked the rest of the way into Najera alone and found an albergue. I had two criteria - I needed laundry service and I needed WiFi (which humorously, because most of the Romance languages pronounce the "I" as an "e", is uniformly referred to as "weefee"). Tomorrow I will add a third criteria, heat. It has been slightly chilly at night and, unlike other places I've stayed, this place has two electric heaters that go next to the first two bunks to complain that it is cold. I was number three!

For dinner tonight, Jose, the attendant at the albergue, offered to take me to the best local cooking establishment. Because I didn't know how to say, "that's all fine and dandy but I only eat ham and cheese" in Spanish, I agreed. We walked about 4 or 5 blocks to El Cultubar, where a young lady, that Jose is probably flirting with, cooked me a five course meal. The main course consisted of an unidentified meat served with favs beans and a nice Chianti.

Tomorrow should be a much shorter day, but it looks like the rain may finally catch up to us.

Buen Camino, and keep your left elbow bent my dear.