Boadilla de Camino to Carrion de Los Condes Distance 24.6 km (15.3 mi /16.1) to go 407.9 km

After a frustrating evening (weak Wifi wouldn't allow pictures to download and most inconvenient electric outlet placement yet!) I was sore and tired this morning. To make matters somewhat worse I was in a room of six beds and the other five (all men) were apparently traveling together. An alarm went off and they all got up and began talking loudly. They even turned the light on (a no-no in the albergues in the early morning hours)!

So I got up, already half packed, gathered a few odds and ends, carried my pack downstairs where I put my shoes on, then turned the door knob. Locked! 

The sign showed a pilgrim silhouette with an arrow pointing to the right, where I found a door labeled Salida Emergencia. I found no way to unlock the main door (Spain's fire codes apparently have not found an issue with keyed locks that don't open without a key!) so I twisted the deadbolt and opened door number dos. It opened and I stepped outside.

Because of my dead battery situation I had turned my phone off over night, so I took the opportunity to crank it up once I stood in the cool morning mist. It had rained hard overnight and everything was wet, with barely perceptible clouds indicating unsettled conditions for today. I glanced at my phone and was surprised to see 5:58! I wonder if my roommates were the same guys that took over the common area singing songs at the top of their ample, unfiltered, untrained voices. They had Kareokie on their phone and, although entertaining, were not on key more than 5% of the time.

This morning's walk followed a very large canal that, although useful now for irrigation, was historically the favorite form of transportation in the area.

It was obvious that last nights rain was not localized, judging solely from the color of the canal.

The early morning was a solo stroll, accompanied only by a chorus of frogs hiding in the high grass along the edge of the road. Unfortunately, el ranas no habla Ingles, so I could not reply.

After a quick stop for a coffee Americana I walked for about 5 km with Liz from Maine. We had a nice chat about Girl Scouts, of all things!

The next town provided a break and, when Liz found something appealing on the menu, she decided to stay long enough to upload breakfast. I continued on my way where I caught up with Hans from Australia. Turns out he has spent considerable time in Africa and he was able to assure me that Alicia and I will not be disappointed when we travel there this fall (their spring). When I decided to stop for another break, Hans continued on. I walked, again solo, to the next little town, where I again stopped to take a break. Does anyone notice a trend here?

Since walking 21 miles yesterday my legs have felt weak all morning. The feet are more sore than blistered (feeling almost bruised). The legs feel heavy and, eventually, my hip began to bother me again.

I found a nice little cafe, and inside found Jeremy and Pauline, who graciously asked me to join them. We had a most pleasant chat, then it was time to hit the trail again. I had 6 km to go and was anxious for an early end to today's effort.

The rain had started and stopped several times and, despite wanting not to overreact, I found myself changing into and out of my raincoat several times. After the final break I got some of my pace back. However, when I finally rolled into Carrion de Los Condes, there was no thought whatsoever to going "just one more town". I was done! Pauline had asked if I had read about "the monastery" in Carrion (I had not) but when the sign at the edge of town listed it as "albergue y pension, hotel"I quickly decided that an individual room with shower was exactly what the doctor would have ordered, had I asked. So, instead of paying 7 Euro (about $8) to sleep with a dozen of my closest friends I will be spending the night with no one for 25 Euro (about $27). Main drawback - no Wifi!

Solution - go down the street and order lunch at the restaurant which DOES have good Wifi. And that is exactly what I am doing now.

Some more sights from the Camino:

The kilometer reading is "as the car drives"

The view out the window of my hotel room in the monastery. I will research and find just how old it is. 

Funny thing was, when checking in and being shown my room, the host was very specific in stating "here is the shower. The water stays in the shower, here. (Pointing) no water here (pointing to the floor of the bathroom)." Maybe the people from Burgos (room 105) are going ahead of me, warning people of impending doom!

They did call the front desk (back in Burgos) and request "more towels".

Keep your left elbow bent my dear wife, I'm thinking of you too! Love ya!