Villafranca del Bierzo to Herrerias. Distance 20.7 km (12.8 mi / 13.3)to go 164.5 km

When I woke up this morning it was raining lightly. It was tempting, knowing what I did about the weather outside, to put my raincoat on before I even stepped outside. But I have a full grown faith in Betty as a protector so I headed out across the plaza sans rain gear. About a block later the rain all but quit as I hobbled (my hip has been killing me) past one poncho laden pilgrim after another.

I soon caught up to Blaine and Betty (B&B, or as Blaine described them, Los Tortugas) from Austin, Texas. My first question of Blaine was, of course, "Are you weird?" 

Note: If you don't get the reference, Google "Keep Austin Weird".

We walked together for awhile. Blaine is a retired 56 year old design engineer (who noted the design of the unique building back in Ponferrada) who, apparently begrudgingly, was hiking the Camino with his very quiet wife. In the course of conversation I explained to Blaine about my weather protector, to which he retorted, "I guess we need to stay within a kilometer of this guy Betty to avoid the rain."

I told him of my P48 trip in '16 (frogP48.blogspot.com) and mentioned the Alaska trip (frogsAK49.blogspot.com) and invited him to follow me if they wished. After a bit he added that he had to slow down because of a calf injury, so we parted ways with the usual "Buen Camino".

It wasn't until he said this that I noticed my hip pain and its accompanying limp had all but disappeared. My pace had quickened and I was feeling pretty good for the first time in two or three days!

I stopped for breakfast in the next little village at a cafe that had a unique design feature that I will have to discuss with my bride to see if we can do something similar.

These coins were not fastened to the stone. They were all precariously perched on the slimmest of ledges.

As I finished my breakfast, in walked B&B, dripping water from their ponchos. Blaine said simply, "I see what you mean about the weather" as he noted I was still dry.

It seems that it was only a short distance later that I saw a sign that referenced "Herrieras 7.5 km". It was only about 10 a.m. and a little quick math had me second guessing my strategy. The guide book had called for a 28.9 km (18 mile) day with a climb of 730 vertical meters (2400 feet). I thought that sounded a little excessive so Alicia found a nice little place at 20 km, and right at the base of the major portion of the climb.

The trail followed a highway pretty much all morning long, taking only brief excursions into small hamlets to allow for pilgrim services. At one point I saw this sign indicating I was near the fork in the road as noted in the guide book.:

Beyond this point we seemed to be on a spur road that, A) Wound its way through one village after another, seemingly non-stop and, B) seemed to ignore pleas my body was making to honor the 7.5 km expectation made earlier in the morning.

By the time I reached the Herrieras sign post I was elated that I had allowed myself to "chicken out", being more than happy to seek out the Casa do Ferreiro - La Frugua and call it a day. I must be getting soft in my old age!

My accommodation for tonight, with a glass enclosed stairwell.

The walk today, despite following the highway most of the day, was beautiful, lined with trees and following Rio Valcarce for countless kilometers. Fields with cows and sheep, hillsides of green in endless shades (as a famous frog once said, "It's not easy being green", no doubt because of multiple hues)!

After lounging around this afternoon, seeing clear skies above, I've had time to reassess and... I'm still satisfied with our decision to hold up here for today.

I don't know if I am more concerned about hiking over the top of this mountain or having a sudden gust of wind blow that semi off the bridge!

Tomorrow will be arguably the most difficult climb of the Camino, rivaled only by the Pyranees for its steep and constant slope. At the top I will cross into the autonomous Province of Galicia which occupies the entire northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. At its heart, Santiago de Compostela, the capital and terminus of the physical Camino de Santiago!

Bonus materials:

Spanish artwork is everywhere

Grandpa and Grandma stand guard over the public playground and local kids

Albergue art

People add thoughtful signs anywhere

Guardian of the dream tree, where people are invited to write out and store their dreams

How many languages can you identify, without Google?

Keep your left elbow bent dear. Sarrai is just down the road a couple days!