Day 69 - Cacabellos a Pereje- September 22 - On the Camino 31 days

Day 69 - Cacabellos a Pereje- September 22 -  On the Camino 31 days

Well it's been another day of surprises. Yesterday my plan was to take a rest day. I was going to walk to Villafranca (about five miles,) stay in what looked like a nice albergue and rest my knee and tend to my left big toe nail that has been very cranky and distorted itself out of shape since the nasty downhill after the Cruz de Ferro. That was my plan. 

So I slept in until 7 and left the albergue about 8:30am. I only had five miles to go and my guidebook said the albergue opened at 11:30am. So I walked about a mile to Pieros where we had dinner last night and got some yogurt, tostado and café for a relaxed breakfast. Then I started walking again Tito and his burro were right near me. I remembered I was going to take the alternate route through the vineyards. I had to backtrack a little but I got on the right track. It was going to add some extra mileage, but it was worth it the regular route goes on the highway and is not only dangerous, it's tedious. 

The track through the vineyard was lovely. I only saw four other peregrinas the whole morning, two on bikes and two walking. The houses in this whole region are very nice. I don't think the wine business is suffering from the economy. It might even be better for business. Anyway it went through a sweet little pueblo named Valtuille.

During this hike I got teary eyed thinking about how lucky I was to be there. 

I saw Tito and his owner over and over again today.

One time today he was way ahead of his owner and I walked by and was talking to him, then a car was coming so I kept talking and he followed me over to the side of the road. I don't know whether he was helping me get to the side of the road or if I was helping him, but the car passed by and we were unscathed. lol

This track dropped me in Villafranca by the municipal albergue. What I didn't know at the time was that the albergue I was looking for was two or more kilometers (about a mile and a half) on the other side of town. At this point my big toe his kicking and screaming. As I go through town I stop at the market and get some groceries because my roommate from last night and I agreed we'd both go to this albergue and make pasta for dinner. It's Sunday in Spain so your lucky if the market is open at all. If they are open they usually close by noon. So I decided to get the stuff and we could split the cost later. I got a red pepper, two tomatoes, a sweet onion, mushrooms, tomato sauce, yogurt for breakfast, bread, cheese for lunch, pasta, and a piece of apple tart. Oh and a liter and a half of water.  Yummy I thought as I started lugging this stuff toward the albergue. 

I pass my roommate and she told me the albergue doesn't open until one. I thought that only slightly odd because the guide books quite often have incorrect or outdated information. She said she left her bag at the door and there weren't any bags there. It was about 11:30am at this time and I'm thinking this will kind of eat up my plans for resting my knee.  So I went and left my bag and groceries. I was number two. Some other pilgrims came and I went to get something cold to drink and use the facilities at the bar. 

I get back to the albergue about noon and sit and read. Suddenly I hear this one pilgrim saying that there are no beds left, they are all reserved. There's no sign on the door to this affect. Normally when albergues are full they post a note on the door. So I think maybe this guy got it wrong. So my room mate comes up and we use her phone to call. Oh did I mention that today it's been three days since I had any phone service. I was walking at the time I had this brilliant recollection, but decided to deal with it when I got into the albergue and sat down. 

Back to the story line. We call and sure enough there are no beds for tonight. The next albergue going forward is a municipal albergue in Pereje about three miles away or going backward there is the municipal albergue in Villafranca is about a mile and a half away. Pilgrims do not like to go backward, but I was sure my toe would cooperate. I chose to go forward. I left most of the groceries because I couldn't carry them three miles and I didn't think the albergue had a kitchen. I did bring the piece of apple tart, the cheese and the bread. I have peanut or almond butter, and olives. I figured with those five things I wouldn't starve. 

I kept repeating my mantra, "I'll get where I'm supposed to be when I' supposed to be there. Today, since they hadn't posted a sign so I could have walked on earlier, I kept saying that today mus be about the second part, "when I'm supposed to be there."

The albergue in Pereje is just fine, it has regular beds, no bumping my head, the is lovely,  I got my laundry washed, and the bar had a fantastic ensalada mixta for only 3.5€. I've tended to my toe, iced my knee, and all is well in Nancy's world.