Day 6 Geese a-laying | Murray Morrison

 “They’re not gonna rook us.” These are the words our beloved Coach uttered after a controversially called Game 2 in the Western Conference Playoffs. You might say the Memphis Pilgrims were rooked the first couple of nights in the albergues with the veteran snorers. Not this time, not last night. Alex and I muttered Fizdale’s famous words yesterday afternoon as we were planning our sleeping schedule for the night. We were definitely not rooked last night. We took a Benadryl each last night and were in bed near asleep at 8:30. When the snorers came into the bunk room at 9, Alex and Murray were dead asleep. We won. For the first time on the trip, we were the snorers. We expect a battle tonight.

Now to today’s hike…

It started off a little rough. We were planning on getting breakfast right outside of Estella at a café because our guide book said there would be one or two. There were zero. And sadly for us the next breakfast spot was not for another 12 kilometers. That’s a solid amount of time before eating. We almost pulled out the emergency nutrition bars in my pack when we finally saw the top of a couple buildings in a small town. Luckily, the only café in town opened at 9, and we arrived at 9:02. Last night, we were planning on trying to get up at 5, so we did not have to walk as much in the afternoon Spanish heat. We ended up sleeping till 6, and if we had gotten up at 5, we would’ve had to wait in this small town an hour for breakfast or walk another 12 kilometers. Neither of which would have sounded great to Alex or me.

The hike today was beautiful with many vineyards and golden wheat fields. Our guide book had us stopping in Los Arcos, but we felt good enough to keep on trekking. We ended up in a small town called Torres del Rio in a nice albergue after a nice 30 kilometers. Our longest hike of the trip.

The Camino is known as being a journey of spiritual revival or growth. During the couple of hikes before today, Alex and I have had some conversations about stuff people don’t always have time to talk about. That is one of my favorite parts about this trip. Just having time to talk to a close friend or to solely ponder on life’s truths and past experiences is something us as humans just don’t do enough.

Till next time.

"A toast to a strong and healthy Camino"- from Irache, Spain
 

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