Hey hey, I hope you are all well! 

My Dad and I had quite the day today (Tuesday)! We walked from Atapuerca to Burgos, a total of 20km!! We’ve been so impressed with our progress this year, since last year we weren’t doing 20km days nearly as successfully.

With that said, boy was it an adventurous day. My Dad has been leaving at 7am, while I leave at 8. Because I walk faster, he gets a head start and then I eventually catch up. This helps us get to the next place earlier in the day and allows us to walk our own paces without pressure. 

So this morning I woke up as my Dad was leaving. I eventually get out the door (late), and a few minutes later realized I forgot my poles. So off I go, jogging back to get them, and catch up. By this time I was 30 minutes behind schedule. So there I am, walking, praying, reflecting, and wondering where the heck my Dad was. It was 10am and we decided that if I wasn’t caught up by then, he’d stop wherever he was and wait for me. The minutes ticked by and still no sight of him. (For reference, the day before I met up with him only 10 minutes after he stopped). By 10:30 I was getting a bit worried. Not only because I didn’t see him yet, but also because I was convinced I was lost. 

The path led to a busy and narrow bridge, which is highly unusual, and I thought I definitely missed a turn. I spent a good 10 minutes checking my apps, Google maps, and other sources, eventually concluding this had to be right. But my lack of trust got the best of me and I took a side road to investigate before crossing the bridge. My further investigation confirmed the bridge was the way to go, but do you think I was going to back track when I’d end up going back in this same direction again? Absolutely not. So, I bushwhacked up a steep embankment to the bridge and was greeted by a ridiculous amount of thorns that seemed to be coming at me from all angles. Eventually I reached the top and had to climb over a metal barrier that was too high for me to step over. So what do I do? Lay on it, on my stomach, and roll over it. With my backpack on. However, I lacked the forethought that my backpack would inevitably pull me down as I rolled. Annnnnd, it did. I fell and caught myself before fully splaying myself on the highway (thank you, Lord), and laughed at the silliness of this entire situation. Oh to be a fly on the wall. 

Eventually I caught up with Dad, now almost 11am. We hustled into town, thinking we were far closer than we actually were. All we wanted was some coffee and food and yet that was not going to come any time soon. In the end, neither of us ate all day until 4:30pm. Not exactly how you want to spend a 20km day of walking, but ya live and ya learn. I was exhausted, which I’m pretty sure had more to do with the lack of food, water and rest stops than it did with the distance. So note to self, eat and drink more when doing physical activity for long periods!! 

Tomorrow will be a shorter day, so we will relax and enjoy. I have developed 2 new blisters (yay me), so I don’t mind a few less kilometres as these heal. Pray for us that there are no more blisters or getting lost! 

We are praying for you! Buen Camino, 

Hannah and Tony