Hesitation...

I found myself slow to get going this morning and I didn't know why. I was fumbling around from when I got up at 6:30 until I finally left the hotel at 8:30am. I realized that I am almost half way through my trip; actually past half after my ride today and begun to wonder if that had something to do with it. I rode by myself all day today but I slowed down when I started chatting with a young woman, Caroline from Ireland. We started talking about the Camino and what it meant and she also commented about the halfway point and how she was already worrying about re-entry back into her life back home. Then she said something profound, but she said it should be anonymous so:

"I don't want the Camino to end before I understand what's happening to me"
Irish Pilgrim on the Camino

Today was long. It's always so nice in the mornings when you are fresh and the weather is nice, a bit cool. I pass hundred of Pilgrims who started earlier than me then there is this gap with few Pilgrims and then I catch up to the next group who started out from the next town and are midway through their day. I came into Sehgun' a larger town about lunch time and stopped in front on the municipal Albergue. There was a big extended family group sitting on the steps and they offered me potato chips that had just been given to them.They invited me to go have lunch with them in the town square where we had a nice time sharing what we had bought on the way to the square, chicken, chorizo. Manchego cheese and we bought a bottle of wine to share. It was really sweet and another example of how things just happen on the Camino. Turns out a few of them were from San Francisco and they were doing Camino with their grandmother who is turning 79 and has done the Camino 8 times before. Wow.

It was a really long afternoon. Warm and probably passed 5 Pilgrims in 12 miles. I really wanted to stop earlier, but the towns were few and far between with nothing but seedy looking Albergue so I went about 15 miles beyond being tired of riding. I'm in a small town about 15 miles before Le'on where I found a small room in a Pension that had no hot water in the shower but otherwise is clean. Looking for to a group Pilgrim dinner tonight and bed.

Will I understand what is happening on the Camino before I get to Santiago? Hope springs.... I think I actually am going to slow my pace a bit just to let things soak in longer.

Cheers;
dave