May 20, 2015 Day 25 Molinaseca --> Villafranca Del Bierzo - 30.6 K

May 20, 2015  Day 25 - Molinaseca --> Villafranca Del Bierzo - 30.6 K

Longest day yet - and, believe me, I feel it..

Started out very cool temps, although not as cool as yesterday. Within ten minutes, we came up on John and Suzanne, with whom we had had dinner last night. The four of us walked together for an hour or so, noticing in particular the beautiful roses in people's yards and along the road. We took a picture of Suzanne and Donna to demonstrate the size and colors, then parted ways as they stopped at a cafe. 

The first two hours were essentially hiking around Ponferrada, a rather large city with a population of 69,000. We had a steep climb to the top of a hill where there was an ancient castle that was quite impressive. Perched on one of the walls was a cute dog that posed perfectly for his picture.

From the top of the hill, we wound down and finally out of the city. The remainder of the day's walk was fairly bland. Walked through numerous little towns, then out in the country along sandy roads along vineyards. Donna indicated that she felt really really tired after yesterday's strenuous walk.

We finally reached the rather interesting town of Cacabelos around 1:30 pm. With almost 8 K remaining to go to our destination of Villafranca, rigor mortis of the feet began setting in in a big way. The road out of town was a very long fairly steep incline that was a real struggle for me. I began to experience that sense of unreality that sometimes occurs in these type of physically challenging situations - I was reminded of the day Randy and I rode bicycles into 35 mph Montana headwinds for hours and feeling like I was losing my mind. By the time we ascended the final long, long dirt road and then headed down into Villafranca, I was into major shuffle/limp mode. "What in the world was I thinking" I kept asking myself. My feet ached at the same time that they felt encased in cement. Hard to move them at all. Then came the cobblestones in Villafranca. Then, at last, our charming little hotel with the huge soaking tub. The funny side note to that is that Donna and I were standing in the little street looking at our map trying to figure out where the hotel was. These friendly old Spanish gentlemen came over to help, then started laughing at us - we were literally standing clueless in front of the doorway. 

We were scheduled for another 30 K tomorrow through some of the most challenging inclines and elevations yet. However, we have decided that three days running is way too much, especially given our rather pathetic finish today. So, we are going to shorten tomorrow's walk, and spread the difference over the next couple of days to get back on track. 

Had the typical Pilgrim's meal up on the city square - no small feat to hike up the hill to get there. In for the night, and some well-needed rest.

Buen Camino!

Kim