We left Logroño without a lot of juice in the tank, and decided to walk just 12 kilometers to Navarette. It was a cool day even though the sun was bright; the temperature never got above 60 degrees. Tomorrow it may not break 50, with rain, so we’re looking at another short day.
Judy’s knees started to hurt pretty bad, even over the shortened distance today, so we’ll try sending her pack forward to meet us at the next stop. There is a well developed system for doing this, and it only costs 3-5 Euros per stage. However, you have to make a reservation, and you need to know exactly where you’ll land the next day, which complicates the planning. Our hope is that the reduced weight of her load will give her a chance to heal.
We met up with the Aussie members of our pilgrim family: people we met that first night in Orrison and have run into repeatedly since. We spent the afternoon together doing laundry and working out places to stay tomorrow: such is the life on the Camino.
Along the way today, there was a long chain link fence which was filled with makeshift crosses placed by pilgrims. I added one, with a prayer, for all those we promised to pray for, and all those who were praying for us.
While we were walking around Navarette, we went into Our Lady of the Assumption, the local parish. Mind you, this is a little village of 5,000 souls, but the church was magnificent. Unlike our visit to Barcelona a few years back, where many of the church buildings were repurposed as museums or cafés or apartments, every town in this part of Spain has a treasured church with remarkable art.
On Saturday, we got a little rain, but mostly just overcast skies and cool temps. Even without a backpack, Judy had some knee pain, so we’ll take a rest day on Sunday. After all, it’s been ten straight days of hiking, so we can use the break, even if this is a small town.
I have had terrible luck the last two days uploading pics, so I will just post this update for now and add some pictures later.