Day 7: From Los Arcos to Logrono.

DAVE: At this point of the journey, we are seeing more and more walking wounded pilgrims. With the amount of walking we are doing without any breaks in the routine, our bodies are showing signs of wear and tear.  Blisters are cropping up among us, with the exception of Jim.  However, no one is spared some injury.  You may recall my mentioning the movie, The Way, with Martin Sheen; a touching story about the Camino.  The one shortcoming of that movie is the fact it doesn't touch upon the intense physical hardship in walking the Camino.  Imagine getting up in the morning and walking 18 miles with each step a painful one. Nevertheless, we witness many folks in that state doing just that.

Today, we woke up early and prepared for our long walk.  Jim, aka Doctor Blister, as he is becoming known among the Pilgrims, is busy every morning getting our feet prepped. We left around 7:10 am and were greeted with cool temperature, overcast skies, and a stong wind in our faces.  It was chilly but we had no rain.  Although it was a long walk today (18 miles), we only passed through three willages on our way to Logrono: Sansol, Torres Del Rio, and Viana.  We didn't stop for lunch since we wanted to stay on track schedule so we could reach our destination around 3:30pm.  We did have time to vmisit some of the beautiful churches along the way.  As the day wore on, we were greeted with sunny skies in the afternoon we we approached Logrono.

The terrain is best described as rolling hills.  No significant elevation changes were in store fmor us, but if there were, we'd power on.  This is our seventh day of walking so hills really have no effect on us.  They are not intimidating at all these days.  We are passing through wine country, and have been for a couple days already.  Along the way, we pass various vinyards with the lush fruit hanging from the vines.  Fig trees are everywhere as well as walnuts, and almond trees. We don't go hungry in this environment.

We have completed seven continuous days of walking. We have walked about 161 kilometers (100 miles) to date.  We have many more miles to go. But with each day, we get closer to our destination.  Buen Camino.