Burgos to the middle of nowhere (Hornillos del Camino)

Total distance today = 13.0 miles

Total ascent today = 492 feet

Cumulative distance = 193.7 miles

Today we had just about perfect weather.  Cool in the morning when we left Burgos, with blue cloudless skies all day.  From the hotel, we walked along the Rio Arlanzon through a lush park, past some monuments until being reunited with the Camino path as it crossed over the river.

The walk out of Burgos was much more pleasant than the walk in two days earlier. Most of it was through the campus of Universidad de Burgos, and past another monument to Camino pilgrims.

The rest of the morning we walked through suburbia, and some farmland, and past a prison. We were at least a quarter mile away, but still heard a lot of yelling. Creepy. 

Around noon, we came to a town called Tardajos, a few monuments,

And where we found a little roadside cafe. The owner obligingly made us a HLT bogadillo (sandwich on an 8 inch baguette) ham with lettuce, tomato AND mayo. Not that smoked kind of jamon either. Can you believe the Spanish mostly eat sandwiches with no condiments?!

Ours was delicious. 

Refreshed and refueled, we quickly hiked past the church in Tardajos - that's a stork nest on the corner of the roof. 

And then through the next village of Rabe de las Calzadas. 

I'm not sure if you noticed in the previous photos, but Spaniards are crazy about roses. Almost every house that has room for a garden has them. Dave and I keep an eye out for the special St James rose. 

After Rabe, the path, a dirt farm road at this point, gradually began to climb into the Meseta. It's a high plateau. It reminded us of Montana, or South Dakota. The fields just seemed to go on forever. 

After about four or five miles, the plateau finally ended, and we came to where the road dropped back down into the valley.  Hornillos de Camino in the distance was today's destination. 

Well, not really. There are no hotels in Hornillos. We're staying in Isar, about two miles north of the Camino. We bought a couple cold drinks a at a small store in town, sat on a bench, and called the hotel to come pick us up.  

There was another couple from Iceland doing the same thing with another hotel. We had about 10 minutes to talk to them. They had lived in the US - Alexandria, VA and Morgantown, West Virginia.  I guess I shouldn't be so surprised at the number of pilgrims who have been to the US. Pilgrims like to travel. 

Dinner at the hotel was very good. A tuna potato stew, salad, pork loin and peach halves for dessert. Yum. 

Tomorrow's walk looks like much of the same, hiking through open shadeless fields, passing through a couple towns, roughly 21 kilometers (12 miles). Thanks to Jen, Dave's new boots are in action, feeling great. Tonight we Skype with Anna and Mike, who has just returned to Whidbey from a busy deployment to Japan.