Accidental Exploring
I always like to do a little extra exploring in the cities where I stay. My problem is that very often this takes place in the morning as I try to find the Camino. Sometimes the hotel is directly on the route and sometimes it's nearby. Since the first night's debacle, the hotels have been really comfortable and very convenient.
So, I turn on my app in the morning and find my way to the yellow line. Except today, the yellow line I followed was more of a road than the Camino Trail. I was incredibly fortunate that a gentleman saw me tapping my poles across the concrete and he asked, in pretty good English, if I was supposed to be going to Santiago. I replied yes. He told me I was going the wrong direction and steered me back on course. That only wasted about a quarter mile. It could have been much much worse.
As the first hill rose out of the city you could still see buildings covered in the morning mist. It was about 60 degrees out and very comfortable for the walk. The sidewalk disappeared and immediately I was on a narrow trail where two people could not walk side by side. It rose and dropped alongside the river and then the real hills began.
It's difficult to capture just how steep some of the hills were. The sign shows a 10-degree climb. It felt like much more. There were several sets of skid marks on the descending side of the road. The car that sped by me had to be doing 50-plus miles an hour on the narrow road. I don't believe the 3.5 horsepower mini bike I had at age 13 would have made it to the top.
I remained unplugged for the first two hours of the day. Today I focused my attention on recalling my high school experience. There were about 1,000 students in my graduating class. Since getting off Facebook, I think I'm in touch with three of them. I put incredible value on these enduring friendships.
As I passed a deserted play area with a fetid pool, I wondered what friendships were made at that recreation center and how they might have endured.
The absence of any activity and the obvious lack of attention to the facility made me wonder how many years it had been since children played on the courts or swam in that pool. Was it there all along, or did the city try to keep families in the community by building it? These are the thoughts that crossed my mind as I traveled through many villages with no real sign of human activity, and absolutely no sign of children.
Because I knew services would be few and far between on today's walk, I consulted the guidebook. I read there should be one place open in Covina, and fortunately it was. I stopped for a coffee, and as I was finishing up I saw Xena passing by and dragged her in to get her a coffee as well. We spent the next four hours walking the trail together. It was very interesting to compare the questions we were both trying to answer on our walk, at very different stages of life. Xena snapped a picture of me as we left the small village.
The guide book was right. There really were no other opportunities to get food or drink for the duration of the trip. We passed one water station, but the sign clearly stated that the water was not safe to drink.
Luckily, a gas station came into sight as the trail crossed a two-lane highway. Xena and I restocked on water and got back on the trail. The rest of the day was spent going up and down hills. It was a little physically demanding but the views were well worth the effort.
I walked to the restaurant next to my hotel as the sun was setting. Dinner was unremarkable, but the soup was good. The options for dinner were fish or pork, and I opted for the fish. What my serving lacked in meat was more than compensated for by the number of bones I had to pick away.
Tomorrow is a shorter day of only about 15 or 16 miles. Tonight's hotel room is comfortable and quiet, so I'll be well rested for the journey.