Filling up

There’s a saying on the Camino that goes, “The Camino provides.” The essence is that you’ll find what you need (but not necessarily what you want) on the Camino.

Today, the Camino provided bonus miles.

When I made the reservation at the Villa de los Argos I assumed that it was actually IN Los Arcos. Silly me. Not only is it about a mile outside of town, it’s also a truck stop. Hotel, restaurant, bar, gas pumps and a convenience store, all rolled into one. It’s clean and comfortable though, and we’re glad to be off our feet.

Next time, though, I’m checking the proximity to the Camino before I hit “confirm.”

Rich fills ‘er up at the Irache wine fountain. 

Our first stop out of Estella was the famous Irache wine fountain. Though the fountain has taps for both water and wine, Rich chose to fill a water bottle with the free wine, and I’m sipping that as I write this post. It’s pretty good, and the price is right.

Rich has become a wine drinker on this trip (yes!) and is talking about buying some Spanish wine and shipping it home. We’ll see. I don’t want to be the one who has to lug it through customs.

Coffee and croissants before climbing a mountain. 

It was a mostly-flat route today, except for that one mountain. We fortified ourselves with café and a chocolate croissant, then took completed the 350 foot climb lickety split. Sort of. After that, we wound our way down hill, then through lovely fields and flatlands.