Three...

Mom made it to the next stop okay by taxi. She glared at me when I arrived four hours after heading out, having walked 16.5 km, something that would have taken her two days to do. We stayed at a very small albergue run by Agape, a Christian organization. All the hospitaleros are volunteers, mostly American but there was one Spanish girl and a guy from Nigeria.

It was nice, very communal. We had a sharing time, when we each read a note that a previous pilgrim had left, then had the opportunity to leave our own. Afterwards we watched the Jesus movie. It's a film that missionaries apparently use to show the life of Jesus. And then came dinner, where we all sat down together and chatted during the meal, then introduced ourselves and shared whatever experiences we wanted at the end. It was a very welcoming atmosphere and it was a good stay.

Mom decided to walk again the next day, but we sent our packs ahead so we wouldn't have to carry the weight. It was much easier on her but at the end of the 8+ km she was still tired and stiff and sore. So she won't be walking with me the rest of the time.

So now I'm three days out from Santiago de Compostela. And I'm glad and not glad at the same time. Not glad, because I don't want to have to go home and go back to work. I just want to keep traveling. And I'm glad because hopefully these will go away:

Yes, you can see my lovely tan line on my oh-so-beautiful legs. But that's not the point. About a week ago, I started getting bug bites. And I've just gotten more. And more.

For two months I didn't have a problem, but now at the end I suddenly have at least twenty of them. Mom thinks some kind of flea or something got into my socks, since most of the bites are on my feet, especially the right foot. I'm not convinced. I'm pretty sure I don't have fleas. But something sure likes me. The pictures don't even do it justice. Though they do look pretty bad. I'm just miserable, itchy all over. And now I've given myself another sore from rubbing the itchy bit on my toe.

Anyway, that's about all I have to report for now. Nothing happened today because I took a rest day. I think I ended up so tired because of the Benadryl I've been taking before bed. But the results are the same: I slept half the day today after having taken a long nap yesterday and sleeping all night.

I will be back to soldiering on tomorrow, and I suppose that's enough for now.