July 24, 2014 -- Frómista, Spain

I now have 220 miles behind me and 270 left to walk. As my leg is getting better, I think I'm at least halfway through as far as time is concerned, as long as I don't develop another injury.

I walked 15.2 miles or 25.2 kilometers today, which I believe is my longest day yet, even if it was not nearly as difficult as the day I crossed the Pyrenees. When I reached Boadilla, I was sure I was done for the day, but after sitting and chatting with two German women and downing a cup of coffee, I felt my energy returning, and I managed another six kilometers

I started in the dark, and the walk was mainly along dirt farm roads. One of the crops grown in this region is sunflowers, and as it got light, all of the sunflowers turned to face the rising sun behind me. which meant that they were also facing me.

Cyclists get more respect here than in the USA. In Arizona, drivers are required to give cyclists three feet of clearance when passing, although many of them don't. As this sign shows, here the requirement is 1.5 meters, which is just short of five feet.

There are some marvelous people doing this Camino. Two of the people staying in this hostel tonight are confined to wheelchairs. One is an Italian who can wheel himself around. I attempted to talk to him, but he seems only interested in communicating with the people he is traveling with, although I was just kind enough to lift the back of his wheelchair over a step so he could enter his dorm.

The other person os a young Spanish woman, or at least she is Spanish speaking. I have been running into her and her companion (brother, perhaps?) for several days, but we have never spoken. She is very handicapped and is not able to stand or get onto or out of bed without help. During the day she drives this vehicle along the Camino along gravel paths and up and down hill while her companion walks alongside.