To get you caught up, Keith’s Sunday was tough. He had a “big ass” (that’s “gran culo” in Spanish) hill soon after he left Castrojeriz. It was not a good feeling and really caused him much concern, but he made it up and also back down the other very steep side. He said it was such a bad day that at one point he considered taking a bus back to Burgos. Poor guy. Still—he toughed it out and made it to Itero de la Vega. He met a guy along the way and they stopped at a shelter for a break. The guy offered him half of his ham sandwich. Keith was thankful for the change of food and said he thought that was what saved him. Because the hill was so tough, Keith decided to take advantage of one of his Gatorade packets that you add to water. He said it was “absolutely awful.” So much so that he actually got a new water bottle because that one just wouldn’t let go of the nasty flavor. Also, along the way, he met up with a trio of Texans. One of them was having trouble with the hill, too. I think that made Keith feel the tiniest bit better–misery loves company!

The place he stayed in that night had a nice, clean room that had a shower “easily half again as big as last night’s.” He ended up with a room that he had to walk three flights of stairs to get to. That seems kind of harsh after that big old hill, but he made it up and was just glad to be stopping. He was consoled by the fact that the next few days (approx. 100 km) would be “flat as a pancake,” but worries because in the region called “Galecia” it’s all up and down hills and gets rainy. Still at this point he was dry and in a decent room.

He was walking around town (very slowly :) ) and actually met a woman from Portland! She was surprised to hear he was from Eugene and for a few minutes they chatted about home. Sometimes it just helps being able to normally converse with someone and especially about something familiar. We’d hoped he’d get a good night’s sleep, but not so much. Instead he “barely got enough sleep.”

His Monday was spent walking to Frómista. He was so thankful that it was going to be a flat walk because his lungs were feeling “paper baggish.” But, when he called me to tell me he’d arrived he said, “I have a cold! And not a good one either.” His sleep the night before was fitful and he had bad dreams of health disaster while there. But the bad dreams all made sense once he realized that he was sick with a cold—which compared with what was happening in those dreams was practically a relief. Along the route today he saw the trio of Texans again and they continue to encourage him which has seemed to help his spirits some. Unfortunately, one of the Texans may be on his way out as he is struggling with his own health challenges from diabetes and may not be up to the rest of the trip.

He said the people that he met along the way were very nice to him. “I must’ve looked pretty bad out there.” At one point he met up with a German couple. He mentioned he had a cold and the woman was talking to with a little, then she turned to ask her husband how to say “gesundheit” in English and the husband told her “good health.” That made him smile. Then a French couple passed him (“which everybody did today”) and the woman looked concerned “Problemo?” she asked. “No. No. I’m ok,” he said. She was speaking French and as they walked along a little more he said to her in French, “Petit malais.” While he was miming coughing and sneezing. “Oh!” she totally got it then. Later her husband said, “We are Français” and looked at Keith questionably. Keith responded, “Américain.” If Keith would just let me teach him my Jerry Lewis impression he could’ve been in like Flynn with that couple! Still knowing a little of quite a few languages seems to be working for him. Lucky that he took Latin as his foreign language in high school.

Because of the cold, we have decided to have Keith stay an extra night in Frómista to see if he can rest up before getting back on the road. As I write this, it is his first night there and hopefully he is sleeping well with only good dreams of succeeding at his goal. Hopefully just a day of resting and relaxing will make a big difference. All the good thoughts you can muster for him are most appreciated!