Day 12: Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

To start....I had no wifi yesterday....so...this is a day late. 

Today started out wonderful...a blister on my heal. Luckily, I was able to take care of it quickly and move on. I am not going to lie...it gave me fits as I was walking. The view was pretty, but my feet were tired which made for a long day.

I decided early on the I was going to take a nap when I made it to my final destination. 

Just before the first town, I found this building carved out of the mountain.

The sun was out in full force, and I forgot to put on my sun screen.

It wasn't long before I came upon the first town. All of the towns were fairly small. 

I stopped trying to go into churches along the way. They are always locked.

I liked this nice little garden. 

Only have 531km before I reach Santiago! Wow! 

This was the last of the country side. Had a change of scenery....a pine forest

The last city for the next 12k. Something told me that I should have stopped at the market before moving on.....but.....I didn't. 

The beginning of the forest and of the many climbs.

I did get a nice view of the mountains after the biggest climb. It was so pretty. 

There were a couple of steep decents. They were pretty tough, but it made it! 

What made today so difficult was that my feet were tired. After walking over 20km for several days, it starts to wear on a person. This is the main reason that I decided to take a nap today. 

Shortly after arriving into town, I noticed that this was a special day. It was a day to honor Saint Juan. They had a procession, street fair, a band, and rumor has it.....a BBQ! What?!?! This southern chick is holding onto hope that I will get some Spanish BBQ. It was not to be...bummer.

There were a few snack items for me to buy for in the morning which was good. There isn't much to this small town, so I had to get what I could.

The church was lovely. It houses the remains of San Jaun, who was a disciple of Sainto Domingo. 

This town makes Mayberry look like a huge city. There is not even a store to buy food! Thank goodness for the festival...I was able to buy some real good cheese for my bread and different kinds of nuts. Put all of this with my apple, and I have breakfast. 

I passed the afternoon talking to some folks about why we were doing the Camino which lead to a discussion of the ancient church. It was a really nice discussion. Far more productive than I have had with others. 

Tomorrow I am off to Burgos. I can't wait to see the cathedral! A lady asked me if I am tired of visiting churches yet, and I replied with a big no! They are my favorite part.